Introduction
Ah, short irons. 9 iron, 8 iron, the easiest irons to hit. I would argue the easiest clubs to hit in the bag. If you can't hit an 8 and 9 iron you should probably go ahead and quit. Okay, okay, just kidding. Once you understand short irons, they will quickly become your most trusted clubs. The things you can do with short irons are vast and are the most important irons in your bag. They mix between scoring clubs and placement clubs, depending on how confident you are and the situation. In order to be good with them, consistency is key.
Consistency
With short irons, consistency is the key. If you are having issues with your short irons, chances are, you are having issues with everything. So how do you gain consistency? Well, the CTRL Swing Master Training aid works wonders for consistency. The key to hitting short irons is tempo, path, and face being the same every time, so the shot does the same thing every time. The best way to do this is with the CTRL Swing Master Training aid. It forms to your swing to help you hit your best shot every single time! This is the best way to become great with your irons!
Let the Club Do Its Job
A short iron is meant for hitting a particular spot at precise yardage. A short iron is meant to go high, hit the green, and stop. And it will do all of that if you just let it. There is no need to try and lift the ball higher. There is no need to try and force a shot from a short iron. If you take a regular swing and make good contact, the ball will do what you need. You don't have to force it low; you don't have to force it high. Take a good easy swing focused on center contact and hit a good shot.
You're Swinging Too Hard!
As I said above, a short iron is meant to hit a specific spot to a certain distance. The biggest mistake people make with irons, especially short ones, is trying to force a distance they don't have. They want to say they hit their short irons a long way. I know way too many players that say they hit 8 iron 185 yards when they really hit it 155. Know how far your short iron goes with an easy stock swing, and use it at that distance. You do not have to crush your short irons; you have to hit them the correct distance. Stop overswinging when you have a short iron in hand.
Consistency of Ball Striking
With all irons, the consistency of ball striking is essential. Consistently hitting it in the center of the face gives you a consistent ball flight and distance out of similar swings. For instance, if you are hitting it square in the middle, it will help you to hit the ball the same distance. When you know where the ball will land and you can aim accordingly, hitting your mid- irons becomes incredibly easy. The best way to become a consistent ball striker is to practice your tempo. The best ball strikers in the world have one thing in common. Their tempo is the same every single time. They all have different rhythms, one from the other, but the biggest key is that it is the same for that player every single time. Have you ever just gotten into a rhythm on the range? Where you pull it back the same every time, and you are just puring it every single time? That is when you lock in your tempo and hit the same tempo every time. This is when you hit the ball right in the pure spot every time; it does the same thing every time, and life is good. There is scarcely a better feeling than getting into this groove, it is really hard to find though.
Until now, that is. The CTRL Swing Master Training aid makes finding this groove easy when you get onto the range. First, you build a model with your club, hitting shots and telling the app good or bad. After 10 good swings, the model is built. Then you can bring it to the range every time you go to the range to hit balls. Put on the CTRL Swing Master, pick the model you want, turn on the metronome, and find your groove. The metronome will help you to find that perfect groove. You don't even need to go to the range. You can take practice swings anywhere once you have a model built. The CTRL Swing Master training aid is a revolutionary tempo training tool that fits to your ideal tempo. There are plenty of tempo trainers in the world, but none of them assimilate to your ideal swing, except for the CTRL Swing Master. If you want more consistent ball striking, the only way to do it is the CTRL Swing Master. Did you take a break for a couple of months? It doesn't matter, come back and get back to grooving your perfect swing.
Clean Contact
We've talked a lot about being more consistent. Another critical part is making good contact and not hitting it fat or thin. When you hit it thin, you lose height and spin, and the ball doesn't fly or react properly. If you hit it fat, the ball won't fly anywhere near the correct distance. The best way to fix this is to improve your weight transfer. If your weight transfer is proper and you hit it fat, the ball is in the wrong place in your stance. Same with thin. It would be best if you worked on sequencing to correct weight transfer. Then work on ball placement. With proper weight transfer, your short irons should be closer to the middle of your stance, barely in front of your wedges. If you have injuries and can't get from your trail side to your lead side, then go ahead and move the ball further back in your stance because you will bottom out further back. If you can't transfer your weight back, you have to move the ball forward a little in your stance.
Conclusion
Hitting short irons is all about being a consistent ball striker. You have to go work on the things discussed above: clean contact, centeredness of contact, tempo, face, and path. If you get all of those down, you aren't swinging too hard, and you know how far your clubs ACTUALLY go, then you will be fantastic with your short irons! Get out there and try some of these drills out!
