Being between clubs for your approach shot comes up all the time in golf and I am asking you what you do in this situation. Here's the problem, you hit your 9 iron 150 yards and your 8 iron 165 yards, a difference of 15 yards. You have 157-158 to the flag, what do you do? There are half a dozen ways to get 157 yards out of a iron, but which method is the best and most reliable? I have my idea of the best way to do it, but I want to hear from all of you on the matter. One of the best things about this site is the chance to learn from each others ideas and knowledge. So, I'm asking each of you to tell the rest of us how you solve the "between clubs" problem and why you use the method you use. Hopefully, we can all learn a few new tricks from this and improve our games a little. Send in your replys and have a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.

hi don,,, actually, the in between is my best shot. if im 140 to 145 yds, one may hit a 9 iron. i like to take an eight iron, middle of stance, cock my wrists back(short backswing) and hit down. the ball goes lower and easy to control. also from 125 to 130 i may do the same with a nine iron.. i practice this a lot and use it all the time. i did shoot 73 sunday and hit many knock down type shots. it works for me, i think worth trying,, merry christmas, later,, trip

To me it depends on what happens most consistently for a player. Do they tend to miss long or short? Are they much more confident with one club over the other? Plus, where are the danger spots on the course?

For me, I'm probably better off taking the longer club because the course I play at has a lot of raised greens with a frontside bunker. If I'm hitting the ball pretty well, though, and the wind is neutral (which is rare), then I'll most likely go with the shorter club and put a little more juice into it. But for me, most of my mishits come when I try and lay off of a shot (I either lay off too much or relax too much), so that can affect my thinking about in-between shots.

Don,
Check out the December edition of Golf Magazine if you get the chance. Page 92, Laird Small, director of golf instruction at Pebble Beach, addresses this very topic. If you are in between clubs, he states you should take more club and choke down. For every inch you choke down, it should carry about 7 yards shorter. Makes sense to me. The stronger loft will get it to the hole, while gripping down would is essence take some clubhead speed off the swing with the effectively shorter shaft.
Don, who's your caddie? I never know that I have exactly 157 yards!

Hi Mr Divots; I purchased a laser range finder last year for about $150.00. Found it on sale in a sporting goods store. I use it on every par 3 I play so I know the exact distance to the flag, not just the middle of the green. Comes in real handy when you need to carry a sandtrap in front of the green on longer holes also. I used it last week playing up in the mountains at Palmilla Golf club in Cabo. It's real hard to tell the true distance you have to carry the ball to get over a canyon up in the mountains. I was able to aim a lot more directly at the flag on a lot of holes once I knew the exact distance it was over the hazards, saved a lot of yardage that way. Mine is accurate to 1/2 yard. I even tee the ball back a few yards away from the front of the tee box if the yardage is 148 yards and I know I hit my 9 iron 150. Six feet closer to the pin is nothing to complain about. If you are playing a par 4, you can tell how far you hit your tee shot to the yard, and how far you have to reach the flag in less time than you would spend trying to read the yardgae markers on the course. And again the markers are measured to the middle of the green, that might be 15-20 yards from the flag the day you are play the hole. To tell you the truth, it doesn't help to hit a perfect 9 iron into the green if you really needed a PW or 8 iron instead. Besides, I have no idea where I would ever find a caddy at the course I play. No such animal. And it never waits around after the round for me to give it a tip.

I've used Laird Small's advice on choking down for a long time and it works well. A somewhat contradictory piece of advice was often stated by some old guy named Hogan. When Ben was between clubs he would almost always hit the club he had to hit harder. He just felt more confident with the harder swing.

Don's comments on distance and the range finder brings up a good topic. How many of us really know how far on average we hit each club as opposed to what the extreme range is. I think most of us tend to stand at 150 and think 'It looks like an 8-iron" when that 150 8-iron will only happen if we hit it right on the nut.

I'm guilty of this as much as the next guy. I've asked Santa for a range finder, not to use to determine distance before the shot, but to determine it after the shot. You can sort of do this at the range, but I'm planning on doing it on the course during a quiet time with the balls I normally play instead of inconsistent range balls.

Merry Christmas to all and to all good ball flight.
JW

Don, what brand and model of rangefinder do you have? I have been thinking about one, but I've been trying to find one at a reasonable price. I've looked at the Bushnell and Nikon. Sounds like you got a good deal. A lot of the municipal courses that I play don't have very good yardage markers. I would like to use it for practice too. Makes sense.

