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LONG IRONs RESOURCES:
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Long Irons Golf Lesson
The Long Irons
This information Supplied by my-golf-space.com
Balding, of course, is not alone in his thoughts concerning the importance of the long irons in tournament play. Every topflight professional has spent many hours perfecting this phase of his game, which involves the one-, two-, and three-irons. It is a curious, but certainly not surprising, fact that almost every great player of the modern era excels with his long irons. He excels because he practices the long irons and has confidence in the long irons.
SQUARE UP TO THE BALL
THE ADDRESS.
The stance for the Long Irons is a bit wider than for the medium irons and is slightly closed to the line of flight. In taking your stance, I suggest that you first set yourself up over the ball in a "square" posi¬tion, that is, have your feet, hips, and shoulders on a parallel line toward the hole. Then, for the long irons, simply slip your right foot back an inch or so just before you begin the waggle. If you approach the ball with a closed stance, you will have a tendency to line up to the right of the target. It is best to always begin your swing preparations from the square stance.
For Long Irons during the address, your weight should be evenly distributed between both feet. The hands are slightly ahead of the ball, and the arms are in close to the body. Owing to the longer shaft, you will find the ball a bit farther away from you than when you are addressing the ball for a medium-iron shot.
THE BACKSWING.
Swing the clubhead back along the ground for the first 10 or 12 inches, utilizing the body and shoulder turn described in the chapter on short irons to move you into the backswing. As the hands pass outside the right leg, the arms and hands begin a gradual lifting and cocking action which brings the clubhead into a position where it is pointing toward the sky . At the top of the swing, the weight is almost entirely on the right side. The wrists are fully cocked and the full shoulder turn is complete. The left heel is allowed to come off the ground about an inch to free the hips and shoulders from any strain during the turn away from the ball.
THE DOWNSWING. For Long Irons As soon as the left side has initiated the downswing, the left heel is planted firmly on the ground (some professionals advocate making this a conscious effort in starting the downswing). when using Long Irons Planting the left heel firmly and early ensures that you will be on the inside plane on the downswing. If the weight is forward on your toes, chances are the swing will be from the inside out.
Halfway down, the wrists are still fully cocked and the right elbow is tucked in against the right side. This is added insurance for an inside-out swing. At this point, the weight is definitely moving to the left side and the right side is beginning its drive into the shot.
SWING SMOOTHLY
One of the most important things to remember when hitting Long Irons is to swing smoothly. The reason why the average golfer is a poor Long Irons player is that he speeds up his tempo and rushes the swing too fast.
Try to swing the Long Irons to the same tempo as the medium and short irons and you will find the results far more rewarding.
Maintaining a constant and consistent swing tempo is a difficult thing to achieve. I devote a great deal of my practice time working on this because tournament play demands consistency if you are to be a winner. Under these conditions, a golfer's swing cannot change too much during a round, but his timing and tempo can leave him with one swing of a club. Why is this?
MESH MIND AND MUSCLE!
The biggest reason is that muscle tension and timing become prime influencing factors on a golf swing once the tournament flag is run up. Have you often wondered how you can swing so freely and score so wonderfully well in a friendly round, then have your game suddenly go sour during a club tournament? Both the mind and the muscles influence the swing, and it takes good nerve control to keep your swing and game under control.
Jackie Burke, the stylish Texan who has won the Masters and many other tournaments, perhaps best summed up tournament golf when he said, "There are a lot of players who have the physical ability to win tournaments, but few of them do." Burke, of course, was implying that the mind is a strong factor in winning tournaments—about 70 per cent, as a matter of fact. If golf is 70 per cent mental, then we must learn to mesh the gears of the mind and the muscles together so that they harmonize in competition. This takes experience, years of playing, and, most of all, a positive and confident determination that what you are about to undertake (the shot before you) can be performed exactly as you have planned it. This positive attitude starts with the mind and ends with a positive swing that has a good tempo to it.
To Article Index
Golf Lesson - Intro
Golf Fundamentals
Golf grip
Golf stance
Golf Lesson Short Irons
Golf Lesson Med Irons
Golf Lesson Long Irons
Pitching #1
Pitching #2
Pitching #3
Chipping #1
Chipping #2
Golf Lesson Driver
Golf Lesson Driver #2
Golf Lesson Fairway wood
Golf Lesson Trouble #1
Golf Lesson Trouble #2
Golf Swing Review
Advanced Golf Lessons