New to the game (need a few tips)

Hi, I have recently taken up golf just over a month ago, ive put in alot of time at the range and read alot of golf websites and magazines, and in the four or so rounds of golf ive played at my local course ive betterd my score each time and reduced it from 125 (first round) to 105 (most recent round).

The main problem im having at the minute is with my irons off the fairway, I can never hit them properly, off the tee im ok, and if the balls sittin up in rough I hit it well but off the fairway I either hit the top of the ball or slice it right, ive read about taking a divot after the ball but when i try this i end up taking a divot before the ball! and it doesnt go very far.

Ive been working on releasing the club better in order to cure my slice and with the driver and off the tee with any club ive turned my slice into a slight draw which im happy with for now, but nothing seems to work for hitting my irons off the fairway

So just wondering if any of you have any tips for using irons off the fairway?

any help would be much appreciated

Thanks

Dave

Dave:

My slice was caused by rolling my forearms and fanning the clubface open on the backswing. I would then promptly forget to roll my forearms and close the face on the downswing. So for me, slice elimination has to do with keeping the face shut (and it seemed to work well in my round today).

A word of warning - be careful in trying to force your hands to release. You may become a golfer who flips his hands through impact. This results in thinned shots, fat shots, and generally no good compression. It also adds a ton of loft and spin to the ball - robbing you of distance. This especially seems true (flipping) as you're having trouble off tight lies (fairway), but are OK off the tee and when the ball is sitting up.

Make sure your hands are leading at impact. Here's the drill that I was given when I told my coach "I don't want any bandaids - I want to learn how to hit the golf ball properly, and swing properly".

Address the ball. Make sure the ball is in the middle of your stance. Set your wrists (ie cock them). Make a tiny tiny tiny backswing to get some rhythm, then turn through while holding the wrist set. Do NOT let your hands release. This is the proper impact position and the ball will sound different than you may ever have heard it, as you'll compress it properly.

FWIW, I had my wife doing this in the back 40 the other night. She chunked a few (and taking a huge backswing, hands way past her thigh, etc). Once I got her setting her wrists and not taking her hands outside the line of her hips, she was absolutely hitting the ball great - nice compression, target-side divot, nice ball flight. I'd say she was getting 30 yards or so out of her 7 iron, with a swing that never got outside her body line.

Just my $0.02 - YMMV.

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Thanks for the reply, I went to the range today and tried what you said about keeping your hands a head of the ball and hit alot more consistantly off the mats (have to see if im better of the fairways on saturday) and ive gained about 20-30 yards straight away when I tried it with my seven iron as the ball flight seems lower than usual which is good as I usually hit the ball extremely high which I feel is robbing me of distance

Thanks alot

Dave

i don't know if it's just me, but the biggest thing that kills my game is hitting off mats. teh bounce is just wrong and the club doesnt react like it would on grass.

next time your on teh fairway hitting your irons, just try and pick the ball clean off the grass. don't worry about making divots or anything else.
keep your head down and let your arms swing through the ball, only after you have hit the ball turn your body and look up..

the hardest shot in golf is hitting it straight.

start with your shorter irons, 7 - PW. depending on your age, fitness, strength, etc. you should hit a 7iron around 130m and a PW around 85m.... being a beginner that is.

generally people (me included) try and hit their longer irons harder cuz naturally they will make the ball go further, so slow down on the swing and keep it all the same.

another tip. if your just learning play a round of golf tee-ing up the ball. it will give u more confidence around the course. you will still find by teeing up the ball you should start skimming the grass. once you've had a couple of rounds doing this. try going back to no tee.


good luck . hope it all works out for you.