Yardage/Gap Testing Tonight

[Wolf]

6 iron: honestly it just feels like crap to swing for some reason. I always used to rack my brains thinking what is so different between that and the 7 iron which I hit fairly well. My irons are fairly strong in loft so the 6 is 26° while the 7 is 30°.... so in a lot of sets that 6 iron would be a 5 iron perhaps. Eventually I just gave up and sacked it off, getting the 27° 5-hybrid instead.

3 hybrid: you have to look at the numbers in more detail for that. There were two early duffed ones at 130-something bringing the average down. Obviously with the longer clubs I'm less consistent - but once warmed up I hit a few of the 3H in the 190s whereas the 4H was firmly in the 170s on the good strikes.

Makes sense on both counts for you to drop the 6 iron then, sometimes stronger lofts aren't always helpful.

As I said with the hybrids i only glanced the average figures ao probably is your inconsistency but overall shows good idea of where you can improve and that will only help you to lower your handicap..

 

[Orikoru]

I'm no trackman expert. I could have this completely wrong but I believe the bit where it says low point and and figure followed by a B is how many inches you hit behind the ball.

I dont know if that was explained to you.

Number one thing to improve would be try to move that low point forward. Easier said than done.

No he didn't explain what that number was. That makes sense as I know out on the course I don't really get a lot of divots, I tend to hit the ball clean so the low point would be right where the ball is or just before, rather than after it.

 

[Orikoru]

Makes sense on both counts for you to drop the 6 iron then, sometimes stronger lofts aren't always helpful.

As I said with the hybrids i only glanced the average figures ao probably is your inconsistency but overall shows good idea of where you can improve and that will only help you to lower your handicap..

Maybe a swingspeed thing, as you can see the numbers don't lie and I'm not the quickest, which makes it hard to launch the stronger lofter irons, and easier with hybrids.

 

[Wolf]

Maybe a swingspeed thing, as you can see the numbers don't lie and I'm not the quickest, which makes it hard to launch the stronger lofter irons, and easier with hybrids.

Mate whatever works best for you is all that matters.. People get to hung up on what they hit, as long as it works for you it's all about enjoying the game.

 

[Orikoru]

Mate whatever works best for you is all that matters.. People get to hung up on what they hit, as long as it works for you it's all about enjoying the game.

Yeah, don't worry, I came to that realisation long ago! Long irons used to give me a headache so I sacked them off.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I dropped the 4 and 5 irons for equivalent hybrids about 6 weeks ago (mainly on the advice of a couple of the forum members). Best decision I've made in ages. Hitting so many more par 3's or getting much closer to the greens and far more consistent out of wet semi-rough. I still have a 3 hybrid in which has always been a little inconsistent but even that has got better. Definitely worth looking at. I got mine 2nd hand off Golfbidder (5H still in cellophane) and you could even think about a 6H if that club gives you so much grief

 

[Coffey]

I am no expert but there are a few things I would look at.

As Gary mentioned, hitting everything behind the ball would be a good place to start. A nice drill is putting a towel behind the ball at the range and trying not to hit the towel, start with it quite far back and then move it forward as you improve.

The next thing would be the angle of attack. The driver is perfect with hitting 5 up at the ball (would be interesting to see your spin number). But irons should be a negative attack angle, seems like because you are hitting behind the ball you are now on your way up again which would explain the clean hits you are getting (known from experience of my own game).

Your path is pretty neutral which is really good but your face control is a little all over the place, some negative and some positive which is causing the left and right miss.

The drive which went longer is hard to tell without the spin number, but i would hazard a guess is that it was a good strike, good launch angle, and your fastest swing. Just shows you that it is in there.

Did your distances surprise you?

 

[Orikoru]

Did your distances surprise you?

No I don't think so. I still need to pick through the data properly, but the good strikes were roughly where I thought I was on total distance. There were a couple of clubs I wasn't sure on before, and once I look at the numbers I might get a different 5H and/or maybe change a couple of wedges around. One thing I never knew before was actual carry distances, which will be useful if I can remember them going forward.

 

[Wolf]

No I don't think so. I still need to pick through the data properly, but the good strikes were roughly where I thought I was on total distance. There were a couple of clubs I wasn't sure on before, and once I look at the numbers I might get a different 5H and/or maybe change a couple of wedges around. One thing I never knew before was actual carry distances, which will be useful if I can remember them going forward.

