Longer irons and hybrids

[YamiKuriboh]

I can't seem to hit the things.

Driver is perfect.

SW/PW and irons 9-7 fly straight and true very easily.
Put a 5 iron in my hand and I am topping it like crazy. I've experimented putting the ball in the same position and even slightly more forward in my stance. Hasn't made any difference. Anyone experienced this before? Seem to have the same issue with hybrids - I can't hit them at all.

My hybrid is a callway heavenwood 3 hybrid. Haven't been able to hit the thing since I bought it!

 

[Orikoru]

Length off the deck is my weak point as well. Struggle with the 5 iron, have been improving lately but still chunk it into the floor every now and then, or top it. Struggle with my 4 hybrid as well, although I've worked out lately that shortening my backswing slightly has pushed the successful hit rate a bit higher - prior to that though it was going left, right, everywhere.

I'm on the look out for a new fairway wood at the moment but that'll probably be even worse.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Sounds very familiar. My longest iron is a 7. I have two hybrids and a 5 wood and have varying degrees of success or hatred for each of them. Gave up on longer irons some time ago. I have the odd lesson just on hybrids, hit it like a dream and then go back to normal soon after . I'm waiting for the Cobra One Length irons to drop heavily in price .

You are certainly not alone.

 

[xcore]

Need to move the low point of your swing forward

 

[Papas1982]

I always found myself trying to hit (hard) anything above a 6 iron. Almost as though subconsciously I accept 6 iron and below is about target golf but longer than that is all about distance.

Have started swinging woods and hybrids hybrids slower and seems to have improved. Not lost much distance compared to the best I hit before as I expect I'm hitting them better than before.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Papas, very wise post. Do you find you are desperately holding back an inner urge to smash the hell out of it? I'm going out for 9 holes on my own in about half an hour. I am going to try my best to hit my hybrid like my 9 iron, no matter how painful it will feel.

 

[YamiKuriboh]

Hmm might have a point. i tend to reach for my longer irons when i've fallen a bit short of the green with my drive. I was hoping for a nice 120-140 yards but something has gone wrong and I am more like 160-180 out eeek!

That leads to a top/thin and I still need a decent wedge afterwards.

 

[Papas1982]

Papas, very wise post. Do you find you are desperately holding back an inner urge to smash the hell out of it? I'm going out for 9 holes on my own in about half an hour. I am going to try my best to hit my hybrid like my 9 iron, no matter how painful it will feel.

I did at first. Not now as I've seen the benefits.

I honestly feel like I'm nit accelerating until my hands are pretty much back along side my body and it's just the final turn where pace is gathered. All about feeling I'm swinging accurately before giving a little speed.

Tbf have done done the same with lower irons too now as for the sake of 5 yards I felt I preferred the control.

If ever I accelerate immediately from the start of the backswing I can feel it's all wrong and a straight shot is more luck than judgement.

 

[Papas1982]

Hmm might have a point. i tend to reach for my longer irons when i've fallen a bit short of the green with my drive. I was hoping for a nice 120-140 yards but something has gone wrong and I am more like 160-180 out eeek!

That leads to a top/thin and I still need a decent wedge afterwards.

The mid-long range for me is where I think I need to work on most. I think most of us are ok with mid irons, and accept that if we have a wood in our hands then getting there or there about will do. But hitting target from 150 plus is where I feel I can improve most from.

 

[Face breaker]

Length off the deck is my weak point as well. Struggle with the 5 iron, have been improving lately but still chunk it into the floor every now and then, or top it. Struggle with my 4 hybrid as well, although I've worked out lately that shortening my backswing slightly has pushed the successful hit rate a bit higher - prior to that though it was going left, right, everywhere.

I'm on the look out for a new fairway wood at the moment but that'll probably be even worse.

I was on the same mission as you a few weeks back (a new fairway/5-wood) until I spoke to our pro who advised otherwise, woods are fine out of kept rough but will bounce to much out on the fairways especially at this time of year...

I even put it to the test and he was rite, it's the back of the sole that grounds out and not the leading edge as many believe it to be which is why you get that low/slicey/topping thing going on...

Just my opinion though, you may feel different...

 

[the_coach]

I can't seem to hit the things.

Driver is perfect.

SW/PW and irons 9-7 fly straight and true very easily.
Put a 5 iron in my hand and I am topping it like crazy. I've experimented putting the ball in the same position and even slightly more forward in my stance. Hasn't made any difference. Anyone experienced this before? Seem to have the same issue with hybrids - I can't hit them at all.

My hybrid is a callway heavenwood 3 hybrid. Haven't been able to hit the thing since I bought it!

are some of these tops with the longer irons goin a ways leftfield along the ground as well as some straight-ish along the ground ?

when you take your grip hold with the trail hand (the bottom hand) is this hand a good ways under the handle so palm would be facing more upwards some with the thumb along the trail part - back part of the handle ?

 

[Orikoru]

I was on the same mission as you a few weeks back (a new fairway/5-wood) until I spoke to our pro who advised otherwise, woods are fine out of kept rough but will bounce to much out on the fairways especially at this time of year...

I even put it to the test and he was rite, it's the back of the sole that grounds out and not the leading edge as many believe it to be which is why you get that low/slicey/topping thing going on...

