Shortening irons a fix?

[Colt]

Pondering shortening my irons. I've been trying to stand away from the ball a little more to fix that "off the heel and every once in a while the hosel" contact. I was lining up with my arms very tight into my body and have since bent over a bit more and let my arms dangle freely. I still get the contact almost exclusively toward the heel though.

The only way I get center contact is if I push my hands and arms out PAST free hanging to the point where I'm uncomfortable and reaching. From there though I was hitting dead center contact every time but with those angles I can't hit down on the ball and can only pick the ball. It leads to really bad consistency with right and left shots.

I'm tallish and have always been told to get 1/2" longer by fitters, but to be honest they weren't exactly high quality dynamic fittings. I'm thinking that standard may be the way to go with a more upright lie angle. That should get me back to center face.

Any opinions from those that are more versed in this type of stuff.

I know the answer people will want to give, but I don't have any real, certified, quality fitters accessible up here in the rural north country. Even if I did I choke when a fitter is watching me.

 

[JLit]

Shorten your 6i or 7i back to standard and adjust the lie and see what feedback you get. An easy fix to lengthen back if it doesn't work.

 

[CharlieMoy]

Sounds to me like your problem is too much knee bend and not enough hip bend. You should bent at the hips so your arms hang perpendicular to the ground, just hanging. From there they should grip the club. You should have a full open handwidth from your thighs to your grip.

Also, moving your back foot a bit so your feet and target line arent parallel like this ||, so that your feet aim across the target line like this /| will help you come from inside a bit and keep from striking on the heel/hosel, assuming youre a righty.

 

[Colt]

Sounds to me like your problem is too much knee bend and not enough hip bend. You should bent at the hips so your arms hang perpendicular to the ground, just hanging. From there they should grip the club. You should have a full open handwidth from your thighs to your grip.

Also, moving your back foot a bit so your feet and target line arent parallel like this ||, so that your feet aim across the target line like this /| will help you come from inside a bit and keep from striking on the heel/hosel, assuming youre a righty.

Funny you mention it, because I actually just started toying with the slightly closed stance at the range today. As for the knee bend, I probably don't bend over enough at the hips, but I definitely don't bend my knees too much. I'm very upright in my stance and part of that moving away from the ball concept I'm working on has involved more bend at the hips. It's helped with keeping me in the shot more, but still having to reach at address to get that center contact and therefore can't hit down.

 

[Kobey]

This is something I just can't get my head around. Logic tells me that if you shorten a club shaft, you just end up with a shorter club. There must be something to it, or people wouldn't lengthen and shorten them, but I don't understand it. If you cut some off every club, then your 6I might now be the same length as your 7I was before. What makes you suddenly be able to hit it? I could understand if the problems were only with the longer irons, but if it's with all of them how does it help? You still have all the same lengths except for the longest club.

 

[arydolphin]

Simple test: just choke down on every single one of your clubs and see what happens. Take a Sharpie and draw a line on the grip 1/2 inch down from where your top hand normally sits on the grip and go from there.

 

[Colt]

This is something I just can't get my head around. Logic tells me that if you shorten a club shaft, you just end up with a shorter club. There must be something to it, or people wouldn't lengthen and shorten them, but I don't understand it. If you cut some off every club, then your 6I might now be the same length as your 7I was before. What makes you suddenly be able to hit it? I could understand if the problems were only with the longer irons, but if it's with all of them how does it help? You still have all the same lengths except for the longest club.

This is where I get confused too, Kobey. Don't feel bad.

 

[Colt]

Simple test: just choke down on every single one of your clubs and see what happens. Take a Sharpie and draw a line on the grip 1/2 inch down from where your top hand normally sits on the grip and go from there.

Won't they play flatter then which will just keep me on the heel anyways? Just a question.

 

[arydolphin]

Won't they play flatter then which will just keep me on the heel anyways? Just a question.

We struggle with the same things, now that I look at your OP. I've had an issue with hitting off the heel for a while. I've had to address the ball out on the toe because I do this weird thing where I slide my club out towards the ball just before I start my backswing. I also had issues earlier this year with standing too close to the ball, and I had no room at all to make my downswing. I had to feel like I was standing really far away from it to correct that, when in reality I looked at my setup on video and it was pretty good in that "new" position.

In terms of the lie angle thing you talk about, don't overthink things. Just see what it feels like at first to choke down on the club.

 

[Colt]

Sounds to me like your problem is too much knee bend and not enough hip bend. You should bent at the hips so your arms hang perpendicular to the ground, just hanging. From there they should grip the club. You should have a full open handwidth from your thighs to your grip.

Also, moving your back foot a bit so your feet and target line arent parallel like this ||, so that your feet aim across the target line like this /| will help you come from inside a bit and keep from striking on the heel/hosel, assuming youre a righty.

