How to Hit Irons Off the Tee
Using a tee when hitting your iron shots is an opportunity to give your ball the ‘perfect lie’ and learning how to hit this shot consistently can give players a significant advantage when playing par-3′s, as well as longer holes with narrow fairways. The rules of golf 
allow players to place the ball on the tee any time the shot being played is any ‘tee shot’ or initial shot on that hole. Learning how to hit irons off the tee is a matter of understanding how to alter tee height when hitting irons versus when hitting driver. It’s not difficult to learn and can provide an extra weapon in your golf arsenal.
The Tee is the Key
I know it sounds funny, but that’s what makes it easy to remember. The tee – or more specifically how high the ball is teed up – determines how consistently your iron shots off the tee will be. The main point to remember is that the ball needs to be teed up much closer to the ground when using an iron versus when using a driver. This will make it easier to hit down on the ball, which provides the necessary backspin to create lift and provide a high-arcing flight path, especially once you master the ideal iron swing. Also, it is imperative to ensure that the ball is teed high enough so that it is possible to get the entire club face on the ball.
How to Hit Irons Off The Tee – Right and Wrong Tee Heights
The image to the left is an example of a ball that is teed up too high to consistently hit solid iron shots. This is an ideal tee-height for hitting a driver from, but is not ideal when hitting irons off the tee. When the ball is teed high as in the image to the left, it becomes much more likely to a) not hit down on the ball and b) hit beneath the ball and pop-it up high without any distance.
Now imagine the hand in the photo continued to insert the tee into the ground until the surrounding fingers were ‘pinched’ between the ball and the ground. This would approach the ideal tee height for playing iron shots from the tee. Personally, I like the ball teed-up even closer to the ground so that I can’t even fit my index finger between the ball and the ground.
The image to the left is closer to what I consider an ideal teed-up ball height at address and is probably the most frequently used by beginners when learning how to hit irons off the tee. I prefer the ball slightly closer to the ground when I play my iron tee-shots, but I think the difference between the wrong tee-height in the image above and the more ideal tee-height (to the left) is fairly obvious.
Remember when playing any iron shots, the clubface at address needs to be square and the ideal contact is a descending blow starting just below the center line of the ball. Check out more specifics about how improving your iron play can help lower your score.
Conclusion
Finally, just remember this simple catchphrase when playing your next iron shot off the tee: ‘The tee (height) is the key!’ Try to keep the pictures above in mind as you set your ball and always take advantage of the opportunity to give yourself ‘a perfect lie’. The PGA Tour pros would never miss such an opportunity and you shouldn’t either.
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How to Swing a Hybrid Golf Club
Hybrid golf clubs differ from standard woods and irons in that hybrid clubs have lower centers-of-gravity (CG) and – in most cases – increased face angles. What this means is that hybrid clubs can help achieve a higher trajectories (than your long irons) at slower swing speeds. This makes 
hybrid golf clubs ideal for anyone who has slower swing speeds. This is typically beginning golfers, junior golfers, and female golfers. This is not to say that hybrid clubs should only be used by these three classes of golfers – not at all – as the advances in hybrid club technology are quite remarkable and do have a place in almost any golfer’s bag. The key when learning how to swing a hybrid golf club is to make solid contact and ensure that the clubface of the hybrid club contacts the ball squarely.
As hybrid clubs have increased face angles the idea with most hybrid clubs is that you want to hit down on the ball with them in order to achieve high trajecories. In order to accomplish this is ot a good idea to keep the ball to the center or slightly behind center in your stance. One common mistake many beginning hybrid club players – and beginning golfers in general – make is that they want to keep hybrid clubs too close to the front of their stance. The result with this ball position is that the goolfer will tend to hit up on the ball instead of down and not achieve a good, high flight path.
The lower center-of-gravity (CG) of these clubs and the smaller (lighter) club head means that it is not necessary to overpower them to achieve good distance and higher trajectories than you might have experienced with your long irons even at slower swing speeds. Swing tempo is critical when executing a golf shot with one of the hybrid clubs. The ideal swing speed is slow and steady in order to achieve good rhythm and contact with the club’s ‘sweet spot’
How to Swing a Hybrid Golf Club Video
The video above presented by GolfTipsMag.com demonstrates some key elements of executing a golf swing with a hybrid club.
