Setup
The Swing
Repetitive Swing
Accuracy Not Distance
Balance
Introduction
Irons are an important part to good play. They make up the difference between the greens and the tees. The long irons aren't used as often as the shorter irons, because people are beginning to use the fairway woods more often. They are still important though. So we will discuss them in detail. The shorter irons are vitally important to the game because, as I said, they are the final link to getting the ball onto the green.
Setup
The posture of the swing is very much like what we discussed in this section except for a few minor modifications. Firstly, the irons vary in club length and that changes your posture. For instance, the 6 iron, should line up about a club head in front of where the comfortable postion for a 9 iron and a 3 iron should line up about a club head in front of the 6 iron. Also, as discussed earlier, the ball placement for a 3 iron should be an inch or two behind your left foot (opposite for left-handed hitters) and the 9 iron ball should be centered between your legs. And the other balls should be somewhere in the middle.
The Swing
Like a wood, your shot should be smooth. Everything from the takeaway to the impact, should floaw and be fluid. Also like a wood shot, your weight should shift from the left foot to the right foot and back again without a loss of balance. (Opposite for a left-handed hitter.) If you find that there is a loss of balance then I would suggest that you take another shot, this time only using 75% of your swing power.
Repetitive Swing
When using irons, having a repetitive swing is vital. You see, each iron has a few degree angle difference between the club before and after it. Using the same swing, you change clubs to change the distance of the shot. The neat thing about irons is that if you want a longer shot, you don't swing harder, you just choose a bigger club and keep the same swing. That way, your iron shots will have consistency.
Accuracy Not Distance
Normally with an iron, you are trying to put the ball on the green. This requires a great deal of accuracy. Also, when using irons your shots (no matter which iron) require that you use the same stroke that you always use. Wouldn't it be nice if all your iron were straight? Well, if you answered yes to that last question, I would like to call your attention to Ben Hogan.
Ben Hogan is regarded as being one of the straightest shots on the golf course. He rarely forced his swing or forced his shot because he always felt that accuracy and consistency were more important than distance. So what he would do was, use an easy swing and just use a club 1 size bigger that he thought should be used and he could swing easily, keep the ball under control, and hit it the right distance. Pretty neat, huh? So try it sometime.
Balance
Because your iron shot is so important, it is recommended that when swinging the golf club, you always maintain a sense of balance. If you are off balance, than your shot will not go where it was intended to go. I can't emphasize that enough, so remember that and swing within yourself.