We struggle with the same things, now that I look at your OP. I've had an issue with hitting off the heel for a while. I've had to address the ball out on the toe because I do this weird thing where I slide my club out towards the ball just before I start my backswing. I also had issues earlier this year with standing too close to the ball, and I had no room at all to make my downswing. I had to feel like I was standing really far away from it to correct that, when in reality I looked at my setup on video and it was pretty good in that "new" position.

In terms of the lie angle thing you talk about, don't overthink things. Just see what it feels like at first to choke down on the club.

This is my setup address. Sorry I don't have a club or ball handy, but y'all can get an idea at least. Is anything particularly bad looking?

 

[CharlieMoy]

Funny you mention it, because I actually just started toying with the slightly closed stance at the range today. As for the knee bend, I probably don't bend over enough at the hips, but I definitely don't bend my knees too much. I'm very upright in my stance and part of that moving away from the ball concept I'm working on has involved more bend at the hips. It's helped with keeping me in the shot more, but still having to reach at address to get that center contact and therefore can't hit down.

EDIT: Gimme a sec.... Ill draw it up.

 

[CharlieMoy]

If you try to get here colt(GET TO THE BLUE LINE :]....), with the slight more of a closed stance, I'm almost certain you'll be great.

What is causing heel/hosel is you squatting for power at impact. From there, your bum shoots -> that way and the whole body goes with it. That will cause either heel/hosel along with steep pulls or pull cuts.

Near impact stand straighter and hold your bum <- that way and you'll bring the clubs back to the center of the face.

 

[Colt]

If you try to get here colt(GET TO THE BLUE LINE :]....), with the slight more of a closed stance, I'm almost certain you'll be great.

What is causing heel/hosel is you squatting for power at impact. From there, your bum shoots -> that way and the whole body goes with it. That will cause either heel/hosel along with steep pulls or pull cuts.

Near impact stand straighter and hold your bum <- that way and you'll bring the clubs back to the center of the face.

So more like.

That might be too much, but a rough guesstimate.

 

[CharlieMoy]

That's good but don't reach to grip the club. Let the arms fall from the shoulder vertically down.

Look at Webb's angles here.

 

[Colt]

That's good but don't reach to grip the club. Let the arms fall from the shoulder vertically down.

Look at Webb's angles here.

I'll try that, but I really think I need my clubs shortened now. If I try to hit the ball set up like that with my arms straight down the back of the hosel would be digging into the ground with the toe pointing at sky. There's really no room for both my club and my arms at those angles. So maybe it's a mixture of things.

 

[CharlieMoy]

With that stance you're reaching 18* too far.

Flatter might be the answer although shorter might not be. I'd need to see you in person to tell you that but keep working on those things and you'll be golden pony boy.

 

[Colt]

With that stance you're reaching 18* too far.

Flatter might be the answer although shorter might not be. I'd need to see you in person to tell you that but keep working on those things and you'll be golden pony boy.

We'll get her figured out. Thanks for taking the time.

Ary, you too. Thanks.

 

[Colt]

Thanks for the advice, Thain. Ary, you as well. Between between gripping down just a tad and setting up with a little more bend and arm hang I was getting in a groove after about 10-15 shots. Damn near center face contact every time.

Who would've ever in a million years thought that it could've been the Indian and not the arrows...

 

[CharlieMoy]

Success! glad you're hitting them better man.

 

[Johnny mojo]

Sounds to me like your problem is too much knee bend and not enough hip bend. You should bent at the hips so your arms hang perpendicular to the ground, just hanging. From there they should grip the club. You should have a full open handwidth from your thighs to your grip.

Also, moving your back foot a bit so your feet and target line arent parallel like this ||, so that your feet aim across the target line like this /| will help you come from inside a bit and keep from striking on the heel/hosel, assuming youre a righty.

This^^^^^just made a light bulb go off. Gotta try this.

 

[Johnny mojo]

This^^^^^just made a light bulb go off. Gotta try this.

A little clarification. Not really struggling with heel shots, but WANT TO HIT MORE OF A DRAW. Im thinking this is what I need to visualize in my set up and combine it with a release swinging down the first base line. Does that sound right?

 

[Colt]

Success! glad you're hitting them better man.

I went from straight shanks every shot or dangerously close to this.

PW

6i

 

[CharlieMoy]

I may or may not have fist pumped when I saw the photo.

 

[Colt]

I may or may not have fist pumped when I saw the photo.

Haha.. Thanks again man!

 

[WardF]

Thanks for this thread, had a similar epiphany at the range last night but had the opposite problem--toe contact. I was too far away from the ball. This also made the miss left go straighter too. It will be a mental change for me though as I feel like I am crowding it to get this solid strike on my longer clubs--also feel steeper. so Have to fight the natural tendency to reach out to the ball.