Effective way to hit your 3 and 4 iron

[Bellyhungry]

Do you hit down on them or do you sweep them?

[thekathrynorchard]

I hit down on them. Occassionally if I'm on the tee and trying to play a particular kind of shot I may sweep but other than that I will always hit down on them. There is a noticeable loss or distance and accuracy if I attempt to sweep them.

[Biffm1]

I hit down on everything with the exception of my driver. I'm no THAT steep, but I always try to hit ball first, then ground (unless I'm in the sand).

[goshawk]

Under most "fairway" conditions, you shouldn't take very much, if any, divot using long irons. They are really more of a "sweep" type of club. Since the shafts of these clubs are longer, you're going to have a more "rounded" swing than with something like a wedge. However, to insure the best ball contact, a slight downward strike is better.

[Jake_Golf]

The bigest problem with most golfers and irons, is that they think they have to sweep it up. That is not the case!! The loft of the club will do that for you, trust me. But to get the ball up there on a 3 or 4 iron, youi need to really give it a strong hit. Do NOT sweep it up, hit down on it. I hope I have helped you out. For a 3 or 4, I prefer a hybrid, they are easier to hit.

[Albatross]

like mentioned above, try hitting down, you'll hit a stinger at first, which ain't that bad, it' runs like bit**,

[Grass Roots Tour]

Recently I've found Im actually a tad too steep and still taking divots with my 3 iron (which I personally dont think you should).

I'd like to add a lil sweep to my long iron swing and I'm not sure how to do that right this minute.

[Jake_Golf]

Recently I've found Im actually a tad too steep and still taking divots with my 3 iron (which I personally dont think you should).

I'd like to add a lil sweep to my long iron swing and I'm not sure how to do that right this minute.

Divots or not, if it is technally the right technique and it is getting the ball up there than I am not worried about divots!

[Desi2007]

I mostly sweep my 3 and 4 irons as with most of my clubs. I do think its better to hit slightly down, but with my swing, it seems hard and I always end up sweeping with the club. I don't try to lift (help) the ball up. I rarely ever take divots with my clubs if and when I do take divots, it usually very shallow.

[swingingkatz]

I find as most others seem to that hitting down on them gives better distance and run.

[landlord]

Forget about divots or not divots. The only thing worth thinking about is smooth, sweetspot contact. Just swing the club and let the ball get in the way.

[bilinguru]

Someone told me - I forget who or when -that there are essentially three shots in golf. ONE: You hit your irons - that is hit down on the ball- and let the loft of the club do the work, which is why you play the ball centered or back in your stance (of course you can play the ball more forward if you are trying to do a flop shot, etc) TWO: you sweep your woods catching the ball slightly on the upswing, which is why you position the ball forward in your stance and take no divot (this is also the rational for teeing the ball higher.) THREE: you stroke your putts, focusing on tempo and getting the ball rolling on line. Actually, if I find my game getting away from me, these are the key swing words or swing thoughts I concentrate on: hit down, sweep up, stroke through - none of this 'left wrist straight through impact', or 'hips, then shoulders, then arms' stuff. Those swing thoughts are too long and complex.

For me, and most people, long irons are tougher to hit because they are longer and heavier and require more strength to make the same swing that you use fto hit down on the ball with a nine iron. Recently, I've started to improve this area of my game by only making a three quarter swing when I hit the 4 and 5 irons (I use a 7 wood instead of a 3 iron.) I don't hit them as far as I could were I to swing 100% and hit it flush of course, but they go far enough and with a nice low penetrating ball flight that I can control, which is great in windy conditions. When I try and kill a 4 iron, I inevitably shank it or hit it fat or skull it.

My 7 wood is great cause I can hit it out of the rough and over bunkers guarding the green and it will land soft, but the trajectory is so high that it isn't reliable in the wind. So, if you want to run shots up to an approachable green that is 175-200 yards away, pull out the low iron of choice, put the ball back in your stance a bit, make sure your hands are slightly ahead of the ball at set up, take a three quarter swing and turn your chest towards your target. Keep your feet quiet on the backswing, as this will ensure you are not going all out.

Longer irons are more 'workable' too so if you need to hook or cut a shot around a tree (which often happens when you don't get all of your drive), a low iron is a better bet than a hybrid. It ain't as easy to work a hybrid left or right.

As for divots, if you are hitting down on the ball, you will take a divot. It might not be a deep divot, in fact it might be more like you are just pushing down the grass, rather than digging up a sod, but that still means the club is descending when it strikes the ball. Those sods you see the pros throw up are the result of those guys putting serious spin on the ball and requires a lot of strength. Those guys can hit a 7 iron 180 yards and it will land soft and hold. We amateurs would be better advised to watch the ladies' or seniors' tours.

[GQuizzle]

I hit down on my 3 and 4 irons... I take shallow divots with just about every iron and a little bit bigger divots with wedges - I try to refrain from taking beaver pelts out of the turf.

[Shadow]

Someone told me - I forget who or when -that there are essentially three shots in golf. ONE: You hit your irons - that is hit down on the ball- and let the loft of the club do the work, which is why you play the ball centered or back in your stance (of course you can play the ball more forward if you are trying to do a flop shot, etc) TWO: you sweep your woods catching the ball slightly on the upswing, which is why you position the ball forward in your stance and take no divot (this is also the rational for teeing the ball higher.) THREE: you stroke your putts, focusing on tempo and getting the ball rolling on line. Actually, if I find my game getting away from me, these are the key swing words or swing thoughts I concentrate on: hit down, sweep up, stroke through - none of this 'left wrist straight through impact', or 'hips, then shoulders, then arms' stuff. Those swing thoughts are too long and complex.

For me, and most people, long irons are tougher to hit because they are longer and heavier and require more strength to make the same swing that you use fto hit down on the ball with a nine iron.

As for divots, if you are hitting down on the ball, you will take a divot. It might not be a deep divot, in fact it might be more like you are just pushing down the grass, rather than digging up a sod, but that still means the club is descending when it strikes the ball. To maintain the essential left wrist flat/right wrist bent position, necessary for superior ball striking, one should hit down on all shots, including the driver. To attempt to sweep the longer clubs will cause the above angles to change too soon. Obviously, the ground will be scraped with the fairway wood, and there will be no divot with the driver because of ball position, however, hitting down should still be attempted.

Certainly agree that specific swing thoughts should NOT be used when playing, however, one has to work on something on the range in order to work towards improvement.

Lomg irons are more difficult to hot becasue they are longer and have less loft. However, they are not more difficult to hit because they are heavier, as they are actually lighter in weight compared to the shorter irons. The exception would be if you play MOI, single frequency and total weight matched clubs, as assembled by Swing Sync.