Golf-FAQ.com

where on a golf ball to hit with an iron'

by Dr. Coy Mraz Published 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago
image

You want the ball to be at about the middle of your chest, behind your left shoulder. When you swing, imagine that wagon wheel spinning into the ground and through to the other side. Hit the ball first and then the ground. An important thing any golfer should remember is to hit the ground.

Full Answer

How do you hit a golf ball with a short iron?

Try following these steps: 1 Stand with your feet together, the ball aligned with the space between your feet. 2 Step your lead foot towards the target, but make that step slightly smaller than you would if you were setting up your stance for a short iron. 3 Take a step away from the target with your trail foot. ... 4 Check your golf ball. ...

Where should the golf ball be positioned when hitting Irons?

As you learn how to hit irons, you want to always note where the golf ball is in relation to: And the correct position varies slightly depending on whether you’re using a long iron or a short iron. Let’s break this down. When using a short iron, make sure the ball is positioned in the center of your golf stance.

Where do you hit the ball first in a golf swing?

Center ball position Position the ball in the center of your stance so your swing bottoms out directly in between your feet. You want to hit the ball first and then the turf, so try to get the ball in a position where your swing bottoms out at the correct point in the middle of your stance.

Which irons are best to hit the ball close to the Green?

Short irons (8, 9 and pitching wedge) have a higher loft and help you pop the ball up in the air as you get closer to the green. And your middle irons (5, 6 and 7) are, well . . . in the middle.

image

What is the purpose of an iron in golf?

By Lyle Smith. Irons are designed for accuracy, not distance. Hitting a solid golf shot with an iron requires balance, tempo, acceleration and precision. There are almost as many tips to hitting a great iron shot as there are players and teachers, but the simplest goal will often yield the best result—that is, hitting the ball crisply in ...

What should you feel when you hit a golf ball?

What you should feel is an unwinding feeling from your feet and legs. This helps you meet three very important goals that launch the ball on straight, driving trajectory: maintain balance; accelerate through the golf ball; and generate power through the swing.

How does a golf swing work?

Your golf swing rotates around an axis with your head, or eyes, as the center. Your swing bottoms out and hits the ground exactly where your head is. The tendency is to slide forward on your downswing. If you keep your head still and even with or even slightly behind the ball, you'll strike the ball cleanly.

How to get power through a golf swing?

This throws off all of your geometry and allows all the power you've stored in your back swing to leak out before you reach the ball. What you should feel is an unwinding feeling from your feet and legs. This helps you meet three very important goals that launch the ball on straight, driving trajectory: maintain balance ; accelerate through the golf ball; and generate power through the swing.

What is the most important factor in hitting a good iron shot?

Strike the ball first. The most important factor in hitting a good iron shot shows up exactly at the moment of impact.

What happens if your elbow bends during your swing?

If your front elbow bends during your swing, you are changing the distance your clubhead is from the ball, giving you one more thing to adjust before impact.

How to hit down on the golf ball?

In order to hit down on the ball, you need the low point of your swing to happen after you make contact. To put it another way, the goal is to hit the ball before you hit the turf. And correct ball position is the simplest way to make sure the low point of your golf swing happens at the right time.

What to do if you struggle more with iron shots than you do hitting it off the tee?

In fact, if you struggle more with your iron shots than you do hitting it off the tee, ball position may be the best way to fix that discrepancy.

What does the ball position tell you about your golf posture?

Your ball position for irons tells you something about your golf posture for irons . . . and vice versa. Here’s what I mean by that. Just because your ball is in the center of your stance, that doesn’t mean it’s centered in your body. You might tilt your upper body toward the target, away from the target, or not at all.

How to position a golf ball in relation to your feet?

If you’re using a Rimer, finding the center is easy. Just position the slider in the center of the ruler. Then position your feet at either end of the Rimer and align the golf ball with the slider.

How many checkpoints should a golf ball have?

While this is an important aspect of ball placement, it’s not the only part of your setup you need to examine. You should actually have three checkpoints.

What does it mean when your golf ball is too far forward?

This is another indicator of incorrect golf ball position. The fix for this one is fairly easy. If you keep aiming too far left, or “open,” it means the ball is too far forward in your stance. (This assumes you’re right handed. If you’re a lefty, “open” means the ball aims too far to the right.

What does it mean when your ball is open?

If you’re a lefty, “open” means the ball aims too far to the right. The cause is the same; your ball is too far forward.) On the other hand, if your aim is regularly too far to the right, or “closed,” the ball is too far back in your stance.

How to hit a golf ball straight with an iron?

The best-golfing tip on how to hit a golf ball straight with iron is aligning your feet with your shoulder when doing a middle iron. There should be a 2-inch space for a short-iron stance and another 2-inch space for a long iron stance. Your target-side foot is supposed to flare towards your target. Your feet should be open 20-40 degrees ...

Why should your short iron stance be at the center of the ball?

If the club is flat, your short iron stance should be at the center portion. This is because the club should have an upright angle.

What is the best position for a long iron?

Therefore, take a slightly shallower divot more than the one you take for a short iron. The best ball position for a long iron is having the ball direct your foot .

How does the position of a golf ball change?

