Question:
Every iron in the bag shoud be hit basically the same, all you need to change is where the ball is located in your stance, play it back in your stance. Also to fix that fade try turning the right hand over counter clockwise about an inch and that should fix that. Pracice hard Jeff(the pimp) Decock
Response:
I hope that’s not what you’re telling your students in Iowa. — – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Also to fix that fade try turning the right hand over counter clockwise about an inch and that should fix that.
Response:
I don’t want to "fix" my fade. It’s served me well, and I feel very comfortable with it (even though I like to hit a draw most of the time with my driver). I will try setting the ball back in my stance to see if that keeps me from yanking it to the left with the pitching wedge and nine-iron. I practiced with an open stance. It takes just a little off distance, but my direction was not bad. MW
Every iron in the bag shoud be hit basically the same, all you need to change is where the ball is located in your stance, play it back in your stance. Also to fix that fade try turning the right hand over counter clockwise about an inch and that should fix that. Pracice hard Jeff(the pimp) Decock
Response:
: I’m hitting my pitching wedge and nine iron a little left : on approaches. I remember somewhere reading about : opening up their stance to get the hips out of the way : on short iron shorts to prevent coming over the top. : Does anyone do this and is there anything to keep in : mind when opening up? : I normally hit a little fade with my other irons. Before screwing around with your stance or swing you should make sure the lie on your irons is right for you. If the lie is too upright the natural tendency is for the ball to go left, and it will be most noticeable with the short irons. Go to a teaching pro or someone else knowledgeable about clubfitting and get them checked out. Adjusting your swing for misfitted clubs will probably do more harm than good.
Response:
I’m hitting my pitching wedge and nine iron a little left on approaches. I remember somewhere reading about opening up their stance to get the hips out of the way on short iron shorts to prevent coming over the top. Does anyone do this and is there anything to keep in mind when opening up? I normally hit a little fade with my other irons. Michael
It’s fine to open your stance a little to the target on short irons, it DOES help clear the hips. (Though it is widely done, and many instructors teach it, I personally don’t advocate this method, because for most amateurs, it’s hard enough just to learn ONE swing, let alone TWO.) However, it is a perfectly sound method. But when you open your feet to the target, just be careful not to open your SHOULDERS, too. You’ll swing down the line of your shoulders just about every time (including on chips and putts). Randy
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I hear where you’re coming from, but for me the only cure for those damn short iron pulls is keeping everything "connected." Usually there’s a flying elbow and/or I’m too crouched over the ball when I start to hit pulls. It’s very tempting with short irons to just bring the club down square on the top of the ball, but that gives you a big slice or pull every time, not to mention it exacts a heavy toll on the fairway beneath. Gotta keep things tucked in, make that little in-a-phone-booth swing, and hit the inside back of the ball instead. -joseph If I play a few times without practicing, I’ll eventually get into that old trap of drifting further and further closed and starting to automagically compensate by with a lovely over-the-top move. So as you see, indirectly my practicing an open alignment avoids the pulls and other symptoms of a out-to-in swing. Until I can groove a in-to-out swing path, [...]
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Response:
With the longer irons and woods an open stance can bring you true consistency. Consistent slicing, that is! Even if it’s not what you prefer to do, you should practice hitting 3 woods from a slightly closed stance to get a feel for a correct swing plane. If you swing the club on plane, you can swing as hard as you want from a slightly closed stance and hit those pretty draws one after another. If you’re pulling the ball, it’s not your stance’s fault.
Here’s how it actually works. I have an apparently innate tendency to close my stance. When I’m practicing, I point my alignment club just to the open side of square (which as Joseph knows is to the right for me, a left-handed golfer 
, pointing maybe 3-5 yards right of the "200" sign on the driving range). From there I can hit some nice draws after practicing a while with my 5-iron or 6-iron. Then I go play golf trying my dead level best to line up slightly open just like I do on the range. Then after 9 or 18 holes, I go back to the range, set up for a shot and drop a club down to check my alignment. Whaddaya know, I’m now aiming about 10 yards to the left of the "200" sign even though my eyes tell me that I’m square or even slightly open. If I play a few times without practicing, I’ll eventually get into that old trap of drifting further and further closed and starting to automagically compensate by with a lovely over-the-top move. So as you see, indirectly my practicing an open alignment avoids the pulls and other symptoms of a out-to-in swing. Until I can groove a in-to-out swing path, I just stick to trying to practice with an alignment club in between playing to keep me in the right ballpark. I suspect my alignment problems come from being a right-handed and right-eye-dominant person playing golf left-handed. When I played right-handed, within a year or so I was getting a much better feel for alignment. FWIW, Tom Lehman hits a lovely hard draw from a decidedly open stance. Not to suggest that what Tom Lehman is able to do has anything in common with a hacker like myself.
