Thanks for your detailed comments, fritz. To address your points and recommendations:

Yes, I'm aware the irons and woods are TaylorMade clones.

As I did with my driver, I think I need to do a bit of a reset and go back to the swing basics I was taught in classes. I found last night that, somewhere along the line my swing has gone a bit awry--to the point I actually found myself rocking back on the back-swing!

I'm certain "killing the ball" is what I'm trying to do. This is one of the things most difficult for me to overcome. I can swing really nicely, really smoothly, turn, come up on my trailing foot toes wonderfully--until you put a ball in front of me. I need to get it through whatever mental block is in there to just swing and let whatever happens, happen.

My clubs, all of them, are of a forgiving nature, so things don't start going too badly awry unless I mis-hit them really badly. Then it's pretty obvious what happened. (Skulling, shanking [almost never do that], ground ball, slicing, etc.)

Yes, the shorter irons are easier, but I really have no problem even with my 4i.

Yes, I'm aware that hitting off a mat does not accurately reflect hitting off grass.

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:
Most of my hits are with 6 through 9 irons. I find that when I'm hitting these clubs really well, the wedges, long irons, and driver take care of themselves.

As with the longer irons: I have no problem with my pitching wedge. My lob wedge... well, that's the shortest shaft of them all and 58°. I don't hit that one well--except in the bunkers, it turns out. I'm guessing that's how the clubs' original owner used it.

The driver and the woods, though, with their much longer shafts, have proven much more challenging for me.

Many moons ago I bought Cleveland beryllium wedges -- 55 degree sand and 60 degree lob. Realized I hit my TaylorMade 55 degree sand wedge better, and just wasn't consistent with a lob. Both Clevelands are banished to the basement. I learned to use partial swings with my PW and AW for chips and approach shots that required less than a full swing with a sand wedge.

Yesterday at lunch I went to the driving range. There's a decent public course maybe a mile from the office. I hit 50 balls from a mat. It took 6 WTF hits to warm up and remember the basics of a swing. Then I hit 8 balls each with 7i through PW. I felt I had 6 good impacts with each. I had 4 of 6 good with my 6 iron. Only 3 of 6 good with my 5 iron. I made three really, really bad impacts -- digging holes with two, and skulling one. The good hits to me mean that I caught the ball really close to the sweet spot on the head, and that the ball would be on or very close to the imaginary green I aimed at.

Like a good dot drill with a rifle, I am trying to get 8/8 good hits out of all clubs. This will be really challenging for me with the 5 iron, and especially the 4 iron. Lofty goals....

****
As you get more consistent with striking the ball, you will learn your effective distance for each iron. Depending on your swing speeds, you should see maybe 10-15 yards difference between irons numbers. This knowledge will greatly improve your scoring -- as your skills increase, you will land on more greens on the first try. To give you an idea of ballpark yardages with a 7 iron:
- 170 to maybe 190 yards for the top PGA guys. They have big hitters and really BIG hitters.
- 150 to maybe 170 yards for the top LPGA ladies. Most of us should look to the women for hitting advice.
- maybe 125 to 145 yards for the Joe Average player. Assuming we hit any given shot well.

FWIW as you get more consistent in striking the ball, expect your maximum driver distance to be about double your distance with a 9 iron.

Now comes the "fun" part when guys are puffing their chests out on how far they just hit a shot. Not all clubs have the same loft for a given club number. And a few degrees in loft makes a noticeable difference in a club's potential hitting distance. In the old days, a 7 iron often had a 35 degree loft. PGA guys generally still use blades with 7i lofts of 34-35 degrees.

My TaylorMade Firesoles were considered game improvement clubs 20 years ago, and the 7i has a loft of 33 degrees. That 2 degree de-lofting was considered aggressive at the time, as an artificial way to show the consumer that TaylorMade's 7i hits further the other brands -- with their 35 degree lofts. Well, now every club manufacturer does this with non-professional clubs.

Looking at current TaylorMade 7 irons, the P790 (for 12 handicap and below) is 30.5 degree loft -- which is my current 6 iron. The SIM MAX (for 10 handicap and above) is 28.5 degree loft -- half way between my 5 and 6 iron. The SIM MAX OS (for 12 handicap and above) is 27 degree loft -- which is my current 5 iron. However, TaylorMade's P-7TW professional irons still use 35 degree loft for the 7 iron.

FWIW, I suspect your 7i has a loft that's similar to mine. Maybe 32-34 degrees.

I think this delofting of clubs over the past few decades is a stupid game, however the consumers are buying it. But if it helps a guy hit the ball further, it must be good.....

Putting Instruction Book
This is a really, really good putting instruction book. Well worth the few dollars.

quote:

Originally posted by cne32507:
Putting Instruction Book
This is a really, really good putting instruction book. Well worth the few dollars.

I'll keep it in mind, but putting and chipping are actually two of the things at which I'm not doing half-bad, so I'm disinclined to mess with them at this point.

I was doing well, or well-ish, anyway, with my irons. Went to work on woods and driver. Something went awry (I now suspect I know what) and, not only did I not improve with those, but my irons went to hell

Such is golf

quote:

Such is golf

Exactly.
There’s always something to improve which is what makes the game so interesting.

I tried it a number of times as my wife really enjoys it. I was bored to death. Couldn't wait to be done. I know many folks love it but I'd rather watch paint dry.