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USING LONG CLUBS

Everyone wants to use long clubs because they send the ball so far on those occasions in which they are swung properly. Unfortunately, those occasions are infrequent. Most golfers, especially, beginners, would have better scores, if they used only short clubs. The problem is that it is difficult even for professional golfers to succeed consistently in making the center of the club face of long clubs strike the ball while the club face is facing the target. Extraordinary precision is required. Not even Tiger Woods uses his longest club when accuracy is especially important.

There are some adjustments in set up and swing that help. As we select longer clubs, we need to spread our feet farther apart, stand with the ball farther forward (toward the front foot) in our stance, perhaps having the hands a bit more away from the target (toward the center of the body), and perhaps a bit farther from the body.

The swing plane should be “flatter” for longer clubs. Achieve this by taking the club back lower to the ground longer, then swinging the club more “around” the shoulder. In fact, in swinging a wood when the ball is on the tee, the proper swing might even feel a bit “side arm.”

However, when using a wood to strike a ball on the ground, the swing plane is not quite so flat as that. The idea is to "pinch" the spot where the back of the ball meets the ground with the bottom (leading) edge of the club face. That's still a flatter swing than you would use with an iron.

In any case, don’t swing the long clubs any harder than short ones; your extra distance will be caused by the extra length of the club shaft, and the extra roll, due to the shape of the long club’s face—the lower angle of the long iron’s face or the shape of the wood’s club face. The harder swing just helps you miss hit the ball.