Pulling the ball

Had my round ruined yesterday by consistently pulling the ball left.  I wasn't hooking it, it was just going dead straight, but to the left of where I'm aiming.  In some cases by a marked angle.  The worst part of it is that I couldn't work out what I was or was not doing.  Frustrated the life out of me as, other than that, and the usual wayward drive or two, I was playing much better. 

I know it might be hard without seeing my swing, but anyone any ideas on why I'd be pulling it like this?

I tend to do this if a) I lean back on my right foot too much, or b) I try to hit it too hard.  Both mean I tend to close the face up, resulting in a clean strike with no noticeable side spin but usually about 20° left.

I just try and slow it up a bit to cure it

Could even be something as simple as you're closing the clubface at address (something I used to do in the longer irons to counteract my in to out swing). 

If you were playing better generally, then I would suggest that your swing, tempo, etc were about right and the bad habit you had developed to overcome the flaws was now manifesting itself in a pull.  Voice of experience here as I started pulling after having my swing plane corrected during a lesson. 

Nice one Stu

Both Chris and Jonathan are probably closer to the cause, because if you are hitting the short irons without pulling them it has to be tempo. It is most important when using the longer irons that the same tempo used for the shorter irons is applied, but of course what happens in practice, is that because you are taking a longer iron the brain automatically thinks it has to be hit harder, when in actual fact a smooth swing is all that is required and trust the club to do the work for you.

By hitting slighter firmer without timing will nearly always produce a pull. We all do it, Jamie.

Jamie wise words from John as usual.  I suffer from the same problem and is usually caused by trying to hit the ball too hard which causes me to pull my shoulders to the left in the follow through and the ball goes left.  Concentrating on swinging rhythmically and following through straight usually solves it for me.

As far as breaking a hundred is concerned I found playing to a par of 104 helped (double bogey on 4s and 5s and single bogey on 3s).  It helps to remind you of how many strokes per hole you have to score about a hundred and it is a psychological confidence boost during the round to get under par. 

Jamie,Try and upload a video of your swing be far easier to evaluate and fix.