Your golf irons are designed to hit down on the ball, and send it flying to your target. To do this you have to learn how to hit a solid shot.

What does that mean? Solid — as in strong, and powerful enough to compress the ball between the ground and the face of the club. This gives the ball backspin and loft and sends the ball up in the air.

You want to hit down on the ball. Think tiddly-winks. Remember that game you played as a kid? You used one colored disc to flick a second disc up, through the air and into a cup or some such target. You snapped down on one disc to get the second in the air. It’s the same with golf balls. Hit down on the ball to send it flying.

How do you know if you’ve hit the ball solid? The divot tells the tale. Try this drill to determine how well you are hitting your irons and compare this with your results on the golf course.

1. Place a tee in the ground just above your ball position and hit your iron as you normally would.
2. Check the divot.
   • If it appears slightly in front of the tee, you probably hit the ball “fat” and got lower distance and accuracy.
   • If the divot is before the tee, you most likely chunked the ball.
   • What you are looking for is a divot in the ground on the target side of the ball. This indicates you hit the ball, then the ground for a good solid shot.

Which club do you use for which shot? This is all determined by the distance your ball needs to travel and what type of shot you are going to take. You need to spend time on the practice range to determine which club goes what distance. Each club has a specific task. For example the higher lofted clubs such as the 7, 8 and 9 as well as the Pitching Wedge (PW) and the Sand Wedge (SW) are used to out of the rough or over or out of obstacles such as sand, trees and tall grass. For more details see the post: How to Choose the Right club For Your Next Shot.