How do I improve my 8, 7, 6, 5 and 4 irons?
The obvious answer is to do same as with the short clubs: hit them on the range, warming up with short irons and working up to the long ones. Thinking about it, when it's time for the 4 iron, I'm short on balls, strength, patience and whatever else on the menu that day. Then there's practice needed for the driver as well. What to do?
Data so far says that learning shorter clubs doesn't translate much to longer clubs. Also looked on the net and what the teaching pros marketing themselves say. That made the decision easier: take the other path and decided to learn to hit my 4 iron. That's it. When I'm good with that, not in a range session but after however many thousands of balls it takes to consistently smash the 4, I'll move down to the 5. It's not like I came up with this theory in a vacuum by me little self. I remember videos of Elk's workouts in the off season - two big bags of 3 irons a day. David Lee did the same to get his game back.
Dashed to the range with new plan and only 4 iron in hand (Ping doesn't make a 3 iron G30). 3 bags please. Brain dashes ahead on getting it worked out and maybe sneaking in another nine. Another gorg day in the desert. Wrong.
I can't hit it. Skulls. Shanks. Fatties. Limp hits. The 4 doesn't fly much further than my 9 iron and barely gets off the ground (all irons should fly about 30 meters high, says TrackMan). Worse, the sound and feel of the hit is awful. It hurts. The harder I try to make it work, the worse it gets, and the worse it gets the swing mechanics I've worked on so far go out the window. Finally give up and crawl back to the hovel, regressing a few Jack-in-the-Box monster tacos on the way back loaded with carbs, trans-fats and savoury pink slime to deaden the anguish.
Icing hands and reflecting that it's just one day later and I suck again. That was fast. Like being at Caesars. Chug the rest of Oi Ocha.
OK. Do the Dalai Lama. Start over. In Scottsdale, not Bangladesh. It's snow free sunny 80 degrees. It's raining in Portland. Focus. Grip. Feet. 4 iron. Punch. Rotate. Extend. Already been through the Joy of Sucking masterclass, so no worries :-)
If I was a self-promoting teaching pro needing a good first client experience and positive movement in each session to drive repeat business and positive client feedback on social media, I'd never recommend this path. Hmmm. Feet feels interesting nuggets underneath.