short irons vs long irons

I'm having trouble when it comes to using 3,4 and 5 irons. Trouble being week shots and slicing. A pro told me I was not finishing my swing. He said my address was fine. I've since worked on following through and although I have improved somewhat I still hit many more bad shots than good.

I was wondering if there are any common mistakes that beginners make when using the longer irons?

Why are the longer clubs more difficult to use?

Plain and simple is a mental thing, we put a lot of pressure to ourselves when trying to hit the longer irons and the same goes to the driver...First thing you must do (at least it worked to me) is not to think you have to do a different swing with the longer clubs, its just a matter of ball position....Next when you start thinking you want to make that ball go a certain a mount of yards and you try to hit it harder, you get out of tempo and problems begin, try to stay focused and relax yourself.....

Hope that helps, remember golf is a mental game l

Bobo,

I'd like to add a comment to RudyM's post. I agree with the mental thing. Also the club heads are smaller. The larger clubheads and standing closer give us confidence we can make solid contact. The smaller club head makes us think can this little thing get a ball out there.

If you want to check your tempo difference as Rudy pointed out, use a metronome. Check the tempo with a 9 iron and adjust the speed of the metronome to your swing then try to match it with a 3 or 4 iron. Your hands are going the same distance up and through. If I'm a betting man I'd say most players get there faster with a 3 or 4, when it reality you should probably get there a little slower. A metronome is a good tool for practice.

GolfBald

__________________
The guy in the white hat!

I agree with golfbald, its all about tempo. I try to say to myself"one and two" as I swing back and through. The key is the "and" part of this which allows a little pause-not so anyone would notice-but nevertheless, its not "one-two".

mtibt

That "and" in the count is the transition from the backswing to the through swing. That is were the weight shift takes place. It is the key to good tempo. If you rip it from the top, You'll be spending some time getting back to nature in the wood. A smooth transition will keep you in the fairway all day.

GolfBald

This is very helpful. I was just out on the range, and (due to all the great help from this site!) I was hitting my 7 and 9 irons very nicely - straight and 100-125 yards (which is good for me). As I stepped down to my 5 then 3 iron, then 5 and 3 woods, things got progressively worse. Slicing. I was baffled about it. What was different? I told myself to keep the same tempo, but it just was not happening. Maybe I thought I was at the same tempo, but I was still slicing. When I went back to the 7-iron, I felt very confident, and was hitting straight again. Back to the lower irons and woods, and slicing and mishits. Arggghhh.

The "one and two" tip sounds great, I can't wait to try it. Golfonline.com had a similar tip, saying to yourself " I Am Mr. Tempo", using the 6 sylablles. "I Am" - backswing. " Mis -
Ter" downswing. "Tem - po" - follow through.

Alex,

If you want an even better tempo, Straus' Blue Danube Waltz according to the old pros is the perfect golf tempo. I use it and drive my students crazy listening to it over and over. But when they are onthe course, I occasionally hear some whistle a familiar tune, if you know what I mean.

It's a mental trigger. It's like if you smell something without seeing it your brain goes into memory and reminds you of a event or food you have ate. Just like a song will take you to a memory. If you have a good swing song, you can use it just like anything else.

GolfBald

__________________
The guy in the white hat!

The reason for the inconsistencies with your long irons is because of:

You are accelerating your upper torso too cuickly. The reason for this you are trying to hit the ball hard.

When you accelerate too quickly your right shoulder is thrown away from your body, and you release the club too soon with your hands(csting)

This happens because your'e body is too far ahead of the ball, so the hands have nothing left to do except slap at the ball. This contributes to a major loss in distance, and your slice.