To choke or not to choke

[Leprechaun]

I admit it, I'm short (5' 7").

I can hit a driver 230-260 yards, 3 wood 200 yards off the grass, 5 wood 175 yards off the grass. These are all consistently straight and true for me. I can chip and I can putt.

However, I can't hit irons to save my life. I consistently hit short and I think I am hitting the ball too high. I'm certain i could drop my handicap from a 23 to an 15 or 16 if I could solve this problem.

I think I should start choking down on my irons. Any comments/suggestions?

[powerlefty]

Rather than choking down on the club, I would suggest a club fitting to determine proper lie, length, flex, grip size, etc. It could be that what you should be doing is flattening the lie by 2 or 3 degrees.

[Leprechaun]

Good suggestion. I need to choke down about 1 1/2" in order to get the blade to lie flat on all of my irons. Can any good shop do the fitting on existing clubs?

[powerlefty]

Golfworks does it. I took a pair of wedges in last year and they did them while I waited. Can't remember how much but probably about $5-10 per club. I had them each bent 2* upright. Whether they can bend them enough to compensate for your 1-1.5" of choking will depend on what material the clubs are made of but from what I can recall most clubs can be bent 3* either way. Best to take the clubs in and ask them. They just moved to Industrial Drive.

[el tigre]

However, I can't hit irons to save my life.

You seem to hitting your fairway woods just fine, though. You might want to try replacing your 3 and 4 irons with a 7 wood and/or utility club. It won't solve your swing problems with irons, but you'll score better if you play to your strengths and avoid your weaknesses.

and I think I am hitting the ball too high

Having a high shot trajectory with your irons is not necessarily a bad thing - as long as you can consistently make good contact. I've always hit a high ball and I've come to like it. A shot that is all carry with little roll makes your distances more predictable - allowing you to hold greens better (unless they're frozen!), avoid greenside bunkers more easily (MY biggest weakness) and fly over trees, etc. Plus you don't need to spend megabucks on those soft, high-spin golf balls! As long as it's not a windy day...

[Rough Stuff]

However, I can't hit irons to save my life. I consistently hit short and I think I am hitting the ball too high. I'm certain i could drop my handicap from a 23 to an 15 or 16 if I could solve this problem.

Do you ever hit an iron well, or do all 9-3 have terrible results. Its not much information to go on before making an assumption to shorten your clubs. When you hit a ball off the ground, have you looked at the divot? Maybe the ball is out of position? Maybe the club face is open on impact? Definitely fitting clubs is a good suggestion, but you might try ONE lesson to see if you're doing something odd to produce a high shot.