Nobody likes hitting iron shots off the heel or toe. But honestly, those aren't as bad as you think. You know what's really bad? Hitting the ball high and low on the clubface with your irons. Those clankers can leave you bleeding shots.
Here's why.
Sports Scientist and PhD Alex Ehlert has done some really great work on this subject in his newsletter recently, and compiled data from recent studies to show where different handicaps hit the ball on the clubface.
Graphs like this can be a little intimidating, but the thing I want you to notice isn't just the left-to-right width of these ovals, but the top-to-bottom height of the ovals.
The the point where the lines intersect represents the middle of the clubface, and yes, it's true higher handicaps hit more shots on the toe and heel than lower ones, but the difference is fairly minimal and manageable. The contact error that crushes you is hitting the ball too much towards the top or bottom of the clubface.
On the lower handicap (category 1) the margin for error is less than 20 mm above or below the sweetspot. The higher handicap golfer (category 3) jumps to more than 20 mm below the sweet spot, and more than 30 mm above the sweetspot.
And that extra 10 mm—almost a third of an inch—is a big deal. That's because modern golf club technology has gotten really good at covering up for slight heel and toe mis-hits, but high on the face and low on the face misses still get punished severely.
Drivers and woods are better at covering for this, but when you hit the ball off the top of the clubface with an iron, you're basically using the club in the opposite way it was designed. You end up hitting the ball way shorter than you intended.
Golf Digest Best in State Adam Young delved into this recently on Twitter.
He shows that if a golfer over the course of their round hit a smattering of shots just a few grooves above the sweetspot, it would result in almost four shots lost on SG: Approach, compared to the golfer who had the same severity of heel and toe misses, but a smaller top-to-bottom of the clubface spread.
In short, heel-to-toe clubface misses are annoying, but won't kill you like top-to-bottom clubface misses.
How do I fix it?
Great question, you read my mind.
Some fundamentals to remember:
- A downward strike onto the golf ball with your irons is essential for center face contact, as Michael Breed explains.
- Hitting the ball with a descending blow requires getting the lowest point of your golf swing in front of the golf ball (more on that here).
- To do that, you need to make sure your ball position is dialed—especially make sure it isn't too far forward.
- Getting your weight to your front foot is essential to doing this, too.
A couple practice things to keep in mind:
- Start your range sessions with a decent number of wedge shots—it can help you find center.
- Slow motion swings help with this, too.
- Putting some tape on the ground, and trying to hit that instead of a golf ball, will get your impact location dialed in a hurry.
And a swing thought, which was Moe Norman's go-to.
- Imagine a nail sticking out of the back of the ball, and that your clubhead is the hammer. Hammer the nail directly into the ball, as Golf Digest Best In State teacher Todd Graves explains.
The biggest thing of all, though, is knowledge. Once you're aware of how damaging those top-to-bottom clubface misses are, the more you'll intuitively begin to fix them.