I recently was told by a golfer that he hits his short and mid irons well but struggles when it comes to the longer irons and metal woods. There could be several reasons for this, but let me address the most common causes.

When you hit longer clubs your swing speed increases compared to short irons. Any swing faults will be exposed at higher swing speeds and certainly less loft of the club will add to the problem. Often short irons will mask an existing flaw. This being said, if you struggle to make solid contact and getting the longer clubs airborne, you should check a couple of things.

First, look at ball position. Is it right of center with longer irons ? If so, you will never hit it up in the air from this position. Check where the ball is located in relation to your left heel with your longer clubs to rule out this possibility.

The most common cause of lower ball flight and unsolid contact is the golf club is steep into impact. What I mean by this is the shaft does not travel into impact from inside the target line. This is also known as over the top or out to in. Moving the upper body towards the target on the forward swing will certainly cause a steeper angle of attack and flatten ball flight. Have a friend hold a golf club with the grip end just right of your left ear (assuming a right handed golfer) while you make a half swing. Does your head move forward during the downswing and bump the grip being held next to your ear? If you hit a few balls like this you will begin to feel how you must begin the forward swing from the ground up, which will shallow the angle of attack.

There are other causes that may influence lower ball flight, such as closed club face angle that should be examined. I offer online video lessons where you can send me a video and I will analyze the footage, email back to you with audio and slow swing analysis using V1 digital swing analysis software. This is the best way to accurately diagnose your swing faults and offer solutions.