Between clubs: hit it hard or take some off?

[TylorJudd]

Adding or decreasing effort into my swing has never been a great thing for me. I will try and give a swing more before giving it less as my temp also doesn’t do great. I try to just mitigate the miss short, and where I have the greatest chance of up and down. My CBs can sometime have a flier so more club has gotten me into trouble before

[Bang60]

Back in the day when I could hit a decent draw I could add 5-7 metres, now I hit and pray and that's as good as it gets

[saz0418]

I considered starting a fresh thread on this topic, but I did a search-- and maybe this content fits alright, here.

So, how do you hit in-between yardages?   I have a number of methods that I have used, and I will elaborate on them here to give you some ideas to try.  Maybe you used one or more already. 

Choke down on your club:  Gripping about an inch down on a specific club with the same swing will usually result in a 3 -5 yard shorter shot-- all else being equal.    My issue with this method is that with my wedges, I can get too short and catch the shot thin.   Too thin, and you are over the green.  Not good.  I played single-length irons for about 6 years so I could choke down on anything and still be comfortable.  If you can adjust your stance and trust getting good contact, this is still a viable option.  

Shorten your swing:   I carry a yardage card.   It generally has 4 yardages for all my irons (7i through 60 degree wedge).    I think of them as half swing, 3/4 swing, full swing, and Max distance.   The Max distance I keep in case I have a back pin and happen to catch one flush.  I will never hit a shot where my MAX puts me long.   The half swing you can think of as left arm parallel.  My 3/4 swing feels like my hands get shoulder height.  Full swing is the full extension of my backswing.   This creates a lot of overlap in your shot-matrix, but that is actually a good thing.  Generally, my 1/2 swing with one club goes the same distance as my 3/4 swing of the next higher loft-- like a 1/2 9-iron goes as far as a 3/4 PW.   A 3/4 ,9-iron goes as far as a full PW, and so on.  So I have really 3 clubs that I can hit any given distance, subject to what flight I want to hit.   I used to use an even shorter swing, where the club head only made it to about knee height.  I had trouble hitting that position so I sort of scrapped that strategy.   The general idea is to keep your tempo and swing speed the same with the varying length of (back) swing.   I will note that I generally swing 3/4 with ALL of my approach shots.   My 3/4 (shoulder high) swing is very dependable.  I find I get better contact, better tempo, and more predicable results.  So, I will it a 3/4 9i  instead of a full PW pretty much every time.  

Adjust the width of your stance:   If you have a standard stance width on each of your iron shots, narrowing that by about 4-6 inches will produce less swing arc... less clubhead speed... less distance.  My difference  is about 3-5 yards.   You can go about 6 inches wider and hit it farther, too.  This is currently my go-to for hitting a little more or less distance, because only the set up changes, but everything else stays the same.    Credit to Coach Lockey and his Youtube channel.  He did a whole segment on exactly this topic back during the pandemic shutdown.  A light went on for me because I had never really considered that method.  It's my go-to, now. 

Open or close the face:   Adding loft or taking loft off will affect how far the ball flies (and with that trajectory and spin.  I have generally avoided this method because opening or closing the face means I have to adjust my aim as well.   The adjustments are small, but I have always felt like it affects my accuracy.   I will occasionally close a short iron a bit and aim left.  Its usually when I want a little more carry and roll out with the same club.   It's not common, but I do use it. 

Change your shot shape:   Assuming you can fade or draw the ball when you want, this method works to control distance.   Its similar to opening or closing the face (and then adjusting your aim).   I fade the ball way more easily than I draw it.  If I have a right pin, I will often add one club (for the given distance), and then hit a fade off the right or right-middle.    Likewise a draw will generally go about a club longer, so I take 1 less club and start the ball to the left of the target.   THIS will be the year I can hit the draw when I want to!  No, really!   50 years of playing golf, and a whole off-season on my indoor simulator, and I just know that draw will be there!  

