# Iron Play



## stokie_93 (Jul 20, 2016)

Really struggling with my irons at the moment.

Main two bad shots are a fat and a weak flight off the toe. When I do catch one i'm really hitting it well but just not doing it consistently enough.

Does anyone else suffer with either of these 2 and have any tips of how to eradicate them?

Thanks!


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## njc1973 (Jul 20, 2016)

I try to focus on getting the set-up right & maintaining my body position/height through the swing, find this helps me.


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## Wabinez (Jul 20, 2016)

Struggling with the same thing myself....no real answer as yet, although probably a swing/posture fault somewhere along the line.  I have plenty!


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## stokie_93 (Jul 20, 2016)

Wabinez said:



			Struggling with the same thing myself....no real answer as yet, although probably a swing/posture fault somewhere along the line.  I have plenty!
		
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It's frustrating the hell out of me because the rest of my game is there at the moment (thankfully)

Played 2 under my handicap through 9 yesterday, I think I hit 1 good iron shot.


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## patricks148 (Jul 20, 2016)

I would get some lessons.

helped me no end, i was a mediocre with my irons, now the best part of my game by far... shame about my driving now though


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## bobmac (Jul 20, 2016)

Do you ever take divots after the ball ?


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## stokie_93 (Jul 20, 2016)

bobmac said:



			Do you ever take divots after the ball ?
		
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when I hit the ball well yes, at the moment i'm catching it fat (not to the point where it goes 30 yards) but being short of the target by 20-30 yards.

Can't seem to consistently strike the ball well enough at the moment.


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## stokie_93 (Jul 20, 2016)

patricks148 said:



			I would get some lessons.

helped me no end, i was a mediocre with my irons, now the best part of my game by far... shame about my driving now though
		
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Considering it Patrick, i've always been good off the tee, main strong point of my game.

My chipping/wedge game is hot and cold and my putting is normally great.

Never considered myself an amazing ball striker with my irons though. I've had a new set of irons and they don't particularly fill me with confidence. I feel like I need to go back to more cavity again but not too sure.


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## patricks148 (Jul 20, 2016)

stokie_93 said:



			Considering it Patrick, i've always been good off the tee, main strong point of my game.

My chipping/wedge game is hot and cold and my putting is normally great.

Never considered myself an amazing ball striker with my irons though. I've had a new set of irons and they don't particularly fill me with confidence. I feel like I need to go back to more cavity again but not too sure.
		
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i was the same, never missed a fairway, but irons poor... lost the driving completely at the moment.... i can hit the driver off the deck better than i can off a tee currently... if this carries on i won't be off 5 for much longer


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## stokie_93 (Jul 20, 2016)

patricks148 said:



			i was the same, never missed a fairway, but irons poor... lost the driving completely at the moment.... i can hit the driver off the deck better than i can off a tee currently... if this carries on i won't be off 5 for much longer
		
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We'd make a lethal better ball team :whoo:


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## bobmac (Jul 20, 2016)

Sounds as if you are swaying and not getting the weight far enough forward on the fat shots.
Have you seen your swing from face on recently?


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## patricks148 (Jul 20, 2016)

stokie_93 said:



			We'd make a lethal better ball team :whoo:
		
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Not necessarily, we might end up with my driving and your iron play:rofl:


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## the_coach (Jul 21, 2016)

stokie_93 said:



			Really struggling with my irons at the moment.

Main two bad shots are a fat and a weak flight off the toe. When I do  catch one i'm really hitting it well but just not doing it consistently  enough.

Does anyone else suffer with either of these 2 and have any tips of how to eradicate them?

Thanks!
		