When using a shorter iron, the middle part of your body should be more active when you hit your ball. The shaft varies in length. Hence, one needs to adjust the golf ball since every club bottoms out at different points.

How much weight should you put on your hind leg for a golf shot?

With a middle-iron shot, ensure that the weight is half or equal to each foot. If you are in the longest club, your hind leg should carry 60 percent of your weight. This posture helps you swing your body at a right angle while at the club.

What degree should your target line be?

Your feet should be open 20-40 degrees to enhance proper body rotation around your target. Your target line and foot should be at 90 degrees so that your foot can be in a good position.

Which side should your spine slant?

Your spine should slant to the side a little further from your target. Your hip and shoulder are tending towards the target-side need to be more upward than your back, hips, and shoulders.

How to hit an iron: Set-up

Getting your ball position right is crucial whatever iron you’re using (more of this later). If you have the ball too far forward in your stance, you won’t be able to move your body far enough forward in the downswing to get the club interacting with the ground below the ball at impact.

Weight transfer

The takeaway requires a nice, wide low move away from the ball rather than any hint of picking the club up quickly with the hands.

Impact

As explained earlier, good ball-striking requires a downward rather than upward angle of attack with the divot fractionally after the ball rather than before it.

Long irons

Stance width will get narrower as you move down from long irons to short irons. You need a nice stable base for the wider swing arc a long iron requires, so feet just a fraction over shoulder-width apart with weight evenly distributed.

Mid-irons

The shorter shaft means you will now be standing a little closer to the ball, so it will need to come back in the stance (so 7 inches from the left heel with a 7-iron using the ‘inches to iron number’ mantra) to help promote the correct angle of attack.

Short irons

With short irons, your stance should narrow further, with ball position slightly back of centre. You want your hands to be ahead of the ball but not too far ahead, so resist the temptation to push them too far forward and get the shaft leaning too much.

When addressing the golf ball with your iron, is it important to recognize?

Again it’s very important to recognize when addressing the golf ball with your iron.

How to impact a golf ball?

The result of this is the club shaft has a slight press forward look. This press forward affect will carry forward into our swings and impact position. When you’re impacting the golf ball the clubhead impacts the golf ball then enters the ground to take a small divot.

How to measure a golf club?

Enlist the help of a friend for a simple measure . Once you have the club head in this flat to the ground and slightly toed up position. Have your friend slide a piece of paper under the toe of the club. The paper should slide under the toe of the clubhead slightly. The paper should be stopped just before it reaches the middle of the clubhead.

What happens when paper is slid under the toe of the golf club?

When the paper is slid under the toe of the club and it easily slides clearly through to the heel of the club, the golf club position is too flat. The grip end of the golf club should be lifted which will lower the toe of the club closer to the ground surface.

What is the best way to position a golf club on the grass?

When you sole your club on the grass you want the bottom of the club to sit flat to the surface of the grass then ever so slightly toed up.

Why is there a club shaft on a plane?

Clubshaft on plane as a result of good clubhead position.

What happens if a golf club scuffs too close to the toe?

If the scuff is too close to the toe, the golf club needs to be positioned more flat. The grip end needs to be lowered in the set-up.

Where should a short iron be placed in golf?

When using a short iron, make sure the ball is positioned in the center of your golf stance. In other words, it should be centered between your feet.

How to hit down on a golf ball?

To Hit Down on the Golf Ball: At setup, position the ball in the center of your stance. Shift your hands toward the target just slightly so the club is in front of the club head. In the transition, think about pulling on the club with your lead hand instead of throwing the club out and down with the trail hand.

How does the club head change direction?

Think of the shape your club head makes as you swing through the golf ball. As you move through the transition at the top of your swing , towards the ball , the club head is traveling at a downward angle. At some point (more specifically, at the low point), your club head changes direction.

What irons are considered long irons?

First, make sure you know which irons are considered “long” and which are “short.”. Your long irons (2, 3 and 4) have a lower loft and are designed for more distance. (1 irons if you have them) Short irons (8, 9 and pitching wedge) have a higher loft and help you pop the ball up in the air as you get closer to the green.

What is the goal of an iron shot?

For an iron shot, however, the goal is to hit down on the golf ball. Another way to say this is that your moment of impact should occur before the low point of your golf swing. It’s important to make this distinction when discussing how to hit irons because this whole down/up thing trips up a lot of golfers.

How to avoid steepness when swinging a long iron?

However, you don’t want your angle of attack to be as steep as it is when you’re hitting a short iron. In order to avoid that steepness, position the ball just slightly forward of center.

Why do you swing away from the ball?

As you swing away from the ball, allow your head to slide away from the target. This accommodates for better rotation, better speed, and a better shot.

How to hit the ball first in golf?

Center ball position. Position the ball in the center of your stance so your swing bottoms out directly in between your feet. You want to hit the ball first and then the turf, so try to get the ball in a position where your swing bottoms out at the correct point in the middle of your stance. 5. Balanced finish.

How to play pin golf?

Focus on your tempo and on making solid contact. Let the club do the work and watch as your ball makes a beeline for the pin. 1. Club selection 2. Starter swing 3. Practice swings 4. Center ball position 5. Balanced finish. Video Player is loading.

image
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9