A-GRADE IRONS
FORGING A MECHANICAL ADVANTAGE
His coaching résumé includes world No.1s Tiger Woods and Justin Rose, his reputation for approaching the game from a slightly different angle precedes him. Here, the Canadian zeroes in on improving your iron play.
A lot of my coaching focuses on alignment and ball position. That stuff is vital because the ball is just sitting still. You can stand to it in a way that gives you a mechanical advantage to leverage power and accuracy. In golf, so many people aim right, get the ball position too far forward and then try to get the ball back to the target. One thing we are always focused on is making sure everything is neutral. It’s not very sexy, but it helps with consistency and competency.
With any iron, the ball position should be in the middle of the stance, just behind your left pec, with the hands slightly forward. That presets a downward strike at impact, with the low point of the swing coming in front of the ball position. When I watch amateurs preparing to hit an iron, some set up like they’re going to hit a driver. They look ready to scoop it, not compress it. Keeping a little bit more pressure in the lower body and on the left side will help to produce a better strike.
Watch the really long hitters and you’ll notice that they make a big movement to their right side and stay over there. You don’t want to do that with a 9-iron. The way you come into the ball and attack it with an iron is slightly different. Where most golfers go wrong is that they sway too much and move off the ball in the backswing. They then have to stand up through the shot to achieve a full body turn, which affects their sight line and hand-eye co-ordination, and throws the swing out of sequence. When you set up to the ball, try
to picture a pole running straight down your head, down your spine and into the ground. Staying grounded, rotate around that pole (central axis) in your backswing, and let your pelvis turn away from the target to complete a full backswing. As you swing down, focus on moving that pole – the centre of your sternum – forwards and towards the target in the downswing. That will ensure you compress the ball and strike down on it, just like the pros do.
Most amateurs would benefit from making a bunch of swings from a downhill lie. That will keep you more centred. It will also shallow out the attack angle, which makes the shot a lot more difficult. Most people massage their ego by trying to do stuff they’re good at already. But to learn, you need to make it more difficult. If you’re having a hard time with your wedge play, don’t just hit shots from a perfect lie. Hit from the dirt. That way you’ll figure out, within the set-up, what’s imperative before you even start the motion.
Swap your long iron for a hybrid. Most players struggle to hit a long iron because the club has less loft, is moving at a higher speed and is further away from the body. Even on the PGA Tour, I’d guess that only half the players still have a 3-iron. The rest have rescue clubs because trying to get a 3-iron to land on the right trajectory and land soft isn’t easy. Most people struggle, simply because it’s a lot harder to hit. That’s why I would recommend amateurs swap their long irons for hybrids. Spin is your friend and the more the ball spins, the softer the landing. Plus, the gear effect helps as well. So, if you toe a hybrid, it will draw back and if you heel it, it will fade back. That’s a big benefit.
Technology can give you an advantage. If you want to maximise your game, understanding data is important. Launch rate, spin rate, clubface position, path and attack angle are the numbers you should be looking at in a fitting or if you’re hitting on Trackman. Spin axis is the one people forget about as well and shows how much the ball is tilted right or left. A ball with a two-degree spin axis to the right is just a little fade, whereas a ball with a 30-degree spin axis to the right is a big slice. So, that tells you a lot about your shot shape. Justin (Rose) and I spent a lot of time on Trackman, and I think one of the reasons he is one of the better ball strikers on tour is because of his understanding of the why. He knows enough that if he’s hitting a certain shot, he knows how not to hit that shot again. When you know the why, you can play ugly better.
You have to understand the principles of flight. Most amateurs have the wrong idea of why the ball is doing what it’s doing. The only way you can change and improve is if you understand the principles of ball flight. If I deliver 20 degrees of loft and I’m five degrees down with my attack angle, I’m going to have 25 degrees of spin loft. You need that light bulb moment that if you hit down, the ball goes up with an iron. If you top it, it’s likely to be because you’re trying to scoop it.
Embrace better habits. A lot of tour players put an alignment stick on the ground, and then put a ball position stick down to make sure they set up correctly. Over time, their eyes get used to that position, but they still keep using them on the range, so they don’t slip into bad habits. Most amateurs think it takes too much time, so they don’t bother. There are many ways to get better, but you really do need to be disciplined about it.
Shaping the ball is easier than you think. As far as set-up goes, you need to know that where you want the ball to start is where the clubface points. So, if you want to draw it, you’ve got to get the clubface closed to the path, and if you want to fade it, you’ve got to get the clubface open to the path. People try to hit different shots from the same set-up, but that just doesn’t work. There are nuances in how you can set up to make the ball curve differently, so play around with and use an alignment rod. Get the stick pointing to the right, set the feet to that line and try to draw the ball back to the target. If you want to fade it, just do the opposite.
You won’t improve if you just practise hitting your favourite club. My dad, for example, hits a lot of wedges during a round. So, it makes complete sense that he spends time practising hitting them on the range. Get an idea of which clubs you use the most often, and then try to get better using them. For instance, because Cameron Champ is such a long hitter, 80 percent of his practice time is hitting shots from 160 yards and in. I love watching Cameron hitting 4-irons, but he’s really not going to hit that many.
‘MOST AMATEURS MASSAGE THEIR EGOS BY DOING THE STUFF THEY’RE ALREADY GOOD AT. YOU ONLY IMPROVE IF YOU MASTER WHAT YOU CAN’T DO’
Getting fitted is key to your game. I look at the detail Justin Rose goes into making sure that the set he has is optimal and it takes my breath away. Justin’s an elite professional, of course, but why would the same process not help you? Golf is not a cheap game, but often you get out what you put in. If you’re going to invest in it, try to get the most out of it by getting fitted. You will definitely benefit by doing that.