Welcome to Play Smarta regular GOLF.com game improvement column that will help you become a smarter and better golfer.
Hitting iron shots that fly high in the air and land softly on the green is something that all golfers aspire to. When you watch a pro flag an iron for an easy birdie, it’s impossible not to dream of doing the same yourself.
To do this, however, requires proper technique, which most recreational players lack. Instead of hitting the ball and compressing it into the ground, they go through the swing and lose tons of spin and distance. So instead of watching the ball shoot through the air, they instead produce a low, weak ball flight.
Most of the time, this is due to not tilting the axle forward enough on impact. If you want the pros to hit iron shots, you’ll notice that their hands are in front of the ball and the club is actually bare. And while it seems counterintuitive, this uppercut actually helps the ball fly higher in the air, as long as you do it correctly.
Recreational players often struggle with this concept and with executing a swing that produces forward shaft tilt. However, with a little tweaking to your setup, tilting the front axle more can be easier than you might think.
GOLF Top 100 Teachers Jeff Smith explains how in the video below.
A trick for tilting the axle forward
Many recreational golfers have the misconception that they need to swing the club back into the address position in order to hit strong shots, but in reality, this is not the case. What you really want to do is get the shaft to lean forward a little more, with the grip in front of the club, so you can hit the ball and compress it into the ground.
So, to help yourself a bit in this regard, you can try stepping on the ball with your hands already pressed forward just a touch.
“If we understand how our club is built, we can start that way,” says Smith. “And then we can give (the club) backswing, bringing our hands forward. Then all of a sudden, we have more compression, better ball flight and better spin control.”
If you’re someone who struggles to bend the shaft forward and compress the ball properly, give this trick a shot. If you do, you’ll soon be hitting the irons with more sharpness and set yourself up for more bird views.
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