5 and 6 iron feel impossible to hit.

Hey all,

So I’ve been grinding the 90% Weight/Straight Arms drill for about a week or so and I’ve seen immediate improvement in my 7-PW but for the life of me I just can not hit a single good shot with my 5 iron and only rarely hit the 6 iron well. I struggle with a severe in to out swing and have watched numerous Saguto videos on the topic (including the entire hybrid/long iron section) but I just can’t seem to get the same crispy results with the 5 and 6 iron

5 comments

5 Comments

Tom Saguto

Jan 14, 2022

Welcome to the Forum, @Ryan M!! I hope to see you participating here often!

Before we dig too deeply into this, have you gone through the section in Fixing Common Swing Problems specific to the downswing issue you described (too shallow)? Here is a link to the diagnostic video, and immediately beneath that are four drills designed to address and correct it.

Also, you may be interested in this older KFC Club member video where I analyzed my swing - which also had a tendency to be too much in-to-out at that time - and then made recommendations to myself on how to resolve it.

Tom Saguto

Jan 17, 2022

Replying to

@Ryan M You said that you've been working with the 90% Weight Forward Drill, which is definitely a good one. Have you taken video of your swing to confirm that you are keeping the weight forward and not drifting into the trail side at any point during the motion?

Here is another drill that you may want to check out. Without my actually seeing your swing in person or in a V1 Analysis, only you can determine if this is applicable, though based on your description it may be.

Besides that, be patient with yourself and with the process. It is very common for golfers to begin experiencing crispy success with their shorter irons very early on, while the longer clubs seem to take a bit more time to dial in.

Ryan M

Feb 14, 2022

Replying to

@Tom Saguto Well I’ve determined that the overall answer to my issue was indeed patience. I am now hitting the 4/5/6 irons and even my hybrid straighter and longer than ever. I even stuck the green from 200yds out with the 5 iron during my round last week and could not have been more happy. I think I expected too much too quickly and just needed the extra few weeks to really get used to all the new concepts with every club. The V1 lesson was also eye opening and probably played a large role in ”unlocking” the longer irons.

Swing is feeling great now (definitely still have a lot of concepts that I want to explore over time) and I encourage anyone reading this to just be patient with the process even If the short irons get better MUCH faster than the longer irons.

Tom Saguto

Feb 14, 2022

Replying to

@Ryan M Fantastic testimonial for embracing the process!! Please continue to shout it loud from the rooftop whenever you notice someone expressing frustration here because they're not seeing results as quickly as they might like. The improvement comes when we set the "get-rich-quick" expectations aside and just put in the necessary time and work to - as you say - unlock the swing. It's there for all to enjoy if we can get out of our own way, be patient, and simply allow it to develop.

Great job, great update, and great 5 iron approach too!!