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{for sure best off going for lesson}

would tend to think some issues will trace back to set-up, possibly ball position and posture

ways impossible to tell exactly not knowing what's really goin down

but  essentially the issue being the low point of the swings arc is  happening before the clubhead arrives to the ball, instead of it being  target side of ball
 but folks can be real creative in what stuff exactly plays into their particular reason for this to be happening

often times a lateral sway in the takeaway can mean the weight goes trailside and never really gets back to the leadside

do  shots in general that ain't hit fat, tend to fly overhigh, &  assuming RH player, high and rightfield, some pulls, some over  fades/slices (or is the main average shot pattern different to that?  push fade/slice some hooks?)

with the toe strikes could be out to  in swing path, along with lead arm pulling in towards body some at  strike with posture straightening up some to avoid dumping the club into  the ground 

so with this would folks would tend to see and feel  bunch of chicken wing issues after strike so the swing finish position  would tend to be fairly low hands handle someways level with the left  ear, with the lead elbow at finish lower than the lead shoulder with  body weight maybes falling back onto trail leg some

so  essentially weight not getting to the lead side enough so not finishing  on the lead leg along with this is no real width extension of the arms  in the throughswing, 
with arms extension through the ball the hands  handle would then finish at least level with top of head with the lead  elbow at least level with lead shoulder

this could all be a ways  tied in with some 'casting' from the top, losing the hand/wrist/arm  shaft angles too soon in the downswing so effectively the swings arc is  getting too long, too extended in the downswing prior to strike

often  times folks tend to not want to do it as it's a small swing (plus first  off it's a tad difficult to do right given folks swing issues trying to  be changed) but the hip, pelvic punch drill is a real good ways to feel how  sync hip and body rotation, weight shift, got to work to have the weight  on the lead leg & hands leading the clubhead into the strike with  arms extension (good natural width) in the throughswing


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## the_coach (Jul 21, 2016)

[video=youtube;GaC4ze2OMHg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaC4ze2OMHg[/video]


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## the_coach (Jul 21, 2016)

one thing pretty crucial if you goin down the route of doing either of these drills is for sure you gotta use your cell fone to video the practice 
so it can be reviewed to monitor that what should be happening in doing either of the drills ... really is taking place
as for sure 'feel to real' non monitored practice will be unreliable

most folks doing this drill 'think' they are only taking the lead arm back to horizontal but when viewing what's really going down see they have gone way past that lead arm horizontal position 
usually takes a good bunch of attempts and viewing the video evidence to get the drill down on point

[video=youtube;6npyaf53cFc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6npyaf53cFc[/video]


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## kevster84 (Jul 21, 2016)

Been hitting my irons so well recently, then yesterday.... couldn't hit them for toffee. Constant topping and then dreaded shanks!!!! Pity as was driving and putting well. It was so frustrating I'm surprised I didn't break a club.


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## BrizoH71 (Jul 21, 2016)

Been struggling with irons for a few weeks, but a lesson has quickly got me back on track after it threw up three things to work on which have greatly improved how I'm hitting irons now. There's still work to be done on them, but here's what the lesson threw up.

a) I had developed a tendency to snatch the club inside too quickly on takeaway, leading to me getting too flat and then coming over-the-top trying to get the club back on plane;

b) On set-up, I had a tendency to arch my wrists, so have been working on keeping the wrists more neutral;

c) My weight would move onto my front foot too early on my downswing, leading me to get ahead of the ball and delivering the clubface early and open, resulting in a high push-fade.

Not saying any of the above could be your problem, but perhaps something worth checking.


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## stokie_93 (Jul 21, 2016)

Thanks for everyones advice.

Going for a swift 9 holes tonight and then a competition on Saturday.

If things don't go so well i'm going to hopefully get a lesson booked in at some point!


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## stokie_93 (Jul 21, 2016)

the_coach said:



			do  shots in general that ain't hit fat, tend to fly overhigh, &  assuming RH player, high and rightfield, some pulls, some over  fades/slices (or is the main average shot pattern different to that?  push fade/slice some hooks?)

with the toe strikes could be out to  in swing path, along with lead arm pulling in towards body some at  strike with posture straightening up some to avoid dumping the club into  the ground
		
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Hi Coach, 

Thanks for the response, really appreciate how in depth you've gone.

My normal shot tends to be a high/medium-high draw when struck properly and swung properly.

I really think that the out to in swing could be the issue. I have a tendency to play with an open stance so not sure if this could be the issue?

I also think that when swinging I don't let my arms release or 'push out' enough through the ball thus cause the club to 'extend' out, I think maybe this coupled with the out to in swing could be the issue.


