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Find Cleaner Contact with Your Irons
Your practice at a glance
These golf drills are from the Golf Practice Made Fun App.
Cleaner iron contact starts with reaching the ball before the ground and continuing through the strike.
These three drills give you different ways to explore that feeling: the Ball Striking Coin Drill provides a contact checkpoint beyond the ball, the Ball Outside Left Foot Drill encourages movement through the shot, and Johnny Miller’s Pro Impact Drill helps you recognise an impact position before you swing. Work through eighteen shots per drill, starting with small swings and resetting before every attempt.
Drill 1. Ball Striking Coin Drill: Give the Club a Target Beyond the Ball
The coin gives your club a clear destination just beyond the ball. That simple checkpoint helps you notice whether you struck the ball before the ground, giving you useful feedback without changing several swing thoughts at once.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Choose a clear outdoor practice area and a short iron. Take your normal address and place a coin flat on the grass just beyond the ball towards your target. Keep people clear of the path of the ball and coin. |
| 2 | Make a short, controlled swing. Aim to strike the ball first, then brush the coin forwards as the club continues through. Let your weight move onto your lead leg and finish in balance. |
| 3 | Play eighteen short shots, resetting the ball and coin each time. Notice the contact and keep the swing small enough to control. Use the cue “Ball first. Coin next.” |
See the full Ball Striking Coin Drill, setup images and video →
Drill 2. Ball Outside Left Foot: Keep Moving Through the Strike
The forward ball encourages you to move through the strike instead of leaving your weight behind it. Bringing the ball back to its normal position afterwards lets you test whether that feeling improves contact in your usual setup.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Take your normal stance with an iron. Put the ball just outside your lead foot towards the target: the left foot for a right-handed golfer, or the right foot for a left-handed golfer. Start the clubhead around the middle of your stance. |
| 2 | Make a small backswing and move through to strike the forward ball. Let your weight move onto the lead leg, aiming to reach the ball before brushing the turf beyond it. Keep the ball only just outside the foot. |
| 3 | Play nine small forward-ball shots, then nine with the ball back in its usual position for that club. Keep the feeling of moving through the strike and compare the contact between the two positions. |
Explore the Ball Outside Left Foot Drill and forward-ball demonstration →
Drill 3. Johnny Miller Pro Impact: Rehearse the Feel Before You Swing
Presetting impact gives you time to notice your pressure, body position and hands before the swing begins. Building gradually from half swings helps you carry that rehearsal into a moving strike, with the emphasis on a clear feel rather than extra effort.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Rehearse impact with roughly eighty per cent of your weight on the lead side. Bring the trail knee towards the lead knee, open the hips towards the target, keep the shoulders square to the target line and move the hands forward. |
| 2 | Hold that comfortable preset for two seconds, then begin your backswing from it and hit the ball. Start with a controlled half swing; you are carrying a feeling into the movement, rather than trying to freeze your body during the shot. |
| 3 | Play three half swings, three three-quarter swings and three full swings, then repeat once for eighteen shots. Preset and pause before every attempt, swing through to a balanced finish and use the video to check the rehearsal. |
Follow the Johnny Miller Pro Impact Drill and detailed preset checks →
