How to Hit Irons Pure: Master Your Iron Shots with These 8 Simple Tips

The pure iron shot is one of the best feelings in golf.

When you strike an iron perfectly, it often feels “buttery.” The ball compresses, jumps off the clubface, and lands exactly where you want it on the green.

Do you want to experience this more often?

With the right skills for hitting pure iron shots, you can get that buttery pure iron feel on a regular basis. Let’s take a look at how to do it.

Hitting Pure Iron Shots (Key Takeaways)

Hitting pure iron shots goes beyond hitting straight iron shots. These shots are hit directly in the center of the face, with a square face and plenty of club head speed.

Here are some things you will need to know to hit a pure iron shot.

• You must strike the ball on your downswing, not the upswing, to achieve proper ball flight and distance from your iron shot.
• To hit a pure iron shot, the lead wrist must be slightly flexed at impact.
• Consistency in setup leads to better balance and stability, improving iron strike consistency.
• Utilizing ground forces by pushing off the ground during the swing increases power and improves the centeredness of the strike.
• Wear your HackMotion while practicing your irons; it’s like having a coach on your wrist, helping you know when you’re in the right position or when adjustments are needed.

8 Proven Tips for Hitting Pure Iron Shots Every Time

1. Nail Down the Ball Position

Ball position is one of the more overlooked areas of the setup for amateur players. The ball position has a big impact on your strike position.

• If your irons are too far back in your stance, when you get to the ball, you may hit behind it, and the clubface could be open as it still didn’t have time to close.
• If your irons are too far forward in your stance, you may hit them thin, lose power, or even hook them to the left.

The adjustments are minor, but they matter. Once you find that perfect ball position just work on getting consistent with it.

2. Perfect Wrist Movement Before You Get to the Ball

To hit a pure iron shot, your lead wrist must be flexed (or bowed) at impact. A flat lead wrist can still produce decent contact, but it often sacrifices power and consistency.

If the wrist is cupped—also known as extended—you’re likely to leave the face open, launch it too high, and lose significant ball speed.

The key?

Fix your wrist position before you reach the ball.

Most golfers try to square the face too late in the downswing.

With HackMotion, you can monitor your wrist angles and identify the point where extension increases or decreases.

Ideally, you want to avoid increasing extension during the backswing and start decreasing it early in the downswing so the clubface can square naturally and powerfully.

Try to drill to get to a better top position and make this easier.

3. Create Some Lag in Your Swing

Creating lag is one of the best ways to generate effortless power with your irons, but only if your fundamentals are in place.

Lag without proper clubface control or sequencing can actually make your shots worse, not better.

One of the best ways to build lag awareness is with a simple towel drill.

Take a towel and grip it with your lead hand at the top, as you would a normal club. Then, grip the bottom with your trail hand, about a foot apart from the lead.

Take a backswing while keeping tension between your hands. At the top, release the trail hand and let the lead hand whip the towel through impact. That snapping motion simulates lag.

You can also use the HackMotion casting drill to build lag if you tend to lose it at the top.

4. Pay Attention to Weight in the Setup

Where is your weight when you set up to hit an iron shot?

Most golfers don’t think about it, but weight distribution plays a big role in balance and strike quality. If your weight is too far on your toes or heels, you’re already set up for inconsistency.

At setup, your weight should feel centered on the balls of your feet, with pressure slightly on the inside edges, like you’re pressing down into the ground. That creates a stable base and helps you use the ground effectively through the swing.

For most irons, aim for a 50/50 weight split between your feet. With shorter irons or wedges, it’s fine to favor the lead side slightly, 60% lead, 40% trail, to promote a downward strike.

5. Take the Divot After Impact

When hitting a pure iron shot, the divot should come after the golf ball. If the divot is behind the ball, your strike is off, and you’re losing both distance and consistency.

One of my favorite ways to improve the strike location is with a simple tee drill. You place a tee just in front of the ball to help train your angle of attack.

The goal is to hit the ball first, then clip the tee, giving you that downward, through-the-ball strike that leads to clean, compressed contact.

6. Leave the Face Square at Setup

Did you know that some golfers set themselves up for a poor iron shot before they even take the club back?

When hitting a pure iron shot, the clubface should be square. When did you last check your setup to ensure the clubface was square and aligned toward the target?

Golfers subconsciously close or open the clubface at setup based on their natural ball flight patterns.

Leave the face square at setup.

You can practice by putting your iron face up to a straight edge on the driving range and getting an idea of what square looks like.

7. Play Your Natural Shot Shape

If you naturally fade or draw the ball, play it!

There is no reason to fight the natural shot shape; simply learn to play with it.

When you stop fighting what is natural, hitting a golf shot with more speed and confidence becomes easier. If your natural shot shape is a hook or a slice, work on straightening the clubface at impact a bit so you are dealing with a draw or a fade.

Hitting irons purely is just as much mental as it is physical, and when you play a shot that you trust and have confidence in, the mental components work themselves out.

8. Control the Speed on the Backswing

Tempo is often considered one of the more important features of any golf swing. However, most golfers struggle to think about the overall tempo, so they try simply controlling the backswing speed.

If you tend to take the club back quickly, you may make slight errors that decrease your consistency at impact.

Taking the golf iron back a little slower will help keep you on plane, maintain proper wrist angles, allow for weight transfer, and improve overall tempo.

Don’t think this slightly slower backswing will decrease your ball speed and distance; if done correctly, you won’t have to worry about that.

Practice Tips for Hitting Pure Iron Shots

Now that you have these tips to hit pure iron shots, it’s time to head to the range to work on them.

Here are some of the best ways to make your practice session more successful:

• Use technology like HackMotion to collect and analyze data about your golf swing; the detailed data and stats can help you move towards pure iron shots considerably faster.
• Never hit iron shots on the driving range without first picking a target and visualizing the shots you want to hit.
• Utilize golf alignment sticks to ensure your setup and ball position are identical from one swing to the next.
• Record video data, especially of the top of the backswing and the impact position; look for a flat lead wrist at the top of the backswing and a flexed lead wrist at impact.

Final Thoughts

There’s nothing quite like the feel of a pure iron shot, the sound, the flight, the instant feedback through your hands.

The key is consistent practice, smart drills, and understanding how your wrists, weight, and swing sequence all work together.

Focus on one concept at a time, use tools like HackMotion to measure your progress, and start building better habits, swing by swing.

Now it’s your turn, grab your HackMotion, hit the range, and start flushing those irons.