Just my opinion though, you may feel different...

Yeah I just wanted to try some out because I've actually never had a good fairway wood. My current woods are from an old school starter set, a bit higher profile as if they were only meant to be hit off a tee. What I'm thinking is a very low profile one like an Adams Tight Lies or something like that - around 17° preferably. Next payday I'll be back down AG trying out their second hand stuff. (I also want it for use off the tee though, for those holes where you need to lay up a little bit shorter than driver distance.)

 

[duncan mackie]

I can't seem to hit the things.

Driver is perfect.

SW/PW and irons 9-7 fly straight and true very easily.
Put a 5 iron in my hand and I am topping it like crazy. I've experimented putting the ball in the same position and even slightly more forward in my stance. Hasn't made any difference. Anyone experienced this before? Seem to have the same issue with hybrids - I can't hit them at all.

My hybrid is a callway heavenwood 3 hybrid. Haven't been able to hit the thing since I bought it!

Take all he clubs except the pw 5i and hybrid out of the bag, return the putter providing it promises to behave....

Now play at least 3 full rounds with only these clubs.

Key points are that you will no longer only take them out of the bag because nothing else will make the shot required - you will start to see them for what they are and what they can do. In fact you will frequently have to use them for what they aren't the right club at all - it all helps the process.

It will also help enormously with course management in the future (but thats another thing)

 

[the_coach]

I can't seem to hit the things.

Driver is perfect.

SW/PW and irons 9-7 fly straight and true very easily.
Put a 5 iron in my hand and I am topping it like crazy. I've experimented putting the ball in the same position and even slightly more forward in my stance. Hasn't made any difference. Anyone experienced this before? Seem to have the same issue with hybrids - I can't hit them at all.

My hybrid is a callway heavenwood 3 hybrid. Haven't been able to hit the thing since I bought it!

maybes OP you didn't see the earlier post (#11) & the Q's - or maybes you couldn't see how the questions relate to what's happening with the longer irons issues ... but this is why the Q's asked

often times folks top or thin longer irons/hybrids/metals off of the ground & some of these 'tops' can often times be very heel strike contact so not real cold tops but strikes off of the left side of the hosel which can go leftfield sometimes straight-ish - but this stuff all tends to happen for similar reasons

playing into it is the grip hold with the trail hand (sometimes lead hand also) a good ways strong which will always de-loft the face angle with a longer iron or hybrid with bunch less loft than a 7i 8i etc - instinctively the brain works out that to get any loft at all to get the ball airborne the body has to move in a particular ways

so early in the downswing the upper body & hips move back aways from the ball target line which straightens the body & legs more upright to try to keep balance
& also the upper body leans/tilts back away from target

so the hips can be square - or maybes open some as they should - but they have moves aways from the ball/target line & with the upper body also tilting aways from target at the same time - the shoulders are pretty square on to closed with the lead shoulder a real bunch higher than the trail shoulder
tend to have too much weight on the trail leg

all this moves the 'low point' of the swings arc a good deal nearer opposite of the trail foot so even a good 10" to 12" behind the ball (low point with irons need to be a tad in-front of target said of the ball

meanwhile the arms to try to deliver some loft are moving in to out & aways from the body so having a high hands/handle & more vertical shaft into impact

all this has created the perfect motion to hit above the equator of the ball with the leading edge or even the left side of the hosel

with the big stick as the ball is up on the tee & a good ways forwards in the stance you can have 'low point' a ways too far behind the ball & more or less miss the ground to get to the ball to put a kinda decent strike on the ball

& with the 7i & above there's just enough loft on the club faec to instinctively not have to lean back so much & deliver a high hands/handle with vertical shaft so as to why the strikes with this clubs tend not to be so much worrisome

 

[big_matt]

Ive never been able to hit hybrids. Its a mental thing - just dont like the look of them behind the ball.

Hit my long irons well for a mid handicapper - love hitting 3,4,5 iron.

I think lots of people try and hit the longer irons too hard. The green is 200 odd yards away so you try and smash the 5 iron instead of swinging it like you would a 9. I also think people look up too soon to see where the ball is going because there is more to go wrong than with wedge etc.

 

[the_coach]

take a look at this vid ... it could be a good bunch of help to you if you get the drift of the stuff & ideas that could help some in practice

here are the start timing points on the vid relative to the issue - the whole vid is some kinda vlog - the timings refer to the issues that often tend to cause what you describe as problematic

1st skip to 1:50 in & run - then next in point is at 2:35 in playing to 4:55 - next in at 7:59 play to 9:25 - next in 9:45 play to 11:16

if you can work all this stuff through into regular practice it should help a bunch

if the ball from good middle of the face starts to go leftfield straight or hook left some

that's not the drills or 'new' moves/feels being wrong that's about the position of the hands on the handle either the trail hand still too 'under' the handle so too strong
&/or the lead hand rotated on the handle too much clockwise so can see all the knuckles of the lead hand at address along with the whole glove logo as you look down - so one or both hands would need rotating counterclockwise to put the trail thumb more on the top of the grip & see around only 2 to 2&1/2 knuckles on the lead hand

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