 Change the tempo of your swing:   I have heard some players (especially tour pros) say they keep the length of the swing the same, but change the speed (tempo, energy) of their through swing.   I have not tried this method enough to comment on it.  I will 'go hard' after a certain club if I need a little more distance or carry.   But I find it's more effective (for me) to change my club and length or swing, or my stance width to get a little extra.   

Change ball position:   This is an easy change.   A ball back goes a little lower and farther, and a ball forward goes a little higher and shorter (all else being equal).  Michael Breed just did an entire segment on flighting your wedges for distance, trajectory and spin, and ball position was one of the factors he included in the changes ( though he liked a back ball position as a default).     Like with opening or closing the face, you need to adjust your aim a bit to account for the (small) change in path.  I also know players  that keep the ball position the same, but just change their weight distribution (at set up or dynamically) and/or shaft-lean.   Same result.    Again, myself, if I need a different flight or more/less rollout, I will just select a different club and adjust the length of swing to hit the same carry distance.   

Those are the methods I know of to hit specific target yardages, or yardages that are in between your standard yardage gaps.   

Disclosure:   I am 65 years old, 2 years retired.  I have been playing golf since my teens, but not seriously until I was in my 40's.  I play to an 8/9 HDCP.    I played about 130 rounds in 2023.   I have a Sky-Trak simulator in the garage.  Some people would call me a golf-nerd.  I seriously considered going to PGA teaching school about 10 years ago.  I wasn't sure I could pass the playing test, then.   I'm even less certain, now.  But I love the game.   Hope you enjoyed my post.  

 

 

 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Pretty sure I have answered in this thread already, but it is definitely dependent on the situation. Bunkers and danger around the green. I would love to say it is for sure one or the other but hole by hole situation by situation it certainly changes. 

[bens197]

More often, I’ll swing a little extra and swing 80%, especially as I get older.  The 80% helps me swing more in rhythm and gets me to swing better with my torso.  I’ve also had success in my easier swings by keeping the ball a little lower which helps when you’re a high ball hitter who generates a lot of spin.

[Javs]

A lot depends on the shot I’m trying to execute and why I am in between clubs. I would rather take more club and choke down play the ball slightly back in my stance with a 3/4 or 1/2 length swing. However, the real key is to still be aggressive through the hitting area. I play many shots this way. Easy to make contact and control length and trajectory. 

[chisag]

7 minutes ago, bens197 said:

More often, I’ll swing a little extra and swing 80%, especially as I get older.  The 80% helps me swing more in rhythm and gets me to swing better with my torso.  I’ve also had success in my easier swings by keeping the ball a little lower which helps when you’re a high ball hitter who generates a lot of spin.

 

... I am assuming you meant swing a little extra club? Such a great short post.   Better players more often than not swinging harder impart more spin and a higher trajectory making control more difficult. And higher index players swinging harder is almost never a good idea. Learning to take more club and swing with more control (NOT easier that leads to all kinds of problems from decelerating to a shut club face) will find they are much more accurate as long as they accelerate though the ball. Even swinging at 50% you still accurate through the ball. 

... I will sometimes play an entire practice round taking more club and playing 3/4 swings for every shot so when I am between yardages playing a normal round, those shots are well practiced with every club and I am completely comfortable hitting them. 

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

15 minutes ago, bens197 said:

More often, I’ll swing a little extra and swing 80%, especially as I get older.  The 80% helps me swing more in rhythm and gets me to swing better with my torso.  I’ve also had success in my easier swings by keeping the ball a little lower which helps when you’re a high ball hitter who generates a lot of spin.

This. Last year for me….this

[bens197]

18 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

... I am assuming you meant swing a little extra club? Such a great short post.   Better players more often than not swinging harder impart more spin and a higher trajectory making control more difficult. And higher index players swinging harder is almost never a good idea. Learning to take more club and swing with more control (NOT easier that leads to all kinds of problems from decelerating to a shut club face) will find they are much more accurate as long as they accelerate though the ball. Even swinging at 50% you still accurate through the ball. 

... I will sometimes play an entire practice round taking more club and playing 3/4 swings for every shot so when I am between yardages playing a normal round, those shots are well practiced with every club and I am completely comfortable hitting them. 

