Golf is a passion for many of us. our favorite hobby! Golf is not only a fun game but it also offers several physical and mental benefits. If you are a beginner to golf, you likely find using the iron club very difficult. In a golf game, the main keys to using your irons effectively lie in the positioning of the iron and swinging it in the right direction with the right posture.
Driving a golf ball far down the course may be the ultimate for many of us (me included) but as time goes by you need to know the skills to use the iron club. In this article, you will be provided with five basic golf swing tips for irons that are going to help you out a lot.
Easy Swing Tips For irons
Setup
As a beginner or intermediate, the first thing that you should concentrate on is your body posture. For a better posture, bend from your waist and not from your back. Begin your setup by understanding the basic difference between a good & a flawed setup. The posture you need is more or less like a basketball player.
Your spin should tilt firmly towards the golf ball. Next comes the iron setup. One of the biggest mistakes most beginners make is placing the golf ball too far forward in relation to your stance. Here’s a simple tip for you. Just hold s ball at the sternum and drop it while you are making a normal stance on another ball. See where it falls. If the ball lands in front of the other ball, then you are playing too far behind the ball on your stance.
A Perfect Setup Includes:
Use plenty of knee flex for providing a solid base for the swing. Tilt your hips forward, allows the arms to hang freely from the shoulder. Always keep the chin up so to allow a free shoulder to turn towards the backswing.
The Takeaway
The route of rest of your swing depends on how you take back the club during the onset of the backswing. In the first inches of the takeaway, your club should go straight back. It is important that you keep the rear shoulder a bit lower than the one that is close to the target. This prevents hanging on the front side at the time of takeaway.
Create A Solid Stance
One of the key golf swing tips for irons is creating a solid, wide, balanced and stable stance.
Holding the Iron
Another key golf swing tips for irons is practicing correctly holding the iron. As a beginner, you need to get accustomed to the irons. Practice holding the iron for thirty seconds in your home.
Start The Down Swing With Your Hips
Most beginners start the downswing with the upper body instead of bumping the hips. For a better swing, you need to bump down the hips and get the right posture.
Hit Down To Go Up
A key rule to get the perfect swing is you need to hit down on the iron to get the ball go up. To hit the ball skywards, you need to aggressively hit down with an impact. Well, this can be easily done if you have the right balance and your hands are in front of the iron face during the impact. Iron clubs are designed to hit down on the golf ball. That is correct. The squeezing of the ball to the ground or compression allows the ball to travel up correctly. Check out are article How to Hit Down On The Golf Ball for more details. You can also check out my article on Golf Swing Tips With a Driver. If like to learn more about using your wedges check out our article Golf Wedges Explained.
Do Not Forget The Follow-through
Giving up the swing prematurely (and not following thru) will actually minimize your swing speed. The result is you will fall short on the finish and your ball will not travel the full distance it should go. After every swing make sure you have
your attention on the finished position. If you are finishing through on the front side you have a good follow-through.
Do Not Swing Too Hard
Almost every beginner ends up swinging the iron too hard during hitting the iron shots. as a result hey end up missing a clean contact with the ball. This will result in many shot miss hits.
Never Ignore The Lie
Lie of the ball plays a major role in what kind of shots you will be able to hit in a particular situation.
What Iron Club Should You Use guide
The irons in a golf bag have more clubs then any other club type. Once there used to be 9 iron clubs used by golfers. Why so many irons? Here is a guide to what the number on the iron means.
The greater the iron number the more loft there is and the shorter the golf shaft. The loft is the angle of the golf club head. The more the angle of the club the higher in the air the ball will rise.
The number 9 iron will end up hitting the ball the highest in the air and the ball will travel the shortest distance of the irons. The least number irons which are 1 2 3 irons have the least loft angle and the longer shafts of the club. This means your ball will travel further and straighter (the least loft angle). As you go down in the iron number from 9 the loft is less (the ball will not go as high in the air and the ball will travel farther).
Here is a good rule to remember going down the iron number system from 9 your ball will travel a bit longer and less high. The golf shaft length gets a bit longer as you go down the number scale from 9 . Another rule to remember is the longer your shaft is the more the golf swing speed and leverage you will get when you strike the ball. In other words the ball will go further.
Here is a guide as to what iron you should use for what distance your shot may be (a guideline). Use a 9 iron for shots to 110 yards , choose an 8 iron for a 120-125 yard range shot. Choose a number 7 iron for a shot of 130-135 yard, choose a number 6 iron for a 140-145 yard shot, use a number 5 iron for a 150-155 yard shot, use a number 4 iron for a 165-170 yard shot, a number 3 iron for a 170-175 yard shot, a number 2 iron for a 180-185 yard shot.
Here is an example you are 115 yards from the green. A number 9 iron would be a good choice. The shorter the distance you are to the hole the bigger number iron you want to use. Another great tip is to buy a range finder and use it in golf game and during practice. Then practice using different irons at the golf range or where ever you can practice.
Maintain A Short Distance On The Backswing
When you are hitting the iron you do not have to maintain a very long backswing. Always stay in control.
Remember form and not hitting the ball hard are the keys to mastering your irons. Practice and follow these golf swing tips for irons, if you can implement these tips in your game, your iron game is bound to improved for.
Last but not the least, enjoy the game!
