My Winter dilemma

[HawkeyeMS]

It's been a good year golfing wise, the best of my life but now I've reached my single figure target my thoughts have turned to what I need to do to get lower. The two issues I have with my game which are really going to start holding me back are my long irons and my short game.

My problem shot with my 3 & 4 irons is a block fade to the right. 3 of our par 3s need a long iron and the approach to the 7th and 16th the same and it is the shot that has consistently caused me trouble all year.

The problem with the short game is I don't get up and down often enough on the longer chips.

The long iron shot bugs me, I hate it and I really want to fix it but I don't want to completely ruin the rest of my game to fix it. I'm gonna speak to the pro up the club and maybe get him to see what he thinks I need to do to fix it.

My dilemma is, do I have lessons to fix the annoying long iron or spend some time working on my short game so I get up and down more often to compensate for the missed greens. I don't have time to do both.

What would you do?

 

[needmoreclub]

Work on the short game, that's the main difference between us highish single figure gents and the low guys, they are up and down every time, and after you've improved your short game you can get to work on your long game knowing you can still get it round with your improved short game. Just my tuppence worth mate.

 

[Hendo007]

Yeah I agree work on the Short game, especially over the winter, You will learn more about your short game than your long game during the winter weather.

I struggled also with my longer irons as my course is quite short and they are shots that I seldome use. However I believe I've turned a corner here too and I've not changed anything Just started taking a 4 iron off a few tees now and again and built up a bit of confidence. Once you master that one the rest will fall into place.

 

[fundy]

Assuming your sig is correct and you carry 3 wood then 3 iron, theres probably a fairly decent argument to trying to fix the long iron problems by adding a hybrid to your bag (i assume you may well have tried this and reverted back to the 3 iron?)

Spending the time on short game always seems the right option, personally would like to do this winter but ultimately dont have the best of facilities to do so. Also tend to find that winter conditions are so different to summer ones for the short game that winter short game practise isnt as rewarding as you'd like it to be once the ground firms right up again next summer

 

[splashtryagain]

What shape do the rest of your shots fly with? Are u standing too close to the ball and having to adjust to get the clubhead on track? Are you not turning your wrists over and trying to steer it? Have u tried a hybrid - they are hook machines.

Tinker with the long irons/hybrid over winter but put in some serious short game work if you want to get lower.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Fundy, yes tried the hybrid route and have the same issue with that, I put the 3i back in a couple of weeks ago to see if that was any more consistent but it is, as expected, the swing that's the issue.

Splashtryagain, I tend to hit the ball straight with my other clubs, there doesn't tend to be much shape at all, a bit of a fade with my driver and 3W on occasion but straight all in all.

 

[bobmac]

With your long irons it may help if you focus more on your swing tempo. That may help improve the direction and stop that blcok/fade

 

[sev112]

There is a great story (which is presumably true) in Dave Pelz's Short Game Bible
Trying to persuade one of his players to add an extra wedge by taking out a 2 iron, the Pro said he couldnt do without his 2 iron - what woudl he do whenever he faced a 2 iron distance>
Pelz agreed an experiment with him - over a period of Pro Ams for 6 weeks, whenever faced with a 2 iron shot, the Pro would use his 6 iron !!
At the end of the experiment Pelz showed that his stats for those shots were 0.25 of a shot better off by playing a 6 iron than playing the 2 iron. The key point was that the typical distance a 2 iron missed the target put the ball in trouble (bunkers, water etc) whereas the 6 iron lay up to a good lie meant that the Pro got up and down more often.

So, i wonder whether it is actually distance that you might need - it might be that you would be better off making sure your misses at that distance don't cause you lost shots, which to me means picking a sensible shot whenever you are 200 yards out - go for it if the penalty isnt severe, but play a more sensible and conservative shot if the green is surrounded by trouble

 

[Philm]

in my opinion, have a look at the long iron swing, common fault when you hit a few bad ones with a particular club is to try to do something strange to "fix" the unknown issue this leads to a complete meltdown mentally when you lift said club/clubs, which results in the situation...

200 to the back, 3iron in hand, crap i cant hit this, and with that in mind ofcourse you cant hit it.

160 to the back, 7iron in hand, i can do this sure ive hit this well for years, and chances are... good swing.

so have someone take a look at how you play your long irons, and equally important how that differs from how you play, say a 5iron.

also im my opinion i wouldnt spend all winter worrying about long irons. after all you have already said it only affects two or three holes at your course. the short game practice will impact not only the holes that you struggle with long irons but ever other hole where you miss a green on the way round.

