This Golf Iron Tip will have you Hitting more Greens!It's not often that a golf iron tip that is so important and fundamental to helping you play more consistent golf, is more about a strategy than the mechanics of the swing. The first concept you need to be aware of for this golf iron tip is the dispersal pattern of different irons. Short irons, pitching, sand and lob wedges, tend to have an oval dispersal pattern lengthways along the fairways. This means that short irons tend to be more accurate in a directional sense but less predictable in the length of the shot. The classic is the lob wedge. You know the shot. 30 meters out, you strike the ball and it goes straight at the pin. It looks perfect in the air but ends up short in the bunker or at the back of the green. This is not completely your fault! It's just the fundamental dispersion pattern of short irons! This means consistent impact contact and swing tempo are much more important with these shots. Now with regards to long irons, woods or drivers - regardless of how you hit the balls they tend to go about the same distance. Sometimes they are in the trees on the right and sometimes they are in the trees to the left. The oval dispersion pattern of long irons and drivers is across the fairway or green. How many times have you hit a long iron pin high and the ball finishes up in the trees or in the bunker! The length is consistent but the accuracy is not. What logical deductions can we make? Hitting a less lofted club will result in the distance being more consistent. If I don't over-extend my swing, eg. a 3/4 swing with a longer iron, the distance and accuracy will be more consistent. That's why the Knock Down shot is so accurate. Now don't go and read up on the knock down shot before you read this second and valid golf iron tip. There is another logical outcome with these dispersion patterns. The average distance of longer irons is more consistent but they are less accurate across the green or fairway. The other outcome to the dispersal pattern is to set up for a fade with your body aligned to the left hand side of the green. By doing this it doubles the size of the landing area. If you do fade the shot it will land in the middle of the green. As fades tend not to run as much as a draw, the ball will be more likely to stay on the green. Off course you can double the fairway or green size by lining up right and drawing the ball left. This is fine with fairways but because the ball runs further with a draw, the final resting place of the golf ball is more unpredictable, so it is not as successful for shots into greens. In short, hitting fades with slightly more lofted clubs into greens increases the percentage chances of actually staying on the green. To force yourself to start working the ball right and left, the easiest way is to just take 7 or 8 clubs in your bag when you play. Before you know it, you will be hitting knock down pitching wedges and high fading 3 irons into greens. You have to learn to be more imaginative as you will be in-between clubs more often. Hopefully this golf iron tip will start you approaching greens with a little more imagination and intent. See our golf fade tips to hone your skills!
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