And suddenly, no idea how to hit an iron...

pattyboy21

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So for the past 6 rounds, I've totally lost the ability to hit my irons. I drove the ball very well this past Saturday and failed to hit the green with LW, PW, PW, 9-iron, 9-iron, 8-iron, LW, 6-iron, LW, LW, 9-iron. I shot a truly hideous 79 with zero birdies. Last week, I didn't drive the ball as well but made 3 birdies on the only 3 greens I hit in regulation; that round was punctuated by horrific iron play as well.

I seem to be completely unable to compress the ball and take a divot. I know my bad back is part of the problem as it makes it difficult for me to transition into my left side. But this has been a problem for 20+ years and I've been able to hit irons well the whole time.

I rarely go to the range, but I went last Wednesday with a 7-iron and tried to figure it out but had no success. For some reason, I just can't seem to make a good transition from the top and get into impact with a descending blow and slight forward shaft lean. My best iron shots over the past few weeks have been on line, but with no divot and no compression; I've left a lot of these shots just short.

I'll try to make a video next time out, but for now, I'd love some THP help and comments!!!
 
Although my skills are no where near yours, me being a double digit hcp guy, but this happens to me every few weeks it seems. I'll go two or three weeks feeling pretty good about my game and striking it well, then all of the sudden lose 10-20 yards off my irons. For me it usually comes down to tempo and my hand position has shifted a little without me noticing. then it turns into quicksand of over correction instead of slowing my brain down.
 
I feel your pain. I have been feast of famine lately. I either hit really good iron shots or horrific irons shots... mostly the latter.
 
Although my skills are no where near yours, me being a double digit hcp guy, but this happens to me every few weeks it seems. I'll go two or three weeks feeling pretty good about my game and striking it well, then all of the sudden lose 10-20 yards off my irons. For me it usually comes down to tempo and my hand position has shifted a little without me noticing. then it turns into quicksand of over correction instead of slowing my brain down.
I'm sure much of my problem is due to whatever I'm doing to initiate the downswing. But a weird feeling of late is that my irons seem so HEAVY... they haven't changed of course but it's an odd feeling and I have no confidence with an iron in my hand suddenly. And yes, a few times over the past weeks I've hit solid feeling shot only to watch it fall a good 2 clubs short!

I know enough to diagnose all of this as me hitting from my back foot, but damn it, I can't seem to get to the left side! :mad:
 
You're a much more skilled player than I am but when I start to experience this I find that I'm fighting the problem and trying to regain my distance with a horrible and quick transition from the top. When I'm more deliberate and measured in the transition to the downswing, things start to came back. I have no idea if that is your problem but it's something I've struggled with the past couple of weeks. Good luck, brother. This game is hard.
 
You're a much more skilled player than I am but when I start to experience this I find that I'm fighting the problem and trying to regain my distance with a horrible and quick transition from the top. When I'm more deliberate and measured in the transition to the downswing, things start to came back. I have no idea if that is your problem but it's something I've struggled with the past couple of weeks. Good luck, brother. This game is hard.
It is terribly difficult - and once you think you've got it figured out, a very humbling experience soon comes your way to let you know better! lol
 
Golf.Is.Hard.
 
If I'm out of whack with them, and feel like I know what's happening, but can't seem to correct it, or can't quite figure out what I"m doing that's making me feel so lost, I do one thing first. I compare video. Sometimes looking at it without the club in my hand makes things just jump right out at me.
 
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It is terribly difficult - and once you think you've got it figured out, a very humbling experience soon comes your way to let you know better! lol
That's the thing that is so strange about this game. Once you think you've go something figured out, either another part of your game falls apart. I couldn't drive the ball to save my life last year. I got the driver (somewhat) figured out and suddenly I couldn't hit an iron.:rolleyes:

Now, I can't seem to hit anything. I played yesterday and my entire game was a wreck. I went home, hung with the wife and had a great time with her but I couldn't let it go. I went back to the range until it was too dark to hit balls. I was hitting everything 100% better than I was on the course just hours earlier. Such a humbling and frustrating experience.
 
