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Chapter - 06

The Short Irons

The short irons are the offensive weapons in your arsenal of golfing shots. They are the clubs which you use to attack a golf course, to set up those all-important birdies for low-scoring rounds, and to help get you out of trouble when your tee shots stray off line.

Distance

The short irons are the numbers seven, eight, and nine, and the wedge. Although distances for these clubs vary with a golfer's degree of skill and strength, the average distance for the average golfer, say for a seven-iron, is about 140 yards. For an eight-iron, it would be 130 yards, and so on down. A strong player will get about 10 yards more per club than will the average player, but it is well to remember that you have a maximum, medium, and minimum range for each iron through the short and medium irons, particularly the short irons. Every golfer should make an effort to learn his maximum distance for each iron club. This can be accomplished by practicing and experimenting with all of your iron clubs.

Using The Short Irons

The swing for the short irons is considerably more upright than for other iron and wood shots. This is because of the length of the clubshaft, which requires you to stand closer to the ball, and the open stance that is employed for the short irons.

In playing these irons, the wrists are broken, or cocked, much sooner on the backswing than they are when you are swinging the longer-shafted clubs. This forces you to hit down and through the ball with a crisp, hitting action with the arms and hands.

One of the finest short-iron players on the PGA tour is Bill Casper, the 1959 National Open champion, with whom I have played many rounds, not only on the PGA tour but in San Diego, our home town. He is noted for being a great putter, but his iron play is also a strong part of his game.

Casper has a wonderful "feel" for the game, and it really shows up in short irons, where a good sense of touch and feel is required in order to hit the ball consistently close to the hole.
Another good short-iron player is Jay Hebert, who won the PGA championship in 1960. It is Hebert's contention, and I fully agree with him, that mastery of the short irons is a prime requisite for shooting subpar rounds.

Jay is also one of the best "three-quarter swing" players I have ever seen. He seldom hits his short irons with a full swing. Instead, he employs a technique of all good iron players—that of taking a three-quarter swing instead of a full swing. By doing this, Jay and other professionals can control the ball much more effectively.

"You can never become a good, consistent iron player until you can learn the three-quarter swing," says Hebert.

I employed this type of swing to hit a shot on the seventy-first hole in the Arlington Hotel Open in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1959. It was a par-four hole requiring a second shot of about 135 yards to the pin. I was tied with Jim Ferree for the lead at the time, and, under the prevailing conditions, it was either a full eight-iron or a three-quarter seven. I chose the seven-iron and hit what I thought was an almost perfect shot. The ball stopped 15 inches away from the hole for an easy birdie three. A par on the last hole gave me a one-stroke victory.

If I had taken an eight-iron and forced it, I might have bogied the hole and lost the tournament. The three-quarter swing gave me more directional control at a time when I needed it most—under the tension and stress of tournament play with a championship hanging in the balance.

The Swing

THE ADDRESS. The weight should favor the left side at the address. The hands are slightly ahead of the ball (Fig. 29), and the stance is open. Turn the hips slightly to the left, or toward the hole, so they can turn out of the way as the hands and arms pass through the hitting area. The shaft of the club and your left arm should form a straight line from your left shoulder to the ball. Note particularly in Fig. 29 the position of my arms in relation to my body. The upper part of my arms have a close adhesion to my chest. With my arms positioned in this manner, I intrust my initial movement away from the ball to my body turn and arms, not just my hands.

I firmly believe that in order to build a one-piece swing you must master the movement described above, because it is one of the two critical movements in the swing, the other being the first movement at the start of the downswing.

Fig. 29. Hands are slightly ahead of the ball during address for short-iron swing and stance is open. Arms are close to the body, and weight favors the left side.

There is one other point concerning the address which I believe to merit your full attention. It is the position of my right arm. So much attention is always focused on keeping the left arm straight and firm that the right arm is almost forgotten. After you have positioned yourself over the ball, your right elbow should be pointing to your right hip. If it isn't, you are going to be in trouble almost from the start of your swing. If you allow your right elbow to turn outward to your right and become too tense, it will create a blocking action on the backswing, which will throw you outside the line of flight going back. Then, as you reach the top of your swing, the right elbow moves away from your right side and points outward instead of downward.

