Why You Can’t Hit Golf Irons Consistently (5,6,7,8,9 Iron)

Why You Can’t Hit Your Irons Anymore

The main reason why a golfer can’t hit their irons consistently is due to incorrect stance, poor contact with the ball, or using an iron that is too long or short for their height.

Table of Contents

Shallow Angle of Attack / Fat Shots

You may experience a shallow angle of attack along. This may include hitting fat shots and manage to catch the turf just before making a contact with the iron club.

Solution Place the ball a little behind the stance and keep the hands ahead of the ball at the time of impact. Also, make sure that the hips don’t outrace the arms.

Not able to Swing Iron Correctly

You’re not able to swing their irons properly after the initial four to five hits even when you are standing near the golf ball.

Solution Check if the clubs are fitted properly according to the player’s height. Sometimes, the grips may also need a bit of rework to be done. Additionally, it’s worth getting a measurement to the ground done.

Golf Iron is Too Short for your Height

The irons are too short for the player’s height causing them to toe to get a dig in, followed by opening up of the clubface.

Solution Playing with a set of longer irons will most often solve the problem and help the golfer hit the irons better.

Hitting Thin Shots

Most of the shots that are hit turn out to be thin shots rather than hitting down on the golf ball. This could be because of a steep downswing causing a severe angle of attack. It makes the clubhead strike right into the ball. Alternatively, players may be bottoming out behind the golf ball.

Solution The best option would be to work on the swinging style and ensure that it’s not as steep as it currently is. If the reason is because of bottoming out, consider aiming at a spot that is a few inches ahead of the ball rather than right at the ball.

How to Ensure Good Contact with the Ball and Iron

The key tip to hitting irons successfully is to ensure solid and flush contact with the golf ball. Here are some tips that can help in this regard.

Focus on a particular point of the golf ball and concentrate on this striking point instead of the top, front or other parts of the ball. This helps the clubface make the best contact with the ball.
Keep the ball compressed between the ground and the clubface. You must aim at having a descending and ball-first contact causing a divot in its front. Ideally, your iron should make contact with the ball at its back quarter near the grass.
Focus on the golf ball throughout your swing. The more you focus on the back of your ball, the better your contact will be.

How to Hit Irons Consistently

There are some simple steps that you can follow to hit your irons consistently throughout a game.

Choose an iron of the right size. Several factors determine the right club size such as height, posture, skill level and swing style.
Use your dominant hand to establish a firm grip on the iron club. You can choose a grip style that you’re comfortable using. However, avoid gripping too hard as it can stop a free and smooth swinging action.

Amateurs and beginners should try using the baseball grip.

Determine the correct stance position. To do this, position your feet in such a way that they are shoulder-width apart. The center of both feet should be exactly below the corresponding shoulder.
Place the head of your iron on the ground close to the ball so that you can determine the correct position. You may not be able to achieve the right position for your shot if you set the grip without making a check on the space between the ground and yourself.
Keep your knees slightly flexed so that you have a better weight distribution and rotation when you make your swing. A very rigid posture or squatting too much can be uncomfortable and do more harm than good.
Place the golf ball before the centerline of the chest by one ball length and closer to your non-dominant arm. One way to check this is to see that it’s in line with the logo present on your shirt if it has one. This position should be the same for every iron shot.
Place your iron at the tip of the toes to ensure that your shoulders and feet point towards the right direction.
Keep the club so that the broad center of its face is behind the golf ball. Make sure that the ball doesn’t touch the iron before you make a swing.
Move the iron backward smoothly keeping the front arm as straight as possible. Flex your wrists so that you get better swing motion and the club goes back to the maximum extent. Rotate your body and hip in a fluid and smooth motion to increase your iron’s backswing and make the club go farther.
Keep your eyes focused on the golf ball and swing the club downwards from the top of the swing. Continue the swing until the iron is above your front shoulder. Ensure that your front arm is straight when the iron makes contact with the ball. Also, make sure to look downward and follow the ball until you complete your swing.
Create a small divot on the grass with the swing after striking the ball. This is a sign of a good shot using an iron.

Practicing for Consistent Stroke

The following steps help in practicing for a consistent stroke so that you can become adept at using them.

Put your irons to use on the driving range. The posts and distance markers on the range can be helpful for your practice.
Keep two alignment rods parallel to each other on the ground with the ball between them. They will help you to identify deviations in your swing when you practice using your irons.
Consider using an exercise band to make enhancements to your swing. Most of the incorrect iron strokes are because you pull your elbows too close to your body or stretch them out when making a swing. The exercise band can help to correct this problem. Avoid wearing the band for a long time as it can produce tension on your shoulders, neck and back.
Keep a wooden block at some point on the ground. Position yourself in the right stance and place the iron right before the block in such a way that there is no gap between the club and the block. Use the clubhead to push the block backward. This will help to make improvements to your takeaway speed.

