Random Questions & Thoughts Re: Hitting Long Irons

[Robbohank]

I'm trying to reconcile some things in my head regarding how to best hit the long irons and I thought I'd pose some thoughts in this forum. I still carry a 2 and 3, and even a 1-iron on occasions..... mainly due to playing in lots of wind most of the time. I prefer an iron to a hybrid and can hit them great at times, but not as consistently as I "should" as a scratch player.

I had a chance to hit a large bucket today and I hit primarily wedges, 7-irons, and 3-irons, and really tried to comprehend why a 2 or 3-iron is tougher to hit than the 7-iron? The 3 reasons that seem the most obvious being:

1) it's a longer club by a couple of inches
2) it has less loft, so sidespin is a bigger factor
3) it requires more clubhead speed to impart "enough" backspin to keep the ball in the air

But as I thought about these answers it would seem that with a fairly repeatable swing, the club being 2 inches longer shouldn't be a big issue. Even the effect of having 15 degrees less loft doesn't seem like it would make a huge difference to a club travelling on a reasonable path with respect to the target.

Which leads me to #3. Is it the attempt to "artificially" add clubhead speed (by "muscling" the swing, "trying harder", etc) in order to create enough backspin that leads to the inconsistency with the long irons? Does the additional 2 inches of shaft length combined with making a "7-iron swing" create more than enough clubhead speed for the long iron shot?

The more I tried to really feel like my HANDSPEED thru impact was THE SAME with the 3-iron as with the 7, the better the results.

Has anyone calculated what a particular handspeed creates in clubhead speed and the increase in clubhead speed when that same handspeed is applied to a shaft that's 2 inches longer (assuming the same release motion)?

I spent some time by the 17th tee at the 08 Byron Nelson. It was a par-3 set up at 220 and played into a strong wind. These guys were putting the smoothest motions you could imagine with 3 and 4 irons and hitting some wonderful shots.

Is it simply that most amateurs (even the better ones) instinctively try to swing the long irons harder rather than letting the added shaft length create the speed (making consistency harder to come by)?

Sorry about the rambling. Just wondering if this makes sense.

Robbo

 

[ggsjpc]

longer clubs are harder to hit off the ground because they are longer. the easiest way to hit a specific point on the ground is to swing vertically up and down on that point (sledgehammmer into ground). It gets progressively harder to hit the same point on the ground when the clubhead gets closer to the ground and farther away from the ball.

longer clubs travel more time along the ground so they are more difficult to consistently land in the same place.

Picture it this way. It would be easier for a plane to repeatably nosedive/crash and hit the same point on the runway than it would be to repeatably land an airplane safely on the same point of the runway.

 

[twitch127]

longer clubs are harder to hit off the ground because they are longer. the easiest way to hit a specific point on the ground is to swing vertically up and down on that point (sledgehammmer into ground). It gets progressively harder to hit the same point on the ground when the clubhead gets closer to the ground and farther away from the ball.

Speaking of sledgehammers those "axe men" in woodchopping contests are pretty damn accurate with hitting the same point on a near horizontal plane. I reckon they are more accurate than trying to chop on a vertical plane. Long irons are harder to hit because the shaft is longer (takes longer to get in-line which is hard to time) and the loft is lower - which causes more effect on direction (side spin) than distance (backspin). Tom Wishon did a study on this and found that in the last 10-15 years a standard (what ever that is) 5 iron is now a "standard" 3 iron in regards to length and loft - any wonder people can't hit em anymore.

 

[ggsjpc]

both

Speaking of sledgehammers those "axe men" in woodchopping contests are pretty damn accurate with hitting the same point on a near horizontal plane. I reckon they are more accurate than trying to chop on a vertical plane. Long irons are harder to hit because the shaft is longer (takes longer to get in-line which is hard to time) and the loft is lower - which causes more effect on direction (side spin) than distance (backspin). Tom Wishon did a study on this and found that in the last 10-15 years a standard (what ever that is) 5 iron is now a "standard" 3 iron in regards to length and loft - any wonder people can't hit em anymore.

I'm pretty sure the lumberjacks are accurate with both vertical planes and horizontal planes but that doesn't relate to hitting something on the ground while trying to get it off the ground. The longer an object travels along the ground the more difficult it is to land it on a specific point on the ground.