high ball flight & weak distance

Question
QUESTION: hi,my iron play has became very weak, been practising a lot of wedge play over winter but my mid to long irons have been poor,i play of a handicap of 3 on a very demanding par 72 links course at northern Scotland which is always windy,so you ll understand my frustrations with a high weak iron shot,yours hopefully  andy

ANSWER: Hi Andy:

High ball flight, no distance.........not good in the wind as you know.  Let's get right to the root of the problem.  AT IMPACT, YOU ARE ADDING LOFT TO THE FACE.  Question is why?  If your ball is too high, you are adding loft to the clubface at impact.  The reason is improper use of your hands.  The back of your left hand is collapsing upward and the right hand is working too much under through impact.  Watch for yourself:  in slow motion, watch the clubface.  Make some really slow swings, and as the clubhead gets just about to impact, use your hands incorrectly and watch the face turn skyward.  The palm of your right hand will work in a scooping motion and end up facing the sky.  If your right hand does that, so will the clubface.  That is what you do Andy.  As the right hand works too much under and tries to scoop it, watch the left wrist or the back of the left hand start to collapse.  Do this in very slow motion just to watch and see and experience the incorrect method.  Now, let's disouss how to do it correctly!  Picture the club again.  In order for the loft of the club to be reduced at impact (this is what you want), the shaft of the club MUST be angled forward towards the target AT IMPACT.  The more the shaft angles or leans forward towards the target, the less loft is on the clubface AT IMPACT.  So here is your drill:  Set up with the golf ball back in your stance so it is between the center of your stance and your right foot (assuming your a right hander).  Next, set the shaft angle forward so the end (grip end) of the club points to your left hip.  Keep the clubface square to the target and notice how much loft is taken off the clubface when you set up this way.  Now here is the key.  What matters the most to the golf ball Andy is what the club looks like at impact!  It doesn't care what you look like at address.  The ball only responds to what the club tells it to do, so if your shaft is angled backwards because you took your hands and flipped the clubface underneathe it, then you will hit it really high, usually to the right and have no distance.  So to correct that mistake, lets hit some small 6 irons.  Take your stance, new ball position, and new shaft angle at address.  Now, the key is the shaft angle.  The handle of your club MUST GO THROUGH THE IMPACT AREA BEFORE THE CLUBHEAD DOES.  The key is to not use your hands so much and swing your arms more.  The arms control the shaft, the hands control the clubhead.  So if your arms are swinging through the impact area, picture your ball coming off that clubface as low as it can go.  There is ONLY ONE WAY THE CLUBFACE AND SHAFT CAN LOOK TO DO THAT ANDY.  Start off small, use a 6 or 7 iron, and see just how low you can go.  Picture that clubface at impact flat against the ball (I know that is impossible because the club has loft, but picture it).  With practice, you'll feel a little more weight on your left foot throughout the swing, but keep your balance at the finish.  Good luck knocking that ball lower in those Scottish winds.  

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member










---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: me again ,after changing my shaft angle at impact i,m finally hitting a penetrating iron shot again,but it has taken  a few hours of pure practice to get the shaft angle forward AND a few shanks with it but well worth the time and effort to see the ball penetrating the wind with 5 and 6 irons,will keep practicing cheers andy

Answer
Hi Andy:

Congrats Andy.  The shanks, when practicing this, is nothing more than your hands moving too far out away from your body through impact.  When keeping the angle of the shaft more forward in hitting a lower type shot, be careful when you move the butt end of the club forward, that you don't move it out and away from you.  That would move the clubhead out a bit as well, which is a shank.  Good job, gradually lesson the angle of the shaft to suit the trajectory you want as time goes on.  It's sort of fun to hit a low, penetrating shot into the wind because you know how to isn't it?  But, remember, a perfectly struck shot has the shaft angle slightly forward at impact.  

Eddie Kilthau
PGA Member