Hitting your 7-iron, seeing it fly beautifully, and then grabbing your 5-iron only to watch it land in the exact same spot is one of golf’s most baffling frustrations. You know they’re supposed to go different distances, but on the course, they’re acting like twins. This article will break down exactly why this happens and give you straightforward, actionable fixes to start gapping your clubs properly and playing with more confidence.
More often than not, the problem has little to do with the clubs themselves and everything to do with what’s happening in the split second of impact. Every iron in your bag is designed with a specific loft - the angle of the clubface - to send the ball a specific distance. Your 7-iron might have around 30-34 degrees of loft, while your 5-iron might have 24-27 degrees. That difference is what should create your 20-30 yards of distance gapping.
The issue arises when the loft you deliver at impact (known as dynamic loft) doesn't match the club's designed loft. For most golfers who struggle with this problem, one swing fault is almost always the cause: flipping the club.
“Flipping” or “scooping” happens when your wrists break down through the impact zone. Instead of your hands leading the clubhead through the ball, the clubhead outraces your hands. This action adds a tremendous amount of loft to the clubface. When you do this, you effectively turn your strong-lofted 5-iron into a weak-lofted 7-iron. Then, when you swing your 7-iron with the same flipping motion, it performs more like a 9-iron. The result? Every club from your 5-iron to your 8-iron might produce a high, floaty shot that travels a similar distance.
The goal is to do the opposite: achieve forward shaft lean at impact. This means your hands are slightly ahead of the ball and clubhead when you make contact. This de-lofts the clubface, leading to a much more powerful, penetrating ball flight and allowing the club’s true loft to do its job. It’s the difference between a high, weak “scoop” and a compressed, powerful “thump.”
Think about where power comes from in the golf swing. Many amateurs believe it comes from swinging the arms faster, but that's a common misconception. Your real power source - your engine - is the rotation of your body, specifically your hips and torso. An "armsy" swing not only lacks power but also makes it nearly impossible to control the clubface and achieve proper gapping.
When you swing with only your arms, your body hangs back. You lose your posture and the an-grounded connection that generates speed. To save the shot from this unbalanced position, your wrists are forced to flip the club at the ball. As we just discussed, that flip is the number one cause of distance compression.
A properly sequenced swing starts from the ground up on the downswing. Your hips begin to unwind toward the target, which pulls your torso, arms, and finally the club through the impact zone. This rotation does a few amazing things:
If you feel like all your effort is in your arms and shoulders, you likely aren’t using your body’s engine. Without the speed generated by proper rotation, your 5-iron and 7-iron simply don’t have enough velocity to show a meaningful distance difference.
Another major reason for random club distances is inconsistent ball striking. The sweet spot on a clubface is quite small, and where you make contact has an enormous impact on ball speed and distance. A term you might hear is “smash factor,” which is a measure of energy transfer from the clubhead to the ball. A center-strike gives you the highest smash factor, while off-center hits (on the heel or toe, or thin or fat) leak energy and cost you distance.
Imagine this scenario: you hit your 6-iron a little thin, catching the ball on the lower grooves of the face. It comes out low and doesn't fly very far. On the next shot, you hit your 8-iron perfectly out of the center of the face. It feels amazing, jumps off the face, and flies beautifully. There's a good chance that perfectly struck 8-iron will travel farther than the poorly struck 6-iron.
If your strike location is all over the map, your distances will be, too. A fat 5-iron might go the same distance as a thin 7-iron, which might go the same distance as a perfectly flushed 9-iron, making your club selection feel like a total lottery.
Talking about the theory is one thing, but feeling the correct movement is what creates change. Here are three simple drills you can practice at the range to start seeing real gaps between your clubs.
This is the best drill for exterminating the “flip” and learning the feeling of compression. It teaches your hands what it feels like to lead the clubhead into the ball.
The goal isn’t to hit the ball far, but to produce a low, piercing ball flight. You’ll know you’re doing it right when you hear a solid “thump” at impact and the ball comes out with a controlled, boring trajectory. It should feel like you’re punching the ball with the back of your lead hand.
This drill Ingrains the feeling of your body leading the swing and powering through impact. It forces you to use your big muscles instead of relying on your arms.
This drill helps cure a stall in your body's rotation, which often leads to that last-second flip motion with the hands.
This gives you instant, undeniable feedback on where you’re hitting the ball on the face. You can’t fix what you can’t measure.
Just the awareness of your strike location can start to tighten up your misses as you subconsciously try to find the middle of the club. Aim for a better strike, and your distance control will improve dramatically.
The frustration of hitting every iron the same distance almost always comes down to technique, not the equipment itself. By focusing on delivering the club with forward shaft lean, using your body as the engine for the swing, and focusing on quality of contact, you can unlock the built-in performance of each club in your bag and start seeing predictable, game-changing distance gaps.
Working on these changes takes commitment, and it helps to have guidance when you feel stuck. When you’re on the course and face a tricky shot or just feel lost with your club selection, we designed Caddie AI to be your an pocket coach. It removes the guesswork by analyzing the situation and giving you a clear strategy, but you can also use it to ask questions about your technique anytime, 24/7. It's like having a golf expert dedicated to helping you understand your game on a deeper level so you can play with more clarity and confidence.
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