Easy 7 or hard 8?

Hi folks,

just looking for the opinions of some fellow golfers.

During a recent round, I misjudged the coriolis effect on a tee shot and left myself a nasty little yardage to the flag. To cut a long story short, I was stuck right in the middle of 7 and 8 iron distance. I was in a real pickle for a number of minutes trying to decide which club to hit, the benefits and disadvantages of different trajectories, how the ball would react after landing etc.

I would like to here how you would approach this problem before I reveal my decision and the outcome.

Easy 7 or hard 8?

Imo I'd go with the hard 8. I find when I try to ease back on the longer club I tend to go to easy and not commit to the shot properly. I go for the lesser club and commit to hitting a full shot and getting through the ball.

Personally I'd always take more club ... but grip down the grip slightly and still play a full shot (to avoid not committing to it).

Dave The Jackal wrote:Personally I'd always take more club ... but grip down the grip slightly and still play a full shot (to avoid not committing to it).

This. Thinking I have to thump the 8 ususally results in a poorer contact and coming up short, so for me a firm 7 but gripping down an inch or two.

I believe a hard 8 is easier to execute. Although you should look at where the trouble is and choose accordingly to eliminate the worst option.

That said, I always seem to ignore logic, choose soft 7 and tweak it left into the mangoes!

Dave - when gripping down, roughly how much farther down a 7 iron grip do you need to go to cut the distance to an 8 iron with a full swing? Half inch? I know it's subjective and everyone will be different but it's an option I rarely consider (although I do more now with the big stick to minimise misses).

I've had recent success with gripping down on the longer club and cutting off the follow through a tad. Play it like a full punch shot. Find it great for control.

Does it really matter, assuming you are not trying to clear the front of the green by an inch or risk shooting over the back with any of the choices?

Whatever club you pick, the chances are it will be about 10 yards out from what you expected. It all comes down to the strike which you cannot predict.

I'd always prefer a full swing or knowing I really need to commit to it than a half or three quarter swing.

Roller_Coaster

I'd probably grip down about an inch, at the most, maybe less. I find if I try to hit an "easy" anything then it rarely works out!

McLaren wrote:Does it really matter, assuming you are not trying to clear the front of the green by an inch or risk shooting over the back with any of the choices?

Whatever club you pick, the chances are it will be about 10 yards out from what you expected. It all comes down to the strike which you cannot predict.

Don't be daft....again. Talk about tarring all with one brush. I can't speak for the standard of Buttocks' golf re. the original post but I'd be pretty irritated if I couldn't predict that I'd hit the ball crisply (most of the time).

As for the OP, part of me thinks hard 8 because of the commitment thing others have mentioned but if you're genuinely between your average distances for those clubs, you'll have a hard time getting controlled distance with a thrashed 8. Another thing about the hard 8 - if you strike it properly, you'll get more backspin than your typical 8-iron and it may well balloon more than usual resulting in it going no further than a normal decent strike. I think I'd go for a solid 7 but choke down the grip and inch or two.

I am sure only iron Byron will be sure what distance any given shot will travel. I saw McIlroy hit the same shot twice at the Players Championship 17th hole. The first one went into the water and the second one flew 20 yards further and he is one of the best in the world.

lorus59 wrote:I am sure only iron Byron will be sure what distance any given shot will travel. I saw McIlroy hit the same shot twice at the Players Championship 17th hole. The first one went into the water and the second one flew 20 yards further and he is one of the best in the world.

McIlroy patently didn't hit the same shot twice did he!

McIlroy's distance control
Could you hit a crossbar with a golf ball from 150 yards away? Rory McIlroy can.

There has been some talk of late that Rory McIlroy has lost his form and a succession of missed cuts certainly hasn’t looked good. But he played well at the Irish Open in Portrush and with the British Open teeing off the week after next, he certainly appears to be getting his eye in again.

At an event for EA Sports, the young Irish golfer was challenged to hit a crossbar from 150 yards. We’re not sure we could even hit the ball that far, never mind hit the crossbar, but the Holywood man is considerably better at golf than us.

We only see the successful attempt above and McIlroy was man enough to admit it took a few shots to hit the target but we are still impressed.
http://www.joe.ie/sports/golf/video-rory-mcilroys-amazing-crossbar-challenge-golf-shot-0026729-1


In the end I hit a 7 iron, opened the face and tried for a little high-fade. And the result was pretty tasty!

Depends on the danger. Was it short or long?

incontinentia wrote:McIlroy's distance control
Could you hit a crossbar with a golf ball from 150 yards away? Rory McIlroy can...

That's pretty impressive. Apparently a goal is 7.32 metres wide so I'm sure a lot of us couldn't even hit it straight enough over 150 yards to be within the posts let alone hit the bar on demand...even if it did take a few attempts.

navyblueshorts wrote:

lorus59 wrote:I am sure only iron Byron will be sure what distance any given shot will travel. I saw McIlroy hit the same shot twice at the Players Championship 17th hole. The first one went into the water and the second one flew 20 yards further and he is one of the best in the world.

McIlroy patently didn't hit the same shot twice did he!

In away that is the point. No human can hit exactly the same shot twice. He tried to.

Easy 7, on the basis that if I try to hit anything hard, my timing goes to pot. And the easy 7 probably won't be absolutely flush anyway. I'd be surprised if I actually get the ball "out of the screws" 5% of the time!

lorus59 wrote:

navyblueshorts wrote:

lorus59 wrote:I am sure only iron Byron will be sure what distance any given shot will travel. I saw McIlroy hit the same shot twice at the Players Championship 17th hole. The first one went into the water and the second one flew 20 yards further and he is one of the best in the world.

