Irons off the tee

[Mattyj3nks]

Afternoon all,

Im fairly new to playing golf, have recently purchased my first set of brand new irons and a Nike Covert driver to go with them.

I have had a lesson to try and eliminate my slice when using my driver or 4 hybrid club.

But i just cant seem to hit irons off the tee which is a major problem on par 3's when there are water hazards or ditches infront of the green.
When i make contact with the ball it just doesnt feel right at all, kind of feels like i am slapping the ball.
The ball just seems to fly off left or right but never straight, doesnt feel like i have any control over it at all.


Anyone ever had this or have any tips on how to cure it?

All my local driving ranges have mats with big thick tees so that doesnt help and there are no fields to use which i could go and hit some balls in.

I am playing 2 courses next weekend which both have alot of water around them so i am honestly dreading up as i feel like i will have to lay up on par 3's which just seems hideous.

Any help is much appreciated

Thanks
Matt

 

[IanG]

If the problem only appears when you put the ball on a tee peg, then simply play it from the grass. There is no requirement to use a tee peg on the tee area.

 

[rob_golf1]

Try slowing things down to gain more control over your shots. I feel this always help if I'm not hitting the ball to the standard I would like to!

 

[duncan mackie]

it's much more important to keep your hands ahead of the club head with irons, to get a decent strike (tee or no tee)

it's very easy to get into bad habits when starting and (correctly) sweeping your driver or hybid (less correctly but you will get away with it) from the tee. these can be fueled from playing off mats as well (difficult to hit down through many mats (even a few mm).

you will get the hang of it

 

[ScienceBoy]

Are you trying to hit up on the ball or sweep it? I have seen that a few times. I hit my best iron tee shots not for distance but by teeing up and just hitting down on them as normal. You can tee the ball relatively high and hit down on it to result in a decent shot, you don't need to tee it right to the earth.

Avoid the old leaning back to "help" it up and follow the good advice above about the hands.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I'm afraid the answer is obvious if you are new to the game......book some lessons! The sooner you learn the right things the quicker you will progress.

:thup:

 

[kikouno]

Just a beginner myself but when I find my shots going everywhere but straight I practice a few pitch shots at a slower swing speed, let's say swing from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock. Once I get my confidence back up and the shots are going straight I then increase the swing size and speed.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Get a lesson. The pro will sort it out in minutes and you'll stand on the tee on a par 3 with confidence and that really is a lot of the battle

 

[Conman85]

Agree get a lesson!

But does sound like you may not be pressing your hands forward at address.

 

[garyinderry]

hit it off the ground. I rarely use any foreign objects under my ball on the tee!

 

[London mike 61]

As others have said , it could be that you are not leaning your shaft forward ( also known as a forward press ) but your ball position could also be part of the problem.

Here is a video that may help; http://m.videojug.com/film/the-correct-ball-position-for-an-efficient-golf-swing

EYG

 

[woody69]

If you are slapping the ball it suggests you are perhaps hitting it a little thin or on the upswing and almost sweeping the ball like you would with a driver etc. Go back to basics, grip and stance/ball position. It could be a number of things, but a good place to start would be ball position. How do you do when you hit an iron off the fairway? If you tend to hit them OK, try to just replicate that set up. As others have said, a pro will literally be able to sort you out in about 2 minutes.