How can I hit the golf ball far and straight with my irons? I am
struggling to get any distance at all with my irons - for instance 70
yards with a 7-iron. I just cannot connect properly or get any sort of
consistency or distance. Can you help?

Take the advice of Robert, the Bruce (noted Scot, but not as a golfer):

"Bruce was hiding out from English pursuers in a cave. He was
exhausted from the neverending struggle, and in despair. Maybe he
should flee to France and live out his life in comfort. His eye fell
on a spider spinning its web. It kept trying to swing across the
ceiling, over and over again, until at last it reached the other side
and anchored the first strand of the web. "Try, try, and try again"."

Thank you - and as interesting as this is, I can assure you that
repeated application of effort is NOT the problem! It's precisely for
this reason, in fact, that I am at the end of my tether...:)

Hillsey,
That's probably why I stick to tennis; the scorecard can still look
good if I find some oldsters who play worse than I do.  ;)
What does a golf trainer say about your swing?  If it consistantly
only getting 60% of the distance suggested for the club (I found a
site on irons), it seems that a trainer could identify something you
are doing wrong that could be corrected.
Good luck,  Myoarin

Hillsey,

Ahaah .. I detect the dilemma.

You are standing far to close to the golfball after you have it!

Or, keep your head down. You are lifting your head as you make the
shot. This tends toward a slight topping of the ball. Follow through
keeping your head down, finish your shot, then you can look up to
locate the tree in which your golfball has landed. Also move your
stance. Move forward in paralell to your current preferred
tee-placement. Instead of placing your feet equidistant from the
ball's centred placement, increment your stance toward the target.
This will lower the centre of gravity of the swing to achieve a closer
placement toward the sweet spot of impact. If you have to fight the
ball to make it move, you have got it wrong.

Now try to open your stance. This works particularly well in the sand
bunkers too. If you are a right hander, place your right foot closer
too the ball than is usually comfortable for you. Open your left foot
toward the hole. Almost like hitting the golfball side-on and slightly
from behind. This will achieve height and air time, resulting in
greater length of stroke, plus the added back spin to avoid an over
run.

As the Tai Quon Do Master says .. if it feels awkward, you are
probably doing it correctly.

Drive for show, put for dough .. enjoy your golf.

Silver

Silver - thanks for the words. I appreciate it. The problem I have is
that I used to be able to play OK - was hitting sub-100 after only a
year of playing and thought things were going well. Now I seem to have
completely lost the ability to play - and it's mentally frustrating. I
think actually it may be a total mental confidence thing that is
conspiring against me!
Interesting you mention opening the stance - this has been recommended
by others and I intend to try it as soon as I can. I appreciate that
my question is kind of "open" - it could be a combination of so many
things. It's just bloody frustrating at the moment!
Uesful advice - anything else that springs to mind, please let me
know! I've been told that I have a naturally athletic swing with all
component parts in the right place - some teachers have told me I have
one of the best natural swings they have seen - so this makes it even
more annoying when I can't make proper contact or generate enough
power!

Hillsey,

Are you trying too hard perhaps? Have you ever noticed that a back 9 
often results in a better nett score than the front 9? I reckon
it's because we relax, or are simply too knackered by the 15th anyhow.

As a mate of mine said, as hackers, we expect to be able to jump out of
our cars in the car park, pay our fees, gather our clubs and tee-off on
time. Then we curse ourselves when our game is not up to form. Sure, the pros 
are exceptional. But do you have a set of clubs perfectly fitted to your game, 
designed for line and length, a caddie, tuition, a mentor, practice
time and focused effort on your choice of career? If not, then relax,
enjoy your game and the serendipity of those perfect shots will come
to you when you allow them to.

What I like most about golf is that you are forever competing against
yourself and improving yourself, just like you are by asking your
question. What I detest most is when I play with blokes who choose to
wrap their clubs around a tree in frustration of their inadequecies.
It's just a game after all. Like all sports, nothing is created in the
process.

Sub-100 hey .. glad you weren't playing a full 18 holes then!  :)

Phil

Hillsey,

For a more consistent, repetitive swing, the modern swing is the way
to go.  Power and distance result from use of the large muscles/parts
(shoulders, thighs, arm extension) and limiting the extra motions in
your swing (wrist action, leg movement, hip action).

A thing called the Y-factor (as explained in a Golf Digest article by
Jim McLean http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0HFI/is_7_52/ai_76143272)
ultimately determines how far you can hit it (consistently).  This is
the key to the modern swing.  Rotate your shoulders as much as you
can, limit how far you turn your hips, and limit how far the clubhead
goes at the top of the swing (ideally just less than parallel to the
ground).

This should make your swing more consist and powerful.  At least as
much as typewritten advice can.  Best advice: practice, get some
instruction, and practice again.  Or if you are like me, play more and
practice less.  Each person has their own way of improving and you
must play/practice enough to find your own.

If you want to learn from one of the best, read Ben Hogan's Five
Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf.  Just throw that in on
Amazon.com and you can take a peek inside.  Unfortunately GooglePrint
doesn't pick it up.

Play well,  AnswerK

Great article - thanks for the advice. I think the problem is more
with consistent connection though, and always hitting too much ground
first, so when the club head finally connects with the ball, it's had
the power taken out of it from hitting the ground. I guess this could
be a stance/posture thing, and you're right - I need to get
instruction to sort this out. Cheers for the advice!