Irons lack distance?

Question

My irons seems to lack the distance as other people I play with. I seem to hit them well, but a 7 iron only goes about 135-140. And a pitching wedge 90-95. I am wondering were I could be losing power and how to gain more distance.

Answer 1

Maybe its more of a mental thing.  Maybe the closer you are, the more at ease you feel which causes you to ease up on your shots, hence losing clubhead speed.  I'm the opposite of that, the closer i am, the more aggressive swing i take.  As long as you are consistent direction and lengthwise, you shouldnt consider it too much of a problem.

Also try checking your swing against your equipment.  Maybe your clubs don't fit you, ie. shafts are too stiff, incorrect lie angles, broken or bent clubs?, etc...

Answer 2

Distance is a function of clubhead speed.  Your friends may have newer clubs than you with slightly longer shafts.  The longer shaft creates a larger arc and thus more clubhead speed.  If you are using an older set check to see if your seven iron is shorter than your friends?  But there are many places in your swing that you could be losing power and without seeing you swing no one here will have an accurate answer.  But remember golf is not about how far you hit the ball, it is about how many times you hit it.  It makes no difference if you have to hit a five iron where your fellow competitor hits a seven, as long as you get it closer to the flag than him (and make the putt).

Answer 3

There could be many reasons why you are losing distance.  

1) You could be breaking your wrists too early on the downswing thus adding loft to your irons which would cause a loss of distance;

2) You could be bending your left arm during the take away and the turn away from the ball which could cause a loss of distance;

3)  You could be having a problem with transferring your weight from the right to the left during the downswing which could cause a loss of distance;

4)  You could have the ball too far forward in your stance which would make you sweep the ball instead of hitting down on it at impact; or

5) Make sure you're making a full shoulder turn away from the ball instead of just bringing the club up/back with just your arms.

Hopefully, one of these little quirks was the problem.  Try these solutions on the range and let me know if they work.

Answer 4

You can't base your game on someone else's.  If you're not a long hitter, you're not a long hitter.  Corey Pavin won a tournament in 2006 and he is probably the shortest hitter on PGA Tour.  He played his game though.  You can always go to a local pro shop and get fitted for your clubs.  You may be hitting irons that aren't fit for you.  Another thing to consider is you may not be making solid contact.  I thought I was having this same issue, but I then realized that I wasn't making solid contact like I was previously.  There was a time when I could outdrive my brother and he is 6 feet tall and weighs 205 lbs.  I'm 5'7" 165 lbs.  He is a lot stronger than me.  He wasn't making solid contact.  He is 2 to 3 clubs longer than me, but I'm more technically sound than he is and I routinely score better than him.  You have to work with what you have.

Answer 5

That is a pretty dramatic loss , maybe you should get the specs for your clubs and make sure the lofts are correct and then make sure that you are playing with the correct shaft , that is a big error that people make , Did you get Fitted ????

or did you just buy off the shelf ?? it really makes a difference .