You assumed correctly…this became a habit for me while playing in Florida.  By the time 10-1030 arrived, the winds would pick up and a lot of approaches were upwind.  I’d take 1-2 clubs extra and just ease into an approach with the goal of hitting the green…rather than firing away I could impart less spin and as much as I disliked playing upwind, my scores on those holes were often lower than when I’d fire away with some help behind me. 

[funkyjudge]

On 1/24/2023 at 9:28 AM, G56788 said:

All other things being equal, if you are between clubs, are you more likely to try the “hard” shorter club or take something off the longer club?

I usually go the latter route, choking down or making a three-quarter swing only to catch it flush and fly the green anyway. If I try the “hard” shot, it usually spins a bunch, flies higher and ends up short. It’s the 50-50-90 rule in full effect (if you have a 50-50 shot at getting it right, you’ll pick wrong 90% of the time).

How about everyone else?

Almost always, I will take the longer (e.g. - stronger lofted) club and choke down just a bit (about 3/4” to 1.5”, depending on how much distance I want to take off on the shot), and then take my normal swing. I choose to do this because I find that invariably when I try to get a little extra out of the shorter club, I either pull the shot or swing too hard and screw up something (tempo, low point of the swing, causing me to hit the shot fat or thin, etc). Occasionally, when doing this, I choke down a little too much and leave my shot a little short or in a greenside bunker, but since I am generally an above-average chipper and pitcher of the ball and a far better than average bunker player I don’t mind those shots. If I pull the ball and hit it long and left, it almost always leaves me in a much worse place with a far more difficult shot. This, of course, quickly adds one or two extra strokes to my score on that hole.

Playing winter golf, on either sloppy and muddy turf, or in frozen conditions, it is harder to make perfectly clean contact with the irons.  I carry a 5-hybrid rather than a 5-iron for these winter rounds.  This 5-hybrid, with 24* of loft, gets used for some shots where my distance indicates that I should use a 7 or even an 8 iron. I would rather try to take something off of the 5-hybrid shot than hit the iron that my desired shot distance calls for, because the 5-hybrid’s sole design provides some more forgiveness on the slight “fat” hits. Plus, the 5-hybrid is much more effective on 3/4 or 1/2 swing “punch shots”.

[bens197]

20 minutes ago, GolfSpy_SHARK said:

This. Last year for me….this

There’s a song about it…I wish that I knew what I know now…when I was older…

Oh well

 

[funkyjudge]

9 minutes ago, bens197 said:

There’s a song about it…I wish that I knew what I know now…when I was older…

Oh well

 

Are you referring to “Oh, Well” by the original Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green?  I absolutely love that song, and still listen to it a lot. My favorite line is “Don’t ask me what I think of you; I might not give the answer that you want me to”.

Never mind; it’s clear that you are referring to a far more recent song by the Lumineers.

Edited February 17 by funkyjudge

[chisag]

2 minutes ago, funkyjudge said:

Are you referring to “Oh, Well” by the original Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green?  I absolutely love that song, and still listen to it a lot. My favorite line is “Don’t ask me what I think of you; I might not give the answer that you want me to”.

 

 

[bens197]

16 minutes ago, funkyjudge said:

Are you referring to “Oh, Well” by the original Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green?  I absolutely love that song, and still listen to it a lot. My favorite line is “Don’t ask me what I think of you; I might not give the answer that you want me to”.

Never mind; it’s clear that you are referring to a far more recent song by the Lumineers.

Oh goodness no…my reference was to the Counting Crows version of the original.

[funkyjudge]

37 minutes ago, chisag said:

 

 

Yes; the Lumineers also did it. I don’t know who recorded/released it first, but my wife and I saw and heard the Lumineers do it in concert about 7 years ago.

That version in your link IS the one that most people have heard in commercials on radio and TV.

Edited February 17 by funkyjudge

[funkyjudge]

Just now, funkyjudge said:

Yes; the Lumineers also did it. I don’t know who recorded/released it first, but my wife and I saw and heard the Lumineers do it in concert about 7 years ago.

Looks like Counting Crows also did that song.