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Well, as the title states, I have some more questions. But where to begin.

First, I have gotten the fat shots out of my game, I think it was just a problem that came and went, but now I am having a problem with distance between my 8i and 7i. This is only off the tees where I am able to tee the ball. This problem comes from a 178 yd par 3 at my local course that I play a lot. At the beginning of the summer I was hitting my 6i to this elevated green. After a while I started hitting over with that club, so I went to the 7i. Now I am hitting to far with it as well, but I can't get the 8i there. To be honest I don't think this hole plays what the yardage says it does, but I have talked to people who say they have to club up and talked to people who say they have to club down on this hole, so who knows, but it probably plays more like 165 yds to an elevated green of about 25ft. I have tried chocking up on the 7i to get less distance, but that always ends up bad. My next attempt will be to try to hit a little fade and lose a little distance that way. The only problem with that is that for a long time I had a slice in my shots that I have corrected only a year ago, and I am afraid to try and fade the ball for fear the slice will come back.

Second, backspin on the green. Yes, I know what causes it, and I believe I am even achieving it, but I can never tell. I know I am at least a little by my divots on the green compared to ball location, as the divots are usually 3-4ft in front of the ball with a 9i or pw. But it is the longer irons that I am not quite sure about. I guess the question is, how much green do I need to work with after the ball lands before the ball will bite and reverse itself. I know I need at least a little bit as every time I hit the back of the green the ball usually ends up on the fringe, this is generally with the mid to long irons though. Let me explain. If I am x yardage from the hole and I can carry my 7i to about 5yds in front of the green, I would rather hit my 6i and stick it if it is a front pin location or my 5i and stick it to the back if it is a back pin location rather then rolling my 7i on to the green. Generally I can take the in between club and stick it to the green, in this case the 6i, however I am having a hard time sticking the 5i to the back.

Third, pitch shots. I can't get spin on my pitch shots. And this is really annoying, the ball will go nice and high, land soft, but release with a vengeance. If I am 40yds out the ball will roll a good 10yds, which makes aiming those shot a royal pain.

I have thought about trying a different ball as the ones I use now are really cheap, but I don't want to have to relearn distances, and in vanity I don't want to lose any distance off the tee with my driver. I have read that the 3 piece balls you have to hit harder to make them go as far as a 2 piece. I guess what I am trying to say, is that I am looking for an improvement step, not a re-learning step. And I don't want to have to relearn all my distances. By the way, I am currently using the ti-tech beta ti Ls balls from Wallmart. Seriously I don't worry about losing one, they are $15.00 for 36 balls.

A couple of thoughts after reading this a few times. Your ball position may be too far forward, causing you to catch it a tad on the up. If the ball is forward of center for those pesky shots, you might try moving it back to center and see what happens. This ties in to the fat shots you were hitting, which could also mean you are swaying a bit going back or taking too long a backswing and decelerating through the ball. Pay attention to your back knee and keep it kicked in toward the target a bit; this will fix both possibilities.

Decelerating through the ball could be an issue with the pitch shots, as it is the number one fault on my chip shots. I have to constantly tell myself to accelerate through chip shots. But the tell tales aren't there with the pitch shots, or at least to me. When I decelerate during a chip shot the end result can be anywhere between a shot that only goes a couple of feet to a dead shank to the right. My pitch shots on the other hand generally get up in the air and go, they just release too much. I will admit though that I am probably way off the basics on how I hit my pitch shots. I stand with my feet extremely close together, with a very open stance and open face. I use only my arms and play the ball right of the inside of my back foot. I keep all the weight on my front foot for these shots.

To the playing forward, I didn't even think of it until you mentioned it, but yes. Off the tee with a 7i or lower lofted iron I play the ball slightly forward and tee'd up about a quarter of an inch. My pw-8i I play the ball on a tee, but at ground level and in the middle of my stance. All fairway full swing shots are played in the middle of my stance, even the fairway woods.

I do not think relearning your carry distance would be that much of an issue. A good deal of the distance you would lose is that after you have hit the ground with a Rock-Flight. Try a ball with more control. There are some out there that won't bust the bank. They mostly feel better too!

In addition, if you like the balls your using, don't alter your swing to make the club fit a given distance other than move the ball back a bit ( de-lofting ) or swinging easier; so you can make a club carry and roll almost as much as the next. If you want to play fades and draws fine, but, be prepared to work pretty hard to get consistency.
Cheers, Bob