Iron Play - Nicky Lawrenson Golf

Iron Play

LONG IRONS
Longer irons are designed to be struck with a shallow, sweeping angle of attack. For this reason the ball must be positioned towards the front half of the stance. Be sure to keep a smooth rhythm, complete the backswing and extend through the shot. Trust the loft of the club to get the ball airborne.

The natural temptation when playing longer irons tends to be to try to force the ball in the air rather than relying on the loft of the club. Any attempt to pull back, lift up, or fl ick with the hands will encourage you to hit the top half of the ball with the leading edge, encouraging thinned, topped or poorly struck shots.

MID AND SHORT IRONS

The mid and short irons want to ideally be struck with a crisp descending blow into the back of the ball. Creating ball turf contact helps to achieve the desired fl ight and distance. Once again, the correct ball position will encourage a crisp and solid contact. Gradually position the irons further back as you go up the bag where the centre of the stance will be the maximum with the wedge.		Again, any attempt to get the ball airborne by trying to fl ick with the hands encourages the ball to be struck incorrectly. Trust the loft and hit confi dently into the back of the ball.


POSTURE
Creating a solid posture within the set-up is key to creating a balanced and repeatable swing, allowing the club to be swung on the correct plane and path and ensuring a crisp contact into the back of the ball. Bend from the hips keeping the spine as straight as possible. Once weight is centred, fl ex the knees slightly and simply let the arms hang in a tension free state. Bending from the neck or stomach creates a rounded spine and makes it diffi cult for the body to turn correctly into the backswing. A straighter spine angle creates a simple axis upon which the body can freely turn without making compensations. Be careful not to bend the knees too much, simply let go of the tension in the back of the knees creating a feeling of liveliness in the thighs.

HALF SWING CHECKPOINT
From good posture and a correctly positioned tension-free grip, it becomes easier to allow the club to naturally travel on the correct plane and with the correct hand action. The hands, arms and shoulders will set the swing in motion and as a takeaway checkpoint the club will run parallel with the line of the feet at roughly hip height. From there, the momentum of the clubhead will allow the hands to freely set into the backswing where the shaft will ideally be at an approximate 45-degree angle as you look from behind the target line.

Image 3: Here you can see the club has travelled too much on the inside of the ideal line. There is also too much hinging or bowing of the wrists around the body. Undesirable compensations will have to be made in the swing as it becomes diffi cult to make a crisp iron shot from here.
Image 4: Here the club has been picked up too quickly and steeply in the takeaway and is a little outside the ideal parallel feet line. From this position it also becomes diffi cult to create the desired strike, angle of attack and accuracy.

HAND ACTION
		A common question is, ‘where do I cock my wrists?’ If the grip is correct and without tension the momentum of the club will do it for you, roughly just passed the right thigh (for right handed golfers).

SWING WIDTH
Losing width at the top of the swing may lose distance and lessen the chances of making a crisp solid contact. To create the ideal feeling, take your posture and grip the club with the right hand (for right handed golfers). Turn into the backswing maintaining your posture and hold the club in position with your right hand only. Ideally the right elbow will have softened slightly, not jammed into the body or held out rigid, but with a degree of freedom. The natural hand action will also occur through the momentum of the clubhead, with a tension-free grip, at approximately just beyond the right thigh. This will encourage a solid position of natural width at the top of the backswing. To further emulate the ideal feeling, you may also then place your left hand on the club at the top. This drill is to be used purely to gain a feeling and not as a ball hitting exercise.