07
Don't sweat every detail.
Because iron play is all about precision, there's a tendency to
focus on details that are irrelevant or uncontrollable. For instance, a slightly wet clubface
won't affect distance. And you can't predict how a small glob of mud on your ball will
influence ball flight, so don't stress about it. A light breeze won't affect distance much if
you hit the ball solidly. Concentrate on things that matter: alignment, rhythm and solid
contact. Perform those well, and the small things won't really come into play.
08
"Photograph" impact.
During one of my nice streaks in the mid-
1970s, Jack Nicklaus stopped me
on the range one day and asked what I was working on. I told him I was concentrating on
impact, trying to "freeze frame" that fraction of a second. "You can actually see that?" asked
Jack. When I told him I could after months of training my eyes to take a "photograph" of
impact, Jack said, "You're crazy; the club is moving too fast." But, as I said to him, it's
not only possible, it's one of my secrets for hitting great iron shots. When I took the
picture, so to speak, I checked that the clubface was square and delofted slightly, and that I
was making crisp contact. Satisfy those impact conditions, and you'll start chasing flags.
09
Identify the sweet spot
on your irons.
I'll bet that if you asked the typical 15-handicapper
to point to the sweet spot, he'd point to a spot too high on the face. Remember, all
perimeter-weighted irons have the majority of their mass around the sole of the club, to help
you get the ball in the air. That means the sweet spot is below the center of the face. This
really comes into play on par 3s, where you're allowed to tee up. Your objective should be to
tee the ball so your "lie" is slightly better than a perfect fairway lie. And even with
perimeter weighting, because of the design of the clubhead, the sweet spot is going to be
slightly closer to the hosel than the toe.
10
Speed kills.
I can see wanting 10 more yards with the driver, but squeezing extra distance out
of your irons is the kiss of death. In my prime, my standard distance for the 9-iron was 125
yards. I hit my 6-iron 160, and my 4-iron 185. I didn't want to be long with my irons, only
smooth. Reining in my swing speed was key to distance control and accuracy. If you can resist
the tendency to swing more than 75 percent, you'll have better balance and rhythm. Your
mechanics will be better, and you'll find the sweet spot more often. You don't need a crazy
swing speed to spin the ball, either: Pure backspin comes from good contact more than anything
else.
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