How do you hit a golf ball with an iron?
You want to put pressure on the back of the golf ball. Then you need to use the loft of your iron to get the ball up and airborne. You need to move the loft towards the golf ball. You then need to make sure you have got some space through the impact area, so you have space to come through the shot and hold your angles and your weight forward.
Where should the golf ball be positioned for iron shots?
It’s about positioning the low point of your swing slightly in front of the ball. And you can make that happen naturally with a few small adjustments. Your best bet for iron shots is to position the golf ball in the center of your stance. Many golfers make the mistake of positioning the ball too far forward.
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.
How to thump a good iron shot in golf?
It is necessary to thump a good iron shot. Strike the ball with the club with modest power. Then, it will start to take a divot. After that, hit the iron with a subsiding blow in order to neutralize the accelerating trajectory. Take a close look at the target line.
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.
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 get better iron shots?
Hitting down on the ball is the key to better iron shots. Essentially, you want to make impact just before hitting the low point of your swing. This is achievable for even the most casual golfers if you make small adjustments to move the low point of your swing forward. Positioning the ball in the center of your stance.
How does the club head move when swinging an iron?
As you swing the iron toward the low point on your forward stroke, the clubhead moves in a descending motion. Once the clubhead passes through the low point, it arcs upward again. Pretty simple, right? Before the low point, your clubhead is descending. After the low point, your clubhead is ascending.
What happens if you move the handle in front of the clubhead?
If you position the handle slightly in front of the clubhead—more towards the target—the low point moves forward. As a result, you have a decent chance at getting a good iron shot if you move the handle just a little bit in front of the golf ball.
What hand do you use to practice golf?
Here’s what you do: As part of your pre-shot routine, take a few practice swings with your lead hand only. Your trail hand does nothing. It doesn’t touch the club at all. You’re just holding the club in your lead hand and giving that hand total control of your swing movement.
How does the low point of an iron work?
If you position the handle slightly in front of the clubhead—more towards the target—the low point moves forward.
Can amateur golfers hit down on the ball?
It’s common advice. But knowing what you should do it and knowing how to do it are two entirely different things. In fact, many golfers would tell you there’s a reason that the pros can hit down on the ball consistently while many amateur players cannot.
How to get a golf ball to be powerful?
1) If you want to be powerful, you need your weight to be forward. You want to put pressure on the back of the golf ball. Then you need to use the loft of your iron to get the ball up and airborne. You need to move the loft towards the golf ball.
How to get compression in golf ball?
Working on your rotation is key, and this drill is great for that. Push your bum back and take small little shots to get that compression in the golf ball. Use your lead leg as your anchor. If you don't push back you won't create the room. ...
How to catapult a golf shot?
Feel the weight on the lead foot and catapult the arm. Now walk into the golf ball, and get the sensation that you are pushing that weight into the lead foot. So think to yourself 'push the weight, catapult the shot'.
What is a good golf drill?
A great golf drill if you find you strike the ground behind the ball or tend to feel a weak contact with your golf shots...
Can you hit up on a driver with your weight back?
You want to hit up on the driver but you don't hit up on the driver with your weight back. When your weight is stacked and you push back the hip, you can catapult the driver through. We don't want the turning of the hips, we want the pushing back of the hips to create the room.
How to practice golf tee?
It’s a good practice exercise to place a golf tee beside your golf ball. After impact notice where the divots started in relation to where the ball was. Slight press forward with shaft. In your set a position, take a look at your hands in relation to the club head and golf ball.
What happens if you can't get paper under the toe of the golf club?
If your friend is unable to get the paper under the toe of the club at all, the club is too upright. The grip end should be lowered slightly which will result in a more toe up club head position. Then the paper should slide in just short of the middle of the clubhead.
Why is it important to lie golf clubs?
The lie of the club is very important because when addressing a golf ball you start with positioning the clubhead first. How to position the clubhead when addressing the golf ball.
Can you change the position of the golf club head on the ground?
You’ll have to make slight adjustments to fit where the handle of the golf club is, remember not to change the lie of the club head on the ground in the process. If you’re on the shorter side you’ll have very little knee bend, perhaps none at all, and only a slight tilt forward with your spine angle.
How to hit irons pure?
Like many golf skills, the first step to hitting an iron pure is getting into the proper position, then developing a good swing– in this case, swinging down and into the ball on the downswing instead of scooping it up on the upswing. Practice your starting stance and your swing technique to hit your irons pure every time!
How to catch a golf ball on the downswing?
Hold the club firmly with your dominant hand in front. Place your dominant hand on the lower part of the club’s grip and your other hand right behind it so your little finger and index finger are touching. Hold the club downward with the head behind the ball so you catch the ball on the downswing.
What does it mean to hit an iron pure?
In golf, "hitting an iron pure" means making a solid connection between your iron and the ball in order to get the most distance out of your shot. Once you’re comfortable hitting a driver, the next step is learning how to use your irons to hit the ball the rest of the way down the green. Like many golf skills, the first step to hitting an iron pure ...
How to swing a golf club back down?
Shift your weight to your front leg and swing down towards the ball. Swing the club back down towards the ball. Let your shoulders drop back down so they are straight above your legs when you make contact with the ball on the downswing. Try not to take big divots out of the turf under the ball.
How to swing a golf club with your head straight up?
Swing the club back with your arms and let your shoulders turn with the momentum. Shift your weight towards your back leg and swing the club back and above your head. Let your shoulders rotate upwards behind you as you swing the club above your head so the head of the golf club is straight up in the air.
How to keep your feet planted in golf?
Keep your feet planted as firmly as possible to stay balanced. Shift your weight slightly back to your heels if it helps keep them planted. Try not to let them move at all until the end of your swing. If your feet are moving a lot at any point of your swing, then you are swinging too hard.
How to swing a golf ball?
During your swing, you want to be able to comfortably shift your weight to your back leg during the backswing, then forward again to your front leg as you swing through the ball. ...
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.
Where should the golf ball be centered?
As for the golf ball’s position in relation to your body, you want the ball to line up with one of the following: The inner corner of your lead eye. The buttons or zipper on your golf shirt. Slightly forward of your nose.
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.
How to get a feel for swinging irons?
Take your iron setup without the golf ball. As you swing the club back, step the trail foot back and behind your body so it’s perpendicular to your lead foot. Then step the trail foot back into place as you swing through. This drill helps you get a feel for strong rotation and natural movement in the body.
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 get better at golf?
As you take your golf setup, allow your head to float up a bit instead of tucking your chin close to your chest. Stay relaxed in the neck and shoulders. 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 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.