Panda tip: hitting the long iron

Tadashi70

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As I walked up and down the range today I was struck by the fact I saw very few people hitting their long irons. I didn't bother looking in the bags to see if they even had them but I say maybe one or two working out their long irons.

Why is that do you suppose. The length we plaid Arthur hills, I am 100% sure a long iron or two was needed during the course of the round. And I am betting the shot didn't not go as planned. And this is from fear and lack of reps. Well I'd like to eliminate some of that fear.

I'd like to see you approach it like a 7 iron. I think we can all agree that the 7 iron is a safe club for a great many golfers. The shirt crisp motion, the downward attack and positive rhythm of the swing. I find that people pull then long iron and all of a sudden their swings get long and their firming is off. This can only cause inconsistent contact.

A shorter swing brings more of the body into the shot and people tend to sync their body with their swing. long irons make people swing hard, try to lift the ball on the air and get all out of wack. Be aware of your ball postion. Don't play it too far up I your stance. Just in front of center soul,for fine. Also reduce the amount of head movement. Keep the head still and allow the shoulders and body to rotate through the shot. Turn through the shot don't sway. These tips can assist you and help you play better long irons.
 
I am trying to fix this issue Freddie, I am either topping the ball or digging a hole. I think my issue is my release and then I I've compensate and dig a hole. I just need to relax and just let the club do the work.
 
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I spend a lot of time on the driving range and I notice this as well, most people are swinging drivers and some are swinging wedges/short irons, very few long irons. I do not know why this is for most golfers, I have always just assumed its because they are difficult to perform well with. However as I type that I realize how little sense that makes. If that is an area you would like to improve then you must work on it.

The longest iron in my bag is the 6 because in the past I have struggled to get more distance out of the longer irons. So obviously this is an area of my game that could use a lot of improvement.

For example with my PW I can get 120 yards(carry)
The 9 goes 130
8-140
7-150
Then we get to the 6i which I was working with a lot today, it goes about 140-160
I find the hybrids easy to swing and the 5H goes about 180
The 4H goes about 195, however not very consistently.

This "long iron distance) issue used to be much worse than it is today but I have been working hard to shorten my backswing as you know. It is surely helping but it is still a work in progress.

Excellent post, it's an interesting topic. As always thanks for the tip!

Just to be clear I usually have the ball in the middle for wedges-8i, I move it forward about one ball width for the 6 and 7i and about two ball widths for the 4 and 5 hybrids as well as the 3 wood. Is that about right or is that too far forward?
 
Long irons are something that I am slowly getting more and more comfortable with. I will try and apply some of these pointers and see how it works.
There is something about holding a 5i that makes me want to swing harder and different for some stupid reason.
 
I haven't used an iron longer than a 6 in years. Hybrids are where it's at these days. Even the pros are dropping long irons.

However my new set of tm tp cb's will have all irons down to the 4.
 
My coach won't let me work with my short irons when it comes to full shots. Nearly all my full shot work is with my 6 iron or 5 iron. He's flat out said, "Your longer non-hybrid iron is the least forgiving club in your bag. Hit the shape you want with your longest iron, and the rest of your bag will fall into place."

I like his approach, if for no other reason than forcing reps with my long irons removes my fear or worry that I can't hit them very well. Put simply, if I'm working full shots, I'll hit my long irons well or nothing at all well. And once on the course, walking up to a shot with my 9 iron in hand, knowing I can hit a shot shape with a 5 iron, is a huge confidence boost. While it doesn't always work, it's always the product of a freer, more relaxed swing, simply because I've done a lot more work with my longer irons.
 
Thanks for your wisdom as always Freddie....I have been struggling with anything over a 7 iron lately and it's probably due to overswinging the club and less body rotation....today I had a shot that required a 4 hybo to a green fronted by water.

To work on my problems I have been really trying to match my shot tempo with my practice swing tempo....I think most of us feel like our practice swings are the perfect speed...to reinforce that I have been saying "TEM-PO" in my mind with those shots.....TEM on the backswing and PO on the down swing

Today I made about 4 practice swings to ingrain that tempo and then made a nice smooth pass at the ball.....it jumped off the club, got high and landed near the center of the green.

Tempo is something I really struggle with on shots with longer clubs and visual of "hitting my practice swing" has been helping me.
 
I'll take a long iron over a hybrid or fairway wood any day. Actually, my bag currently goes from driver to 4i. Really wish I had the Apex 3i to go with my set...
 
There is a ton of merit in this Tip Freddie, a shorter swing has really brought my iron play much more consistent all the way through my bag. It really keeps my swing clean. The crazy part is I feel like I'm going at it about 70 percent but the videos show me differently. Great thoughts
 
I'll try this out. It's one of those things that I admittedly practice less than I should.
 
Very good thread. This is the first season in a while I've focused on the long irons and will have at least the 4i in my bag. Working on the long irons makes hitting everything else easier as well.


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Good tips. It seems I do better with my long irons when I am in between clubs and using more club than I need. This mentally allows me to swing at 80% and the club does the work. When I am pushing it to get a certain distance, then over swinging is a common long iron issue for me.
 
Thanks for the tip Freddie

I needed to hear this around #4 on Saturday


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I always take my whole bag and try to hit short and work my way down to the long and then woods. But if i get stuck on one club hitting it poorly than I'll stay with it before moving on to the next. if the sesion goes well I'll move around the bag quite frequently.
 
