Page 4 - Title page June

Three Keys to Hitting Better Iron Shots

Wedges, used either from 100 yards or around the green, are scoring clubs. The better
you get with your wedge game, the lower you’ll score.

Danny Caverly, the director of instruction at Willowbend, has come up with a few
fundamentals that should help your iron play, especially on those full-swing wedge shots

when you want to stick it close.
Caverly writes:
“Hitting crisp, solid iron shots from 100 yards and closer is essential if you want to
score to your potential. There are three fundamentals one has to pay attention to in order to
hit solid irons.

“Ball position: This question comes
up often: ‘Where do I position the ball for
each club?’ The answer is simple: Get the

club in its position, then your body. By po-
sitioning the club first, it’s easy to find the
ball position. Also, rehearsal swings with
a ‘brush’ to the turf assist us in uphill and

downhill lie ball positions. Find the brush
and you find the ball position suited for that
particular shot.

“Controlled backswing: It’s diffi-
cult to get the club hitting the ball first, then
the turf, if the backswing is not under con-

trol. By under control, I mean not too long
and loose at the top. Many players swing too
long, causing the left elbow and both wrists
to ‘over-hinge’ as the club approaches the

completion of the backswing. Swing only to
the 10 o’clock position, then shift your weight
to your front foot. This gives you a better
chance of solid contact.

“Weight on front foot at impact:
An iron swing is a downward blow into the

turf that sits underneath the ball. Although
we consciously don’t try to hit down, we do
hit down by shifting our weight to our front
foot before the clubhead gets there. This
weight shift is essential for solid iron play.”