Q: Hitting an Iron off the tee. How to?

[Goonsidious]

Now that I'm comfortable hitting divots with irons, and i can hit my driver like a stud [recently anyways].. i need to understand how to hit an iron off a tee.

Every time I've ever tried.. It sounds like I'm hitting the ball with a steel pole, no fluid feeling or anything.

How am I suppose to hit this thing?

[TimG3394]

You shouldn't have a different approach. Make sure you are not teeing it absurdly high. Give yourself a perfect lie. Divot will come after the tee. Just because it's teed up shouldn't change your swing (lifting it into the air) drive the ball into the ground

[LuciusWooding]

Tee it up really low. You want the bottom of the ball to be about touching the grass, the tee should not extend above the grass, and you can set up in front of an existing divot if you want to guard against a slightly fat shot. Don't hit up on the ball, if anything hit down a lot especially with shorter irons. You'll get a ton of spin because of perfect contact. Even a thin shot will be improved because the ball's off the ground. Also, you don't need to be aggressive with the ball teed up, it will often give you a few extra yards so swing smooth. Just make good contact.

[hammerhead]

I gave up using s tee. Since I have been hitting the ball off the ground I have been getting much better contact and direction

[sean_miller]

If I want to hit a fade I tee it low. A draw slightly higher. I swing hard - smooth but hard.

[Goonsidious]

So I still go for the divot huh? Interesting. Thanks for all the info, really appreciate it.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Goonsidious

So I still go for the divot huh? Interesting. Thanks for all the info, really appreciate it.

You do if you want to hit it shorter with extra spin - like an approach shot to a par 3. If you want to strip a long iron on a tight par 4, then no, do not "focus" on taking a divot. Seriously.

[saevel25]

I approach it like any other iron shot, i don't change a thing. If i try to hit up on the ball it just adds in something else, i rather not concern myself with getting an extra 10 yards out of a long iron by trying to hit it like an iron.

As for teeing it up, i try to tee it up as low as possible, if its high it reminds me to much of a driver shot.

[Missouri Swede]

Originally Posted by Goonsidious

So I still go for the divot huh? Interesting. Thanks for all the info, really appreciate it.

Yep, take a look at what the teeing ground looks like on par 3 holes at the end of a day of PGA tour play. Those aren't mistakes.

[Goonsidious]

Originally Posted by Missouri Swede

Yep, take a look at what the teeing ground looks like on par 3 holes at the end of a day of PGA tour play. Those aren't mistakes.

This sarcastic comment would be effective if each pro was forced to use a tee on every Par 3. A regular individual would just say those divots are from iron shots hit straight from the grass instead of using a tee.  Now that I'm aware if I hit a mid-short iron off a low tee I should continue to swing normally and hit a divot, we can all move along.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by Goonsidious

This sarcastic comment would be effective if each pro was forced to use a tee on every Par 3. A regular individual would just say those divots are from iron shots hit straight from the grass instead of using a tee.  Now that I'm aware if I hit a mid-short iron off a low tee I should continue to swing normally and hit a divot, we can all move along.

I don't think he was being sarcastic. Almost every pro puts the ball on a tee on every hole, par threes included.

Now if you're using a long iron to tee off on a short par four or something, I don't recommend taking a BIG divot, but you still definitely want to at least brush the ground after impact with the ball, with the shaft leaning slightly forward. The longer the iron, the shallower the angle of attack should be - 2-3 degrees is plenty with a 3-iron or so.

If you mean on par threes, put it on a tee, but just make the tee flush with the ground or a TEENY bit above the ground so you basically have a perfect lie.

[Missouri Swede]

Originally Posted by Goonsidious

This sarcastic comment would be effective if each pro was forced to use a tee on every Par 3. A regular individual would just say those divots are from iron shots hit straight from the grass instead of using a tee.  Now that I'm aware if I hit a mid-short iron off a low tee I should continue to swing normally and hit a divot, we can all move along.

Sorry, I didn't mean it as a sarcastic comment, and I didn't mean to offend. I actually thought your question was thought-provoking--it got me to thinking about how the tee ground looks after I tee off with an iron (usually no divot) contrasted with what I was watching on TV this afternoon.

Again, I apologize if my tone seemed rude. I didn't intend it that way.

[Goonsidious]

Ah, alright. All is well.

Looks like I need to go out practicing, but I'm hoping it's a pretty smooth transition.. it should be anyways. [now that I know what I'm doing]