I get a few ideas for what to write about in this space from the keywords that people use to find it. Lately there have been a few searches concerning long irons. I give you from today’s list:

faster swing speed with long irons
how far do you hit a 4-iron
anyone play gi irons in their long irons?

These are good questions that deserve good answers. Most of us feel comfortable up to about 160 yards and then from 200 yards and up. It’s that gap that we find difficult to fill. We’re still trying to hit the ball a selected distance, and straight, and that’s not easy for a recreational golfer to do.

You have two options in terms of equipment — long irons or hybrid irons. Long irons were what I grew up playing with. Iron sets came 2-9. The pitching wedge was a separate purchase. In those days, instruction books had sections, and golf magazines had tips, on how to hit your long irons. There were as many of those articles then as there are “How to get out of a bunker” articles today. They were the clubs recreational golfers just couldn’t get off the ground or hit the distance advertised.

It’s the same thing today. Long irons are still hard to hit. I can hit a good shot with my 4-iron about two out of three times, with my 3-iron about one out of three times, and my 2-iron is strictly to be hit off a tee. At least that’s what I would have said if you had asked me eight years ago.

I went to a Ben Hogan demo day at my driving range and tried out one of these new hybrid clubs. I borrowed a 3. The first ball I hit, with no expectations, was as good as any 3-iron shot I had ever hit. Same thing for the next two balls. Three rockets in a row. I needed no more convincing, and a few weeks later bought a 2, 3, and 4 Ben Hogan hybrid, which I still use in addition to the 5 which I picked up three years ago.

So let’s get to those questions.

faster swing speed with long irons — you definitely need a high swing speed to hit these clubs well. If your drives carry about 250 yards, that’s 250 in the air, not air plus roll equals 250, then you have enough swing speed for a long iron to give you its due. You don’t swing faster with a long iron. You swing with what you have. If you don’t have it with your driver, you don’t have it, period.

how far do you hit a 4-iron — as far as I hit my 4-hybrid, but not nearly as often.

anyone play gi irons in their long irons? — honestly, if you use gi irons, you don’t have a long iron swing.

Sometimes I take my long irons to the range and hit them just for fun, but I would never play with them. There’s no reason for you to, either, not when you can use clubs that are so easy to hit it’s almost cheating.

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