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What Are Some Common Causes of Iron Distance Loss??

mact3333

mact3333

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So what are some common causes for iron distance loss...been quite perplexing...I am still shooting good scores cause I just club up now but I am losing 10 yards per club with my irons now...most noticeable is the PW...used to hit it 120-125 now it goes 110-115...even the ones I hit solid seem abit short.

I am guessing it must have to do with not turning my hips and being too armsy...I also notice that I take divots on the range but on the course I dont take a lot of divots so I must be sweeping.

Although I am getting older, I work out every day so I dont think I am losing strength or flexibility and my driver length is normal.

Thoughts?...this happening to anyone else??
 
Sounds like on the range you are getting down into the ball when you say more divot, and not so on the course, sounds like you are not going after it and picking/scooping it more which will cause loss in yardage

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In general it's just poor contact. You can hit what feels like a solid shots but not have enough forward shaft lean and ended up hitting the ball at the bottom of your swing and sends them up high loosing penetrating trajectory. Sometimes playing the ball an inch or so too far forward would do that too.

Usually when something wrong with the ball flight and distance, first thing I check is the ball position. Because you may be an inch or so from almost perfect.
 
Is it with all irons or mostly just with the PW? Ball flight is similar to what you were seeing before? If the ball is curving more one way or another then I would say you are missing it heel/toe, but if it is still straight I would guess you are catching it higher on the face for some myriad of reasons or scooping it/early extension of the hands and losing speed getting too high of ball flight.

EDIT: I know very little in comparison to a great many others on this forum so hopefully one of them can actually give you some advice on diagnosing the issue and then actually helping you get it fixed.
 
any change in ball flight? is it going higher or lower than before? fade or draw opposite of before?


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It isn't age - you are fit and your swing looks the same to me as always the last time we played. You have a compact swing. My guess is it is something like ball position or maybe casting a bit, which ever so slightly impacts impact.
 
More I think about the more I think its because I am tense on the course ...I only see divots on the course from SW-9 iron...on range I take divots with all my irons most of the time...with tense arms I am probably swinging all arms and not enough hips and sweeping.

I am working with a technically flawed flat swing with inside takeaway and pretty inside -out swing path so I should just count my blessings I can even hit the ball haha.

I tend to be more relaxed on the range cause I listen to music with headphones the entire time...dang if I could just hit my irons like I used to, think Id put up some really good scores the way I am chipping and putting.
 
Something with your setup or swing has decreased your swing speed, reduced your smash factor, or increased your loft. The problem is there are a LOT of possibilities that can produce one or more of those results, which is why some are asking questions. We need to narrow it down. I don't even know if the distance loss is only on the course or also on the range. So...
1. Tell us if the distance loss with your irons is only on the course or both course and range.
2. I'm interested in what you see with your fairway metal. Is your distance the same as it was off the tee? What about off the fairway? (Same questions if you have hybrids in your bag.)
3. Compared to when you were hitting your irons well any differences you perceive in ball flight height? Shot shape? What you feel at impact?
 
This happens to me at times as well. In fact some rounds my yardages are on par, while others further than normal, and then yet others I am shorter. I think (at least for me) it comes down to how comfy, relaxed, and/or over all smoothly fluid my swing is. Sometimes I get a bit tentative and slow things down a bit in order to find a tempo. But it happens sometimes to a fault. I mean still good enough to hit the ball well but just not the yardage. But then there are other things like perhaps feeling a bit stiff in the back, or wherever. In the end for me its all about how relaxed I am over all.

And I could understand the feeling as though "what happened to my yardage?" but then as said I ll also see normal yardage and even days when all is flying further than normal so it tells me is not a lack of ability or age (at least not yet lol) but simply just a flaw with the swing. perhaps not a detrimental one but still a flaw none the less. At the range this hardly ever happens. That again tells me its not an inability but just a flaw.
 