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## bobmac (Jul 21, 2016)

So to recap.........
You have an open stance,
You swing out to in
Your arms don't release 
You hit it fat and out of the toe
Your normal shot tends to be a high/medium-high draw

Confused 

As you didn't reply to my question and given the above info I can only suggest.....

You need a lesson


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## stokie_93 (Jul 21, 2016)

bobmac said:



			So to recap.........
You have an open stance,
You swing out to in
Your arms don't release 
You hit it fat and out of the toe
Your normal shot tends to be a high/medium-high draw

Confused 

As you didn't reply to my question and given the above info I can only suggest.....

You need a lesson
		
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Hi Bob,

I do apologise I didn't see the question.

Going to get my PP to video my swing tonight.

My swing is probably all over the place so yeah a lesson is most likely needed!


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## the_coach (Jul 21, 2016)

stokie_93 said:



			Hi Coach, 
My normal shot tends to be a high/medium-high draw when struck properly and swung properly.

I really think that the out to in swing could be the issue. I have a tendency to play with an open stance so not sure if this could be the issue?

I also think that when swinging I don't let my arms release or 'push out' enough through the ball thus cause the club to 'extend' out, I think maybe this coupled with the out to in swing could be the issue.
		
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mornin from nyc

if for sure your normal shot pattern is a draw - ie. ball starting to the right of target and curving back - then it's unlikely you've changed swing path to out to in

but if the 'draw' shape is ball starting direction a tad left of the target line and curving further leftfield so more a small pull hook swing path could be out to in

would get a checkover from PGA Pro as it's more common for folks to stay pretty true to normal swing path tendencies & yours sounds like it's little ways in to out

so would likely think the solution would likely be around set-up, alignments, and ball position how the weight moves (which grip could play into from the get-go) 

what's currently goin down could be coupled with maybes a sway off the ball (with a backswing that's a ways too long?) then a little ways to big a lateral slide to target in the downswing and a loss of posture so more of a stand-up and upper body lean back into the strike

but a ways impossible to tell for sure not knowing exactly what's going down

but the drills if you can get them down would help to promote a better strike with the smaller motion and if that can be got down good and consistent strike through the smaller motion - it's just a fraction of a bigger turn to get to a full just below parallel top of the swing position


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## stokie_93 (Jul 21, 2016)

the_coach said:



			mornin from nyc

if for sure your normal shot pattern is a draw - ie. ball starting to the right of target and curving back - then it's unlikely you've changed swing path to out to in

but if the 'draw' shape is ball starting direction a tad left of the target line and curving further leftfield so more a small pull hook swing path could be out to in

would get a checkover from PGA Pro as it's more common for folks to stay pretty true to normal swing path tendencies & yours sounds like it's little ways in to out

so would likely think the solution would likely be around set-up, alignments, and ball position how the weight moves (which grip could play into from the get-go) 

what's currently goin down could be coupled with maybes a sway off the ball (with a backswing that's a ways too long?) then a little ways to big a lateral slide to target in the downswing and a loss of posture so more of a stand-up and upper body lean back into the strike

but a ways impossible to tell for sure not knowing exactly what's going down

but the drills if you can get them down would help to promote a better strike with the smaller motion and if that can be got down good and consistent strike through the smaller motion - it's just a fraction of a bigger turn to get to a full just below parallel top of the swing position
		
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Hi Coach,

Thanks for the response once again - hope all is well in USA, looking forward to going the other side of the pond next month!

I think my problems may lie in my stance, set-up and ball position.
Will report back after my 9 tonight and let you know how I go on.

Thanks!


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## stokie_93 (Jul 22, 2016)

Thanks again to everyone for their hints and tips.

Went down for 9 holes last night and told myself to sort my iron play out. 

Really went back to basics and made sure I was in the right place.
Started my aligning properly and more accurately and making sure I was square to target, made sure ball was in the correct position and put a smoother swing on the club.

Started to strike the ball much better and didn't chunk any last night, hit 2 peaches on two of the par 3's on the front, both within about 12 feet and then the 9th I missed the green by a yard but pin eye.

It's really helped me by doing the above and i'm going again tonight before comp tomorrow so fingers crossed it'll continue.


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