We commonly refer to this as the "flying right elbow." It will also affect your downswing. For if it is too far away from your right side on the back-swing, it usually means that your swing is too upright and that you have swung the club back outside the line of flight. Actually, your elbows should stay in almost constant relationship to one another throughout the entire swing. The only way to insure that you do this is to relax the right forearm and let the right elbow point toward the right hip. Then it will fold in and stay fairly close to your right side on the backswing.

THE BACKSWING. After you have settled yourself into the address position, and have made a preliminary waggle or two, the backswing is begun with a smooth takeaway from the ball (Fig. 30a). When practicing, you should consciously strive to take the clubhead away from the ball first. Do not let your hands and arms move before the clubhead moves. They should all move together as one piece.

Remember, in the sequence of the backswing movements, the hands (with the clubhead), arms, shoulders, and then the hips move, and the order is reversed on the downswing.

As the arms reach the halfway point in the short-iron backswing (Fig. 31), the wrists are almost fully cocked. The head remains stationary, and the shoulders rotate around the hub of your swing, which is your neck. At the top of the swing (Fig. 32), the left arm is straight, the right elbow is pointing down, and the clubshaft is not quite parallel to the ground. The left heel remains on the ground, and about 70 per cent of the weight is on the right side at the top of the swing.

The turn of the shoulders and the movement of the arms and hands away from the ball appear to open the clubface on the backswing. The clubface is actually square, however. If you roll your hands and wrists, thus opening the clubface going back, you must initiate a countering action coming down. I do not recommend this. If you will intrust your swing primarily to your body turn, and let the hands do nothing consciously but grip the club, you will find not only that you can generate more power through the ball but that you will be a more consistent player as well.

Here are several other important checkpoints to remember about the backswing:

1. The right leg does not straighten on the backswing; instead, it should remain flexed about the same as it was at the address.

2. Do not consciously try to cock the wrists. This should be done gradually as the hands near the belt line.

3. The left knee works in toward the right knee—not outward.

4. Visualize your neck as the hub o£ your swing, with your arms and shoulders rotating around this hub in a coiling action. This will give you a good arc of the clubhead, on both the backswing and the downswing.

5. At the top of the swing, the club should be held firmly with the hands, particularly the last three fingers of the left hand.

6. Swing the clubhead back with smooth rhythm—don't jerk it back.

THE DOWNSWING. The top of the backswing and the start of the downswing are almost one and the same. Lest that sound confusing, let me explain. There is really no top of the swing as such, for, by the time the club reaches, what is often called the top of the swing, the downswing has already begun. This is the second critical cross-road of the swing which I referred to earlier in this chapter.

Fig. 30a. On the backswing, move the club-head away from the ball first, as shown in (a), not your hands and arms, as shown in (b).

Fig. 30b. Incorrect takeaway results in closing clubface with resultant poor position at the top of the swing. Strive for one-piece movement away from the ball.

Fig. 31. The wrists are almost fully cocked halfway through the back-swing.

Fig. 32. The left arm is straight and the right elbow is pointing down at the top of the swing. The left heel is still on the ground, and about 70 per cent of the weight is on the right side.

The first movement in the downswing is the turning of the left hip to the left (toward the target), followed by a strong pull down of the left shoulder, arm, and hand, in that order. There is enough lateral movement of the left side to put your weight on your left foot and left leg.

One of the most common errors of the average golfer is to initiate the downswing with his hands and right shoulder. This forces him into numerous errors, the most prevalent of which is an outside-in swing with the face in an open (or slicing) position.

If the left side is allowed to initiate the downswing, the hands are lowered into the hitting area (Fig. 33), thus setting up a powerful hitting action from the inside out and toward the target. It does one other important thing. It quickly transfers the weight to the left side so the hands and arms can hit down and through the ball.

As the hands enter the hitting area, the wrists are still fully cocked (Fig. 34) and the body has generated all of the power it possibly can. The hands and arms are now set to apply it. A close study of Figs. 34 and 35 will reveal how it is done just as the hands reach a point opposite the right leg. In one explosive force, all of the power that has been built up through the coiling action of the body and the cocking of the wrists is released at the ball through a straightening action of the right forearm and right hand. Figure 34 shows the right forearm in a cocked position and a split second later, in Fig. 35, the clubhead has been literally thrown at, and through, the ball by the unleashing action of the entire right side, but mainly the right forearm and hand.

