Changing lofts...

[Bigvivec]

I am getting tired of the ballflight that I have with my irons...it is just too high...they are shafted with s300s...short of switching out the shafts or changing irons altogether, what can be done to lower the ballflight without reworking how I hit the ball...I can keep it down by delofting the clubface, also can by playing the ball back in the stance but I'd rather not have to do either on a standard shot...changing lofts, tipping the shafts, big hunk of lead tape on the hosel...what do you think? Would changing balls make a difference...it is not usually an issue, but during this time of year it gets pretty windy and made me realize that even on less windy days I am more accurate with a lower trajectory...that combined with my playing partner constantly exclaiming "man that's a high ball!" has me thinking...

[ForgedRbest]

Are all your irons ballooning on you? Or just the 8 on down? Changing the loft won't help that much, and if you deloft much more then 3 degrees, you may start having problems with the clubs digging, except for your wedges. The digging problem will occur because as you deloft you are removing bounce. The S300 shaft is a high kick, stiff tip shaft, which should promote a lower ball flight. You could try an X-stiff shaft, but your distance may suffer. Your best bet is probably looking at some new club heads, the type that has more mass behind the sweet spot, and less at the bottom of the club head.

[JPsuff]

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Actually, a Dynamic Gold S-300 is not a stiff-tipped shaft. It could best be described as "medium", but not stiff. The First Step dimensions prove that. Both the "R" flex and the "S" flex are a 9-step shafts with a First Step dimension of about 10-inches. An "X" flex is an 8-step shaft with a First Step dimension of about 8-inches, making it much stiffer in the tip section than an "S" flex and having 8 steps instead of nine, the overall shaft is firmer as well. The more steps in a shaft, the more "whippiness" or flex in the overall shaft.

As far as kick point is concerned, that really doesn't make that much difference. Kick point is more about comfort than ball flight. The overall flex of the shaft and the stiffness of the tip section have far more influence on ball flight than kick point ever will.

I suspect that your ball flight has more to do with technique than anything else. I play X-100's and have done so for quite some time and my normal 8-iron shot height is usually around 40 or 50 feet (that's a good guess based on tree height). But I can get an 8-iron to go much higher by setting up a bit closer to the ball and having it a bit farther back in my stance. This setup produces what a lot of people refer to as a "V"-shaped swing. Of course, there really is no such thing as a V-shaped swing but rather a more compact and upright swing which produces a very sharp angle of attack on the ball which in turn produces a considerably higher amount of spin. It is the excessive spin which causes the ball to "balloon" as you describe.

If this is happening with all of your clubs, then perhaps your technique has improved to the point where you're making much better contact with the ball. If this is so, then maybe it's time to either tip the S-flex shafts you now play, or switch to an X-flex altogether.
But if this is only happening with the shorter irons, I'd take a hard look at your setup before I'd go messing around with shafts.


-JP

[Bigvivec]

Nope...happening across the board down to the three iron...I am hitting 6 irons as high as wedges now, and am definitely losing distance on shots...for instance, I was stroking 8 irons out at about 75% effort to a said distance...when I tried a few with a little more effort, I watched the ball spin super high and land short of the distance I was getting before...I was hitting the ball on the nose for these shots and the only difference was the speed that I hit the ball...and while I am happy to hit long irons well most of the time, when I do I hit them higher than I did before, and it just doesn't seem like the ball is penetrating enough...I have been partial to knockdowns lately as I have been hitting a regular ball so high that any action on the ball is exaggerated...a nice little draw turns into 10 yards by the time it comes down, while the knockdowns don't have time to do much but go on the line you start them on...
Forged...I hear you...I should go muscleback and never look back!

Well, before I go and spend alot of money, I am going to tinker with my setup and see if I can bring it down...but it is getting to the point that I feel like I have to hold back rather than balloon the ball...

[ForgedRbest]

Lose the wide flange Big!

[straightshooter]

Originally Posted by Bigvivec

I am getting tired of the ballflight that I have with my irons...it is just too high...they are shafted with s300s...short of switching out the shafts or changing irons altogether, what can be done to lower the ballflight without reworking how I hit the ball...I can keep it down by delofting the clubface, also can by playing the ball back in the stance but I'd rather not have to do either on a standard shot...changing lofts, tipping the shafts, big hunk of lead tape on the hosel...what do you think? Would changing balls make a difference...it is not usually an issue, but during this time of year it gets pretty windy and made me realize that even on less windy days I am more accurate with a lower trajectory...that combined with my playing partner constantly exclaiming "man that's a high ball!" has me thinking...

I have had spells of extremely high ball flight with my irons in the past, with spectacular 'hangtime', but not much distance. When I was having this problem I left large amounts of ball in my grooves, scuffing the ball really badly even with my mid irons. Are you seeing that? Also, do your divots look normal?

[Bigvivec]

Originally Posted by straightshooter

I have had spells of extremely high ball flight with my irons in the past, with spectacular 'hangtime', but not much distance. When I was having this problem I left large amounts of ball in my grooves, scuffing the ball really badly even with my mid irons. Are you seeing that? Also, do your divots look normal?

Divots are normal, making extremely good contact and scuffing balls, pure ball first contact with full extension...really good feeling swings that send the ball just where it is aimed, but super high and never reaching where I want...I throttle back and hit with less force and I don't see the ball "rise" like when swinging like I would like to, but goes the same distance as the first or a bit farther, but with less spin (stopping power)...

[straightshooter]

Originally Posted by Bigvivec

Divots are normal, making extremely good contact and scuffing balls, pure ball first contact with full extension...really good feeling swings that send the ball just where it is aimed, but super high and never reaching where I want...I throttle back and hit with less force and I don't see the ball "rise" like when swinging like I would like to, but goes the same distance as the first or a bit farther, but with less spin (stopping power)...

I fixed it by throttling back also! But I am not as convinced as you are that my swing was sound at the time, though I was making great contact. I suspected at the time that I may have had too much RH action, and that I was actually 'overlofting' (opposite of delofting) at impact. But whatever it was, it is fixed now.

However, if you find a shaft that allows you to go full power with a lower ball-flight, be sure to post it here! (because throttling back just doesn't feel good...: I think you know the feeling!!)