10 Pro Golfers Share Their Top Tips on How to Hit a 3 Iron

A 3-iron is my favourite golf membership within the bag as a result of it’s a utility iron. Meaning I can use it in a number of eventualities.

That isn’t a press release you hear newbie golfers make. That’s as a result of they wrestle to constantly launch the stronger lofted and longer shafted iron. On this article, I’m sharing the guidelines from 10 Professional Golfers on the way to hit a 3 iron.

This iron has fallen out of favor a lot that producers don’t embody them in most sport enchancment iron units. It’s a pity as a result of a 3-iron produces low spin and launch, for optimum yardage.

There are a number of the reason why you might wrestle to hit a 3-iron. These embody excessively stiff or heavy shafts, an imbalance rhythm, or positioning the ball too far ahead in your stance. As a substitute of dwelling on the issue, let’s see how the Professional’s recommend you resolve it.

 

Tip #1: Shoulder Width Stance – Dave Myers Tour Academy TPC Sawgrass

PGA Tour Academy coach Dave Myers recommends establishing along with your ft shoulder-width aside. This place maximizes your stability that will help you optimize rotation and coil throughout your golf swing.

He additional advises that you just maintain your head nonetheless through the swing. Should you place the ball accurately and strike it cleanly, you take pleasure in superior management on the low level of the swing. Inducing clear contact.

 

Tip #2: Middle Ball Place – Dave Myers

Myers finds the most important mistake a mean golfer makes with lengthy irons is their ball place. The marginally longer shaft causes many amateurs to place the ball too ahead of their stance.

Myers says he usually sees the ball positioned parallel to the entrance heel of a participant. That provides you no likelihood of catching the ball cleanly off the clubface. When the ball is excessively ahead, you’ll possible strike it low off the face resulting in a low launch, lack of carry distance, and stinging palms.

He recommends establishing with the ball in the course of your stance as in the event you have been swinging a 6-iron or 8-iron. Should you really feel that’s too far again, transfer it in the direction of your entrance foot by not more than two balls.

 

Tip #3: Again Ball Place For A Low Shot – Billy Horschel

Billy Horschel was among the many prime ten finest PGA Tour Gamers in 2021 and is aware of the way to strike an extended iron. The recommendation he shares pertains to your ball flight.

To hit a low launching 3-iron that gathers ahead momentum and releases upon touchdown, place the ball additional again in your stance than normal. Billy recommends inserting your golf ball, a ball, and a half again.

Putting the ball again in his stance causes the clubface to catch the ball with much less loft than normal, producing a low flying shot.

Horschel finds that this shot provides probably the most worth off the tee once you want the ball to run on the golf green.

 

Tip #4: Ahead Ball Place For Excessive Pictures – Billy Horschel

Billy additionally explains how one can improve your ball flight when placing a 3-iron. For starters, he says the golf ball ought to be positioned half-a-ball to a ball ahead out of your normal setup.

Subsequent, he advises that you just get your palms to complete as excessive as doable in your follow-through. Putting the ball simply earlier than commencing your upswing allows you to weaken the loft of the face and produce high-flying pictures.

This shot is right for enjoying lengthy par 3s when you could ship the ball lengthy and get it to land it shortly.

Horschel cautions that the common golfer might wrestle with this shot in the event you place the ball excessively ahead.

 

Tip #5: Ball Place – John Parry

European Tour Skilled John Parry recommends inserting the ball barely ahead of heart in your stance to constantly launch a 3-iron. He says in the event you intend on hitting a constant fade with the 3-iron, it would be best to open your face at influence to generate left to proper sidespin to encourage the lower.

 

Tip #6: Open Your Again Foot – Sean Foley

Sean Foley is aware of the way to develop champions. Lydia Ko, Justin Rose, and Hunter Mahan are a couple of of the golfers he has guided to success. Foley recommends opening your again foot barely in order that your toes are pointed in the other way of your goal.

This place helps you maximize your rotation and construct up immense power on the prime of your iron swing. Then transition your weight to your main leg and shift the power from the clubface to your ball. That leads to a strong launch and optimum distance.

