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Sorry for the repeat question but this is bugging me ,,, I'd like to know how to get that piercing trajectory with full iron shots, my irons go very high that does sacrifice some distance from me my 7 goes 150 swing (speed 85 mph 7 iron) my friend hits my 7 about 170 with a lovely ball flight . My ball flight stops travelling forward when it gets to its highest point ,where as my friends gets to its high point which is lower than mine and just keeps going forward any tips ?

Well, the only way I know to put it is to hit the ball forward, not up. If you focus on sending the pill forward, "up" will happen on it's own and it will probably be a more boring (not yawn boring but piercing boring) shot. To do this you'll have to arrive at the ball with a slightly steeper delivery and make impact slightly before bottom dead center of the swing. To get the feeling and learn how to do this I use the "hit it under the bench" drill...set a bench or a chair or the like far enough downrange that you don't feel like you can hit the ball under it with your normal swing (we're talkin' quarter-power swing at most) with the club of your choice (I advise an 8 or 7 iron). Then practice leading more with the hands (which will slightly deloft the clubface) and finding the angle of descent that will allow you to hit it under the bench...you're not trying to send the ball any particular distance or even any precise direction, for that matter, you are merely searching for a feel...the feel of leading the clubhead with the hands and hitting slightly more down and through the ball. Be careful while executing this drill not to decelerate or poke at the ball, you must accelerate all the way through just like a normal shot, only a fraction as hard. Once you get the feel, move the bench and begin to bump up the power, trying to achieve the same takeoff trajectory...if you find yourself going back to catching it at bottom dead center of the swing or even past BDC then throttle back the power and work on hitting it under the bench some more...eventually you'll be able to encorporate the newly-learned move into a full shot and voila, the shot you were looking for...with that club. Your work is not done. You have to use the same method for longer clubs and the feeling will be slightly different because the angle of descent lessens as the clubs get longer. This, btw, is how to bring the trajectory down on the wedges and increase spin (careful not to overdo it).

It goes without saying that you don't want to use this method with the metals\hybrids\woods...those require a more sweeping move, but that's another thread.

Hope that helps...let us know if you find it.

Shade

Thanks very much Shaderunner , i'll be working very hard on this one .

Well in my opinion, you don't really want a piercing trajectory on all of your iron shots. Maybe 3, 4, 5 irons (and even then I don't know) but everything else I want to hit it as high as possible so it lands and stops. Now, myself, I like to try and hit my 3, 4, and 5 irons as high as possible also because the lower they are, the harder it is for them to stop on a green.

With you hitting the ball 150 with a 7 iron, that's not really anything to get discouraged about. You're still above average as far as distance goes. There really is no other way to get the kind of shot look that you're after unless you increase your swing speed. Going from hitting a 7 iron 150 to being able to hit one 170 is a big jump in speed and that club head speed jump alone will produce a more powerful looking shot.

I mean, I'd love to be able to hit a 3 iron stinger the way Tiger does, but fact of it is, I just don't have the clubhead speed to apply to the ball to get that kind of shot shape.

I don't know how long you've been playing or what your skill level is, but just keep practicing (maybe take some lessons). Once your fundamentals get better, your swing speed will increase as a result and you'll start producing some of these shots that you're after without having to even think about it.

You want to hit down and through with your irons. When you do this, you will hit the ball first, then creating a divot after impact. What happens is that the clubs grooves will grab the ball, and the forward motion of the club will cause the ball to slightly, and I do mean slightly, move up the clubface. This gives it the necessary backspin to give the ball lift. The trajectory of a ball is not one of a straight angle. The ball of a 7 iron actually starts low and because of the amount of spin applied to the ball, rises to an apex and drops at a sharper angle than when it started. Remember, spin is what keeps the ball in the air, not hitting up on it. Hitting up on it actually decreases distance on the ball because the ball will have less backspin, therefore have less lift and the ball will not carry as far.