Best Way to Do Full Golf Swing with Long Irons

It is with the long irons that anxiety and fear raise their ugly heads. The Nos 1, 2 and 3 irons don’t seem strong enough to send the ball any distance at all, while the loft in no way looks sufficient to get the ball airborne. These clubs simply don’t convince the high-handicap golfer that a normal swing is sufficient.

Placing the ball further forwards in the stance and further away from you will produce a flatter swing, whereby the club head will approach the ball in a much shallower arc. The ball is almost brushed off the grass. You will be surprised to see that, despite your doubts, the club is well equipped to send the ball flying a long way if you use your normal swing speed and achieve good ball contact.

Whether the ball is teed or on the ground, shots with the long irons are always played in the same manner.

The long irons often present a problem for the average golfer. A long iron gives a fragile impression; you feel it necessary both to hit the ball hard and to help it up into the air. But if you swing your long club with the same tempo as, say, your No. 7 iron, you are sure to achieve more satisfactory results, the ball flying high enough and further than you imagined.

The object of the swing with one of the long irons is to send the ball further while retaining as much accuracy as possible. A proper swing with the right tempo is important. Don’t grasp the club tightly, tense your arm and shoulder muscles, nor after a short, quick backswing, ‘throw yourself at the ball. Approach the ball calmly and examine the lie. Ask yourself which club will enable you to reach the green with a normal swing. Can you land the ball short of the green and have it bounce forwards on to the putting surface? Or is the landing area so difficult to hit that it would be better to take a middle iron and leave yourself a simple pitch or chip on to the green, ensuring that you do not lose another stroke?

Once you decide that the long iron is what you are going to play, do not take any full practice swings. As we have already pointed out, this is too tiring. Instead, swing the club back and forth at about hip height and at half speed, feeling the loose­ness of your arms, before placing the club head behind the ball, aimed at the inter­mediate target.

Grip

Hold the club in the normal manner, slightly down on the shaft and without increasing grip pressure. The top of the shaft should protrude above the base of the left hand. Never hold the club at the very top of the shaft.

Stance

The longer the distance you want to send the ball, the further your feet should be apart. (Because the longer club moves through a bigger and wider arc, more body movement is caused, and this requires a more stable base.) The actual distance between your feet is a personal matter and depends on your size, weight, shape and age. It must be wide enough to give you a solid base for the bigger movement, but not so wide as to restrict the free turning of the body. I would suggest about 14 in (35 cm). A beginner might prefer less distance between his or her feet, as this encourages a freer movement and a bigger shoulder turn on the backswing.

Posture

Even though your weight is on the balls of the feet and the upper body is bent slightly forwards from the waist, the longer club means that you stand further away from the ball and also that the upper body is more upright than when you are playing the middle or shorter irons. The distance to the ball also causes a flatter swing plane.

With the club head placed behind the ball and pointing directly at the inter­mediate target, hold the club shaft so that it is pointing at the left groin. This makes you stand with the ball forwards (left of centre) in the stance, with the head behind the ball and with more weight on the right foot. It is essential that the upper body is still parallel to the target line, despite the fact that the ball is to the left of centre. This can only be achieved by ensuring that the right shoulder is lower than the left.

Allow the arms to hang naturally from the shoulders, with the right elbow soft and nearer the body than the left. The knees are flexed slightly, as with all full swing movements, and the right knee is inclined slightly towards the left leg.