Some golfers often say, "I hit my driver well, but I just can't hit my irons." What could be the problem?
Well, those of you who hit your driver well can be assured that you sweep the ball with a very shallow approach angle. You probably hit your driver high as well. This is always caused by an early release of the golf club from the top of the swing.
Still others of you say that you hit your short irons well, but can't hit your driver at all. If this is you, then you know you are coming down on a steep, choppy angle on the downswing. My advice here would be to tee off with your 3-wood until you can get your swing fixed.
The pros are the same. I am sure Tiger Woods would rather hit a 3-iron into a green than have to contend with a long, narrow, tree-lined driving hole. It is just that his swing is more geared to an iron swing than a wood swing. Whereas, Fred Funk and Loren Roberts would both rather hit their driver than have to hit a long iron into a green.
If you are a poor iron player, here are a few tips that should help:
-- Try to get your swing a little higher at the top. The more upright swing will allow you to come down on a steeper angle and allow you to compress the ball better.
-- Make every effort to transfer your weight to your left side on the first part of the downswing. Let the legs move first from the top, and not the arms. The arms simply follow what the lower body tells them to do.
-- Feel as if your hands are ahead of the club head at the bottom of the swing. This hands-leading club head will cause what is called a leaning shaft at the bottom of the swing. It is this look and feel that will help your compression at the bottom.
To learn the feel of better compression at the bottom of the swing, put your ball back off your right foot and hit 25 to 50 punch shots just trying to get your hands more ahead of your lagging club head at impact.
Also, you can also draw two lines three inches apart in the bunker. Go in there without a ball, address the back line and hit the front line with your divot. This will create better compression and get rid of that awful flippy, scoopy impact.
Soon you will be hitting your irons solid.
(Dr. Jim Suttie, the 2000 PGA Teacher of the Year, is director of instruction at The Club at TwinEagles in North Naples, Fla., and at Cog Hill Golf Club in Lemont, Ill. He also is a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher and rated No. 15 by Golf Digest. Suttie coaches the Florida Gulf Coast men's golf team. E-mail him at jmsuttie(at)aol.com.)
(Golf World is a feature of the Naples Daily News in Florida.)
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