In this swing tip video, we are going to discuss how to get the best results from your long iron play. To do this, first of all let’s take a look at the differences between a long and short iron.

Initially, we can obviously see that the long iron is just that, longer. This club head will travel on a wider arc around you because of its longer length. The wider swing arc that the club head travels on, the more time you have to build up speed in the club head as it moves around you and so the further you will hit the golf ball. Because you are able to swing this club head quickly, your stance width needs to be wide to help you balance during the faster club head movement.

If we also hold both clubs together at the butt end, you can see that the longer club has a lower, flatter shaft angle, or lie angle than the shorter iron. Because of this, you need to swing the longer iron at a lower or flatter angle around you. As the club head swings on a plane, or angle that is flatter and more around you, the ball needs to be positioned further down the target line than for a short iron so that you have more time to square the club face to the target and hit straight golf shots.

Address the ball with a wide stance, feet shoulder width apart. Play the ball from an inch inside your left heel (for right handed golfers) and stand so that your toes, knees, hips and shoulders are all parallel to the target line. To encourage a slightly flatter swing plane, place the club head next to the golf ball and then make sure your hands are over the club head rather than over the ball. Now ensure that your head is just to the right of your hands and this will set slightly more weight on your right side and encourage you to make a flatter backswing movement that will produce a more sweeping action in the club head as it travels through impact so that it clips the ball cleanly off the turf rather than attacking down into the ground.

The next time you are faced with a long iron shot when you are out on the golf course, take a wider stance, play the ball forward in your stance, keep your hands over the club head at set up with your head to the right of them and work on making a sweeping golf swing that clips the ball cleanly off the turf.

Follow these tips and you will be playing some great shots with your longer clubs and really seeing an improvement in your game.