The new class of hybrid golf club definitely has a place in the bag of golfers of all skill levels and can help beginning and intermediate level golfers execute shots that may be difficult to accomplish with traditional long irons. Give these clubs a try and you may become a convert too!
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Best Golf Swing Training Aids
One of the things that can become overwhelming for beginners who want to learn how to play golf or golfers of any level who just want to improve is the overwhelming number of golf swing training aids available on the market today. How do you know which of these teaching tools is best for you and how do you separate the real innovative products from the ones that simply do not work? I’ve tried to review some of the better products in this article so that you can make a more educated decision when and if you decide to try any of these training aids yourself. I’m sure there are more decent learning tools for beginning golfers than I have highlighted in this article, but I feel more comfortable discussing those products that I have used myself. If you think of any I may have missed that you think should have been included and that you use, please add a comment!
Golf swing training aids – in a nutshell – try to help golfers improve by enabling them to develop a more consistent, repeatable swing. A simple swing that is easy to repeat is one of the first things a golfer needs to learn. The rest of this game follows from that one fundamental concept.
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Best Golf Swing Training Aids
Medicus Dual Hinged Driver
The Medicus Dual Hinged Driver is a special type of golf club that consists of two
separate, adjustable hinges that will ‘break’ or cause the shaft of the club to become out-of-line. This occurs any time the user exhibits any number of fundamental swing flaws – such as swinging off-plane or too fast - during the execution of the golf swing. This innovative swing trainer provides instant feedback to the user and can immediately detect many different types of swing flaws. Once the golfer can swing the Medicus club, consistently, without it ‘breaking’ this is a good indication that he or she has developed the necessary muscle memory to execute a solid, repeatable golf swing. Medicus also now makes hinged irons, as well. Read our full review of the Medicus Dual Hinged Driver.
Swingyde Golf Swing Training Aid
The Swingyde Golf Swing Training Aid can help golfers of all skill levels consistently maintain a square clubface at impact. This revolutionary teaching tool does this by 
allowing the wrists to hinge correctly or rather by preventing the wrists from hinging incorrectly. The result is that the golfer maintains proper club face alignment through impact. If you’ve read any other articles on this website one of the things I have learned and continue to preach is that the best way to accomplish an expert-level golf shot is to have the clubface contact the ball squarely. When it comes right down to it – a square club face at impact is what we’re all trying to achieve. The innovative aspect of the Swingyde Training Aid is that it is a very simple tool, does not cost a lot (about $29 on InTheHoleGolf.com last time I checked) and yet is very effective at accomplishing its goal.
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The Simple Golf Swing Instructional Course
The Simple Golf Swing series of ebooks has been a staple of online golf instruction for quite awhile now. One of the fundamental concepts of this series of instructional manuals is that a simple golf swing is really the best golf swing. By simplifying the fundamental concepts of the swing it then becomes i) easier to learn by golfers of all skill levels and ii) easy to repeat consistently, which are two of the key attributes of any good swing. Beginners need to be able to learn a fundamentally correct swing relatively easily and develop the capability to repeat that swing consistently. This is what the Simple Golf Swing training course delivers. See what professional golf instructor David Nevogt has to say about the Simple Golf Swing!
Orange Whip
A training tool specifically designed to improve your golf fitness the Orange Whip will help your golf swing by strengthening the core muscles that come into play each and every time you swing the golf club. This teaching aid has a unique weighting system at both ends and a flexible shaft that provides counter-resistance when you execute your normal golf swing using the Orange Whip. The weighting system of this unique training club can also help improve your balance, accuracy, and consistency on every shot. Unlike the Medicus, the Orange Whip is NOT the type of training club with which you can hit actual shots, but don’t let that discourage you from trying this unique tool. You can get more information about this unique training aid and also view a video to learn more about the Orange Whip golf swing trainers here.
Of course I will continue to add what I consider some of the top golf swing training aids to this list and I encourage anyone to please add a comment if you have successfully used any learning tools that I have not identified here. Again, I realize there are many, many more products that can help beginning and intermediate level golfers improve, but so far I have decided to limit the list to products I’ve used myself. As I try more products I will update the above list with both good and bad experiences.
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