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LOFT UP YOUR IRONS
Do you need to add some extra loft to your irons? Maybe hit ’em a little higher, or perhaps you need to hit to a target that falls in between the distances you usually hit with a certain couple clubs. There’s a simple solution that I like to do come time to hit it higher, and/or mitigate those in-between yardages.
Before you assume it’s a complicated change in the golf swing, I’m here to tell you it’s the easiest change you’ve ever made. The simple fix is to stand a little taller and reduce some (not all!) of the forward shaft lean you have at setup. Reducing some of that lean will add loft to the iron, helping you hit it higher into the air. The ball won’t travel as far because you’re hitting it higher with less compression, but sometimes higher and straighter is better than farther and lower. Just move that shaft back or forward, depending on what trajectory you want.
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Use Your Palms
Another great way to control your irons is to consider adopting a grip that’s more in the palms and less in the fingers. I know, most teachers tell you to get your handle more in the fingers and less in the palms, but in the case of hitting more controlled, straighter irons, sometimes holding the club more in the palm actually can help you hit the ball more accurately. You won’t hit it higher, but you can control the ball more this way.
Just don’t overdo it. As you can see in the comparison photos, my finger grip is predominantly in the fingers, and my “palm grip” is still in the fingers, too, but it hugs the pad of my palm a little more. Doing this will slow the hands down, helping you hit more controlled, and sometimes softer, iron shots.
Toe Up
This is another tip that seems to defy conventional teaching, but again, it’s a tip for hitting the ball with your irons with less distance and sometimes a higher ballflight on target-style layouts.
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Above, you can see I’m in the ideal position about one-quarter of the way into my backswing. The toe of the club is facing toward the ball, and I haven’t under- or overrotated my wrists too much in the early part of my backswing. This is usually where I want my hands to be with my irons, and it’s where I produce strong, penetrating iron shots.
But sometimes long, penetrating iron shots aren’t what I want. Occasionally, I need to hit high, soft iron shots that fly a little shorter and higher, and land more softly. To do just that, I work on getting the toe of the clubhead to point more toward the sky (at the same position in the backswing). Doing this means I’ve fanned my clubface open relative to the path on which it’s traveling, which again, is okay since I want to hit a higher, less powerful iron shot.
Try this for yourself on the practice green and see what a difference these two positions make in your golf swing. Sometimes, a toe-up backswing will help you hit more greens without having to swing easier with low-loft irons or swing harder with higher-lofted ones.
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