If I'm out of whack with them, and feel like I know what's happening, but can't seem to correct it, or can't quite figure out what I"m doing that's making me feel so lost, I do one thing. I compare video. Sometimes looking at it without the club in my hand makes things just jump right out at me.
I think that's the next step for sure. I'm pretty certain that the ugly truth will be plain to see when I video a few swings my next time out o_O
 
That's the thing that is so strange about this game. Once you think you've go something figured out, either another part of your game falls apart. I couldn't drive the ball to save my life last year. I got the driver (somewhat) figured out and suddenly I couldn't hit an iron.:rolleyes:

Now, I can't seem to hit anything. I played yesterday and my entire game was a wreck. I went home, hung with the wife and had a great time with her but I couldn't let it go. I went back to the range until it was too dark to hit balls. I was hitting everything 100% better than I was on the course just hours earlier. Such a humbling and frustrating experience.
Oh man, you've got some good courses up your way in Show Low and Pinetop. But those damn Summer thunderstorms are scary!
 
Interesting, 79 is still pretty good round. Probably just glitch that will pass. IMO I would look at the positives of that round.
 
I know enough to diagnose all of this as me hitting from my back foot, but damn it, I can't seem to get to the left side! :mad:
This has been my problem so far this season. I'm chalking it up to the fact that I've been doing a lot more sitting around due to WFH and that I haven't worked out or done any stretching in almost 3 months. If I can figure out a trigger to fix it I'll be sure to let you know
 
Interesting, 79 is still pretty good round. Probably just glitch that will pass. IMO I would look at the positives of that round.
I'm generally happy with anything sub-78 but that usually means I had several birdie chances. On this round, I never really had one except for a par-5 that I went for in two. That was one of the few holes I failed to get up-and-down on! lol My irons were just deplorable and it's gone on now for a while...
 
I'm generally happy with anything sub-78 but that usually means I had several birdie chances. On this round, I never really had one except for a par-5 that I went for in two. That was one of the few holes I failed to get up-and-down on! lol My irons were just deplorable and it's gone on now for a while...
I feel this. I don't care what the score is in the end sometimes. I think I have a percentage of shots that went right vs. wrong number in my head, and a round is okay or complete crap based on which side of the line that number falls. It's also weighted heavily by approach shots. I've shot under par only hitting a couple greens, and over par hitting almost all of them. They feel completely different.
 
Story Of My Frickin' Golfing Life Right Here.
 
When I have issues with my irons but not my hybrids or woods it tends to be an early fault in my takeaway or not setting my wrists. The issues occur more often when my lower back is problematic. (My back issues are not severe, just enough to let me know it is there prior to warm up. Attrition after 67 years of living.).

Takeaway problems = not wide enough early or overactive wrists and arms leaving chest/body uncoordinated and swing gets too far to the inside. Straight tops, and pull hooks will occur!

Those are my demons.

To cure this I go back to hitting shots with my irons at 70% speed with a full swing. I try to get the feeling of slinging the shaft/grip down and through the swing plane with a solid finish on my front side. Relaxation of my shoulders especially my deltoids is essential. I think I am falsely protecting my lower back by tensing up these muscles.

Good luck.
 
When that happens to me I think try not to get out of my swing to follow the ball, pick a point on the grass in front of the ball, and stay loose.
 
When I have issues with my irons but not my hybrids or woods it tends to be an early fault in my takeaway or not setting my wrists. The issues occur more often when my lower back is problematic. (My back issues are not severe, just enough to let me know it is there prior to warm up. Attrition after 67 years of living.).

Takeaway problems = not wide enough early or overactive wrists and arms leaving chest/body uncoordinated and swing gets too far to the inside. Straight tops, and pull hooks will occur!

Those are my demons.

To cure this I go back to hitting shots with my irons at 70% speed with a full swing. I try to get the feeling of slinging the shaft/grip down and through the swing plane with a solid finish on my front side. Relaxation of my shoulders especially my deltoids is essential. I think I am falsely protecting my lower back by tensing up these muscles.

