Help with short irons

Ironically, I've been practicing a lot with the longer irons (7i, 6i, 5i and 4H) and now have some problems hitting the longer irons (8i, 9i, PW) with a full swing. Anything above 100yd I am confident of hitting but now I can't really aim between 50yd-100yd... Any advice?

Thanks!

sounds like me from 15 yards. I can reach par 5s in 2, I can hit 7 irons right at the flag. but think i can chip on close.

I guess I can still chip ok within 50yds. But between 50yds and 100yds, I can't seem to do a bigger swing (half to full) with the short irons. Do I still rotate the hands, or just do an upright pendulum swing to hit between 50yds and 100yds?

As a beginner, its actually very hard to control the shorter swing properly. It will take some time and practice for your muscles to be able to control the swing.

For now, focus on feeling like you are making the exact same swing as your normal swing but only shorter. Just remember though, if you shorten your backswing, so is the followthrough. Think of yourself as a clock. If your backswing goes to 9, then your followthrough finishes at 3. If backswing is at 10, then followthrough is at 2.

It will take time before you can hit the ball solidly.
This is what I usually teach my friends who just started golf (I do this to warm up as well):
1) Start of with smaller swings, holding the club shorter. Say from 8 to 2.
2) Once that is consistent, go to 9 to 3..and holding the club longer as you go.
3) Make sure that you minimize any sway or unnecessary movements. Try to hit the ball "crisp".

You should be hitting even better once you get to the full swing as your muscles has to be able to control the entire range of motion at each point and helps "muscle memory".

I agree with Piny, you have to hit the shot as normal, but make a shorter backswing. From there you should still hit it with as much power as you can generate from that backswing position. This ensures that you still keep your wrists cocked until the right moment. Relaesing the club late, creating a steeper angle of attack, taking a slight divot, generating backspin and ultimately having a repeatble stroke. if you start slowing things down you loose your consistancy and power through the ball that mainly comes from accelerating your hands.

The best place to practice these 3/4 shots are on a golf simulator. The latest Full Swing simulators provide you with instant feedback of how far you hit the shot and you can easily hit 100 balls in an hour. That way you build the muscle memory needed for controlling the distance.

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The more I practice, the luckier I get ~ Gary Player

Just to add some more tips,

Dont feel like you have to cock your wrists. For now, just do it like a normal swing. Obviously, you wrists wont be as cocked when its only a half swing so just ensure that you maintain what ever the wrist position that your backswing allowed you to achieve.

It is more of a pitch shot if you break your wrist early in the backswing. You can practice that later once you get used to doing 1/2 and 3/4 swings.

read or reread Pelz "short game bible" -

short back swing, long follow through
keep the ball in the middle of the stance.

Oddly enough, I do this sort of shot pretty well. I don't have laser accuracy, but that's because my alignment isn't always perfect, not because of bad ball striking.

For a half swing, the club face only needs to open as far as being parallel with your back.

I don't really know whether I'm doing a half swing or 3/4; I just know it's less than a full swing, and the distance is about 3/4 or even 2/3. If I'm, say, 70 yards out, my motto is "less swing, more club." From this distance I use my 52* gap wedge, and put a nice easy swing on it. I know that with a full swing, I could hit it 90-100 yards, but with less control and more risk of a bad strike. My trouble is when I'm closer in, chipping distance, and must choose between a lob/flop or a bump and run. I'm very comfortable with the lob/flop shot, but not so much that I can drop it near the flag for a tap-in. But I'm confident that I can put it on the green and have it stay there. I know that the "right" way to do it, however, is to bump and run it up close to the hole (if there's no obstacle), but I'm just as likely to run it right past the hole and off the green, or to wimp out and not run it onto the green at all.

I don't know if my "less swing, more club" principle is sound. Maybe it's just a hacker's fix. I think the correct approach is probably to use a full swing whenever possible, and know the distance it'll go. But I'm still at the point where I get less precision with a full swing, and from this distance it's all about precision.

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Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller

Best advice yet.

Simon

Whats your shot pattern thats casuing you problems with this distance? Are you hitting fat/thin, left/right ?

Thanks for all your posts guys. I think my problem is that I rotate my hands way too early, and when I do that I usually come back topping the ball. So I really can't do a full swing now with anything shorter than a 7i.

Currently anything below 70yds, I just use my PW and do a short pendulum swing, basically varying my speed to get the required distance. Anything slightly further, I pull out my 7i and do a slower swing. I'm still able to cover the range of distances this way, but I want to have the confidence to be able to swing my PW, 9i and 8i fully with confidence...