Are high handicappers losing out by hitting the ball too hard?

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Alex1975

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Hi All,

I have been trying to carry my 7 iron 150 yards at the range all year and don't think I have managed once. With my old GI irons it was a pretty standard 145-50 carry but my current irons don't go there. On the course I am not so stupid as to try it, infact I find myself taking more and more club and not going at it so hard.

Is there a premium on a quality strike with a less lofted club and less ego?


With my net in the garden I tend to hit alot of practice shots with the back swing at 90* to the ground and a little over 90* on the follow through. My intent with this drill is to get my body to the right place at impact but the upshot seems to be alot of what feel and look(for the 10 feet of ball flight I see) like quality strikes. Now I am not suggesting that anyone play with a half swing all the time but that a little more of a steady approach to shot making may help us all?!


My last example is that my 3 wood off the deck goes as far or better if I put a smooth swing on it than if try and rip it.

Is the best advice for a high or mid high handicap player to "slow down" "calm down"?



A bit of a ramble but I think I made a point or asked a question there somewhere.


Alex
 
Yep. Slow down the take away get to 90 degrees or there about with a good turn of the waist, wrist cock and weight shift (no sway), and let it rip with a smooth transition and a good forearm turn, flies way better than anything else. I can carry the 150 yds at the range with my 7 iron doing that - am a 22 handicapper, and I've measured the marker with my laser, it's a genuine 150 yds. If I try and start doing a bigger swing i.e. taking the club back behind my head, invariably my left arm folds a little (or a lot) and I lose a lot trying to get it back on line.
 
All I know is that I'm told to hit it as hard as I can without losing balance & control.
 
For me, if I try to kill it, my hands flip early, and although it feels powerful, it isn't. If I get my new swing working, with a very late release, then I'll be able to lash it, as hard as I like.

Hitting hard is not an issue if you have the technique dialled.
 
murphthemog said:
For me, if I try to kill it, my hands flip early, and although it feels powerful, it isn't. If I get my new swing working, with a very late release, then I'll be able to lash it, as hard as I like.

Hitting hard is not an issue if you have the technique dialled.
Click to expand...


are you saying that you are giving yourself a little more time in the swing and because you are looking to release so late, and lets face it, when I say late it is probably more like "in the correct time/place" you can then deliver the power you would like?

The premium is on technique!

Nice one Murph, hope its still going well.
 
Most higher handicappers I know try and hit it too hard and swing too fast, which compromises technique. I'm guilty of it myself on occasion, though I'm getting better at it now as there's no need. My distances are fine and a cleaner strike with a smooth swing usually generates a longer, better shot anyway.

Sorted out a weekend yet, knob? ;)
 
Ok, last thursday it was awesome. Friday, cool, Saturday, no.

By late, I mean holding the lag, and releasing it with hands ahead of the ball.

Thursday I was adding lag in the down swing, but losing it with my hands level with the ball. Awesome strike, long, but high.

If, and it's a big if, I ever get this right, it will be adding lag on the way down, and holding it for ever.

Over the weekend they had a slow mo of Rory macs swing with a driver. The last foot of it, before impact, was horizontal pull, with full wrist cock, and he released so far ahead of the ball it was stupid. I want some of that.

It looks good to me.
 
I think EVERY gofer would benefit from "slowing down and calming down" be it Luke Donald or my nan!!
It really isnt important which pigeonhole you are put in by people, high/mid-high hcp etc.!
If you are lashing at the ball like the tasmanian devil then you are less likely to have controlled shots, that said it is all relative, one mans fast is another mans slow!
 
It's working for me at the moment. Been spending a lot of time working on my partial wedges. Key ambition is to try and emulate Luke Donald's tempo and not hit it on the back swing. Feeling much smoother and in control as a result and it is now moving into how I hit my irons and the results have been very encouraging. If I can get it to my woods I'll be laughing!!!! :)
 
ye I have been having some success too but I almost cant hit my driver hard enough, I can coil my body up and then rip at the ball. To go from that to then trying to be composed and in harmony is tricky.


Jon, sorry I cant play golf with someone who edits my posts!!!:D Na, I will get a that sorted tonight!
 
I was guilty of taking the club too far in my backswing as shown by my pro in my video lesson. He has made me stop at what to me is about 70%, but the shaft just passes vertical and I am still getting 150/160 from my 7 iron. Its just so much more consistent and straighter!! He was right too, he reckoned I would be able to see the driver head out of my left eye at the top of my swing, o we checked and he was right!!
 
I had a bit of a eureka moment on the course today when I had to lay up on the Par 5 10th 2nd shot having gone just off the fairway left where a huge tree is a problem never mind quite a carry across water. So a nice easy 7 iron hit deliberately with draw so I didn't overshoot the fairway on the other side. Had to do similar on the 11th (note to self - line up on the right side and trust the shot shape)! I then recalled a similar shot the round before on the 17th and how smooth and swishy (best word I can think of) my lay up shots feel compared to say hitting the same shot to a pin. So for the rest of the round I tried to create that feeling and hit some really nice shots with no loss of distance and more consistency in the strike and direction.

Chatted to my coach later and we discussed how the driver is not about hitting a pre-determined distance rather than getting the most you can out of the club. Irons are about swinging within yourself and discovering then hitting the required distance rather than getting the maximum yardage from it.

It works for me :thup:
 
Most high handicappers swing back too fast, thus swaying back, losing their balance and making it difficult to transfer their weight.
 
I am a high handicapper and I hit my 7 iron about 160-170 the key thing for me which i have been working on is my backswing. I believe many high handicappers feel they need to swing the backswing fast to hit it far and by doing this they the swing off plan and dont hit the sweet spot losing distance.
that's just my theory nothing wrong with trying to get the most distance possible out of your shots
 
for me its all about the smoothness of the swing, unfortunately I tend to go after the ball rather than trusting my swing, this results in my hips taking over and voila... a crap shot

the best shots are the ones that feel effortless, alas, these are few and far between
 
Are high handicappers losing out by hitting the ball too hard?



Definately says Fragger

Im having much better strikes by slowing it down, concentrating on the flow and tempo of the shot

If I lash at it, 1 in 20 might be a sunday best, but the rest goes to rat poo
 
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