What iron do you use when working on drills?

[jonsnow]

Most times I'm using 7 or 8 iron when making less than full swings and/or working on specific movements within the swing. Just wondered if others do the same.

[Trippels]

9,8,7,6

[TLUBulldogGolf]

Usually 6-8.

[aramirez24]

9 is my favorite club so I gravitate towards that when I start on the range. I've had better results using 6-7 on 9-3 drills than 9 or PW though. 

[Soloman1]

I think it should be the club you hit the worst.

[Kuuuch]

I’ve always liked starting with a wedge then as I get better at the movement PW then 8/7 iron. 
 

Much easier imo to feel something new with a wedge vs 7 iron then work your way up.

I believe I saw Monte post this a long time ago and it’s stuck with me ever since. 

[getitdaily]

7 mostly 

 

Sometimes 8

[nitram]

4-iron (E4 SW) for working on drills.

 

8-iron and Sand Wedge for hitting balls

[SNIPERBBB]

No self-respecting fan of Tin Cup uses anything other than the 7 iron for drills. 

[bortass]

7 or 8 iron for full swing work. 

[rondo01]

17 hours ago, Soloman1 said:

I think it should be the club you hit the worst.

but I can’t lift 14 clubs at once 😕

[Long_Left]

I was told, long ago, to use the club(s) you'd hit from 150. It's a long enough shot/club to expose contact and face angle changes while being short enough to not wreck your confidence and commitment to stick with it. 

 

For me, it's 7, 8, 9 iron until I feel like I'm really understanding whatever move I'm trying to make, then moving to the 4 and 5 irons to test myself.

[jonsnow]

So what I'm hearing is I should stop using my old Wilson Staff blade 1-iron with the DG X100 tipped an inch?

[ferrispgm]

Usually a 9 iron hitting it around 100 yards then 120 as I get more comfortable.  After a while of that I go to 7 iron out to 140

[betarhoalphadelta]

1 hour ago, Long_Left said:

I was told, long ago, to use the club(s) you'd hit from 150. It's a long enough shot/club to expose contact and face angle changes while being short enough to not wreck your confidence and commitment to stick with it. 

 

For me, it's 7, 8, 9 iron until I feel like I'm really understanding whatever move I'm trying to make, then moving to the 4 and 5 irons to test myself.

 

This makes a lot of sense. 

 

18 hours ago, Kuuuch said:

I’ve always liked starting with a wedge then as I get better at the movement PW then 8/7 iron. 
 

Much easier imo to feel something new with a wedge vs 7 iron then work your way up.

I believe I saw Monte post this a long time ago and it’s stuck with me ever since. 

 

I don't think I've seen that. I've always heard him say that most of the movement changes are best drilled at half speed. But I've never heard him suggest starting with a wedge. 

 

Per what @Long_Left said, I think that's why the 7/8 iron works so well. If you're doing a movement drill at half-speed with a 4i, you don't have enough speed to even elevate the ball. If it's a wedge, it's a club short enough that you may not expose the problems with contact that you'll start finding when you get to longer clubs. 

 

So that range is kind of a "goldilocks" area IMHO for working on a swing change. 

 

2 hours ago, SNIPERBBB said:

No self-respecting fan of Tin Cup uses anything other than the 7 iron for drills. 

 

I grew up (like many kids) with a 3/5/7/9 iron set, which meant that range work was primarily with the 7i. So for a long time, it was like Tin Cup. I always felt REALLY confident with a 7i in my hand, like I couldn't miss. 

[Dufferonius]

Depends upon the drills and where I'm going them.  If it's inside work, ingraining a new motion, my 9i, because anything longer would hit the ceiling on the back-swing.  Outside, it's almost invariably my 7i.

[Kuuuch]

1 hour ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

This makes a lot of sense. 

 

 

I don't think I've seen that. I've always heard him say that most of the movement changes are best drilled at half speed. But I've never heard him suggest starting with a wedge. 

 

Per what @Long_Left said, I think that's why the 7/8 iron works so well. If you're doing a movement drill at half-speed with a 4i, you don't have enough speed to even elevate the ball. If it's a wedge, it's a club short enough that you may not expose the problems with contact that you'll start finding when you get to longer clubs. 

 

So that range is kind of a "goldilocks" area IMHO for working on a swing change. 

 

 

I grew up (like many kids) with a 3/5/7/9 iron set, which meant that range work was primarily with the 7i. So for a long time, it was like Tin Cup. I always felt REALLY confident with a 7i in my hand, like I couldn't miss. 

Could be wrong about Monte saying that but to each their own. After having nearly ~50  lessons consistently over the past 8 or so years, I would say every change is also a little bit different. Some I've seen the best results from doing half speed work, drills, some starting the change with wedges etc. Take improving wrist set for example, way way easier to learn the motion imo with a wedge first before starting with 8/7 iron. 

[ReefDonkey]

I like to use 6 or 7 vs a wedge.  Too much loft can hide some shot flaws that I can otherwise see much clearer with a longer iron.

[jonsnow]

21 hours ago, ReefDonkey said:

I like to use 6 or 7 vs a wedge.  Too much loft can hide some shot flaws that I can otherwise see much clearer with a longer iron.

 I went through a pretty complete rebuild in the early 1990sand spent most of a year doing nothing but drills with my 6-iron per my teacher's instructions .Had to regrip it twice before any other clubs needed a new grip. 

Edited June 28, 2023 by jonsnow

[Klubster]

I usually just take a 5-7-9 iron to the range when working on a problem.  The 5 iron just sits and waits.

[aenemated]

5 iron. Because it doesn't tell lies. 

[Bucken77]

Depending on the drill it's either the 7i or the PW

 

[FormerBigDaddy]

6 iron or less. I feel like too much loft will tell lies. Especially when you slow your swing down. I practice with a blade 3 iron in my garage. I figure if I can hit that solid off a hard mat I can hit anything. 

[jgallant415]

I like a mix. I’ll start with anything from 7-P and then mix in a 5/6 or even a hybrid to make sure I can execute whatever change in working on with a less forgiving club. When I’m struggling with sequencing one of my favorite things to do is try to hit a 9 iron 100 yards, then an 8 iron 100 yards, and so on until I can’t work any higher in the bag (usually cap out with the 4h).

[Barfolomew]

7

[PhillipG78]

Usually a 7 for full swing stuff

[khalespace]

9 iron. I use this 9-iron to work on full and partial swings. full shot 130, 3/4 shot 100 yards, half shot 70 yards.

[Santiago Golf]

Any club ... I just am only trying to hit the shot 1/2 to 3/4 swing length 

 

The only drills I do non putting

 

1) 3/4 freezers

2) bottom hand short game

3) I will putt a range basket behind ball and just outside the toe of the club, hitting 3/4 swings and trying to hit draws

4) slow motion swings with no balls

 

[DaveMc82]

On 6/27/2023 at 3:27 PM, rondo01 said:

but I can’t lift 14 clubs at once 😕

But this is GolfWRX - you should have at least 19 clubs that hate you that you rotate in and out 🤦‍♂️

[Hawkeye77]

Usually, 100 yard 7 irons.