Iron distances

[shovellover]

That pretty much sounds like what I am doing with my wedges. All too often it seems like I get under them too much and scoop.
Thanks I will try your tip out tomorrow.

Try the duffel bag drill.

Pick up a duffel bag or large heavy box & pretend you're trying to throw it down the hallway. If you lean back, or scoop, it won't go very far. If you follow through, or get your weight on front foot, it will go far.

It took me weeks to work this into my swing. I went from a 200 yd 3wd to an easy 230-240 avg now. Plus now my sw is homing in on 100yds.

Do you find yourself taking not much in the way of a divot?

[Golfbum]

Try the duffel bag drill.

Pick up a duffel bag or large heavy box & pretend you're trying to throw it down the hallway. If you lean back, or scoop, it won't go very far. If you follow through, or get your weight on front foot, it will go far.

It took me weeks to work this into my swing. I went from a 200 yd 3wd to an easy 230-240 avg now. Plus now my sw is homing in on 100yds.

Do you find yourself taking not much in the way of a divot?

Great idea! Will a medicine ball work and have the wife catch it?

Seriously though, one thing the PRO told me he wanted to see in every swing I made last summer was all the the SPIKES on my right foot after I finished. You can not do that if you do not follow through properly.

In reality the wedges are meant to be scoring clubs, not ones you pound for big yardages. Control the flight and distance of your wedges and your scores are coming down.

Ask Tiger, he sure learned how to do it! Remember when he came out on tour, his yardages were all over the place. Not now, he controls his distance better than anyone on tour. That guy is pin high most of the time. Might be the reason he just won two Majors this summer and 5 tournaments this year and it is not the end of August yet.

[Hacker]

... Might be the reason he just won two Majors this summer and 5 tournaments this year and it is not the end of August yet.

Really?!?

I thought it was because he was super lucky combined with the fact that he has no competition

[Started2k3]

Try the duffel bag drill.

Pick up a duffel bag or large heavy box & pretend you're trying to throw it down the hallway. If you lean back, or scoop, it won't go very far. If you follow through, or get your weight on front foot, it will go far.

It took me weeks to work this into my swing. I went from a 200 yd 3wd to an easy 230-240 avg now. Plus now my sw is homing in on 100yds.

Do you find yourself taking not much in the way of a divot?

Judging by Daft_driver's previous post on club lengths, I would say that weight shift is not really a problem for most of the clubs.

But Daft's problem is with the wedges, so I think when he tries to slow down to a "controlled/smooth" swing may be messing up his timing/weight shift.

A variant of the drill you present may help him. Take the duffle bag and tie a rope to the handles and place the other end of the rope under the back foot (heel to make sure that it lifts up). (Note the rope is not tied to the back foot, that is only funny when the coyote does it. ) Instead of trying to launch the bag down a hall way, he would try to have a controlled 10ft throw (short distance). If he doesn't lift the back heel in time the bag will stop dead. This would promote a smooth swing with a proper weight shift.

Note: I have not seen (and may not ever see) Daft's swing. Observations based only on conjecture.

[Started2k3]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]In reality the wedges are meant to be scoring clubs, not ones you pound for big yardages. Control the flight and distance of your wedges and your scores are coming down.

I agree with you 100%.

But what club and swing would you suggest Daft_driver use from 100yds to the pin?
Severely light PW? Or try to squeese an extra 15yds out of his 51° wedge?

I would suggest fixing the swing so that every gap is more managable than 50-65yds! Maybe this is what Tiger did.

I would also make sure that the club lofts are correct.

[Txxxxxxx]

Biting tongue..........

AHHA!! I know you want to. Just DOOOOOOOOOO IT!!

[Txxxxxxx]

We'll give it one shot to get back on topic. If the personal attacks continue the thread will have to be closed. But let's see if we can't get back to talking about iron distances regardless of how long or short people hit them.

It never went off topic really. The replies were still about distances.

[Corkscrew]

No. The shaft is not a factor in how far you hit the ball.

With an approximate 10 yard difference in distance between clubs your 9 should go about 130 and the PW, 120. I would have the lofts checked to ensure a consistent 4* difference between each. Frequently, too, I see golfers with the shorter, more upright clubs, come over the top and lose some of the wrist kock, thereby losing a little distance.

I completely agree that a lot of golfers, when using short irons, use a different posture than what they use for longer clubs to "reach down" to address the ball. This "reaching" causes the back to bend forward, the wrists to pop up and lose the bottom wrist curve, the knees to stiffen, and the head to move forward toward the ball. This causes any number of flaws including standing the clubhead on its toe causing dead pulls or weak slices, reduced distance, and the dreaded shanks; cause an abrupt bottom hand takeaway, over-the-top swing path, etc. Thankfully they won't all be present, but they can rotate thereby making it extremely hard to figure out.
The good news is that these uglies can be addressed by keeping your back straight and you knees bent to get to the proper posture for the clubhead to address the ball. To keep the feeling during the round, take your proper grip and hang your club down the middle of your back. Your knees should flex forward to counter balance the weight of the club. Also with this stance there should be a marked sensation of weight distribution to the heals.