Write your carry distances down and keep them in your bag or somewhere. I have mine written down and keep them in my score card holder.

 

[Springveldt]

Ask the pro/fitter if he created you a Trackman account as you will be able to log in there and see more detail like your spin numbers etc.

From a quick glance your driver path and attack angle are really good, just need to control the face a bit more. As someone else pointed out your biggest issue with your irons is the angle of attack and hitting behind the ball. Do you find that a lot of your misses are left pulls? I was getting that issue when I was too shallow as I was hitting behind the ball, the club face was closing and I was pulling everything left.

When you start hitting down on it more it will feel like you are just smacking the club straight into the ground at first but you will start to feel better impact with the ball and your ball flight will be lower.

I'd start practicing with a towel behind the ball and trying not to hit it. Another couple of drills I do are putting a tee on the ground a few inches in front of the ball and trying to hit the ball then tee. Final one is just move the ball about 3 inches up in my stance, take a normal address so my club is 3 inches behind the ball then make a swing and try and hit the ball straight.

 

[Orikoru]

Ask the pro/fitter if he created you a Trackman account as you will be able to log in there and see more detail like your spin numbers etc.

From a quick glance your driver path and attack angle are really good, just need to control the face a bit more. As someone else pointed out your biggest issue with your irons is the angle of attack and hitting behind the ball. Do you find that a lot of your misses are left pulls? I was getting that issue when I was too shallow as I was hitting behind the ball, the club face was closing and I was pulling everything left.

When you start hitting down on it more it will feel like you are just smacking the club straight into the ground at first but you will start to feel better impact with the ball and your ball flight will be lower.

I'd start practicing with a towel behind the ball and trying not to hit it. Another couple of drills I do are putting a tee on the ground a few inches in front of the ball and trying to hit the ball then tee. Final one is just move the ball about 3 inches up in my stance, take a normal address so my club is 3 inches behind the ball then make a swing and try and hit the ball straight.

I'm sure I've had to create a Trackman account to even access the report. But all there is is that PDF report to download. Maybe he took spin numbers off the display beforehand? Not sure.

No, I wouldn't say I have a big problem with left pulls. Only the occasional one. I was a little surprised how many went left on the trackman as I didn't think that was an issue I had. More often it's getting too much fade. I have always struggled hitting down on the ball, as you say it felt like I'm just sticking it in the ground, especially as my swing isn't hard or fast so I don't really cut through the turf taking a divot, the club just hits the turf and dies, lol.

I might try the towel thing as two of you have now mentioned it, but I don't really go to the driving range or anything so I'm not really sure when. Something to think about anyway.

 

[Curls]

There's no chance you play your irons too far forward in your stance is there? It would seem if you moved the ball back an inch or two it'd be at the bottom of your swing, as long as you're not on soggy ground the bounce will assist you in making decent contact. I agree with the previous posts though, you should try to work on a better angle of attack and getting the ball out of the middle consistently, that's when you close the (front to back) dispersion gap and can really trust you carry distances on the course. But setting up some alignment sticks and video yourself from side-on, you might be playing that ball much further forward than you think ("feel and real" and all that).

 

[Lord Tyrion]

You do realise you will be expelled from the forum with those distances .

Interesting numbers and the 6 iron one in particular is one I can relate to. I have one in my bag but I am not sure why still. I bring it out every so often, hit it badly and then don't use it again. I need to bite the bullet and take it out permanently. I largely know my numbers but I am tempted to go to one of the indoor rooms we have up here now and do something similar just to confirm the weaknesses and put some numbers next to them. I have a number of lesson vouchers from Christmas and it is something I could use with the pro as a tool.

Thanks for posting.

 

[Coffey]

I'm sure I've had to create a Trackman account to even access the report. But all there is is that PDF report to download. Maybe he took spin numbers off the display beforehand? Not sure.

No, I wouldn't say I have a big problem with left pulls. Only the occasional one. I was a little surprised how many went left on the trackman as I didn't think that was an issue I had. More often it's getting too much fade. I have always struggled hitting down on the ball, as you say it felt like I'm just sticking it in the ground, especially as my swing isn't hard or fast so I don't really cut through the turf taking a divot, the club just hits the turf and dies, lol.