3 Common Mistakes when Hitting Irons

Golfers generally tend to make these three mistakes when they hit the golf ball with their irons.

Improper setup
Excess secondary axis tilt
Incorrect weight shift

The steps that are given above to hit irons consistently can help you to overcome these problems and play your irons without any hassle.

How to Hit an Iron Off the Tee

The tips given below help you to hit your iron off the tee without any problem.

Set up your tee so that the ball is around 0.25 inches off the ground when you plan to tee off using your iron. In other words, you must check to see that the ball is teed as close as possible to the ground and the tee doesn’t extend on top of the grass.
Ensure that you pay attention to your movement and stance. You can refer to the steps in the above sections to know the right stance. Also, remember to keep your head still when making a backswing. This will help to keep the backswing compact and short while helping you to be centered over the golf ball for a solid hit.
Swing downwards on the ball and create a divot in front of it after the ball is struck.
Practice as much as you can until you master the skill of hitting off the tee.
Make sure that the clubface is squared at the address point. Similarly, the ideal strike is a descending blow that begins just under the centerline of the golf ball.

Why you Can’t Hit a 4 Iron

The following are some problems encountered by golfers with a 4 iron and some tips to overcome them.

Can Hit 4 Iron, but Can’t Hit 7 Iron

They are just not able to hit it at all when compared to their 7 iron and to a lesser extent, the 6 iron.

Solution The problem is most likely to be with their swinging style. This is likely to have gone off a little. It may be worth getting the assistance of a professional to analyze your swing. These professionals can also consider checking out other aspects such as their posture and ball position.

Practice hitting a 2 iron. Once this can be done easily, the 4 iron will not be challenging either.

Take the 4 iron to a range leaving behind all the other clubs. Keep hitting the buckets continuously until you get them right.

Quick Pull Hook when using a 4 Iron

Some players encounter a quick pull hook when they try to hit with their 4 iron golf club.

Solution Choke down on the 3 iron and keep practicing until the hits turn out right. Once this works out, repeat the hits with a mix of choke-down 3 irons and 4 irons. The 4 iron will automatically turn out to be a success. The shaft may be a problem.

Sometimes, changing the shaft of the club can solve the problem. Position yourself so that the iron is inside the left heel. This will help to deliver a sweet shot. The ball position is equally important.

Can Hit 5 Iron, but Can’t Hit 4 Iron

The 4 iron golf club doesn’t help you hit consistent shots the same way when using a 5 iron.

Solution Choke down half an inch on the 5 iron and swing the club. This gives the effect of hitting a 4 iron.

Get the loft and lie angles of the club checked. Often you’ll find that thee lie angle is not correct. A professional can help in this regard.

Why you Can’t Hit a 5 iron

The following steps can help you to hit your 5 iron effectively during a game.

Use a grip that you’re comfortable with on your 5 iron. What matters is that you must make sure that you use the grip properly. It’s perfectly alright if you want to adopt an interlocking grip.
Practice hitting the golf ball so that the clubface gets squared at the time of impact. This helps to get a good flight path. Place the leading edge of the 5-iron under the middle of the golf ball. The club should make contact with the golf ball only just before touching the ground.
Ensure that you have consistent follow through and momentum throughout your swinging action with the 5 iron. It’s important that you also have full hip rotation.

The list below highlights some problems players encounter with a 5 iron and how to overcome them.

Can’t Hit your 5 Iron Consistently

Some players are not able to hit consistently using their 5 iron golf club.

Solution A slow backswing with a wide takeaway followed by a slow transition can be helpful. Ideally, try not to hit too hard.

Try keeping the upper half of the body not too ahead of the ball at the time of impact. If you keep it too much ahead it can cause the club to experience a loss of loft.

Hitting the Ground when using a 5 Iron

You tend to top the ball or the club hits the ground before making contact with the ball.

Solution Check the ball position. If it’s out of place, keeping it in the right position can solve the problem. Get the assistance of an expert to analyze the specifications of the club. The shaft spine may have a misalignment.

Not Covering Enough Distance when using a 5 Iron

Some players are not able to cover sufficient distance with the 5 iron club.

Solution Practice with half and 3/4 shots. Ensure that the iron hits down and through the golf ball rather than upwards as well as out at it. When the swing is complete, it should almost entirely be on the lead foot.

Why you Can’t Hit a 6 iron

Players who encountered the problems given below with their 6 iron have overcome them with the following tips.

Mishits towards the Right when using 6 Iron

The launch angle is very low with misses to the right and strikes 1 degree toe downwards.

Solution Get the swing weights checked for all the irons in the golf bag and opt for a lighter shaft for the 6 iron. It may help to shallow the clubs. Consider getting the club length and lie checked based on the wrist-to-floor measurement.

