How to Improve Approach Shots in Golf

Hitting a towering drive down the middle is a great feeling, but dialing in your approach shots is what truly separates good scores from great ones. This is the moment of truth in golf - the shot that defines whether you have a legitimate birdie look or you're grinding to save par. This guide breaks down the essential skills, repeatable swings, and smart strategies you need to turn your iron play into a reliable strength, helping you hit more greens and feel more confident over the ball.

What a "Good" Approach Shot Actually Is

Before we touch a club, we need to shift our mindset. Most amateurs have a binary view of approach shots: either it’s right next to the pin (a success) or it’s not (a failure). That’s a recipe for frustration. The pros don't think this way, and neither should you. A “good” approach shot is one that leaves you with a high-percentage next shot, which is usually a putt.

Does it have to be a tap-in? Of course not. An iron shot that lands safely on the green, 20 or 30 feet from the hole, is a huge win. It eliminates the risk of a chip, a pitch from thick rough, or a dreaded bunker shot. The goal isn't perfection, it's proficiency. Your primary job on an approach shot is to get your ball onto the putting surface. Anything closer to the pin is a bonus.

Remember this: a green in regulation (GIR) is one of the most important stats for lowering your handicap. Focus on hitting the great, big fat part of the green first. As you improve, you can start aiming for smaller sections of it.

Distance Control: The Single Most Important Skill

The number one reason amateurs miss greens isn't direction - it's distance. They fly the green or come up short way more often than they miss left or right. So, if you want to make a real impact on your scores, start with distance control. This isn’t a mysterious talent, it’s a skill you can build.

Find Your "Stock" Yardages

You must know, without a doubt, how far each of your irons and wedges flies with a normal, smooth swing. Not a super-powered, stepping-on-it swing, but a repeatable 80% effort swing. This is your "stock" yardage.

How to find it:

• Go to a driving range with accurate yardage markers (or use a personal launch monitor).
• Forget the target. Just focus on making a normal, rhythmic swing with your 9-iron.
• Hit about 10-15 balls. Ignore the one you absolutely crushed and the one you mishit badly.
• Observe where the majority of your good shots are landing. That general area is your stock yardage for that club.
• Write it down in a notebook or on your phone. Repeat this process for every club from your wedges up to your 5-iron.

Having this personal yardage chart removes the biggest piece of guesswork on the course. You'll stop wondering, “Is this a 9-iron or an 8-iron?” You’ll know.

Develop Feel with the Ladder Drill

Besides knowing your full-swing distances, you need to develop a feel for "in-between" shots, especially with your wedges. This simple drill is fantastic for that.

1. Pick a single club, like your pitching wedge.
2. Imagine a target 30 yards away. Hit a few balls, trying to land them right at 30 yards. Pay attention to how big your backswing was and how your body rotated. Did it feel like your hands went to your thigh? Your waist?
3. Now, try to hit to a 40-yard target. Your swing will naturally be a little longer and faster.
4. Keep moving back in 10-yard increments: 50, 60, 70, up to your full swing.

As you do this, you're not just practicing, you're calibrating your body to different distances. You’re building a library of different swing “sizes” you can call upon when you're 75 yards out instead of just trying to take something off a full shot.

The Setup: Building a Solid Foundation

You can’t make a consistent, repeatable swing from an inconsistent setup. Getting this right is straightforward and massively increases your chances of pure contact.

The philosophy here is simple: posture creates power and consistency. We need to stand to the ball in an athletic way that allows our body to turn freely.

Key Setup Points for Irons:

• Ball Position: For your short irons (PW, 9-iron, 8-iron), the ball should be in the absolute center of your stance. Lined up with the buttons on your shirt or your breastbone. As you move to your mid-irons (7-iron, 6-iron), the ball creeps just a tiny bit forward - maybe a ball's width - but it absolutely does not move all the way up to your front foot like a driver.
• Posture: Start by getting into your athletic stance with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Then, hinge from your hips - not your waist. Push your bottom backwards, which allows your upper body to tilt forward over the ball while your spine stays relatively straight.
• Arm Hang: From this hinged posture, let your arms hang straight down naturally from your shoulders. Where they hang is where your hands should be. This prevents you from reaching for the ball or having the club too jammed into your body, both of which restrict your swing.
• Weight Distribution: For a standard iron shot from a flat lie, your weight should feel balanced 50/50 between your feet. Not leaning back, not leaning forward. Just stable and centered.

