Irons · Tip
Three Keys for Solid Irons
Part of our irons programs for uneven lies. Build a program with it
Start your backswing with your big muscles: arms, shoulders and core together. Coming into impact, keep your chest down through the shot. Don't lift out of it. Get your body over the ball. Then let your trail arm extend through impact. End with your chest pointing where you aimed. If your chest points elsewhere at the end, there's a good chance that's not where the ball went.
Step by step
- Start back with arms, shoulders and core.
- Keep your chest down into impact.
- Get over the ball.
- Extend your trail arm through.
- Finish facing your target.
Why it works
Starting the backswing with arms, shoulders and core together keeps the club in front of your chest, so you do not have to rebuild the motion with your hands. Staying down through impact holds the low point of the swing near the ball, which gives you ball-first contact. Extending your trail arm sends the clubhead along the target line, and a finish with your chest facing the target shows your body rotated through the shot instead of stalling.
Common mistakes
- You start the backswing with just your hands, and the club moves away from your body.Feel your arms, shoulders and core move back as one unit for the first few feet.
- You stand up or lift your chest as you come into impact.Keep your chest angled over the ball until after the ball is gone.
- You stop rotating and your chest finishes pointing right or left of your aim.Extend your trail arm toward the target and keep turning until your chest faces your aim line.
How you'll know it's working
- You strike the ball first and the divot starts just after the ball.
- The ball starts on or near your aim line instead of well left or right.
- You finish balanced, with your chest facing your target and your weight on your lead foot.
Make it easier or harder
Easier: Hit half swings with a short iron off a flat lie, and focus on only one key per ball.
Harder: Hit full swings with a mid iron and check that all five steps happen in one swing, ending with your chest facing the target.
Common questions
Why do I lift up when I hit irons?
Lifting is often an attempt to help the ball into the air or to get out of the way of the turn. Keep your chest down through impact and trust the loft of the club to launch the ball.
Where should my chest point at the end of the swing?
It should point at your target, or where you aimed. If it finishes somewhere else, the ball probably did not go where you aimed either.
