What No One Ever Told Me About...

Long Irons - Almost everyone I know has trouble with their long irons, and almost everyone has one or both of the same two problems.

  1. They just don't believe they can hit them.
    • This is borne out of the idea that long irons are harder to hit than short irons
  2. They think they have to hit them really hard to get the ball off the ground.
One of the most important factors in executing any golf shot is confidence. If you don't believe you can hit the shot, then you can't hit the shot. It's that simple. Unfortunately, the only solution I know of for this is to get out there and do it until you know you can, which brings me to that second part. Long irons aren't any harder to hit than short irons. The swing which produces a great shot with a 7 iron will produce and equally great shot with a 4 iron. You just have to make that same swing with the long iron. Which brings me to point number two.
You don't have to swing any harder with the long irons than you do with a wedge. In fact I've found quite the opposite to be true. I can hit a good shot with a wedge by hitting it extra hard but this technique is less effective with the long irons. You can't "muscle" a long iron shot.
But I digress. You really shouldn't try to hit any club harder than any other. I believe for all but the very best golfers, the swing should be the same with every club in the bag. The rest of us don't practice or play enough to be able to execute a 90% swing on the spot.

Club Choice Off the Tee - We all know it's a good idea to hit 3 wood off the tee sometimes. We may even do it occasionally. But how many of us really stick to this strategy when out on the course. I have to admit, I gave up entirely on laying back off the tee after I pushed my 1 iron into the woods on a tough par 5, one time last summer. "I can make just as bad a swing with my 3 wood as I can with my driver" I said. Now, while that may be true the fact is a ball on the same bad trajectory will not go as far off course with a 1 iron as it will with the driver. I'm planning on getting some illustrations to demonstrate this, but for now I'll have to do it with words. If you hit a ball 200 yards (1 iron), 10 degrees to the right of where you aimed, it will go approximately 34 yards to the right. If you hit that same shot with a driver, resulting in a 245 yard shot, the ball will end up 42.5 yards to the right of your target. That's a big difference, particularly if it's all rough.

Getting More Distance - There are several ways to achieve more distance. Unfortunately, most of them involve a corresponding loss of accuracy (longer backswing, swing harder, etc.) The best way I have found to increase distance without sacrificing accuracy is to hit the ball more solidly. If you concentrate on hitting the ball solidly you will find you get more distance and and you will improve your accuracy to boot.

T.T.F.N. Ta ta for now.


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