Improve Golf Swing Performance – Improve Your Iron Play By Perfecting These 4 Easy Steps!

To play winning golf, a golfer must constantly strive to improve golf swing performance.

Learning to better swing your irons can do wonders for your golf game.

To improve golf swing performance, especially with the irons, always remember to always keep it simple.

In the book, “How to Master the Irons, An Illustrated Guide to Better Golf” authors Gene Littler and Don Collett offer 4 simple steps to better your iron play!

They write;

“After having played, practiced, and experimented with my own swing over a period of some 20 years, I have reached some rather definite conclusions concerning the swing and its execution. These conclusions, which I have boiled down into four categories, have been tried and tested under all conditions and types of play, from casual rounds to tournament competition, and, while there is nothing startlingly new about them, they do serve to emphasize the fact that you must practice and perfect them if you wish to become an accomplished player. These four steps to better iron play are: (1) form, (2) rhythm, (3) a proper turn and shifting of the weight, and (4) a good follow-through.

The Form Of A Golfer

A player must have good form if he is to achieve success in golf. Naturally, some players aren’t as formful as others, but they are almost identical at two important stages of the swing—the address and at impact. Develop your form, and the development of your game will follow naturally.

Swing With Rhythm

Every golfer has a different tempo to his swing. You should develop a smooth, powerful swing that will generate the maximum power through the ball. Good tempo and good timing go hand in hand in a golf swing. The windup should start slow and be unhurried. At the start of the downswing, the first move should also be smoothly performed; then, as the hands and arms reach the hitting area, they can lash out and through the ball with all of the power the legs and body have generated. A good point to remember is that the upper part of the body winds up the swing and the lower part of the body starts the unwinding process.

Weight Shift

The weight is shifted to the left side much faster on an iron shot than it is when you are hitting a wood. The reason for this is that the shaft and the swing are shorter, thus making the swing more upright. Also, the ball must be contacted on the downswing, so the action of the body, arms, and hands must be faster. Another thing: The wrists are broken sooner on the back-swing with the irons, because this aids you in making the downward hit.

The weight shift is accomplished by the entire left side, but mainly by the left hip, followed by the straightening of the left leg and planting of the left heel on the ground. A strong pulling-down action of the left arm and shoulder follows as the left hip moves slightly laterally and then around. This clears the left side, eliminating blocking action which results when the left leg buckles and the body slides too far past the ball. The movement described above eliminates another enigma the beginning golfer encounters —the fat shot. The fat shot is caused by the beginner failing to shift his weight to the left side early in the downswing. As a result, he takes turf in back of the ball instead of in front of it, because either he starts out with too much weight on his right side or he initiates the downswing with the upper part of his body rather than the lower part.

One final word of caution about this weight shift: It must be smoothly done, not in a jerky, convulsive movement.

The Follow-Through

Turning out of the shot properly is one of the last things a golfer learns how to do. Assuming that you have moved into the downswing correctly, you can increase your directional control immeasurably if you will permit your right hand and arm, as an extension of the clubshaft, to follow through toward the target. Do not permit your right shoulder to rush around in front of you. This would throw the entire swing outside the line of flight. Instead, the right shoulder works under the chin so that you can follow through properly on line with the target.”

Focusing your attention on these above 4 steps can greatly improve golf swing performance and confidence.

Implementing Littler and Collett’s instruction into your practice sessions could payout huge dividends on the course.

Check back soon for more posts and tips to improve golf swing performance!