may 2019 | golfdigest.com 71
▶ history has shown that the greatest golfers were great
iron players—Hogan, Nicklaus, Faldo and Woods are just
some of the names that come to mind. Their ability to con-
trol trajectory and distance set them apart. When Ben Ho-
gan complained to his wife that he was really struggling
with his putting, she famously told him to hit his approach
shots closer. It was funny, but true. Although it’s often an
underemphasized part of the game, good iron play will really
help you score, and good iron play is all about controlling
distance—playing pin-high golf. In this article, I will help
you improve your iron accuracy with some drills and tips
you can work on as your golf season ramps up. Let’s start
with a few that you can incorporate right now. First, nar-
row your stance to a little less than shoulder width. This will
help you hit down on the ball—an important part of making
crisp contact. It also will get you to swing within yourself,
which brings me to my next two tips: (1) Take one club lon-
ger than normal; (2) swing with what feels like 80-percent
efort. The best iron players rarely go full-out, because it’s
tougher to achieve center-face contact that way. If that phi-
losophy is good enough for them, it should be a no-brain-
er for you. The goal: Make greens in regulation a regular
thing. Read on for more advice. —with ron kaspriske
LET’S
GET
IT ON
make greens in regulation
a regular thing
by david leadbetter
