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Hit More Greens

Make Consistent Contact With Your Irons

This Article Features Photo Zoom

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE HANDS AND CLUBHEAD is critically important. After all, it’s your only true linkage to the golf ball, meaning any slippage or loss of traction can lead to devastating shot results. And that’s no matter how well you swing it!

So, check your grips routinely for wear and tear, and/or any loss of tackiness. Furthermore, make sure your grips are fitted properly for both your hands and your golf swing. Typically, smaller grips are better for smaller hands, but they also aid in helping the hands rotate through the shot. Fatter grips have the opposite effect, and can actually lessen the rotation of the hands to prevent excessive hooking of the ball. Experiment with different sizes and see what works best for you.

NEUTRALIZE YOUR GRIP PRESSURE
YOU MAY KNOW THE CORRECT HAND POSITION, but how many times have you considered how tight or soft you should grip the club? In reality, it depends on both your natural grip strength and how well you set the hands at the top of your golf swing.

TOO TIGHT

TOO SOFT

To get a better hold of how firmly you should grip the club, first examine how well your hands are functioning at the top of the swing. In the photo above, you can see that the back of my left hand is flat, the clubshaft is on plane (it’s hidden behind my hands), and my wrists are fully hinged. Now, if I grip the club too firmly, my wrists won’t hinge enough, meaning I’m likely to release the hands too soon through the downswing.

If I grip the club too softly, not only am I likely to regrip and lose the proper club position, but my swing plane is going to suffer, since the shaft is likely to droop behind or in front of my hands.

NO!

USE YOUR LIES TO YOUR ADVANTAGE
The intermediate cut of rough can actually be an easier place from which to hit a longer iron.

SWING DOWN THE FIRST CUT
A GREAT WAY TO check the direction of your swing path is to take a few practice swings along the first cut of rough. With the clubhead positioned just inside the first cut (the toe barely touching the rough), you’ll be able to quickly see whether or not you’re swinging down the line, too much inside-out, or as the small photo above shows, too much outside-in. You can even use a tee to get a better idea of where you want to make impact with the turf.

Another great swing thought to have is to try to swing the club par-allel to the line midway through the backswing, and again, parallel through the line midway through the downswing. You can see here, I’m almost perfectly parallel on the downswing, the toe of the club is pointing up, and my body is rotated through. I’ve definitely swung straight down the line here.

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