Fix Shanks 3 Aug 2026 8 min read

Stop Trying To Hit Down On Your Irons: Fix Your Strike Instead

If you have been told to hit down on your irons, but your contact is getting heavier, steeper, or less predictable, the problem may be the way you are interpreting that advice.

A good iron strike normally has a downward component. The issue starts when a golfer tries to create that downward hit by throwing the upper body at the ball, moving the ball too far back, or driving the club too steeply into the turf.

That is when trying to hit down on your irons turns into heavy divots, pulls, shanks, and inconsistent strike.

The Quick Answer

If trying to hit down on your irons is ruining your strike, check three things before adding another swing thought:

1. Your alignment may be aimed right, which can make an over-the-top pattern look confusing.
2. Your ball position may be too far back, adding even more steepness.
3. Your upper body may be moving toward the ball in transition, which steepens the club and worsens turf contact.

The better goal is not to smash down harder. It is to get the club working on a better plane, keep the body from lunging forward, and learn to clip the ball cleanly with a shallower delivery.

Why Trying To Hit Down Can Make Contact Worse

The phrase “hit down” is easy to misunderstand.

For a good player, the club can be travelling slightly downward because the low point of the swing is forward of the ball. That is different from forcing the handle, chest, and shoulders down into the ball.

When Arman tried to create strike by hitting down, his downswing became too steep. The club drove into the ground, the divots got heavy, and his body moved into positions that made consistent contact harder.

The coaching point is simple: if the thought makes your swing steeper, it is not helping your strike.

The Signs Your Downswing Is Getting Too Steep

A steep downswing does not always show up as one single bad shot. It can appear as a cluster of patterns:

• Heavy divots.
• Chunks or tops.
• Pulls with irons.
• A strike that feels rushed from the top.
• Occasional shanks when the body moves closer to the ball.
• Good shots that are much better than the bad shots.

That final point matters. Andy’s coaching line was that consistency is really about how good your bad shots are. If your good shots are solid but your misses are miles away, the win is often in reducing the size of the miss, not chasing a perfect strike.

In Arman’s case, Swing Coach feedback showed the club getting steep in delivery. The face-on view also showed the spine and lead shoulder moving too far forward. That upper-body move pushed the club into the ground and increased hosel/shank risk.

The important lesson is that the club was not the only issue. The body movement was creating the steepness. If you want a deeper related breakdown, MMG also has a guide on how to shallow the golf club earlier in the downswing.

Check Your Alignment Before Changing Your Swing

Before changing the whole golf swing, check where you are aimed.

Arman was aiming right. When a golfer aims right and then swings over, the club path number can still appear to move right of the target. That can make the pattern hard to understand.

This is why alignment matters. You can have a steep-looking move and still get confusing ball-flight or launch-monitor feedback if the setup is misaligned.

Use an alignment stick or a club on the ground and check that:

1. Your feet and body are parallel to the target line.
2. The gap from each toe to the alignment reference is even.
3. Your ball position has not crept too far back.
4. You look at the target and accept that square may feel left at first.

For many golfers, 10-15 minutes of setup training can remove a fault they were about to blame on the swing. If this section is where you struggle most, review these setup changes before chasing another downswing fix.

Use The Takeaway To Fix Your Swing Plane

Once alignment is clearer, check the first part of the swing.

At the point where the club is parallel to the ground in the backswing, the club should also be roughly parallel to your feet line and target line. That is the simple checkpoint.

If the clubhead is too far behind your hands, the club has gone inside. If it is too far outside your hands, it has gone outside. Arman’s old pattern was more inside on the way back, then steep on the way down.

The fix was not to throw the hands out. It was to move the arms, shoulders, and body together so the club arrived in a better place early. That is why a backswing mistake can show up later as poor contact, even when the problem feels like it happens in the downswing.

Think: turn the unit, keep the club on plane, then let the downswing shallow from there.

The Drill: Tee It Up And Clip It Clean

The best drill from this lesson is deliberately simple.

Tee the ball up with an iron. Make a rehearsal where the club feels slightly more over/on-plane going back, then shallower coming down. Your goal is not to dig. Your goal is to clip the ball off the tee.

This encourages the opposite of the old pattern:

• Old pattern: inside on the way back, steep on the way down.
• Better pattern: more on-plane going back, shallower on the way down.

The body feel is important. The left shoulder should work more up through the strike, not toward the ball. If the upper body lunges forward, the club wants to steepen. If the body shifts, tilts, and turns better, it becomes much easier to shallow the club.

What Better Iron Contact Should Feel Like

Better iron contact should not feel like you are stabbing the club into the ground.

It should feel more controlled, more sequenced, and easier to finish. You may feel as if the club is more behind you coming down. You may also feel as if your left shoulder works up instead of forward.

The key is not to overdo the correction. If you take the club too far outside on the way back, or if you sway and tilt away from the target, you can create a new fault.

Use this practice order:

1. Check alignment.
2. Move the ball closer to a sensible iron position, not excessively back.
3. Rehearse the takeaway checkpoint.
4. Tee the ball up.
5. Clip it cleanly without digging.
6. Add speed only when the strike stays controlled.

If you want clearer golf swing feedback on whether the move is improving, use the Swing Coach app to check the takeaway, delivery, and body-position changes you are trying to make.

FAQs

Should I hit down on my irons?

A good iron strike can include a downward strike, but forcing the club down is different. If the thought makes you steep, heavy, or rushed, focus on setup, plane, and body movement instead.

Why do I take heavy divots with irons?

Heavy divots can come from a steep downswing, the ball too far back, poor alignment, or the upper body moving too far forward in transition. If your main issue is divot depth, this related guide explains whether you should take a divot and what that divot should tell you.

Can a steep downswing cause shanks?

It can contribute. If the upper body moves toward the ball, the club can get thrown out and the hosel can move closer to impact.

How do I shallow the club without flipping?

Use your body and the club’s plane, not just your hands. A tee drill can help you feel a shallower delivery while still controlling strike.

Where should the ball be for iron shots?

It depends on the club, but avoid letting the ball creep too far back just because you are trying to hit down. A back ball position can add steepness.

Try This Next

If your strike feels inconsistent, do not add five more swing thoughts. Get clear on the pattern, rehearse one checkpoint, and use feedback so you know whether the move actually changed.

For more work on the same scoring problem, use this related lesson on building a consistent strike with your irons.