Golf Short Irons: Final Pre-Swing Moves

You should take a practice swing before every shot you play but the practice swings you take once the ball is in play differ from those you take when you're on the tee. When you're on the tee you have a flat stance, the ball is teed up, and you're making a very "flat" swing. Those three things make it very, very unlikely that a player of your caliber is going to slam the club into the ground attempting to strike the ball. It's an altogether different story when your ball is sitting out in the fairway and you have a short iron in your hand. First, it's quite possible you won't have a flat lie. Second, your swing is much different with a short iron than it is with your longer clubs. These differences in circumstance mean you have to refocus your practice swing a little bit for your short-iron approaches. Here's what to do.

The first step is the same as what you would do on the tee: Always, always, always swing in the direction of the target. Take your practice swing standing on the same lie you'll have when you play the shot for real. If it's an uphill lie, take an uphill practice swing. If it's a sidehill lie, with the ball above or below your feet, take your practice swing from a similar lie.

Since you don't swing a 9-iron quite as hard at as you do a driver, don't take a practice swing as you would before trying to hit a 250-yard drive. With your short irons, swing at the same speed you'll swing the club when playing the shot.

If you normally take a divot with your short irons, take one with your practice swing. If you normally take a divot and you take a practice swing with the club above the ground through the "impact zone," you're actually rehearsing to top the ball or hit it thin. You don't want to do that, now do you?