Golf Iron Tips for Beginners

For some beginning golfers, mastering the irons comes naturally.  For the rest of us, a few simple tips can go a long way towards improving our game from about 200 yards and in. As with any club, the irons require a proper grip, stance/address, and swing. Making sure that each element of your game is fundamentally sound will make you a more consistent golfer and improve your scores.

Golf Iron Tips – The Grip

One important aspect of the grip is that the grip should be set first before the hands squeeze and turn the club to ready it for address. This will help ensure that your grip is correct and does not create an improper club face angle at impact. For most golf irons, the proper grip is one in which you position the club’s grip along the second knuckle of the index finger of the left hand (for right-handed golfers) and just below the area where your little finger and palm meet. The ‘V’ formed between your thumb and palm on your left hand should be pointing up towards your chin (or slightly to the right of your chin (for taller players). The middle image to the left is what beginners should strive for when gripping their golf irons. Notice also how square to the ball this grip will position the club. This is the ideal position to be in prior to beginning your swing.

Golf Iron Tips – The Stance

The best stance for beginners to use with their long irons is one that is comfortable and one that allows them to execute a proper golf swing ending in solid impact. For most players, the stance to use with their irons will have the ball positioned directly between their feet with their head over the ball as seen to the left.

One of the best golf iron tips I can give when it comes to the irons is to position the ball in the midpoint of your stance no matter what iron you’re hitting. Common wisdom is to position the shorter irons farther back in the stance, however it can become tricky to determine how far back or forward top position the ball in your stance as you develop a feel for the game.

Beginners should always position the ball directly between their front and back foot and more closer or farther away from the ball to compensate for the varying club lengths.  This is much easier to judge and a better way for beginners to master their iron play.

Golf Iron Tips – The Swing

The best golf swing to use with the irons is one that you are comfortable with.  Any good golf swing will consist of the following elements: a golf club that remains on-plane throughout the entire swing, good shoulder turn and hip rotation, a club face that is square to the golf ball at impact, and a good follow-through. Naturally due to all of the various moving parts, mastering a good, consistent golf swing is something that many beginners can struggle with, but I’ve put together this golf article with free swing videos to help you understand all of the different parts of the golf swing.

I hope that some of these golf iron swing tips have helped you gain more confidence in your iron play or at least have motivated you to not give up on using the irons so quickly this season. Today there is better information, educational and training tools,and improvements and innovations in golf club design that help companies produce some of the most forgiving irons of all time. Remember, as with all the aspects of this game we love to hate practice is the key to consistency.  Keep learning, keep practicing and you’ll see the improvement you’ve been waiting for!