I might try the towel thing as two of you have now mentioned it, but I don't really go to the driving range or anything so I'm not really sure when. Something to think about anyway.

When you hit it fat using a mat the face closes and the ball will go left, this is something doesn't happen as much when outside as the club actually enters the ground.

The towel drill works so well, makes me fully focus on the strike and you get instant feedback.

Curls makes a good point around ball position. But remember this could also change your path, if you move it too far back you may find you are now coming from the inside as its now earlier on the arc, but its hard to say without seeing it in action.

Having the path control is a brilliant place to start and now with the numbers you can clearly see where the issues are.

 

[User20204]

Mate whatever works best for you is all that matters...

Never a truer word, whatever works.

 

[Orikoru]

There's no chance you play your irons too far forward in your stance is there? It would seem if you moved the ball back an inch or two it'd be at the bottom of your swing, as long as you're not on soggy ground the bounce will assist you in making decent contact. I agree with the previous posts though, you should try to work on a better angle of attack and getting the ball out of the middle consistently, that's when you close the (front to back) dispersion gap and can really trust you carry distances on the course. But setting up some alignment sticks and video yourself from side-on, you might be playing that ball much further forward than you think ("feel and real" and all that).

I play all my irons (and hybrids) with the ball in the middle of my stance. Find it easier not to mess about with it. Could maybe go back an inch though and see if that helps.

 

[Deleted member 21258]

Never seen the report you have, interesting reading. You have a fairly good path figure normally, far better than mine.

The numbers show the inconsistently that your handicap reflects:-

Low point behind the ball
Face control all over the place
Positive angle of attack

Two of them(1 & 3) , probably can be sorted out by focusing on grazing the grass after the ball (not a divot but just grazing it, works for my wife/mum who both have very low /positive figures for AOA), so you get a more sweeping motion with a better release and contact and flight.

A more consistent Face number/control, without a swing change, best of luck if I knew the secret I would play better myself (for me I need to improve my arm downswing path to get rid of high hands at impact, son has been doing it and his face was all over the place and in a few weeks the monitor figures show it as fairly quiet/consistent)

I assume you suffer with fats or/and thins/tops on the course ?

 

[Orikoru]

Never seen the report you have, interesting reading. You have a fairly good path figure normally, far better than mine.

The numbers show the inconsistently that your handicap reflects:-

Low point behind the ball
Face control all over the place
Positive angle of attack

Two of them(1 & 3) , probably can be sorted out by focusing on grazing the grass after the ball (not a divot but just grazing it, works for my wife/mum who both have very low /positive figures for AOA), so you get a more sweeping motion with a better release and contact and flight.

A more consistent Face number/control, without a swing change, best of luck if I knew the secret I would play better myself (for me I need to improve my arm downswing path to get rid of high hands at impact, son has been doing it and his face was all over the place and in a few weeks the monitor figures show it as fairly quiet/consistent)

I assume you suffer with fats or/and thins/tops on the course ?

More thins yeah. Even decent shots can be a fraction thin. Not so much fats, but occasional. I don't really top it with irons, but with the hybrids sometimes yes.

 

[HampshireHog]

Never seen one of these before, interesting reading.

I’m impressed with the number of wedges you have in your bag and how far you hit a 60 degree wedge.

I’d think about adding a 3w I’m about the same as you with a driver but I definitely get more with a 3w than you get with a 3 hybrid and all your irons are longer than mine.

 

[Orikoru]

Never seen one of these before, interesting reading.

I’m impressed with the number of wedges you have in your bag and how far you hit a 60 degree wedge.

I’d think about adding a 3w I’m about the same as you with a driver but I definitely get more with a 3w than you get with a 3 hybrid and all your irons are longer than mine.

I did note that I didn't actually hit a 60° - I just used that for some half swings with other wedges. When you change club you have to select from the list of available clubs so I just picked one I wasn't going to use otherwise.

I had a 3 wood that I've literally just taken out of the bag and put up on ebay. Decided I don't like fairway woods - I tended to slice it more than any other club and couldn't hit it off the deck either so it was pointless. I'm planning to pick up a TM GAPR Hi as replacement. Tried it on a free fitting sesh last month and liked it.