How to Increase Loft in a Golf Swing

Hitting a towering iron shot that lands softly on the green is one of the most satisfying feelings in golf. If you find your shots flying too low and running through the green, you’re losing out on scoring opportunities. This article breaks down exactly how to increase the loft in your golf swing, covering simple setup adjustments and swing feelings that will have you launching the ball higher and stopping it faster on the greens.

What "Adding Loft" Actually Means

Before we get into the fixes, let’s quickly understand what we're trying to achieve. Every iron and wedge in your bag has a specific loft angle built in - a 9-iron has more than a 7-iron, and a sand wedge has more than a 9-iron. However, the loft you actually deliver to the ball at impact, known as dynamic loft, is what really determines how high your ball flies.

Many amateur golfers unintentionally do things that decrease their dynamic loft. The most common cause is an excessive forward lean of the club shaft at impact - a move often taught to "compress the ball." While some forward lean is good, too much of it turns your 9-iron into a 7-iron, reducing loft and sending the ball out on a much lower, hotter trajectory. Our goal is to simply deliver the club's intended loft to the ball, not to unnaturally scoop it into the air.

Part 1: Simple Setup Changes for a Higher Launch

The easiest way to start hitting higher shots is to make adjustments before you even start your swing. Your setup programs your swing, and a few small tweaks here can make a world of difference without needing a major swing overhaul.

Adjust Your Ball Position

Where you place the ball in your stance has a direct effect on launch. For short and mid-irons (wedges through 8-iron), new golfers are often told to play the ball in the dead center of their stance. While a good starting point, if you’re looking for more height, you can experiment with moving the ball slightly forward.

Try moving the ball about one ball-width forward of center. For a right-handed golfer, this means it will be slightly closer to your left foot. Why does this work? The bottom of your swing arc naturally occurs around the center of your stance. By placing the ball slightly forward of that low point, the club head will be traveling slightly upward as it makes contact, which increases dynamic loft and launch angle. Be careful not to go too far forward, as this can lead to thin or fat shots if you don't make other compensations.

Reduce Forward Shaft Lean at Address

This is a huge one. Many players think they need to press their hands way ahead of the golf ball at setup to get good contact. While this can work for low, punchy shots, it pre-sets a de-lofted clubface. To hit a higher shot, let's present the loft to the ball from the start.

• Set up to the ball as you normally would.
• Now, look down at your hands. If the club shaft is leaning significantly toward the target, relax your arms and hands so the end of the grip is pointing closer to the center of your body (your zipper or belt buckle) rather than your lead thigh.
• Your hands should feel like they are directly in line with or only very slightly ahead of the clubhead.

This more "neutral" shaft position encourages the club to return to the ball with more of its natural loft intact. It feels less powerful to many players at first, but you'll be surprised at how much higher the ball flies without sacrificing much distance.

Widen Your Stance (Slightly)

For shots where you really need height, like getting over a bunker with a wedge, widening your stance by an inch or two can help. A wider stance lowers your center of gravity and slightly shallows out your swing arc. A shallower arc allows you to use the sole of the club - often called the "bounce" - more effectively to skim through the turf instead of digging. This skimming motion is perfect for adding loft and creating soft-landing shots.

Part 2: In-Swing Adjustments for Maximum Height

Once your setup is primed for a higher launch, you can focus on a couple of feels within the swing itself. The goal here isn't to make big, contorted moves but to feel a smoother, wider swinging motion.

Feel a Shallower Angle of Attack

A steep, "chopping" downswing drives the ball forward on a low line. To hit the ball higher, you need to feel a shallower, more sweeping motion into the ball. The idea is to feel the club working more around your body, not just up and down.

A great way to train this feeling is with a simple headcover drill:

1. Place a headcover on the ground about a foot in front of your golf ball, directly on your target line.
2. Your goal is to hit the ball and have your swing miss the headcover on the follow-through.
3. If you are too steep, your swing path will be going down into the ground and you will clobber the headcover after you hit the ball.
4. To miss it, you have to swing on a shallower plane, coming into the ball and then ascending on the other side. This is the exact motion that promotes a higher launch angle.

Embrace the "Release"

The term "release" sounds complicated, but it's simply the natural un-hinging of your wrists through the impact area. Players who de-loft the club are often trying too hard to hold onto the wrist hinge (the "lag") for too long, essentially dragging the handle past the ball instead of swinging the clubhead.

To hit higher shots, you must allow the clubhead to pass your hands at or just after impact. Here's a feeling to focus on:

As you come into the downswing, feel as though you are going to "throw" the clubhead at the ball with your right hand (for a right-handed player). Imagine skipping a stone across water. You wouldn't drag your hand in front of the stone, you would let your wrist flick to generate speed at the end. It's the same feeling here.

This allows your wrists to un-hinge, delivering the clubface with its full loft and generating effortless speed where it counts: at the moment of impact.

Finish High and Balanced

Your follow-through is a rearview mirror of your swing. A short, "cut-off" finish often indicates that your body stopped rotating, forcing your arms to do all the work and resulting in a steep, digging motion.

Commit to a full and complete finish position on every high shot you want to hit. After impact, feel like your chest and hips continue rotating all the way around toward the target. Your arms should extend fully down the line before finishing up high and relaxed over your lead shoulder. This full rotation clears your body out of the way, giving your arms the freedom and space they need to release the club properly and send the ball soaring.

Practice Drill: The Low Tee Sweep

At the driving range, take a short iron (like a 9-iron or a pitching wedge) and place the ball on a tee, but push it almost all the way into the ground. It should only be lifted off the turf by a quarter of an inch, if that.

Your goal is to swing and sweep the ball off the tee cleanly, without hitting the tee or taking a big divot. This forces you to shallow out your swing and find the true bottom of your arc. It’s nearly impossible to hit this shot cleanly if you’re steep. Once you can consistently clip the ball off the low tee with a high flight, take that same feeling to the grass. You'll have newfound control over your trajectory.

Final Thoughts

Learning how to add loft isn’t complicated, it's about making small, intentional adjustments to deliver the club's built-in loft effectively. By tweaking your setup with a more neutral shaft lean and forward ball position, and then focusing on a smooth, shallow swing that allows the club to release, you can turn low, running shots into high, soft-landing approaches.

Making these changes often requires a feel that might be new to you. Having a reliable second opinion can be invaluable, especially when you're trying to figure out which shot to play from a tricky lie. On those tough approach shots, we built Caddie AI to help remove the guesswork. You can describe your situation or even snap a photo of your lie, and we’ll give you instant, smart advice on the best way to play the shot, helping you choose the right club and strategy to get the ball up, over the trouble, and safely on the green.