When you nail this setup, it feels stable and athletic. You might feel like you're sticking your bum out more than usual, but trust the process. You look like a golfer ready to make a great swing.

The Approach Swing: Controlled Rotation, Not Brute Force

Your iron swing has a different job than your driver swing. A driver swing is about maximizing distance and hitting a wide landing area (the fairway). An iron swing is about precision - controlling distance and direction to hit a much smaller target (the green). This means your technique should be different.

It starts with realizing the swing is a rotational action powered by your body. Your arms and hands are along for the ride, but the big muscles in your torso and hips are the engine.

Think "Three-Quarter" Swing for Maximum Control

Instead of trying to wrap the club around your neck like you do with a driver, shorten your backswing for your irons. A great checkpoint is to feel like your hands stop somewhere around shoulder height, or just when your lead arm is parallel to the ground. This feels like a "three-quarter" swing.

Why does this work?

1. It improves sync: A shorter swing makes it much easier to keep your arm rotation and body rotation in sync, leading to more consistent timing and solid contact.
2. It reduces variables: The longer the swing, the more time there is for things to go wrong. A more compact swing is easier to repeat under pressure.
3. It promotes acceleration: From a shorter backswing, you're more likely to accelerate *through* the ball, which is what compresses the ball and creates that crisp sound and pure flight.

Shift and Unwind

From the top of that controlled backswing, the first move down isn’t with your hands or arms. It’s a slight shift of pressure towards your front foot. Then, you simply unwind your hips and torso, letting your arms and the club follow that rotation through to the ball. This is how you hit down on the ball, compressing it against the clubface for high, spinning shots.

Finally, hold your finish. A balanced finish position with almost all your weight on your front foot, chest facing the target, is proof that your swing was in good sequence. Don't collapse after impact - commit to turning all the way through to a picture-perfect pose.

On-Course Strategy: Making Smarter Decisions

Great technique means nothing if you have poor strategy. A smart approach shot plan can save you several strokes per round.

• Aim for the Center of the Green: This isn't glamourous, but it's the smartest play 90% of the time. Pins are often tucked near the edges, close to bunkers or water. Aiming for the big, safe middle part of the green gives you the largest margin for error. A slight pull or push still finds the putting surface.
• Club Up and Swing Smooth: Facing a 150-yard shot? Is that a full-out 8-iron or a smooth 7-iron? Always - always - choose the smooth 7-iron. Trying to wring every last yard out of a club tightens your muscles, ruins your tempo, and leads to mishits. Taking more club and making a controlled, balanced 80% swing is the hallmark of a smart golfer.
• Respect the Conditions: Wind is a huge factor. A common mistake is to swing harder into the wind, which just adds more backspin and makes the ball balloon up and go shorter. Same rule applies: take more club and swing smoothly. For a downhill lie, the ball will naturally come out lower and run more, so you might need less club. For an uphill lie, the ball will launch higher and stop faster, so take more club.

Final Thoughts

Transforming your approach shots boils down to a few core ideas: develop unwavering confidence in your yardages, build a repeatable swing founded on a solid setup and body rotation, and always play the percentages by aiming for the safe part of the green. This isn't an overnight fix, but by practicing with purpose, you'll start hitting more greens, giving yourself more birdie putts, and enjoying that incredible feeling of a purely struck iron shot.

Bringing these ideas onto the course is where the real learning happens, and that's exactly why we built our app. When you're standing over the ball, caught between clubs or facing a confusing lie, we designed Caddie AI to be your personal on-course advisor. You can get an instant club recommendation based on the yardage and conditions, or even snap a quick photo of your ball's lie to get simple, expert advice on how to handle the shot. It helps remove doubt so you can commit to your swing and play with more confidence.