 

Tip #7: Take It Again Low – Geoff Ogilvy

Ogilvy means that the key to placing constant 3-iron pictures is to maintain the membership low on takeaway. He takes the membership again low and gradual for the primary couple of ft, with the shaft aiming alongside your goal line and the toe of the membership midway to the highest of your swing.

Entering into this place allows you to produce a sweeping movement that catches the ball cleanly and lifts it off the bottom.

 

Tip #8: Proper Arm Straight On Takeaway – Annika Sorenstam

The primary all-time earner on the LPGA Profession Cash Listing suggests maintaining your proper arm comparatively straight on takeaway. Sorenstam says that the straight arm encourages her to rotate her higher physique and never elevate the arms.

When she will get to the highest of her backswing, she pushes off her proper foot and shifts the load to the left. When the load is on her left, she clears her hips to permit the arms to drop the clubhead into place at influence.

 

Tip #9: Shorten Your Swing – Dave Myers

Sticking with the recommendation of Dave Myers, we flip to your swing. Typically, once we swing our lengthy irons, we take the clubhead again excessively to speed up our clubhead velocity. We concern that the ball won’t get airborne, so we wind up, able to speed up on the downswing.

I do know this sense nicely and have been responsible of it. The reality is, the additional again you’re taking the membership, the upper the chance that it may veer off the trail and wreak havoc to your lengthy iron shot. The compact profile of those irons offers minimal forgiveness, which is why you could get the face sq. at influence and strike it within the candy spot.

Myers’ recommendation is to provide a compact backswing to provide constant contact with the ball and optimize your rotation. The shorter your backswing is, the extra it forces you to depend on coiling to maximise power transition from the clubface to the ball at influence.

 

Tip #10: Sweeping Swing – Tom Watson

Including to Geoff Ogilvy’s recommendation on a sweeping swing is Tour Champions legend, Tom Watson.

He says that it’s best to place your ball barely ahead of heart in your stance to brush the ball into the air on the up.

To attain this, Watson recommends using a shallow swing arc. He additionally suggests using this lengthy iron drill on the vary with no ball. Place a marker the place your ball can be, and apply hitting the marker constantly to get used to the movement.

 

Tip #11: Faux It Is A 7-Iron – Greg Norman

Greg “The Shark” Norman says the very best recommendation for an newbie hitting a 3-iron is to image it like a 7-iron. Then he says that it’s best to envision that you’re solely a 7-iron out of your goal and make a easy, straightforward swing. A easy, managed tempo will permit the rotation of your physique to generate the facility for an extended iron shot.

 

Tip #12: Management The Assault Angle – Chris Ryan, Director Of Teaching At HIT Golf Academy

Chris Ryan finds that one of many most important causes amateurs wrestle to launch lengthy irons is due to their assault angle. He says that always college students will set as much as play a lofted membership, the identical approach they’d their quick irons, resulting in a steep angle of assault.

Within the video, Chris makes use of a 2-iron, however the precept is virtually the identical as you’d make use of along with your 3-iron.

Ryan recommends that you just place the ball marginally in the direction of your entrance foot, including simply over half of your weight to your lead leg. He says that setup prompts you to catch the ball on a descending angle, leading to optimum compression, launch, and distance.

 

Tip #13: The Stinger – Tiger Woods

Earlier than I relay Tiger’s recommendation on the stinger, I need to say this shot is troublesome to tug off. Due to this fact, I solely advocate making an attempt it in sure conditions. Nevertheless, if you know the way to hit a 3 iron stinger, it might probably enhance your sport in windy circumstances.

I discovered to play the stinger whereas residing in Cape City for 10-years. I didn’t play one spherical the place there was no wind. Consequently, the stinger stored me within the sport.

For starters, you could place your golf ball, one ball again in your stance, to assist strike it with precision.

Woods explains that this shot is all concerning the braking mechanism, post-impact to decrease your flight. He achieves this by softening his arms and rushing up his hips to assist cease his palms as quickly as doable after influence. In the end, he brings his palms to a halt round shoulder peak.