How to hit irons consistently well today
Do you consistently hit your irons off the toe or heel and struggle to reach the green? Maybe you catch the ball thin or fat and watch the ball either fly over the back of the green or come up 30-yards short? If you are guilty of either one of these then it’s likely you want to know how to hit irons consistently and hit more of your targets. You’re not alone, as making solid contact with your iron shots is one of the most challenging parts golfers struggle with in the game of golf. You can flush your iron shots by practicing with the lag shot golf training aid as I do.
The good news is once you implement the simple moves I’m going to share with you you'll find it easier to hit your irons dead centre resulting in more distance and accuracy.
This makes the game of golf much easier for you and you'll have fun on the golf course as you become a better ball striker.
I learned how to hit better golf iron shots from the team at Rotary Swing who provide the most comprehensive golf instruction training online.
All explanations are for right-handed golfers, lefties just do the opposite.
WHERE MOST GOLFERS GO WRONG
Most golfers struggle with how to hit irons solid because they make 3 critical mistakes in their golf swing. If you are one of these golfers that's struggling it’s highly likely you are making at least one of these 3 mistakes.
Get just one wrong and it makes hitting irons long and straight at your target very difficult.
These are the 3 areas where you are falling short with your iron play:
- Improper setup
- Incorrect weight shift
- Too much secondary axis tilt
It’s possible there are a couple of more things you’re doing wrong such as coming over the top and losing posture but these are what I’ll discuss in more detail.
GET SET UP RIGHT
This goes for every golf type of golf shot you play and being able to hit your irons consistently it’s no different. If you’re not set up correctly it forces your body to make compensations throughout the golf swing which results in more problems in your golf game.
Start by getting nice and balanced at set-up with feet about shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent and the weight in the arches of your feet.
Next, bend from your hips keeping your shoulders and back relatively straight together on the same angle, and ensure your hands are sitting approximately right beneath your chin line.
Learn even more about getting the correct golf posture here.
SHIFT YOUR WEIGHT CORRECTLY
Learning to implement the correct golf weight shift is another important part of the golf swing that has a big impact on your ability to hit your irons pure. A poor weight shift in the golf swing makes it nearly impossible to become a consistent ball striker round after round.
A lot of golfers get this wrong and you could be one of them.
Most golfers only shift their weight in the backswing to the rear leg and then do not shift sufficient weight back to the front or lead leg.
This often leads to a reverse pivot and usually scooping or a lifting action in the downswing that requires a lot of timing to get right and rarely results in a consistent golf swing.
I’ll talk more about shifting your weight correctly in the section below about getting the left shoulder back to where it started.
THE DANGER OF TOO MUCH SECONDARY AXIS TILT
Another important part of the golf swing that destroys your chances of hitting your irons solid is having too much secondary axis tilt. This is when the right shoulder tilts back excessively from the target in the downswing.
What happens is your hands move closer to the ground and get forced to release early resulting in loss of lag and the ability to hit the irons flush.
It’s not so much of an issue with the driver as you are hitting more up on the golf ball but for your irons, it’s a death move.
Learn more about axis tilt below in 'standing taller at impact'.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW WHERE I DEMONSTRATE HOW TO CRUSH YOUR GOLF IRONS WITH 1 SIMPLE SWING THOUGHT:
2 ways to hit more consistent iron shots
Golf iron shots make up a large part of your golf score so it's important to learn how to hit consistent golf iron shots. A well-struck, a compressed iron shot is one of the best feelings in golf and will go a long way to lowering your scores and handicap.
Although there are many aspects that make up a good, solid iron shot such as set up, posture, swing plane, and more.
I've decided to go through two key ways that you can make the quickest improvement in your iron play.
These two parts are the position of the left shoulder at set up and impact and axis tilt in the shoulders.
LEFT SHOULDER BACK TO WHERE IT STARTED
If you want to know how to hit irons consistently and flush, this is super important. When you address the golf ball, your left shoulder will be in front of the golf closer to the target. The only way to make consistent, solid contact with the golf ball is to ensure your left shoulder returns to this same position or even a little bit closer to the target.
When you do this move the golf club has a much easier job of returning to impact in a descending action which is perfect to hit flush iron shots.
If you make the mistake of leaving your left shoulder back away from where it started, you’ll bottom out in the downswing too early resulting in fat and thin golf shots.
Watch the drill below under 'my favourite drill that works' for a great way to practice and get good at this.
STANDING TALLER AT IMPACT
This ties in with the result of too much secondary axis tilt I spoke about before. As previously mentioned, when your drop your right shoulder back too much in the downswing it causes a multitude of problems.
Loss of lag and casting is a common result which all affect your ability to compress the golf ball with your irons.
The key is to shift your weight to the left side without bumping your left hip too much laterally and out of neutral joint alignment.
When you do this right, you’ll be in a tour pro position ready to strike the golf ball flush with your irons every time.
MY FAVOURITE DRILL THAT WORKS
Here’ a simple drill you can practice at home or at the golf driving range to better feel the correct movement. Grab an alignment stick or a golf club and place it in the ground up against your left shoulder at your golf set up.
Next, make a golf swing, and as you commence the downswing ensure you get your left shoulder to touch the alignment stick whilst keeping your head behind the golf ball.
When you get to impact ensure your hips and left shoulder are all in neutral joint alignment where you could draw a line right through the middle of them all.
This golf iron swing position is common among all great iron players.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW WHERE I DEMONSTRATE THIS DRILL THAT HELPS YOU HIT SOLID IRON SHOTS:
What you need to do next
Practice the drill described above at least 50 times in a session or break it up over 5 times a day for 10 days.
It’s vital you create and feel the sensation of getting that left shoulder back over to where it started.
Once you feel you have nailed this drill start to hit short shots at the driving range up to 50-yards.
Gradually work your way up to longer, full golf swing shots.
It’s a great idea if you can video your golf swing as well to get feedback on how well you have progressed.
This helps you learn how to hit irons faster and see the quickest improvement in your ball striking.
Don't forget to check out the team at Rotary Swing who go into more detail about hitting great iron shots.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS POST PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW, AND DON’T FORGET TO SHARE WITH YOUR GOLFING MATES AT YOUR FAVOURITE SOCIAL MEDIA ICON TO THE LEFT.
This post may contain affiliate links. I make money from these affiliate links to keep the site free for users, and it is no cost to you.
