You go to the range with your 7-iron. You hit 20 balls and they all fly straight and land softly, at just the perfect distance. You head for the first tee feeling confident. Then you get on the course and hit three fat shots, two thin shots and a shank. What happened?
The practice lie
The problem is that you practiced one of the easiest shots in golf: a full iron from a perfect lie on flat ground. That shot seldom exists on the course. Most of your iron shots are from uneven lies, from awkward yardages that don’t match your full swing distances. You never practice those or, for that matter, half-shots, three-quarter shots, punch shots.
The shot you should practice more is the in-between shot. The one where you’re 115 yards out and your full pitching wedge goes 130 and your full gap wedge goes 110. The one where you need to control distance, not maximize it. That’s one shot that separates good players from average players.
Why this shot matters
You hit maybe four or five full iron shots per round where the yardage perfectly matches one of your clubs. The rest of the time, you’re adjusting. You’re trying to hit a controlled shot that goes a specific distance. If you can’t do that consistently, you’re leaving the ball short, flying it long or making tentative swings that lead to bad contact.
Good players are good at in-between shots because they practice them. They’re comfortable with partial swings. Average players avoid these shots. They’d rather hit a full sand wedge from 85 yards than a controlled pitching wedge, even when the controlled shot is the better play.
The distance control problem
Most amateurs have huge distance gaps in their short game. For example, they can hit a full pitching wedge 130 yards and a full lob wedge 75 yards. But what about 100 yards? They don’t have a reliable shot for that distance. They either try to muscle a lob wedge or they try to ease up on a pitching wedge and neither works consistently.
The solution is learning to hit controlled shots with your scoring clubs. They fill in the distance gaps. More importantly, they give you shots you can trust when you need to hit a specific number.
The swing you need
A controlled iron shot isn’t just a slower version of your full swing. It’s a different swing where your backswing is shorter, your tempo is smooth and your finish is abbreviated. You’re not trying to hit it hard. You’re trying to hit it solid and let the loft do the work.
The key lies in maintaining your rhythm. A three-quarter swing doesn’t mean a three-quarter tempo. Your tempo stays the same. What changes is the length of your swing. Think of it like a volume knob. You’re turning down the power but retaining the same smooth motion.
How to practice this shot
Go to the range with your pitching wedge, 9-iron and 8-iron. Hit full shots with each club and note the distances. Then start experimenting with partial swings. Hit a three-quarter pitching wedge and see how far it goes. Hit a half 9-iron. Hit a smooth 8-iron where you’re swinging at 80 percent.
The goal is to create a distance chart in your head. You want to know that your full pitching wedge goes 130, your three-quarter pitching wedge goes 115 and your half pitching wedge goes 95. Now you have three shots with one club. Do this with multiple clubs and suddenly you have options for every yardage.
The course management benefit
When you’re comfortable with in-between shots, you make better decisions. You’re not always trying to hit it as far as possible. You’re thinking about leaving yourself full shots into greens. You’re thinking about avoiding trouble. You’re playing smarter golf because you have more tools in the bag.
You also hit more greens. Instead of being stuck between clubs and making a tentative swing, you commit to a controlled shot. You know you can hit a smooth 8-iron 145 yards, so you do it. No doubt, no hesitation, just execution.
The confidence factor
There’s something powerful about knowing you can hit any distance. When you step up to a shot and you’re 118 yards out, you don’t panic. You don’t stand there wishing it was 120 or 110. You just pull your pitching wedge, make a controlled swing and hit it 118 yards. That confidence changes everything.
Most amateurs don’t have that confidence because they’ve never practiced it. They’ve hit thousands of full 7-irons on the range but they’ve never hit a controlled 7-iron. So when they need that shot on the course, they don’t trust it. They make a weak swing and hit it fat or thin.
The simple truth
The iron shot you should practice more is the one you’ll actually hit on the course. Not the perfect full swing from a perfect lie. The shot that requires feel and touch and distance control. Spend one range session working on these shots. Hit half-swings and three-quarter swings with your scoring clubs. Figure out how far each one goes. Create options for yourself. Once you can control your distance instead of just maximizing it, once you have a reliable shot for every yardage, you’ll hit more greens and shoot lower scores. That’s when you’ll realize you’ve been practicing the wrong shot all along.
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