Irons give you better approach shots at a longer distance at a solid impact. However, swinging your irons requires both going smoothly and sweeping motion depending on its length. A proper setup is key to achieving this. A proper stance, posture, and a few practice golf iron impact drills will help you swing your irons more confidently whatever the play requires.
How Do You Improve Iron Striking?
There are many and different ways to improve your iron striking and get solid consistent contact. However, it all falls down to the fundamentals. It is important to understand the concept of correct impact position and clean contact.
We can’t stress this enough. But getting into correct posture and alignment and maintaining that while moving through your swing sequence is the only key to getting good consistent golf shots with great distance. Remember your basics, especially when dealing with irons.
Your wrist movement matters at impact.
The accuracy of golf shots also depends on your wrist hinge. Proper flexing or bending your wrist at impact will keep your clubface squared and in the right position to stay within the swing plane for a better ball trajectory.
Lag and feet movement
The rule is simple, let the clubhead go first and then your feet. One of the mistakes beginners and amateurs commit is allowing their hands to lead the club on the downswing. A good impact requires the club to overtake the hand in a swing. This can be achieved by getting speed into your hands and allowing the club to lag behind then trail it naturally as your downswing. Only then can you move and transfer your feet accordingly to maintain your balance.
Your knee to the ball, not the target
Good rotation of the shoulders, arms and upper body is of importance. The wrist flexes and the feet move throughout the swing sequence. But are you aware of your knee's movement? A good stance also comes from firm knees and the direction it is pointing. Your knees play an important role in ball contact and weight transfer.
A good impact requires synchronized movement of your upper body and a firm stance. As you downswing, turn your hips as you simultaneously transfer weight to your left foot. Your right knee should be pointing at the ball or slightly in front of the ball during impact. This ensures you’re still within your swing plane and has higher accuracy on impact.
Control your speed to control your trajectory
As aforementioned, going fast or slow with your swing also depends on the iron you are holding. Being able to control your swing speed and energy release not only significantly affects your impact but also the ball’s trajectory.
If you want to make your ball fly lower, then you can shorten your backswing. The more you extend your arms, the lower the shot will fly but with greater distance. If you want to add more spin and height to your ball, then hit it faster with more speed and allow the club to go up in the follow-through.
Golf Drills To Improve Iron Play
Improve your iron striking and ball contact by practicing these drills. They are effective and can be played in the fairway, at home, or office. Here are some of the best golf iron impact drills you can try.
Alignment Drill
One of the effective golf iron impact drills is aligning golf balls to an alignment stick. This is to get instant feedback not only on your stance and address setup, but also get a good aim and take your divots. Accuracy is the result you want to achieve when striking an iron.
Floatie Drill
The floatie drill focuses on the shortened backswing and keeping the clubface square at impact. This drill is done by wearing a swim floater or an elbow corrector.
The point here is to keep the arms extended and aligned. The elbow corrector or floaty prevents your arms from bending, therefore shortening your backswing and keeping the clubface square.
Towel Drill
Here’s a drill did even by the pros. It’s tested and proven in shortening the backswing as well as keeping the upper body movement synchronized.
The Towel Drill is as simple as putting a towel across your chest and securing the ends under your armpits. It will keep your arms and elbows intact as you swing.
Gate Drill
The gate drill is one of the perfect golf iron impact drills you can practice to improve your contact and path. You can practice it to improve your swing shot and putting strokes.
The drill requires putting 2 tees evenly apart and putting the golf ball in the center. The challenge is to hit the ball without flipping, hitting, or touching the tees. You can start by setting the tees a little far apart and then set them closer as you feel more confident with your contacts.
Are you ready to try these drills and improve your iron striking? Practicing these golf iron impact drills will help you get solid contact and better ball trajectory using irons, which as result will lessen the shots and strokes you need to take.
Get this golf training aid bundle to help you improve your iron striking. Correct your upper body rotation and alignment, create proper lag and get immediate feedback on your ball contact.
