golfing in beantown

Just finished 90 holes in Boston and the last shot I played was an 8 iron to an elevated green where you can't miss short....the wind was in my face and it was only 138 yards. one of my playing partners had selected a 9 iron and well I was just loathe to hit a 7 so I tried a hard 8. I hit the ground first and barely carried the ball over the water hazard. It was a hard way to finish. I really hadn't hit too many shots fat over the 5 rounds, but I really hate this shot as it has been a constant companion or torn over the years for me. I often contact the ground just a fraction behind the ball, and when I am off I hit well behind it. This is MY miss.

I went to the range just to play a few 8 irons to try and erase this memory of the fat one from my mind. Yeah I played some nice solid shots with my 8 iron but this morning I am still thinking about this shot. Here's what is in my mind about my swing and this shot.

When I am striving to create a swing which will "get it out there" I think my backswing is too fast and this makes it hard to match up my arms and my body to rotate through. a slower winding backswing is what will work better but it is hard to go back slower when it is in your mind that you need distance on the iron shot....it's counterintuitive!

Practicing getting to and holding a finish position and thinking more about my target and the front swing and less about the back swing is what I am after. I may have to get more fit to arrive at the finish position which will allow me to swing through the ball rather than at it.

Practicing turning my head thru ala David Duval will help me and I should practice this way.

I am uncertain about hip turn and want to experiment with this in the coming weeks.