Need help hitting my irons

[dragracer98]

Hit my woods including driver but can't hit my irons to save my li

I'm pretty new here but i figured someone could help. I'm about a 25 handicap, I can hit my driver and fairway woods, 3, 5, 7 will really good consistancy but i can't hit an iron shot to save my life. If i have a choice during a round i hit fw everytime over an iron. Is this a common problem with high handicappers or is it just me? I have two sets of irons: Adams Idea Hybrid Set, and Mizuno MX 23s. There is no difference between the two when I play them. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[dragracer98]

Also, i either hit my irons really fat with a big divot or i hit it thin, thin happens a lot from 100yrds in and fat most of the time with i'm trying to hit a full shot. Ocassionaly I'll slice my driver but my fairway woods are close to perfect.

[Captain Nimrod]

I'm pretty new here but i figured someone could help. I'm about a 25 handicap, I can hit my driver and fairway woods, 3, 5, 7 will really good consistancy but i can't hit an iron shot to save my life. If i have a choice during a round i hit fw everytime over an iron. Is this a common problem with high handicappers or is it just me? I have two sets of irons: Adams Idea Hybrid Set, and Mizuno MX 23s. There is no difference between the two when I play them. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

I am likewise a high handicapper who has struggled to hit irons. I just cannot hit a blade, so I bought a used set of Tour Edge Exotics hybid irons and absolutely love them. I don't know how they compare to the Adams set, but they are all true hybrid irons. If you hit your hybrids particularly well, something like these or the similar set from Cleveland might really help you.

[dragracer98]

That's the thing I can't hit the hybrids either, slice the crap out of them 8 out of 10 times. I just don't understand how i hit the woods so well and then not even be able to hit the hybrids much less the irons.

[pocketfulladoubles]

I think most people are the other way around in that they start off better hitting irons, and generally have more trouble with woods. I think you are in the better camp though, because learning to hit a crisp iron shot is easier than breaking a slice - for most people it seems.

 

You said a lot in that you either hit fat or thin. If you always hit fat, or always hit thin, I'd guess you have a problem with your swing plane. However, if you are inconsistent in both directions, I have a hunch you are sliding your hips up and down the target line. You are also likely reverse pivoting. A wood has a better chance of sliding across the turf, your irons will be pretty useless.

 

You need to learn to rotate around your spine, and not slide your hips a whole lot. When you set up, make sure your head stays slightly behind (i.e. further away from the target) than the ball. Without sliding your hips, rotate back making sure you have loaded your right foot (I'm assuming you are right-handed) without letting your foot roll over - the weight should be on the instep of the foot. Then right before you reach the top of the backswing, unwind your lower body by rotation, not sliding, and your weight should transfer onto the instep of your front foot. Your head should still be behind the ball. For an 8-iron, the ball should be somewhere around you left cheek to ear or so, everyone is different, but don't let your upper body slide forward. Hit toward the ground where the front of the ball lies, making contact with the ball first, and taking a divot just slightly after. Don't hit at the ball, swing through the ball thinking of the balance of the follow through.

 

I'm sure someone else can pipe in too, but in the end you should have someone qualified watch you.

[dragracer98]

thanks, you may have hit the nail on the head. I don't know a lot about swing mechanics and stuff like that but now that you mention it I do slid my hips a lot. I bet that is why I have such a long backswing. I wish I had a video of it to show you what I'm talking about. If I limit my hip movement and focus on the rotation around my spine my backswing should shorten tremendously. Am I right in assuming that? I really hope this works, it could shave 10 or more strokes off a round for me. I wish I were exagerating that number but I have actually charted out several rounds on notebook paper and that is what I come up with every time. It would put me in the 80s immediately.

[pocketfulladoubles]

I'd start with a short backswing until you have the accuracy and timing to elongate into a full backswing. When my tempo gets off, the first thing I do is go back to a slower, smoother, shorter backswing, and it usually only take a couple stroked to get back on.

 

In addition to concentrating on rotation without sliding, focus on keeping the head still and not sliding left on the swing. When you set up, your spine will have a slight tilt to the right - try to keep this through most of the swing (i.e. stay behind the ball!)

[Tanner25]

I played with an office worker 3 or 4 times. He is a scratch golfer. He says the golf swing is rotational. But, doing it is harder than saying you'll do it. I have a bad back and wonder if there's physical limitations working against some of us.

[pocketfulladoubles]

There is certainly a flexibility limitation. Stretching exercizes and Yoga/Pilates will help a lot.

 

One thing that has helped me is to pretend I have a steel rod running through my spine from the top of my head through the tailbone, with both ends clamped so they can only rotate and not move. This will really help stay positioned, rotate, and not slide. It is an exageration to reality, but use it to get the feeling. Even the pros slide a little, you need to to get max. power. But for learning, just try to stay simple, calm, and not get too "slidy".

[scores]

Hi if you can post a video!!!

[foofighter]

I'm having the same problem.Check out www.videojug.com Click on sports than golf for some good video instruction that i plan on trying at the range tomorrow.

[dragracer98]

Those are some pretty good visual aids on that site.

[TKing]

You might be just simply trying to swing too hard and you are outswinging your back. You don't have to swing hard. I did the same thing when I started last summer. I could hit the woods and even the 3 iron but had trouble with the short irons. I set up a driving range in a pasture by the house and bought 500 cheap balls. That has worked out pretty good. I was trying to swing way too hard.