Fig. 33. The left side initiates the downswing, starting with the left hip, thus lowering the hands into the hitting area and ensuring an inside-out swing.

Fig. 34. The wrists are still fully cocked as the hands enter the hitting area.

Fig. 35. The right forearm and right hand unleash their power at the ball at the last split second. Weight is definitely on the left side at this moment, and the left side has turned out of the way to permit the arms and hands to pass by the body.

Fig. 36. The arms are fully extended toward the hole on the follow-through, and the right side is turning into the shot with full power.

Fig. 37. The completed swing. The weight is on the outside of the left foot, and the entire right side is now relaxed.

At the moment of impact, the left arm is fully extended and the right arm is slightly bent. When the arms reach belt-high in the follow-through (Fig. 36), the right arm and the clubshaft form a line pointing directly toward the target as the right hand turns over the left hand. This turning, or supinating, movement begins just before the hands reach the ball and is originated by the fingers of the left hand followed by the application of power from the right forearm and right hand, which in turn squares the clubface on the ball for one brief instant. Then it closes and turns over as the swing is completed (Fig. 37).

Fig. 38. Short-iron address from behind. Stance is open and a slight sitting-down position is assumed.

Fig. 39. Start everything together, with the clubhead moving away from the ball first, followed by the hands, arms, shoulders, and hips, in that order.

Fig. 40. The wrists are fully cocked at the top of the swing. The right knee is flexed a little, and the left knee is bent in toward the right knee.

Fig. 41. The initial movement of the downswing begins with the left hip moving slightly laterally and then around to the left. The body action, particularly that of the legs, is speeded up to pull the weight over to the left side. Note the right arm tucked in close to the right side.

Fig. 42. The entire right side, particularly the right knee, is moving into the shot. The right shoulder is beginning to move under the chin, and the directional force of the hands and arms is toward the target.

Fig. 43. Turning left side out of the way allows the hands and arms to follow through toward hole. Note key position of right foot and right knee at this stage of the swing.
Fig. 44. A balanced finish.

Fig. 45. Rough going during the Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas, Nevada. A good iron shot from out of the rough on the first hole gave Gene Littler a par five as gallery fans looked on. (AP Wirephoto)

A word of caution. Do not consciously try to turn your hands over as you approach the ball. Only the experts can get away with this, and sometimes even they can't do it perfectly.

As I have pointed out before, squaring of the clubface can best be achieved if you will permit your body to bring you into a powerful hitting position. The arms and hands will then react naturally through a conditioned reflex action, or subconscious feel.

To prove this, simply perform the little swing exercise which I described in the first chapter on fundamentals. As you swing the club back and forth, you will almost be forced to release the clubhead in the hitting area because that is the natural way to swing the clubhead. There is a natural way to swing, and this exercise will teach it to you so that the actual swing will become almost a total reflex action of the muscles.

Here are some checkpoints to remember about the downswing:

1. Starting the downswing correctly with the left hip and left side will put you in a position to hit from the inside out as you enter the hitting area.

2. The hips lead the downswing with a slight lateral, then a turning movement, followed by the shoulders (about a quarter of a turn behind the hips), arms, and hands, in that order. If the shoulders turn ahead of the hips, your swing will be from the outside in.

3. After the weight has shifted to the left side, a driving action is initiated by the right side, particularly the right knee and hip. This develops early clubhead speed and will give you more power and distance. This also releases all tension from the right leg and hip, resulting in about 90 per cent of the weight being upon the right side at the finish of the swing.

4. Complete the backswing before you start the downswing. Take a full shoulder turn and start into the downswing as smoothly as possible.

5. Keep driving through the ball to a complete high finish. Don't hit at the ball and quit.

Figures 38 through 44 show the short-iron swing from behind the ball. Note particularly the steadiness of the head and the plane of the arms during the backswing. The weight is always back in through the heels throughout the most of the swing. Only after you have hit the shot and it is well on its way toward the target should your right heel come off the ground.

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