Wore my 4 iron out last night working on so much of what you mentioned. Worked a rotation between 4i 7i and PW to try to keep consistent swing and tempo. Thanks for the tip.
 
Great advice ITT. It always amazes me when random people are always trying to "fix" my swing. I have always had a really short back swing. I don't hit the ball a mile but my driver I can hit 250+ and my 7 iron is around the 150 yard range which I don't think is too bad. Now back to the short backswing, apparently people think that its really weird to have a short backswing. I have always had a baby to normal draw (this amazes people too, that I can draw the ball w/out trying to) They say well if you lengthen your backswing you will hit the ball further, and I respond yes but then I more than likely will lose my very consistent draw, and im not willing to part with the fairway just to MAYBE gain a few more yards per club. Im looking forward to get out on the course to test my new irons because ive always struggled to hit the ball high with my long irons, and with these irons that shouldn't be to hard to flight then up a bit more which should help hold greens tremendously.
 
I spend a lot of time on the driving range and I notice this as well, most people are swinging drivers and some are swinging wedges/short irons, very few long irons. I do not know why this is for most golfers, I have always just assumed its because they are difficult to perform well with. However as I type that I realize how little sense that makes. If that is an area you would like to improve then you must work on it.

The longest iron in my bag is the 6 because in the past I have struggled to get more distance out of the longer irons. So obviously this is an area of my game that could use a lot of improvement.

For example with my PW I can get 120 yards(carry)
The 9 goes 130
8-140
7-150
Then we get to the 6i which I was working with a lot today, it goes about 140-160
I find the hybrids easy to swing and the 5H goes about 180
The 4H goes about 195, however not very consistently.

This "long iron distance) issue used to be much worse than it is today but I have been working hard to shorten my backswing as you know. It is surely helping but it is still a work in progress.

Excellent post, it's an interesting topic. As always thanks for the tip!

Just to be clear I usually have the ball in the middle for wedges-8i, I move it forward about one ball width for the 6 and 7i and about two ball widths for the 4 and 5 hybrids as well as the 3 wood. Is that about right or is that too far forward?

Try playing every iron off the middle of your stance. Just make sure your hands are in front of the ball at address. I think you'll find some positive results
 
Thanks for the tip Freddie. I was striking my 4i well this past week. I realized I was playing the ball just a little to forward.
 
Great tip Freddie! I struggle a bit with the long irons so any tip to help is always nice. I'll try this out the next time I am at the range.
 
Really became comfortable thru the 7i last year. Hit some really good 6 iron shots as well. I'd like to get more confidence with it (6i) and then eventually the 5i. It would be nice to hit those 170-180 yards shots without fear.
 
I just seem to hit 3,4 and 5 irons the near the same distance so I typically just hit 5 iron.
 
I worked on this tip myself yesterday with some success. I'm hitting my 5i with such confidence. Just by making minor adjustment I can count on three shots. A low wind cheater, a mid draw and mid high straight shot. My goal is to have this down with the 3 and 4 iron with in the next month.
 
As I walked up and down the range today I was struck by the fact I saw very few people hitting their long irons. I didn't bother looking in the bags to see if they even had them but I say maybe one or two working out their long irons.

Why is that do you suppose. The length we plaid Arthur hills, I am 100% sure a long iron or two was needed during the course of the round. And I am betting the shot didn't not go as planned. And this is from fear and lack of reps. Well I'd like to eliminate some of that fear.

I'd like to see you approach it like a 7 iron. I think we can all agree that the 7 iron is a safe club for a great many golfers. The shirt crisp motion, the downward attack and positive rhythm of the swing. I find that people pull then long iron and all of a sudden their swings get long and their firming is off. This can only cause inconsistent contact.

A shorter swing brings more of the body into the shot and people tend to sync their body with their swing. long irons make people swing hard, try to lift the ball on the air and get all out of wack. Be aware of your ball postion. Don't play it too far up I your stance. Just in front of center soul,for fine. Also reduce the amount of head movement. Keep the head still and allow the shoulders and body to rotate through the shot. Turn through the shot don't sway. These tips can assist you and help you play better long irons.

Those are some great tips. I used my 3 iron a ton off the tee this weekend--probably the most I've ever used it I've the course of 2 rounds. I wasn't feeling confident with my driver and the long irons saved my hide. Your tip about the ball position is one I need to remember. I struggle with control when the ball is too far forward. Keeping the ball more towards the middle of my stance does allow me to keep a smoother tempo and an easy swing. I always remind myself to swing easy with my long irons off the tee because a solidly struck shot is going to give me all the distance I need. Another benefit to taking a long iron off the tee is the added forgiveness. There were plenty of times this weekend when I thought I put a bad swing on it only to see that I was ok.

Thanks for the tip.
 
This is a great tip. I finally got comfortable hitting my 4 iron last year. With my new bag setup however, 5I is the lowest iron in my bag then I go to my two hybrids.

Best thing about it though, is the final shot ever with my 4I was 190 yd tee shot on Torrey Pines South 16th to within 10 ft of the pin.
 
I love hitting my long irons just feel extremely comfortable to me. At times I feel better from 200 out with a 5 iron in my hand than I do from 140 with a PW.

I always try and remember to let the club do the work and not force anything.

Ball position does seem to have a much larger impact with the long irons for sure. Great tip.

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