Golf question

[Mo0o]

I'm noticing that when I take half swings on the shorter irons my ball ends up going farther. When I'm taking a full swing on the shorter irons, I get a really high launch trajectory and the ball ends up landing 10-20 yards shorter than when I take a half swing and the ball takes a lower angle.

I guess my question is, is that normal? Or is there some kind of weird deficit in my swing that I should look at.

 

[BigFatCow]

hard to tell without seeing your swing, my guess is it has to do with you getting under the ball more on a full swing, making it pop higher and fly shorter. When you take a half swing your making more solid contact making it go lower and farther. Do you take divots on the full swings?

 

[Mo0o]

hard to tell without seeing your swing, my guess is it has to do with you getting under the ball more on a full swing, making it pop higher and fly shorter. When you take a half swing your making more solid contact making it go lower and farther. Do you take divots on the full swings?

Naw, I dont really take divots during a full swing. But I think I'm definitely getting under teh ball a lot more when take a full backswing.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Definitely a defect in the regular swing, but it's impossible to pinpoint exactly what it is without a video of your swing. But I can make an educated guess.

If you're thinking you're "getting under the ball" you should probably give up the game entirely and take up knitting. You're not getting under the ball, you can't get under the ball, the earth is under the ball. To make proper contact with an iron you need to hit down on it, you strike the ball and then the club strikes the ground in front of the ball. But if you're not taking divots and are trying to get under the ball, that's the clue as to why things are off. Even without seeing your swing I'm 75% sure that you're scooping with the full swing, your wrists are breaking down because you're trying to lift the ball into the air in an ill-fated effort to get under it.

Try this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVMwOjZLPwo

 

[jmagg]

Simple answer is that when you take a half swing, you're somehow closing the loft of the club down. Google "knock down shot".

 

[Kyle]

Definitely a defect in the regular swing, but it's impossible to pinpoint exactly what it is without a video of your swing. But I can make an educated guess.

If you're thinking you're "getting under the ball" you should probably give up the game entirely and take up knitting. You're not getting under the ball, you can't get under the ball, the earth is under the ball. To make proper contact with an iron you need to hit down on it, you strike the ball and then the club strikes the ground in front of the ball. But if you're not taking divots and are trying to get under the ball, that's the clue as to why things are off. Even without seeing your swing I'm 75% sure that you're scooping with the full swing, your wrists are breaking down because you're trying to lift the ball into the air in an ill-fated effort to get under it.

Try this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVMwOjZLPwo

That's a good video- I know for me that was my biggest (still is I'm sure) issue- breaking the wrist and scooping at it- not so much with chips/pitching, but with my full iron swings. You can still hit consistent/good shots, but you'll never get much distance, and spin will be virtually non-exsistent. Unfortunitly it's a very hard habit to break if you're full swing has been that way for years.

 

[Gibsons]

"Scooping is job security for Golf Pros." 😀

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

it's physics. your swing trajectory is slightly different on a less than full swing.

 

[Mike Gayner]

Simple answer is that when you take a half swing, you're somehow closing the loft of the club down. Google "knock down shot".

This - you're closing the face on a half swing, or possibly opening it on a full swing. Where does the ball go on each swing?

 

[jackace]

Another thing that could be happening is your are delofting your club when using your half swing. This usually happens because you are making contact with the ball while your wrists are still partially cocked. It's very common problem when for players when they are trying to vary their backswing.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Go see a golf pro if you eventually want to hit a golf ball well, after much practice. Suggestions from an internet forum are unlikely to improve your ball striking because you could be doing any number of things wrong including swing plane, the steepness or shallowness of your swing, casting the club, coming over the top, getting handsy at the bottom, improper takeaway, bad setup posture, and a million other possibilities.

If you don't want to see a pro and/or practice regularly just resign yourself to the fact that you're going to have to play as well as you do now and live with it. When it comes to golf there is no magic fix and that's the unfortunate truth.

 

[Mo0o]

Go see a golf pro if you eventually want to hit a golf ball well, after much practice. Suggestions from an internet forum are unlikely to improve your ball striking because you could be doing any number of things wrong including swing plane, the steepness or shallowness of your swing, casting the club, coming over the top, getting handsy at the bottom, improper takeaway, bad setup posture, and a million other possibilities.

If you don't want to see a pro and/or practice regularly just resign yourself to the fact that you're going to have to play as well as you do now and live with it. When it comes to golf there is no magic fix and that's the unfortunate truth.

Yeah totally understood. I've been messing around a little bit at the range and focusing more on not letting my wrists break early and it seems to help. I'm also slowly learning to ease up on my grip and let teh club whip through the ball when my wrists finally do break. When I do that the ball seems to fly a lot further and at a lower trajectory. I plan on taking some lesson to have a pro take a look at my swing and figure out whats going on