One thing that separates the pro golfer from the amateur is ballstriking. The pro makes pure contact consistently when striking the ball, saving themselves strokes. But the amateur makes pure contact only occasionally, costing themselves strokes.
Nowhere is making solid contact more critical than with your irons. If you want to make a dent in your golf handicap, learn to make solid contact with your irons. By solid contact we mean ballstriking that’s free from any defects or faults—a solid strike that compresses the ball against the ground and takes a divot after the ball is in the air. Achieving solid contact consistently with your irons isn’t easy. But it can be done. Below are some golf tips that can help.
Forward Shaft Lean
Three elements help you make solid contact with your irons. Forward shaft lean is one. It is where your shaft is leaning so that the club’s grip is closer to the target than the club’s head at impact. Achieving this position compresses the ball between the clubface and the ground—a must if you want to make pure contact with your iron. Forward shaft lean is key to producing the kind of ball striking you need to shave strokes from your golf handicap.
How do you create forward shaft lean? You do it by making three moves. These moves must happen in the correct sequence and at the right time, as we tell students in golf instructions sessions. You must shift your weight to your front leg, move your trailing arm forward toward the ball, and maintain the correct angle of your arms and wrists. In other words, your iron must move downward first, then outward and forward toward the ball.
Swing On The Right Plane
The second key to making solid contact with your irons is swinging on plane. Swinging on plane is a problem for many weekend golfers, as evidenced by players in our golf lessons. Many have a hard time swinging on the right plane. Some swing over the plane from outside in and make a very steep approach to the ball. This causes all sorts of bad shots. It also robs them of power.
Other players in our golf instruction sessions swing under the right plane on too flat a trajectory—a common full swing error. Doing this produces hooks and pushes, depending on the clubface’s angle at impact. It also promotes a chicken-wing finish. To create solid contact with your irons, combine the proper sequence of body movements with an on-plane approach into the ball.
Clubface Control At Impact
The third key to making solid contact is clubface control. If you want to hit straight approach shots with your irons, you must square your clubface at impact. Many golfers make impact with an open clubface, resulting in a glancing blow that produces slices and pushes. Instead, golfers should rotate the clubface from slightly open before impact to square at impact to slightly closed after impact. Executing this face rotation correctly leads to making solid contact and hitting straight shots.
The Tee Drill helps improve ballstriking with your irons. With this drill you place a tee in the ground at the right ball position. The tee should be placed with its head pointing at the correct angle at which the clubface strikes the ball to achieve the correct forward shaft lean. Your goal is to drive the tee into the ground with a square clubface. Start with small swings then work your way up slowly to a full swing. Other drills like the Head Cover Drill and the Release Drill also help improve ball striking.
Good ballstriking is critical to hitting good iron shots. It also saves you strokes. Poor ballstriking costs you strokes. The golf tips described above will improve your ballstriking. The Tee Drill and the other drills we mentioned can help. If you’re serious about chopping strokes off your golf handicap, learn to make solid contact with your irons.