BC, please expand on the shaft not being a factor on how far you hit the ball. Is it in this specific instance or as a general rule?

Thanks,
Chris

[hhk]

I'm wondering if this is unusual.

My distances (carry + roll):

8 - 150
7 - 160
6 - 165
5 - 175
4 - 180

Then I have to go to my 22 degree hybrid to hit 190. Sometimes I'll hit a 3 iron about the same distance.

As you can see, the distances start to tighten up as I go to the longer irons. I know it depends a lot on loft and not all sets are created equal but I'm looking at the spacing and not so much the raw distance.

[jvincent]

I'm wondering if this is unusual.

My distances (carry + roll):

8 - 150
7 - 160
6 - 165
7 - 170
5 - 175
4 - 180

I think you misprinted the numbers.

That being said, the gaps do look kind of small.

[lngdrvcantputt]

yeah on a perfect day with no wind, perfect lies, im considered a very long hitter compared to my peers roughly 270-300 yards driver depending on wind condition
sort of the same stats as this guy but with conditions were left with around very rarely do i have rounds where my yardage is consistently at peak for every iron. Now when i was playing in Arizona last fall, i was very consistent with that yardage, i just think because of the lack of consistency with weather around here i would be a little more conservative when asserting my yardages per club.
Also may depend on clubs he's palying with, i use to have knock off Callaway's i would hit the PW 150-160 and the 3 iron 220-230 easily, then i got a set of pings and started being more in the range of 130-145yards with the pw, im assuming the knock offs had lie issues.
this guys a gorilla if he's getting that kind of yardage consistently. I've yet to play anyone who can outdrive me consecutive holes in a row

Driver-280 Carry normally
4 Wood-255-275
3 iron 220 and down 10 Yards Per Club
4-210
5-200
6-190
7-180
8-170
9-160
PW-150
GW-130-145
LW-110-130

[Big Johnny69]

yeah on a perfect day with no wind, perfect lies, im considered a very long hitter compared to my peers roughly 270-300 yards driver depending on wind condition
sort of the same stats as this guy but with conditions were left with around very rarely do i have rounds where my yardage is consistently at peak for every iron. Now when i was playing in Arizona last fall, i was very consistent with that yardage, i just think because of the lack of consistency with weather around here i would be a little more conservative when asserting my yardages per club.
Also may depend on clubs he's palying with, i use to have knock off Callaway's i would hit the PW 150-160 and the 3 iron 220-230 easily, then i got a set of pings and started being more in the range of 130-145yards with the pw, im assuming the knock offs had lie issues.
this guys a gorilla if he's getting that kind of yardage consistently. I've yet to play anyone who can outdrive me consecutive holes in a row

I've played with John on many occasions. The guy is that long with his clubs. There isn't too many people I play with that can outdrive me by 25-40 yds all day long, but he and hoolio can. They are just monsters on the course, and length is not their only strong point, both of them have solid short games and can putt as well. Both very good players.

[John]

Awwwwww Geoff your so nice!!

[Big Johnny69]

Awwwwww Geoff your so nice!!

Just telling it like it is!

[lmh3]

I have been going through some swing changes, trying to flatten out my swing, the head pro I was working for continually told me how flat my swing was and he got me to be a little more upright. Right away I noticed that the distances my distances dropped with every club. Once I got my flatter swing back, I noticed that I am able to load the club better and I picked up some yardage that I had lost when I went a little more upright. My only complaint now is I get the occasional jumper that goes about ten yards further than I want.

[manitoulin]

I tried something interesting this year. I went to Le Diable @ Tremblant, and vowed to play the course without touchting the sand (a formidable challenge, for those who know the course). I did it, and scored my best ever there. My swing is basically arms straight to level, wrist cock, turn my back, pretty much textbook. I dropped the back turn on my irons, which cut about 15-20 yards off my shots, but increased their accuracy. So now I don't ever power my irons for distance unless I need big height to go over something. (the back turn makes 'em go high as well as further).

I list with both swings here - the one where I don't turn and the one where I do - it's like carrying extra clubs... Naturally, with a 22 handicap, I have the whole overswing thing now and again where I hit my driver 220, but at a 45 degree angle one way or the other. Another reason not to overturn for distance - no one ever laughed at me for landing in the fairway! Lose a few balls, and some pretty bad players can start beating you because of the racked up drop penalties.

My distances:
LW: 50/70
SW: 85/100
PW: 100/120
9: 120/140
8: 130/150
7: 140/160
6: 150/170
5 hybrid: 160-180 (still working on this, it's new, just dropped my 5 iron)
5,4,3 iron: don't carry 'em anymore
7W: 165-185
5W: 185-205
3W: 190-220
Driver 13*: 220/260
Driver 9*: 235/275

This is more like the real golfer. remember the humidity,ground,all the other factors.