Short irons

Short irons and wedges are your shortest clubs (other than putter) with the most loft. These clubs are meant to go high in the air and not very far. Anything between 50 and 100 yards with a pitching wedge or 9 iron is acceptable. These clubs are meant to be consistent and easy to hit.

Here are the steps to hitting these better:

  1. Hit the ground - the best golfers can swing the club and have it hit the ground in the exact spot they want (right under or after the golf ball) and the exact depth (just shaving the grass or taking out a bit of dirt).

  2. Stay centered - the best golfers do not slide or sway their head and hips in the backswing. They stay centered over the golf ball and rotate. NOTE: they will definitely slide toward the target in the downswing; and quite a bit.

  3. Stay in your posture - great golfers do not rise up in their backswing, the stay in their original posture and rotate.

  4. Tall and balanced finish - a good golfer has a huge, fully rotated, balanced, and tall finish position every time. A great finish position makes your swing more repeatable.

  5. Straight lead arm - great golfers maintain a straight lead arm (for a right handed golfer this is your left arm) throughout their backswing and downswing. This makes a predictable swing arc that leads to better consistency, it also forces you to use your whole body to make your swing rather than just your arms.

Chip shots

Chip shots are tiny shots around the green. These shots are done with a sand wedge or pitching wedge and are performed when your are 5 to 30 paces away from the edge of the green. The shot is meant to go pretty high in the air, land on the putting surface, and stay on the putting green (it shouldn’t roll off the back). To hit these shots, you need a consistent strike location on the ground (your club should strike the ground right where the ball is) and more importantly, a very precise depth into the ground: you can’t just sweep the top of the grass and you can’t dig into the dirt. Also remember - this is a small shot, so it’s not a full swing, it’s about waist-high-to-waist-high with a soft speed - you can pretty much let gravity do most of the work and then add just a tiny bit of energy right before you hit the grass.

Here are the steps to hitting these better:

  1. Narrow stance - great chippers have their feet pretty close together with their toes flared out a bit. This keeps them from shifting their weight in the backswing, allowing them to lean toward the green and stay their.

  2. Stand close to the ball - great chippers stand close to the ball, you should almost feel like you’re on top of it. This get’s the club more vertical which gives you a bit more control.

  3. Straight arms - great chippers do not bend their elbows very much; especially in the finish position. Most bad chippers have a lot of elbow bend.

  4. Perfect finish position - great chippers all finish their shot full stacked on their lead side. The head, sternum, pelvis, and lead ankle are all stacked on top of each other in the finish. Bad chippers are always leaning away from the target especially with their head and shoulders.

  5. Hold the club face open - to get more height, great chippers will ensure they do not rotate the clubface closed through the shot. In the finish position the club face should point more toward the sky rather than over to the left.

Driver shots

Driver shots are designed to start longer holes with a shot that goes as far as possible down the fairway. These shots are done with a driver and a ball resting on a tee. To hit these shots you need a lot of speed and very precise control of the club head. You need to gain the ability to swing the club and sweep the tee out of the ground without touching the grass. It’s very important the the tee is struck with the middle of the club face rather than the toe or heel of it. This swing requires lots of rotation without swaying or sliding to the sides, a wide swing arc controlled by a straight lead arm (left arm for righties), and a very tall and balanced finish position.

Here are the steps to hitting these shots better:

  1. Wide stance

  2. Position the ball in the front of your stance, in line with your front foot

  3. Ensure your lead arm is extended and your lead shoulder is higher than your trailing shoulder

  4. Rotate in the backswing as far as you can without bending your lead arm, without swaying away from your target and without standing up

  5. Ensure your wrists are loose and able to hinge in the backswing and follow through

Your path forward:

There is no substitute for lots of practice. I know finding the time and motivation to go to the range is a lot to ask, and I dealt with that same challenge. What I found very helpful was swinging a golf club at home, using a weighted club, watching professional swings in slow motion, and putting at home on the carpet.

I recommend you purchase a weighted club:

  • Use this weighted club to make swings at home, it’s short enough you wont hit anything in your house

  • when you swing the club, take the time to focus on certain goals. One goal always needs to be that the end of the clubhead swings directly overtop of where you imaging the golf ball is. This club is not meant to hit the carpet, but you can still watch and ensure the end of the club is swinging right overtop of a spot on the floor that you are imagining is the golf ball.

  • Other goals:

  • make swings over that spot on the floor and ensure your lead arm is straight throughout the whole backswing and downswing (it can bend in the finish position)

  • make swings over that spot on the floor and ensure that you rotate your shoulders in the backswing without swaying or sliding away from the target

  • make swings over that spot on the floor and ensure that your rotate your shoulders in the backswing without standing up or lifting your head from its original position