(08-19-2022, 02:18 PM)NYC4jags Wrote:

(08-19-2022, 06:27 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: I hit my driver better than any other club.  It has a 55 gram shaft, and 12 degrees of loft.  The weird thing is, the harder I swing, the better I hit it.  I'm taking such a long back swing with it that I can see the head out of the corner of my eye when I start my down swing.  When I have a problem with it is when I decelerate and close the club face, which results in a low pull-draw to the left.  But I have so much confidence with my driver, I just hit it without any swing thoughts at all.  

BUT, the closer I get to the green, the worse I get.  My irons are pathetic.  I can miss a green with a wedge from 80 yards.  Really bad.  

And the reason for all this is because for the last several years, on the driving range, I get so frustrated with my irons that I gravitate to the clubs I hit well, which is the driver and the longer fairway clubs.  So I wind up practicing the things I already do well, and neglecting the things I do poorly.

Interesting how we amateurs have such a variety of obstacles. 

I've (finally) figured out how to be fairly accurate with 8 iron down through the wedges for anything inside 140 yards. 
This is easily foiled with a bad lie or stance however. 

It's the longer irons that give me fits these days.
Lately my fix has been to club up and swing extra easy - like a really relaxed practice swing - to get these 150-200 yard approaches near or on the the green instead of a greater chance of mishit when I swing full bore. 
If I could dial in my 5, 6 and 7 irons, I think I'd shave 5 strokes from a typical round. 

If I hit my driver without any swing thought it would sail 40 right of the fairway every time, LOL. 
I still have to mentally counter my outside-in tendency with at least 4 swing thoughts on every drive.

I think almost every guy I play with (including me) should follow your lead and club up on approach shots.  I see so many guys (including me) who shoot in the 80s or 90s who, if they miss the green, are most often short.  It's because most of us tend to think we're going to make a perfect swing and hit our best shot, but that only happens about 10% of the time, at least in my group with my golfing buddies.  We were talking about it the other day.  Someone asked me, "Do you ever hit an approach shot over the green?"  And I had to answer, no, most of my misses are short.

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