Response:
With the longer irons and woods an open stance can bring you true consistency. Consistent slicing, that is! Even if it’s not what you prefer to do, you should practice hitting 3 woods from a slightly closed stance to get a feel for a correct swing plane. If you swing the club on plane, you can swing as hard as you want from a slightly closed stance and hit those pretty draws one after another. If you’re pulling the ball, it’s not your stance’s fault. -joseph For me, setting up with a closed stance is a recipe for a steady diet of pull, tops, slices and just about every other bad shot imaginable, so I try to avoid it at all costs.
– Author, Effective Perl Programming . . . . . http://www.effectiveperl.com Perl Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://www.perltraining.com
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I guess I didn’t make myself clear. I’m hitting my other clubs as well as can be expected. I can pretty consistently hit the green on my course, for instance, with a 4-iron 190 yards away. And I’m hitting my t-shots find for the most part. If I hit them well (240-260), I’m left with a nine-iron or pitching wedge. Then I have the problem. I’m hitting them left about 15 yards. I’m sometimes on the green, but it’s frustrating that I can get it to go where I’m aiming. That’s why I’m wondering if an open stance will help. I think I read about this in one of Nicklaus’s books. Michael – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – With the longer irons and woods an open stance can bring you true consistency. Consistent slicing, that is! Even if it’s not what you prefer to do, you should practice hitting 3 woods from a slightly closed stance to get a feel for a correct swing plane. If you swing the club on plane, you can swing as hard as you want from a slightly closed stance and hit those pretty draws one after another. If you’re pulling the ball, it’s not your stance’s fault. -joseph For me, setting up with a closed stance is a recipe for a steady diet of pull, tops, slices and just about every other bad shot imaginable, so I try to avoid it at all costs.
Response:
I’m hitting my pitching wedge and nine iron a little left on approaches. I remember somewhere reading about opening up their stance to get the hips out of the way on short iron shorts to prevent coming over the top. Does anyone do this and is there anything to keep in mind when opening up? I normally hit a little fade with my other irons.
My golf swing is not one that I would wish on anybody, but FWIW, here’s what I do. I keep a square or possibly very, very slightly open stance for all full shots – even with a wedge. I try for square but also try to err on the side of open if I’m off by just a bit. For me, setting up with a closed stance is a recipe for a steady diet of pull, tops, slices and just about every other bad shot imaginable, so I try to avoid it at all costs. Anyhow, on anything less than a full swing I pull my front foot back slightly. By the time I get down to a chip shot, my feet are probably aligned 20-30 degrees open to the target line (actually, they’re often more open than that which is a problem I have to work on constantly). For putting, I go back to a square alignment because it helps me aim better. I think this is a pretty standard setup, with slight variations.
Response:
I’m hitting my pitching wedge and nine iron a little left on approaches. I remember somewhere reading about opening up their stance to get the hips out of the way on short iron shorts to prevent coming over the top. Does anyone do this and is there anything to keep in mind when opening up? I normally hit a little fade with my other irons. Michael
Response:
Since you already hit a fade, this probably isn’t the answer for you. I’d suggest you work on keeping your right arm tucked closer and "connected" in your swing. You’re probably a little laid off at the top. -joseph I’m hitting my pitching wedge and nine iron a little left on approaches. I remember somewhere reading about opening up their stance to get the hips out of the way on short iron shorts to prevent coming over the top. Does anyone do this and is there anything to keep in mind when opening up? I normally hit a little fade with my other irons.
– Author, Effective Perl Programming . . . . . http://www.effectiveperl.com Perl Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . http://www.perltraining.com