If you want to achieve a proper iron swing, there are some things to keep in mind. A lot of people say that technique is the most important part of swinging an iron, and you’re about to learn some tips and tricks to perfect your shot.

The Right Setup

The first thing to keep in mind is that the setup is very important. You can’t get a proper iron swing without the right setup position. You always want your shoulders, feet, and hips to be square with the target. That means that they need to be level and facing perpendicular to where you want to shoot.

If you want some quick tips, remember these three points:

1. Keep your chin up. This lets you open your shoulders and have a free shoulder while you turn into the backswing.
2. Use a lot of flex in your knee to give you a strong base for swinging.
3. Let your arms freely hang from your shoulders. A way to accomplish this is to tilt your body forward from your hips.

Hit Down and Drive Up

A big point that beginners don’t realize is that you need to hit your irons down. This gives new golfers a lot of trouble. Sure, it might not make sense on paper but it’s all a matter of physics. If you want your ball to fly skyward, then you need to aggressively hit the ball down with your iron. This redirects all of the force down into the grass and therefore straight up.

If you want to practice this, focus on your balance. You should have your hands in front of the face of the club when you strike. Good balance and understanding of your hand placement will ensure the ball gets a lot of airtime on impact.

Always Follow Through

You hear it a lot, but following through your shot is really important. A follow-through is the action of continuing the swing even after making contact. You’ll see a similar motion in tennis, shotput, and basketball shots. If you don’t follow through, you’re not giving the motion a full finish.

In fact, failing to follow through usually means that you’re slowing down your swing before making contact so that you can stop in time. Following through makes sure that the ball sees all of the force of the impact. It maximizes the speed of the shot which means you’ll get the furthest distance possible.

This is a portion of your swing that you can practice repeatedly at a driving range. Whether or not your shot goes where you want it to, keep following through with every swing to get in the habit of it.