I’ve seen advice from golf experts that say that the way to a better game is through practicing your iron shots and getting really good at them. I’m sorry but I just don’t buy it. I’m going to give you some excellent golf iron tips that will just about cover the basics for you. But I still say you should spend a greater amount of energy (and time if you have it) on improving your chipping and pitching game.

As with most of my articles, I must disagree with most conventional golf advice in this area too. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that we have to go out to the range and begin by swinging our pitching wedge and then the sand wedge, then the 9-iron, and on up. With each of these irons, hitting a bunch of balls until we feel good about that iron.

Well, what if you don’t feel good about one particular iron? Are you supposed to just keep hammering away with it until the bucket runs out? What good does that do you anyway? The way I see it, all you’ll be doing is getting frustrated and injecting doubt into your game. Hardly anybody can pull out their irons and hit them all well as they work through their bag and a bucket of balls.

Forgettaboutit!

My number 1 of all Golf iron tips- The next time you have time to hit balls on the range or into a net or just playing around in your backyard, here’s what you should do: Get inside your head and pretend you are playing a round without any woods! Play a course in your head only with your irons. Never hit the same iron twice in a row because you rarely do that on a course right?

Don’t do anything in a practice swing that you wouldn’t do on a course. Your mind will get all confused and you’ll fall into the trap of being a good practice golfer but a lousy playing golfer.

You want to score on the course, not look good on the range.

As the Anti-practice expert, I am usually going to give you a different way to do things that has a far faster return in improvement at the average golfer level of skill. You must know by now that most golf instruction out there is geared toward the better player. Why instructors do that when most players are average, I can’t figure it out for the life of me.

This is probably the best of all the golf iron tips and it’s so easy to do. To make it even more powerful, the next time you go out for a fun, friendly round with nothing riding on it, leave your woods at home. That’s right, I’m not kidding.

Now, most of you reading this are going to say, “C’mon, I don’t want to do that.” Listen, I’m telling to just do it once if nothing else. You will be surprised at how fun it is to think your way around a course. You will turbo charge your long iron game like you can’t believe for the rest of the season if you just do this for one round.

You will start to teach yourself strategic golf that will come in very handy your next round with all of your clubs. And besides, you’ll probaby keep the ball in the fairway the whole time. No out of bounds or lost ball will make up for any lack of distance on long shots, you’ll see.

Something will happen at the cellular level that you won’t be able to explain…but your scorecard will.

Do it!

In golf, it’s all about rotation. More power requires better rotation. To keep your body healthier, it’s about better rotation. For consistency, you’d better be able to rotate.

The body rotates around a spine angle that should be fixed or stable, keeping your club on the proper swing path. Are you able to do this with your swing?

This may be the idea that separates the high handicapper and low handicapper: the ability to rotate your body, keeping the club on a consistent swing plane.

Admittedly, some of the pros like Jim Furyk make some interesting movements in the swing, but if you dissect it a little further, you will notice they keep the club in a certain slot on the backswing and on the downswing. Every tour player is able to rotate around a fixed or stable spine angle, make a linear weight transfer, and successfully hit the golf ball.

This is the goal of the golf swing: keep the golf club in a slot, essentially dissecting the shoulder on the back swing and follow through.

How many of us do that?

Fewer than we would probably like to admit. So how do we rotate the body and keep the club in this slot? The answer is probably not the one we would like to hear. It requires developing a “feel” for the golf swing and knowing what the body is doing at every step of the golf swing.

Essentially, you must develop a feel for both the club and your body. Some of us are better at it than others. At this point, it is ingrained into the body and you will know when the swing is off and what to correct. Keep in mind, we are not going to make a perfect swing every time, but that is our goal.

How do we go about keeping the swing on the correct plane and developing “feel?”

I know of two possibilities. One of the answers is probably quite obvious.

The first answer to this question has to do with your golf swing mechanics. Yes, probably not a surprise to many of you.

The golf swing is an intricate, biomechanical movement requiring you to perform a large number of movements with the correct timing and no room for error.

Understanding the correct biomechanical sequence of the golf swing and the ability to execute it take great instruction, a good amount of practice, patience and time.

The body can learn either the correct or incorrect way to swing a golf club. As a result, it is imperative to receive quality instruction on the proper way to swing a club.

Secondly, the mind and body learn new movements through repetition. The only way to learn the correct golf swing is through consistent practice. Practice ingrains into your brain, nerves, and muscles how to properly execute the movements of the golf swing, the correct sequence of the golf swing, and the correct timing of the golf swing.

Finally, to learn the golf swing correctly it takes time. It is not an overnight process but requires consistent time spent practicing and playing. Don’t let anyone fool you that there is a quick-fix patch that will drop your handicap 25 strokes while you’re sleeping.

Over a certain time period the body will learn the swing. It’s different for each of us. Once the body learns the swing, the “feel” begins to develop. Once you get that feel, you will begin know exactly where your clubhead is at all times during the golf swing.

I can’t feel a thing!

Most of us understand that the golf swing is a rotational movement and requires learning the proper biomechanics of the golf swing. However, the second part of the answer of developing “feel” may be less understood.

Now think about this for a second. What if your body is not able to rotate around a fixed spine angle? If you can’t rotate, it will be very, and I mean very, hard to keep your club in a slot.

I see it all the time with amateurs. They want to develop a good swing desperately, but are unable to do so because of a weak, inflexible, and powerless body.

If you are inflexible in the hips, how are you going to rotate in a manner that places the club in the correct slot for the downswing? It’s not going to happen!

If you have poor balance, how are you going to develop “feel” in the golf swing? You’re not!

It comes down to this notion about the golf swing.

Your body is performing the mechanics of the golf swing. In order to do this properly, your body must have certain levels of flexibility, balance, strength, endurance, and power.

The only, and I mean only, way to develop a good swing and “feel” within your swing requires a body that can support your swing.

The swing is a very complex movement requiring a synergy between your body and the mechanics of the swing. If you attempt to develop a swing without a body to support it, you are on your way to a very frustrating experience and lowering your handicap will be a trying time.

I would strongly suggest implementing a program that develops your swing mechanics in conjunction with your body. The exercises in Your Body & Your Swing will take your body to where it needs to be.

If you are looking for help learning the correct golf swing mechanics, take a look at our golf swing instructional videos. Putting both the body and the swing together will give you the results you’re looking for.