Phil

 

[jammag]

Where exactly do you need to play these shots is it when for example your going for a par 5 in 2 so reach for the 3 or 4 iron or do you have some long par 4s that require you to use this club? What I have found is just trying to play the hole differently if it is a par 5 for example take the lay up route or if it is a long par 4 generally the strok eindex will be high so you get the extra shot anyway as back up.

 

[Region3]

I'd say short game will you do your scores more good.

I'd also agree with the point about tempo mentioned above. Time after time I'll hit a rubbish 3 or 4 iron and realise I've tried to hit it too hard, thinking that I have to do that to get the ball up.

 

[Imurg]

I'd say short game will you do your scores more good.

I'd also agree with the point about tempo mentioned above. Time after time I'll hit a rubbish 3 or 4 iron and realise I've tried to hit it too hard, thinking that I have to do that to get the ball up.

Tell me.....

Been there, done it, got fed up wearing the flippin' T-Shirt.
Apart from the odd sway now and again, Tempo is the biggest killer of my game. Swing it smooth and my Fli-Hi 4 iron goes 200 bullet straight. Try and hit the ball and I'll get 150 - sideways!!

Work on the tempo - there was a thread on here a few days back with some ideas. You can work on the tempo when you're out playing and then work on the short game during practice time.

 

[SatchFan]

Had a similar issue myself but decided that as I was just as likely to miss the green with a 7 iron as a 3 I would save far more strokes by sorting out my short game. Time well spent in the end and the fact that I was more confident at getting the ball close more consistently from 50 yards in took the pressure off the 3 iron shots.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Thanks for the comments guys. I kind of knew short game would be the answer and I know that has to improve. The long iron thing really bugs me though. I just love hitting great iron shots and I do hit some good shots with my long sticks but for every great one I hit, I'll block two out to the right and I hate it and I really want to fix it.

I don't conciously think I'm going to hit a bad shot but I guess it's possible I get a bit tense and quick on it. I think I'll give it some time and try to work on my tempo while putting some work in on the short game.

I don't go with the laying up with a shorter club theory. I can see the sense in it but to me that's avoiding the issue. I don't expect to hit the green every time with a 3i but I do expect to miss it be less. I also don't go with the thing about having the shot on a shot hole as backup. Shots are Irrelevent in anything other than matchplay. As far as I'm concerned, to play to my h'cap I can only drop 9 shots a round, which holes I drop them on is meaningless. Aim to par every hole is my goal.

Anyway , thanks for the input, I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Thanks for the comments guys. I kind of knew short game would be the answer and I know that has to improve. The long iron thing really bugs me though. I just love hitting great iron shots and I do hit some good shots with my long sticks but for every great one I hit, I'll block two out to the right and I hate it and I really want to fix it.

I don't conciously think I'm going to hit a bad shot but I guess it's possible I get a bit tense and quick on it. I think I'll give it some time and try to work on my tempo while putting some work in on the short game.

I don't go with the laying up with a shorter club theory. I can see the sense in it but to me that's avoiding the issue. I don't expect to hit the green every time with a 3i but I do expect to miss it be less. I also don't go with the thing about having the shot on a shot hole as backup. Shots are Irrelevent in anything other than matchplay. As far as I'm concerned, to play to my h'cap I can only drop 9 shots a round, which holes I drop them on is meaningless. Aim to par every hole is my goal.

Anyway , thanks for the input, I'll let you know how it goes.

Mike

Having been able to watch from close hand your magnificent run towards single figures I don't think there is too much wrong with the game and that you are worrying unnecessarily. I have to say I thought you were more consistent with the hybrid and perhaps have just lost confidence with it. Perhaps a lesson on that may help or what about trying some of the other out there. Perhaps the R11 may suit as you can adjust it.

As for your short game you are definitely being uber critical and have obviously been hanging around me and my black cloud of despondancy too long. You have a very functional short game and think if you kept stats for a few weeks would find that your up and down % is pretty good. Certainly you seem to hole out from 6 feet with regularity and so if you chip and putt to that range and walk away with par who cares (you'll have to go some to beat my 5 straight up and downs yesterday though).

The swing seems very solid and repeats and I fear the problem lies between your ears and not on the course. Nothing wrong with getting a swing MOT although for my money I reckon you'd be better off going to the guy at Hoebridge who got you on the path to 9 rather than using Ali as he'll know your game better and he clearly knows how to get you to do what is necessary. Not too much work on your game before the Winter knockout though if you don't mind