I will swallow my distaste for any face-on views of my swing back in 2017 (the right hand grip is all wrong) to illustrate just how easy it is to hit one’s irons and wedges with a vertical swing mindset.

I have a Pitching Wedge in this particular swing in real speed and slo-mo, and all I’m doing is making a back pivot to the top and then swinging down and through to the finish with no mind of the ball whatsoever – it just gets in the way.

The setup:

… nearly optimal but for the right hand grip and what you can’t see, that I’m about to make a left-dominant swing – aside from those two factors, I wouldn’t change a thing about the setup.

As far as the swing action, I’d like to see a little press or other motion, perhaps with the trailing leg (a little bump target-ward) to trigger the back pivot – it’s definitely what I’m doing at the moment.

As you see, I’m not swinging at the ball, but rather just down to the swing bottom and through to the finish in one motion.

Impact, Swing Bottom & Follow-Through

The swing is finished at the swing bottom, and the rest of the motion is simply momentum taking me to the finish.

Think of the release as no more than that – if you were going to actually release the club, it wouldn’t be at the target but at the ground in front of you: