Drills for better ball contact with iron

[74 thing]

Can you recommend some drills so I can achieve better ball contact with my irons?

I tend to hit the ground before the ball-just slightly but it creates inconsistencies with distance.

Do you look directly at the rear of the ball when swinging?

 

[rubber314chicken]

I try to hit the ground where the front of the ball is.

 

[btdickey99]

try placing a tee flat on the ground with the tip of the tee pointing towards the ball. Place the tee about 3 in in front of the ball, and try to hit where the tee is laying

 

[Adam Pettman]

Take half swings on the driving range concentrating on hitting the ball with a descending blow.

 

[ManchesterGolfer]

I had the same problem and this was my solution... At address set up as you normally would but with the club in front of the ball instead of behind the ball. Keep your stance the same but lift the club over the ball so it's now behind it. Hit your shot and you'll hit a good strike guaranteed

I noticed on the practice ground that my divots started a fraction before the ball... doing this procedure before my shots changed the ball position ever so slightly without it feeling odd to me. It works well now and it's ball then turf time after time

 

[FATC1TY]

Basically, just set up with the ball a tad farther back in your stance.

I've somehow migrated in the last weeks to having the ball way too far foward in my stance.. I've been diggin trenches, and just knockin the ball everywhich way..

Manchesters suggestion sounds great actually if you have trouble setting up with the ball a tad farther back and feeling "out of place".

 

[RCI]

Hit little shots, half swings as recommended above. When contact is good, increase the power a little until you find the place where you start having trouble. Now comes the revelation... this is the amount of effort that triggers your hands to start trying to hit "at the ball" rather than swing through the ball. When you try to "power the shot" you start getting out of sequence and the hands try to add something. The key is to find where this happens and focus on continuing to turn through the shot rather than hit at the ball. When you can keep your body turning and swing through the shot, the power will come automatically. Most fat shots are miss-timing issues that come from handsy rather than smooth, body clearing swings. JMHO.

 

[ManchesterGolfer]

Manchesters suggestion sounds great actually if you have trouble setting up with the ball a tad farther back and feeling "out of place".

Exactly what my problem was just moving the ball back an inch looked WRONG to me!!!

 

[warbirdlover]

No dancing feet. Keep head still or if you have to move it be consistent.

 

[twofast2s]

for me, crips iron shot comes when i have the ball closer to my left foot. when i put the ball back of my stance, i tend to come at the ball steep, and having to "clip" the ball first becomes little more difficult.

 

[bames]

for me, crips iron shot comes when i have the ball closer to my left foot. when i put the ball back of my stance, i tend to come at the ball steep, and having to "clip" the ball first becomes little more difficult.

This makes two of us. I have been told two different methods during two different lessons that basically speak to the aforementioned idea of taking medium power swings. The first pro told me to hit 7 iron shots at a 100 yd marker while first focusing on ball first contact - then worry about direction. The second pro likes to take a 6 iron to a 75-100 yd flag and take a full backswing and follow through at about 1/2 - 1/4 speed. You find all kinds of flaws in balance and timing with these drills. If you can't hit crisp irons at 1/2 speed how will you ever do it at full - 3/4.

 

[natex14]

The short answer is practice, practice, and then do that again.

The truth is, the position of the ball shouldn't matter to your ball striking. I can hit the ball clean with my pitching wedge off my front foot or my back foot, it depends on what I want the ball to do.

So, I'm not trying to be mean, but ball position is not the issue here. I think you probably have a probably with your swing. I would suggest a lesson from a local pro.

A few tips though if you are feeling cheap:

Get a mirror behind you and make sure on your back swing that you can see your shoulder in the triangle. If you do this, you will see what I mean.

Hit some balls with your feet pretty close together, and do what other people are saying, hit balls at 1/4 swing, 1/2 swing and 3/4 swing. Hitting with your feet together will do a few things for you, help with your balance, and it's also harder to tweak your hips, which could be causing your problem.

GET SOME LESSONS, WE ALL NEED THEM. Tiger gets them, so we all need them.

 

[rubber314chicken]

The short answer is practice, practice, and then do that again.

The truth is, the position of the ball shouldn't matter to your ball striking. I can hit the ball clean with my pitching wedge off my front foot or my back foot, it depends on what I want the ball to do.

I can do that, but when my dad tries to play the back foot he gets so much backspin that he needs to take a full swing from like 50 yards... It might be his narrow stance though.rop:

Some people just have different swings, and its a matter of taking what ever style yours is and making it perfect(ly consistant).

 

[Victory]

pw or nine iron.. half swings.. no higher than hip level.. do not worry about distance!!! look at the inside corner of the ball- back side)) -- lay two other clubs on the ground for alignment.. get a tempo going and practice compressing the ball. alot of little things..