If you're a bit of a traditionalist and you'd still like to see the long irons in your bag and long irons we talking maybe 2, 3, 4 something like that. If you still like to see those long irons in your back and you don’t want to go towards the hybrid clubs at the moment, then here's a couple of tricks to try and help you hit those long irons a little bit better. The first thing is to remember really that they're irons and therefore you should still hit them with the downwards descending blow taking a little bit of a turf.

We often see people trying to sort of scoop the long irons in the air particularly the 2 and 3 iron that people don’t feel to hit high enough so see them playing the ball too far forwards leaning back, scooping it, then wondering why they got a fat shot or a thin shot. If you're leaning back and scooping fat and then are very, very closely related shots because they're irons would like to play a little bit more back towards the center that will encourage the upper body to get in front of the golf ball through impact and still hit down, and still trying to take a little bit of turf maybe not gouging out, grapping like you do with your wedges, but certainly brushing and bruising the turf maybe ripping the top layer off the grass out.

So by having the ball a little bit more back just a few inches maybe 6 inches away from your instep that would encourage you to hit down, take the ball turf and get the ball up. Now, if the lie is particularly bad and you don’t think you can get the ball out, then you really shouldn't be using a long iron, so just make sure you're using the appropriate club at the appropriate time from the right lie. Also just make sure that it's worthy using it. Often I had people say that well, I don’t really hit my 3 iron any further than I hit my 5 iron. Well this comes down to optimum trajectory. If your ball is going above the optimum trajectory like a sand wedge it goes up and down short distances but quite high.

If your ball is going below the optimum trajectory, its not getting high enough so it just goes up and comes down too soon, and then rolls a long way so that might be your 3 or 4 iron, so if its not going far enough then take the 3 and maybe 2, and 3 iron out of your bag and consider replacing those with hybrid clubs. Put a hybrid club in your back because that has more weight low and deep, but if you're going to persevere with those long irons, play them so you can get a decent divot so you can strike down ball turf and sweep it away.

One of the thing I would encourage you to do with your long iron is make sure you hit them with some decent rhythm. Often when people get the big clubs in their hand they get a bit scared of it panicked and then rhythm gets quicker and they're under with a very snatchy swing and a little poking, it doesn’t really work so a nice long, smooth, rhythmical stroke with a little bit of turf after the ball and your long iron should keep working for you. But remember if you're struggling with 2 and 3 iron, take them out the bag, get some hybrid clubs in there, and you'll never look back.