Leakage ?

[EaglesNest]

Although making rapid improvement in my ball striking ability since my introduction to Brian's material, I'm somewhat frustrated at my lack of progress with iron shots, although they have improved dramatically this is where I still have the biggest problem with leakage. The quality of length and direction of my irons (and I might add the shorter the iron the more leakage) is poor compared to the length and accuracy of teed woods. Ball flight patterns for teed wood shots: Draw,Push,Push Fade all with good distance, seeing much more of the right side of fairway. Irons: Straight,Pull,Pullhook, mostly see left side of green, wedge shots worst long to mid irons best, a true draw with an iron just ain't in my bag, also lack the ability to hit a true punch shot.
Any suggestions as to what is holding back my iron game ?

 

[hue]

EaglesNest: Are you taking a divot with your short irons? Thanks.

 

[EaglesNest]

Hue: Yes, sometimes before ball contact and they also look to be slighty toe heavy with short irons.

 

[hue]

I would say you have to work on your impact hands . Flat lead wrist bent right wrist until both arms are straight in the follow through. You want the shaft leaning forward at impact with hands leading. Work on your impact fix in a mirror and then hit little chips checking your impact alignments and then graduate up to little pitches etc . Brian's ball mashing drill "hitting balls out of deep divots " will help. Hit down and through making the divot deeper. You can exagerate the feel by hitting down with an arched lead wrist to make sure you get contact with the ball first. Get your hands over the left thigh at impact. The divot drill will help you with your punch shot.

 

[EaglesNest]

Hue:
Have done plenty of work chipping with good results but will admit no work in front of a mirror doing same, so I cannot comment on my impact alignments.
Never done the ball mashing drill as there is only one local range here that has turf and we seem to be in a constant state of drought the surface is unwatered and in a bone jarring state, it would be safer doing the drill off mats.
From memory I can remember you saying you did a fair amount of the ball mashing drill. How long did you continue with this drill ? And was this one drill that you feel you could not have done without ? And did you start off with this drill by doing chips,punch,pitch shots and progressing from the smallest shot ?

 

[hue]

The ball mashing drill is a great drill and I still practice it and yes it is a drill I could not have done without. It is more of a wedge /short iron drill . I do not practice the drill for chips mainly fullish shots but it would work with pitches. Do your checking of your impact alignments first in the mirror to validate what you are doing then chips and then move on to divot drill. Hitting off mats may have set you up for your short iron problems as they tend to make you pick at the ball to avoid the harsh vibration that you get when you hit down on the ball. I find I tend to go back to picking when I hit off hard mats or if I do hit down end up with sore wrists so I avoid them and only hit off a tee peg when at a range. Soften up some soil with a watering can and do the drill . The divot drill it self will show you more than I can describe. Once you have got the idea it sticks but the penny must drop first.