The range finder I got is the Bushnell Yardage Pro 500. They make about 6-8 models for hunting and 3 for golf. You can find the maximum yardage that the different models will measure to the flag on thier website I believe. Mine works out to about 190 yards or so, it depends on the wind and the way the flag in sitting. If it real calm and the flag is hanging straight down, there isn't much for the laser to bounce off of and get you a distance. In this case, you can usually find a bunker or small hill around the green that the laser will bounce off of and get a close enough reading that way. I have used it to find the distance to a tree out to well past 800 yards, buildings to 1500. Mine is one of the bigger and heavier models available, but I rides in my pull cart most of the time, so I don't care about that. And the lighter they are the harder it is to hold them still on the flag to get a reading. Most of the time I have to rest my hands on the golf bag to hold it still enough, especially if it's windy. Some of the more expensive models will go out farther to a flag than mine, but most golfers can't hit much more than 190 yards with and iron, so there is no need to know the exact distance to the flag. That's when it's time to aim for the center of the green, not the flag. If you get one, check the distance to a flag it will measure to,not just to a tree or in the case of the hunting models, a deer. Then decide the maximim distance from the flag you would be going for the flag rather than the center of the green. Compare distances and price and you have the model for you. One word of advice, the models made and sold to golfers are a lot more expensive than the simular model made for hunters. Hunters have been using these things for a longer period of time, so the price has come down already. I remember the first shooter I knew to get one paid over $1000.00 for his and it only measured in meters, being a German model. Try the big sporting goods stores in the hunting department for the best prices. I got mine at Garts Sports for ~ $150.00 last year on sale. I think their website is www.gartsports.com but I'm not sure. Dick's sporting goods might be a good place to look, I know JWW's wife works there and he might know something about the prices there. One more thing about maximum distance to the flag, If you are waiting on the group in front of you, you can bounce the laser off the person that replaces the flag and get a reading out way past what you could off the flag inself, so you might want to take that into your decision on what model to get.
Hi JWW; If you get one, you can measure the distance to the yardage markers at the driving range to within a 1/2 yard and use that information to find the exact distance you hit each club. You might have to use a small upslope in the range to measure and aim to, but you have lots of way to get accurate reading for each club in your bag. Good luck and let me know if you get a push cart out of that locked room you mentioned a few weeks ago.
Good luck in your search and enjoy

Don,
given your example I would go with the 8 and make a shorter swing with the ball in the middle to hit down.
fred

Don,
Concerning in between shots;
Choking down on the club does take 5 to 7 yds. off the distance, but the swing wt. gets much lighter as you choke down. After about two inches of choking down, it becomes more difficult to control distance and direction.
The reason it's better to take the shorter club and swing harder is because it maintains acceleration through the ball. When a person takes the longer club and tries to "ease up," they usually deaccelerate through the ball. Most people don't know this, but, deacceleration is what prompted Elvis to sing, "That's When Your Heartaches Begin."
Have a great Christmas and New Year.
Bill

I think that I agree with Bill on this one. When i choke down i seem to hook the ball alot. So i like to hit the shorter club harder especially if I am swinging good on that day. If I have to take the longer club I dont like to choke down. I have better luck hitting kind of a punch type of follow through much like the follow through that Tiger has gone to the last couple week. It takes about 7 yards off for me and it helps to keep control

When I first asked the question, I had my own idea of the best solution but I wanted to hear your ideas before I posted mine. It seems we have gotten a few to pick from and try. The one I like the best is to choke down on the longer iron 1 inch and make a normal swing. This gives me about 1/2 a club less distance without the chance of easing off not enough or too much. As Bill mentioned, if you ease off you might deacellerate into the ball and that can ruin your whole day. Plus, I tend to swing close to all out with my short irons, so I would have to really flush the shot with the shorter iron to get the extra 7-8 yards needed by hitting harder. My irons are swingweighted D4, so I don't have much trouble with the swingweight getting too light when I choke down. So for me, I think choking down allows me to make a normal swing with the longer iron and I let the shorter club length reduce the carry distance the right amount. I don't have to worry about making a shortened swing or a easier swing, either of which can lead to a problem controlling distance. Reiny: if you hook the ball when you choke down with an 8 iron, you might want to try thinking you are hitting a PW( same length as an 8 iron choked down an inch) and make your normal PW swing. If this works for you great, it not you can throw the idea in the trash, it didnt' cost you any thing more than a few free swings at the range. If you decide to try my idea, let me know if it works for you. Either way, have a Happy New Year and keep it in the short grass, that always make the game easier. Later guys, Don.

I think you have the right idea Don.
The article I read didn't say anything about taking more club and slowing down the swing! Take a normal swing with the choked-down club and it will take a little distance off. I think we've all been there when we "try to take a little off" a club and end up quitting on the swing. The hands flip over and straight left it goes. I think a lot of distance control can also be had with trajectory. We all know hitting a sand wedge from 100 out is no problem when its still, but into a 20 mph wind, better take a lowe lofted club and play it a little back in the stance. I think choking down in those instances would probably help too if you were worried about going long with the lower loft.