I had the same problem but I was losing distance with all my irons. I took a lesson and found out I wasn't following through all the way. I gained 10-15 yards on my irons after the lesson. I have to remind myself to follow through on every swing. According to my instructor being tense kept me from following through. Lol

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Over swinging/tension for most of us. I was at the PGA yesterday and it's amazing how smooth they swing even with long irons and fairway woods and the ball just goes for days.
 
The driver, 4 wood and hybrids are pretty good these days.

I was swinging inside the house last night and I have a swing speed radar unit...with driver and hybrids I was swinging it 94-100 mph...with 7 iron I was swinging it 73-77 mph....is this normal???...or should I be swinging 7 iron harder????
 
I'm not sure we ever really want to try to swing harder. Swinging more efficiently is the way to go.
 
I went through this for a while. I was early releasing / flipping so badly that when my buddies were hitting pitching wedge from 130, I was hitting 7-iron, and sometimes coming up short. Watching on video, I was flipping so badly I was literally turning my 7-iron into a pitching wedge. As I recall, the problem wasn't quite as pronounced with the longer clubs because of the flatter swing plane of the long clubs. With regards to contact, while being a sweeper doesn't mean you're doing this, if you are flipping, you're far less likely to take a good divot.

I'm certainly willing to share what the causes and fixes were for me, but since your causes might be different, it may not be useful. Better to have someone look at your swing on video to diagnose the reasons.
 
It sounds like a case of early release and a golf ball that is staying in the face (rolling up) longer. My guess is that you have some spine angle loss on the course combined with an early release of the club.
 
Tadashi,

You are right...when I am swinging bad, I tend to be on my heels and lose my primary spine angle....I hit my irons best when I focus on getting weight on my toes and maintaining my primary tilt...one thing I did last night that felt a lot more natural was to make my arms and wrists be very passive and initiate the swing with my body and shoulders and to start the downswing the same way but in reverse.

I was getting so desperate with this distance loss I was thinking about ordering some new CF16 irons with recoil shafts lol.
 
mact3333 said:
Tadashi,

You are right...when I am swinging bad, I tend to be on my heels and lose my primary spine angle....I hit my irons best when I focus on getting weight on my toes and maintaining my primary tilt...one thing I did last night that felt a lot more natural was to make my arms and wrists be very passive and initiate the swing with my body and shoulders and to start the downswing the same way but in reverse.

I was getting so desperate with this distance loss I was thinking about ordering some new CF16 irons with recoil shafts lol.
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Tadashi knows his stuff. The fault the two of you describe will result in increased loft, reduced smash factor from off-center strikes, and a loss of swing speed from balance problems and sub-optimum weight shift. All of which will reduce your distance.

One additional thing I wonder. Do you pause at the top of your backswing with your irons as you do with your driver, fairway metal and hybrid? Too quick a transition often causes an imbalance that leads to losing the spine angle. Just another thing to review as a possibility.
 
one thing that I can do thats helps maintain primary spine angle is to have more knee flex...I forget this too often...other thing I failed to mention is that I am dealing with a nagging left shoulder injury which causes some pain esp. when I chunk shots off the mats...dont notice it much if I hit ball solid...might have to cave and see someone regarding this...affects my workouts more than golf though.
 
The funny part about golf is it can be a million things. Generally bad contact though, early extension slowing the club up. Launching too high or too low, too much spin, not enough depending on the irons, temperature, ball, your body just being tight. So much stuff. In general if you have access start your season with a baseline on a decent launch monitor then go back 2 or 3 times during the season and you can get an idea of how your swing is.

I know every once in a great while I show up and am 2 clubs short a few times a year, just a combination of terrible bad multiple bad issues coming together at the same time.
 
mact3333 said:
one thing that I can do thats helps maintain primary spine angle is to have more knee flex...I forget this too often...other thing I failed to mention is that I am dealing with a nagging left shoulder injury which causes some pain esp. when I chunk shots off the mats...dont notice it much if I hit ball solid...might have to cave and see someone regarding this...affects my workouts more than golf though.
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Knee flex does have anything to do with spine angle. Spine angle is regulated by the flex in your hips. I know guys with very little leg flex and extreme hip flex.
 
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