Golf forum

hello to you all!!!

im after some advice please, just the basic techniques to using my long irons as this is the part of my game that is in need of focus, iv looked on the net but they all seem to contradict themselves!!!!!!!!!

any advise is greatly accepted!

regards , mark 

Mark,

Go to a golf shop & try out a few rescue / hybrid clubs that you would normally hit 4 - 5 irons to see if this helps. Probably not what you were looking for but it's a start.

John.

I replaced my 3 & 4 irons with hybrids (as John suggested here) years ago, I've never looked back. 

As more testament to this change; I hit my 3 & 4 hybrids so much better than my standard 5-iron!

Cheers 

thanks to you both and i will look into the hybrids, i had thought of these but was trying in vain to master the irons, is there any specific technique to use the rescues or is it your normal stance/swing for long irons?

thanks again , mark 

Take a lesson?

Thought this was going to be a beatles number "please please please help me"..

3 and 4 irons would be a widish stance with ball off front heel then swing through the ball.

Problem is because its a 3 iron people tend to try and knock the ball senseless which results in regrets..

Nice steady tempo letting the club do the work...

Some people play them forwards in their stance like a fairway wood (as Robbie has described).  Personally I play them further back, just ahead of centre so I can crunch down into the back of them like any other type of iron. 

Whatever works for the player; they are very versatile.

Hi Mark , i have an alternative idea. (don't shhot me it's just a thought)

As you have a handicap of 26 are you trying to hit greens from 180 yards?

have you tried just laying up more witha 6 or 7 iron and then chipping on? then occasionally trying the 5 iron.

i know it sounds a bit weak but unless you are quite goot hitting greens from 180 yards is hard even if you strike a good 5/4 iron. I personally can hit mine well as i used to tee off with my 4 iron (driver issues) but even so probs only hit 50% green from 180 yards.

thanks for the updated advice, iv been trying to use a recovery and am getting better results from it, seems to be a bit more consistant and im not trying to murder the ball with it as it will send it a fair distance, so a result there ( i hope!) and the 7 iron idea is a sound piece of advice , i have been doing this for my last couple of rounds and i feel more comfortable with this way and its straight and gets me to the green, i started writing my own par on my card and totally ignore the course par and find im not trying to beat a scratch golfer but only my last round, and i dont feel i need to get stressed if i get a 6 on a 4, alot to do with mental state i think aswell!!

again thanks to everyone who helped, mark. 

Something else to consider with regards to the 7 iron idea Mark.  If you take 3 to the green on a par 4 and 4 to the green on a par 5 and two putt every hole, that's bogey golf and a handicap of 18.  Most higher handicaps, myself included, are guilty of trying to gross birdie every hole and that's where we get into trouble.  My aim now is to give myself a par putt on every hole.  If I can do that and 2 putt every time, I'm going to go round 18 over. 

The difficult bit is not letting greed and ambition take over when you know that you can hit that green with your 4 iron.....

"The difficult bit is not letting greed and ambition take over when you know that you can hit that green with your 4 iron....."

Chris,

I'd say the difficult bit is hitting the ball straight & finding the fairway in the 1st place, you aint gonna have many par putts when your chipping out of the trees or dropping one by the pond!!!!

one by the pond!!!!

Come on John even you know he had more than that at Belton!!!!!!!!!!!

just a quick update , applied the bogey golf technique and thats helping a great deal, secondly, i bit the bullet and spent some dosh on a rescue club, i got a taylor made burner rescue, and am wondering why the hell i didnt do this ages ago! 100% more confidence in using this club and today i was 3 shots of bogey golf, and it was very very wet and slippy so with a bit more use and success i may hit the magic bogey!

id like to say thanks to everyone who replied and to add what a great help its been,

mark the happy golfer