McIlroy patently didn't hit the same shot twice did he!

In away that is the point. No human can hit exactly the same shot twice. He tried to.

I see what you're saying but I seriously doubt McIlroy on that occasion was trying to hit the same shot which then ended up with such diametrically different outcomes.

navyblueshorts wrote:

incontinentia wrote:McIlroy's distance control
Could you hit a crossbar with a golf ball from 150 yards away? Rory McIlroy can...

That's pretty impressive. Apparently a goal is 7.32 metres wide so I'm sure a lot of us couldn't even hit it straight enough over 150 yards to be within the posts let alone hit the bar on demand...even if it did take a few attempts.

Have you guys seen those occasional clips which the European Tour put together, involving tour players hitting shots to seemingly outrageous targets? I thought the best one was the clay pigeon shoot. Yes, a tiny target, moving in the air...!

I liked the Barnes Wallis-hit-a-floating-gong one but the clay pigeon was cool. Pretty fun those.

Lorus re same shot twice.

My Uncle was a decent Pro in his time with a great short game.
He was plaing with one of his old assistants who had a 'new'Shakespere fibre glass shafted wedge.
My uncle tried it out from about 90 yards and holed his first shot.
Fluke...went the cry so he dropped another ball, hit the pin and finished a couple of inches from the hole.

well perhaps oddly enough the better i am playing the more likely i would take the 7 iron and play the fade. When not playing that great or in a pressure situ i would crush an 8 straight or with draw

when playing well i shape every shot and in fact rarely play a normal shot, so what club to hit becomes more about what i want to acheive over distance, its all about the visual and how you want the ball to react on impact.

you develop that feel for the shot and what you want to acheive- but that is a rare time for me these days- to feel that in control that my swing and club feels light and a part of me.

If I'm in between clubs at ill assess the pitfalls of going long or short then play the club that puts me in the safest place, might not be as close as a balls out brave shot, but unlikely to damage my card. At least that's what I should do in hindsight.

I think a good way of approaching for many it is to allways hit more club- they reakon amatuers are 80% of the time short of the hole!

"At least that's what I should do in hindsight."

yes - easy to say isnt it SR

mysti

Are you bubba?

ahhh memories
A wee punchy bump and run 7 iron was one of my banker shots [wenaweralad]
When I try it nowadays it generally goes about 10 yards.

I love the way he plays, but these days i cant get his kind of movement(obviously i couldnt ever to his level but with older equipment i moved it allot more). Cant wait to see him live.

Doon the Water wrote:ahhh memories
A wee punchy bump and run 7 iron was one of my banker shots [wenaweralad]
When I try it nowadays it generally goes about 10 yards.

How much earth do you take before the ball..........


sory shouldn't mess when it comes to golfers horror shots. We all have the mental daemons.

i hit a hard 8 everytime....... not sure its neccesarily the right play though!

Just grip about and inch down the shaft on the 7 iron, commit to the shot, and it'll go the same distance as an 8 iron.

It's a far smarter shot than trying to belt an 8 iron, especially on windy days with wet fairways (ie the conditions we are all experiencing in 2012).

I agree, grip down your 7 iron & hit it smoothly...

How about opening the face of the 7 iron a bit to increase loft and reduce distance, does anyone do that?

incontentia - i do occasionally but would just put a fade swing on it rather than open it with my hands at address, (I would open my stance though)

I wish I was good enough for 1 club to make a noticeable difference.

lorus59 wrote:I wish I was good enough for 1 club to make a noticeable difference.

How's the golf in Thailand?

When I learnt to play in the 60's, the advice would be - take the 7 & hit it easy. I understand that today the advice would be take the 8, hit it hard & trust your swing.

Eyetoldyouso wrote:When I learnt to play in the 60's, the advice would be - take the 7 & hit it easy. I understand that today the advice would be take the 8, hit it hard & trust your swing.

I was also told to take the extra club and hit it easy. I believe that today's advice only holds good if you have good swing mechanics. If I try to "hit it hard" I lose rhythm and am very unlikley to hit it well. This completely defeats the object and the ball would finish shorter than a normal swing with the same club. If you have a good, grooved, reliable swing then hit it hard - it just wouldn't work for me.

incontinentia wrote:

lorus59 wrote:I wish I was good enough for 1 club to make a noticeable difference.

How's the golf in Thailand?

Golf in Thailand depends a lot on your attitude. There is a lot of slow play and very bad etiquette. The Thais love to go out in 6-balls and of course gamble a lot, so this contributes to slow play. If you get stuck behind one of those 6-balls, the day can be very long. In the vast majority of courses a caddie is compulsory even if you rent a cart (which is bizarre).
Of course the biggest advantage is the weather. There is no winter as such. The coolest time is December/January and even then the temperature is mid 20s C. It is the rainy season now and you might get caught in a violent thunderstorm.

Eyetoldyouso wrote:When I learnt to play in the 60's, the advice would be - take the 7 & hit it easy.

Is that advice suitable for those of us that play in the 90's?

Lorus, the thought of playing golf involving 6 ball groups makes me nauseous, think I might give it a miss if I'm ever around those parts. Speaking of golf abroad, I wonder if anyone else has experienced unusual golfing practices in different countries? The only one I can share is the American custom of drinking beer the whole way around, which I was introduced to last year. It felt quite alien I have to say as it's not how we (most of us anyway) play the game in Ireland. It was also not a lot of fun after about 12 holes when you address the ball and have 3 to choose from! On the eighteenth it was a struggle to make contact with the ball at all, in the end was glad when the round was over.

Where is the trouble? Long? go with the 8 iron.

A Deep bunker short? Go with the 7 iron.

a 6 ball- drop me out