Good luck.
Having a bad back SUCKS! I find myself straightening my right knee on the backswing as well as having a lot of tension in my shoulders (didn't really think about that until you mentioned it). The bad back makes you compensate in so many other areas and without realizing it, you'll definitely tend to adopt a swing that alleviates the pain.
 
It is so easy to lose proper sequencing, a hard lesson that I have been learning again recently. As others have mentioned in this thread, video is crucial sometimes to be able to see where we are going wrong in our sequencing, whether we are fighting early extension, etc.
 
It is so easy to lose proper sequencing, a hard lesson that I have been learning again recently. As others have mentioned in this thread, video is crucial sometimes to be able to see where we are going wrong in our sequencing, whether we are fighting early extension, etc.
This is spot on - even before this recent spell of bad iron play, I could always point to poor tempo/sequencing as a culprit. It's easy to see on video, but not so easy to put it back together (for me anyway). The "effortless power" is harder and harder to achieve as I age and fight a bad back, and that definitely comes from good tempo, sequencing and staying connected (and all the cause/effect relationships between those 3 things).
 
This is spot on - even before this recent spell of bad iron play, I could always point to poor tempo/sequencing as a culprit. It's easy to see on video, but not so easy to put it back together (for me anyway). The "effortless power" is harder and harder to achieve as I age and fight a bad back, and that definitely comes from good tempo, sequencing and staying connected (and all the cause/effect relationships between those 3 things).

So much you have articulated describes me. As I age, the ups and downs seem to be more pronounced. Arccos was telling me that I was driving the ball 20 yards further in March than I am now. I was hitting my irons and hybrids a full club longer. It has felt harder to swing the club, perhaps similar to your description of the club feeling heavier. I also have a bad back, similar to you.

I think a lot of it has to do with our bodies not remaining consistently at our own peak performance. It is similar to an NBA player who, as he ages, still has great games, but starts seeing more frequent poor performances. How we could compensate for our timing being off or sequencing going askew is not as readily available. So, we have to really cue in on the fundamentals of our swing and what has worked for us in the past.
 
Very difficult to offer much without seeing your swing. Possibly work on getting a feeling of slowing down your iron swing. And make it a swing and not a hit. Sounds like you might be focusing on actual strike (compressing ball) rather than a smooth pass through the ball. Good luck
 
So for the past 6 rounds, I've totally lost the ability to hit my irons. I drove the ball very well this past Saturday and failed to hit the green with LW, PW, PW, 9-iron, 9-iron, 8-iron, LW, 6-iron, LW, LW, 9-iron. I shot a truly hideous 79 with zero birdies. Last week, I didn't drive the ball as well but made 3 birdies on the only 3 greens I hit in regulation; that round was punctuated by horrific iron play as well.

I seem to be completely unable to compress the ball and take a divot. I know my bad back is part of the problem as it makes it difficult for me to transition into my left side. But this has been a problem for 20+ years and I've been able to hit irons well the whole time.

I rarely go to the range, but I went last Wednesday with a 7-iron and tried to figure it out but had no success. For some reason, I just can't seem to make a good transition from the top and get into impact with a descending blow and slight forward shaft lean. My best iron shots over the past few weeks have been on line, but with no divot and no compression; I've left a lot of these shots just short.

I'll try to make a video next time out, but for now, I'd love some THP help and comments!!!

I'm not in your league so take or leave this advice.

When I have a feeling of loss of power, it's usually because I don't get the club set at the top(end) of my backswing. My down swing will feel rushed. and feels like a lot of arm swing with not enough hand action. So, I practice getting into a set position in my preshot routine. Cock the wrist and set the club where it want it to be on an actual swing then try and get to that position on a real swing.

If I'm picking the ball too clean, it's because the ball has crept too far forward in my stance. To correct, I take my normal stance then inch myself one ball width(or more) towards the target.

As for getting to the left side, I've often just started with more weight on my left foot and kept in there throughout the swing, especially with wedges and short irons.

Good Luck!!!
 
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