Not Reaching Enough Distance with 6 Iron Shots

The 6 iron doesn’t hit very far and shows signs of inconsistency quite often.

Solution Avoid hitting down too steep on the golf ball. Also, place the ball further up in the stance when hitting the iron so that the hit is closer to the bottom of the swing.

Why you Can’t Hit a 7 Iron

Here are some common problems golfers have when using a 7 iron.

Some players are not able to make solid contact with their golf ball when they use a 7 iron club or those that are higher.
Golfers tend to hit the iron club too much to the right although there is no slice.
The golfer covers the same distance with the 7 iron as they do with a 6 iron or an 8 iron.

7 Iron Swing Tips

The following tips can help to get the best out of the 7 irons for beginner and intermediate golfers.

Beginners

Keep the golf ball at the center of your feet.
Position yourself with maximum weight on the front hip and keep the hands pressed over the club.
Adopt a swinging action and hip rotation simultaneously.
Hit the 7 iron straight down on the ground and not the golf ball.
Move all the weight to the front leg and point yourself towards the target.

Intermediate players

Slow down on the backswing action by half of the current swing.
Place the maximum weight on the front leg when the ball is being set up.
Position the arms so that they tend to drop down at the ball.
Keep the club at the finish spot for a couple of seconds while looking down at the target line at the same time.

Why you Can’t Hit a 8 Iron

One key problem encountered by players with their 8 iron and a few tips to sort this out is given below.

You aren’t able to swing your 8 iron as easily as they you can with other clubs.

Solution Balance and force should be applied in sequence at the right time to make the swing effortless and smooth.

The shaft of the club should be kept leaning forward slightly at the time of impact. Avoid swinging too hard on the club and ensure that the golf ball is hit with the middle of the clubface.

You can get the best out of the 8-iron with a wide-open clubface as follows.

Position the ball inside your left foot.
Hold on to the club at its maximum length and do a complete swing.
Strike the sand at a little distance behind the ball. The open clubface and ball position will prevent too much of digging into the sand.

Why you Can’t Hit a 9 Iron

A few problems encountered by players with their 9 iron are mentioned below.

You’re not able to hit their 9 iron downhill like how they want to.
You experience inconsistent hits when they use their 9 iron.

9 Iron Swing Tips

Here are some tips to hit the 9 iron correctly and overcome the above problems.

Keep your head above the ball position throughout the swing. Retaining the same head position from the takeaway to the finish helps in striking the ball easily.
Keep the hands ahead or past the ball at the time of impact or contact during a downward swing.
Swing with less than maximum power to ensure that the shots are on the line and you render clean contact.

Why you’re Hitting High on Clubface Irons

You could be getting the divot ahead of the golf ball and trying to get the ball as high as possible. The divot should be behind the ball and the club should move downwards when striking the ball.
Your clubface tends to open up during impact while it must be squared up. The downswing sequence gets affected because of poor wrist angles above the swing when trying to square the clubface.
There is too much weight on the trail leg at the time of impact.

Why your Iron Shots are Going Too Low

The contact and swing speed of the golfer is not enough to produce the required spin to get the ball into the air when they use a long iron.
Poor ball position and a steep angle of attack can cause the iron shots to be very low.
The clubhead tends to bottom out every time before it actually hits the ball.
The hands are too far ahead of the ball during contact resulting in the ball being backward in the stance.

Why your Iron Shots are Going Too High

The misses occur mainly towards the right side of the green and at times in a bunker.
The iron goes under the ball so much that the ball pops up and generates too much backspin.
The iron club is getting flipped at the time of impact, which in turn increases the loft of the club resulting in achieving the maximum speed very fast and the bottom of the swinging taking place early.

How to Stop hitting Fat Shots with Irons

Rotate your body above the hips ensuring that the hips do not have any lateral movement.
Maintain a constant forward spine angle until the iron makes an impact with the golf ball. It is ideal to maintain an upright posture at address point as much as possible by lessening the forward bend angle a little.
Position the ball slightly back in your stance. For short irons, the ideal position is in the center of the stance. On the other hand, for long irons, the ball must be aligned so that it is two-thirds from the line of the back foot and one-third from the line of the front foot.
Narrow down on the wide stance so that the outside of your shoulders is in line with the middle of your feet.
Ensure that the weight is equally distributed between the two feet at the point of address.
Lean the shaft forward slightly at the address point for shots that need a full swing to be implemented.
Gripping down lower on the iron or choking down on it a little can help especially if you are a short player and don’t use custom-fitted clubs.
Make sure that your knees are not overly bent at the address point. Keep the bend angle constant throughout the entire swing.
Ensure that the slope of your hands and the slope of your shoulders are in line with each other.