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How to Hit Irons: Ball Position, the Ball-First Strike, Three Drills and the Fixes for Fat and Thin Shots

Learning how to hit irons comes down to one idea that feels wrong at first: you hit down on the ball to make it go up. The loft on the clubface does the lifting. Golfers who try to help the ball into the air, by scooping or hanging back, hit it fat (ground first) or thin (the bottom edge into the ball's equator). This page explains the set-up that makes a descending strike easy, the swing feel to aim for, three range drills, the fixes for fat, thin and topped shots, and how to turn practice at the range into better iron play on the course.

Everything is written for a right-handed golfer; left-handers should swap left and right. Your lead side is the one nearer the target.

Why irons are different from the driver

With a driver the ball is on a tee and you want to catch it slightly on the way up. With an iron the ball is on the ground, so the low point of your swing has to be just in front of the ball. Hit it on the way down and the club squeezes the ball against the face, the loft sends it up, and backspin holds it on the green. That is the feeling good iron players describe as "compressing" the ball. If the low point is behind the ball, you either hit the ground first (fat) or catch the ball on the upswing with the leading edge (thin).

So almost everything below is about moving the low point of your swing forward. If your problem is the driver, our page on how to hit a driver straight covers that separately.

The set-up for solid iron shots

1. Grip first. A neutral grip, with two knuckles of the lead hand visible, lets the face return square without manipulation. See how to grip a golf club.
2. Stance width. Feet about shoulder width for a 7-iron, a little narrower for wedges and a little wider for long irons.
3. Ball position. Middle of the stance for 8-iron to wedge, edging a ball or two forward of middle as the clubs get longer. A ball too far forward is the most common cause of thin shots.
4. Posture. Bend from the hips, not the waist, with a soft knee flex, so your arms hang naturally below your shoulders.
5. Weight and hands. Set a little more weight on the lead foot and let your hands sit level with or slightly ahead of the ball, so the shaft leans a touch towards the target.

The swing feel

Turn your shoulders and hips away, keeping your head steady over the ball rather than swaying off it. From the top, the first move is the lower body shifting towards the target, so that your weight is moving onto the lead foot before the club reaches the ball. Keep turning through to a full finish with your belt buckle facing the target and almost all your weight on the lead foot. If you can hold the finish for a count of three, you were balanced.

Two thoughts help most golfers. First, keep the lead wrist flat through impact rather than letting it cup or flick; flicking is the scoop that adds loft and moves the low point back. Second, swing through the ball, not at it: the ball just gets in the way of a swing that is travelling to the finish.

Three drills for the range

1. The towel drill

Lay a small towel on the ground about a hand's width behind the ball. Hit half shots without touching it. If you hit the towel, your low point is too far back. It gives instant, honest feedback.

2. The line drill

On grass, draw or scratch a line on the ground, or use a tee pushed into the turf as a marker. With no ball, make swings that brush the ground on the target side of the line. When the marks are consistently in front, put balls on the line. On a range mat, lay an alignment stick across the mat just behind where the ball sits and keep the club off it.

3. Hold the finish

Hit ten balls with a 7-iron at 70% effort and hold every finish until the ball lands. Most people find that slowing down improves their strike straight away, because they stop lunging at the ball.

Lullingstone Park has a covered driving range on a pay and play basis, so you can work on these through the winter without being rained off.

Fixing the common iron mishits

From the range to the course

Range mats are forgiving: the club can bounce off a mat into the ball even when you hit behind it, which flatters fat shots. On grass you will find out quickly. So when you can, practise off grass, and on the course pay attention to where your divots start.

Learn your distances. Hit ten balls with each iron at normal effort, ignore the best and worst, and note the average carry. Most golfers find each iron goes roughly 10 to 15 yards further than the next shortest, but your own numbers matter more than any chart. Then, on the course, choose the club that gets you to the middle of the green, not the flag, and take one more club when in doubt: amateurs miss short far more often than long.

In winter the ground is softer, and preferred lies may be in force on the fairways; our winter golf rules page explains what you can and cannot do. If longer irons still feel hard to get airborne, a hybrid is often easier; see hybrid golf clubs for which loft replaces which iron.

A lesson with a PGA professional is the fastest way to find your own fault, and two or three sessions on irons alone will pay off; our page on your first golf lesson explains what to expect. Then book a round from the Lullingstone Park homepage and put it into practice.