Why Your Irons Go Right: The Block & Real Cause
Why Do Your Irons Go Right? The Block Explained — and the Real Cause Behind It
Last Updated: July 09, 2025
By Coach Erik Schjolberg | The Science of Better Golf | McCormick Ranch Golf Club, Scottsdale, Arizona
You step up to a 7-iron. You make what feels like a solid swing. The ball launches straight, then drifts — or jets — right of your target. No pull, no slice spin. Just a dead push into the rough or the bunker on the right side. You hit it again. Same thing. You aim left. It still goes right.
That is a block. And if you've been playing golf for more than a season, you have hit one. Probably more than one.
Here is what most instruction gets wrong about the block: it treats the rightward miss as a path problem. Coaches tell you to swing more left, to "cover the ball," to come more over the top. Some of that might move the ball back toward center. None of it fixes the actual cause.
The block is almost never a swing direction problem. It is a face problem caused by a sequencing problem caused by a pressure problem.
After analyzing thousands of swings on TrackMan and working with students at McCormick Ranch Golf Club in Scottsdale, I can tell you with certainty: the golfers who block their irons right are not swinging too far in-to-out. They are hanging back on their trail side, their lower body is stalling, and their club face is wide open at impact because the pivot stopped and the hands had to do something to get the club to the ball.
This post breaks down the full cause-and-effect chain — from what you feel, to what TrackMan shows, to what is actually happening in your body, to the exact drills that fix it for good.
Key Takeaways
A blocked iron shot (straight right, no curve) means the club face is open relative to path at impact — but the path is not the primary cause.
The most common root cause is trail-side pressure hang, which kills the pivot and leaves the face open.
Start line is governed by club face angle at impact; if the ball starts right, the face is pointing right.
A stalled lower body forces the hands to flip or hold on — both produce open-face conditions.
Fixing the block requires restoring pressure shift and pivot, not just changing swing direction.
Constraint-led drills like the Force Pedal Setup and Pivot Driven Release address the cause, not the symptom.
You can measure and confirm the fix immediately on TrackMan — face angle at impact is the scoreboard.
Rory McIlroy driver down-the-line — professional golf swing reference — Coach Erik Schjolberg Golf instruction
What Is a Blocked Iron Shot, Exactly?
A block is a shot that starts right of your target and continues right — with little to no left-to-right curvature. It is not a slice. A slice starts left (or at target) and curves right. A block starts right and stays right, or has mild draw spin that is not enough to bring it back to the target.
The distinction matters because the causes are completely different.
Ball flight laws — confirmed by TrackMan data and the research of Dr. Sasho MacKenzie — tell us that start line is approximately 75-85% determined by club face angle at impact. The ball does not know what your path is doing. It only responds to what the face is pointing when contact is made. If your ball starts right, your face is pointing right. Period.
The curvature after launch is determined by the face-to-path relationship. A block with mild draw spin means the path is slightly more in-to-out than the face — but the face is still open to the target. A pure block with no curve means face and path are both pointing right of target.
What TrackMan Shows on a Typical Block
Here is what I see on TrackMan when a student blocks a 7-iron:
MeasurementTour Average (7-iron)Typical BlockFace Angle-1° to +1° (square)+3° to +7° openClub Path0° to +3° in-to-out+2° to +5° in-to-outFace-to-Path-1° to +1°+1° to +3° (slight draw)Attack Angle-4° to -5°-1° to -3° (shallow)Dynamic Loft22°-24°26°-30° (high)Forward Shaft Lean4°-6°0°-2° (minimal)
The face is open. The attack angle is shallow. The shaft is nearly vertical at impact. The dynamic loft is too high. Every one of those numbers points to the same root cause: the pivot broke down before impact, the lower body stalled, and the hands held on or flipped to compensate.
Citation Hook: According to TrackMan's ball flight research, club face angle at impact accounts for approximately 75-85% of the initial start direction of a golf shot, making face control the single most critical variable in eliminating directional misses.
What Actually Causes the Block?
The block is a downstream symptom. The cause is almost always one of three things — and they are usually connected.
The real cause is a failure of the kinematic sequence: the lower body stops rotating through impact, the pelvis does not decelerate to drive the torso, and the club face arrives open because the pivot never completed its job.
Cause 1: Trail-Side Pressure Hang (Hanging Back)
This is the most common cause I see at McCormick Ranch Golf Club. The golfer loads the trail side correctly in the backswing but fails to shift pressure to the lead side in the downswing. The center of mass stays behind the ball. The low point shifts behind the ball. The arc bottoms out too early. And the face — which needed the pivot to square it — arrives open.
When pressure stays on the trail foot through impact, the body has to do one of two things to get the club to the ball:
Hold on — the hands and forearms resist rotation, keeping the face open. The ball goes right.
Flip — the trail hand fires early to add loft and close the face. The ball goes left with a flip, or thin right with an early flip that misses.
Most blockers are "holders." They make a decent-looking swing, but the face never gets back to square because the body never gave it the pivot it needed to close.
Cause 2: Early Extension
Early extension is when the hips thrust toward the ball during the downswing, reducing the hip-to-ball distance. This forces the arms to redirect outward or the face to stay open to avoid a shank. On TrackMan, I see early extension paired with a shallow attack angle, high dynamic loft, and an open face. The golfer feels like they are "hitting through it" — but the club head is actually moving away from the ball's original position, not into it.
Citation Hook: Research by Dr. Scott Lynn and colleagues at TPI has shown that early extension is one of the most common physical swing faults in amateur golfers, directly linked to loss of posture, altered swing plane, and open club face conditions at impact.
Cause 3: Path Too Far In-to-Out Without Face Matching
Some golfers develop an excessively in-to-out path — often as a response to being told to "come from the inside." The path swings right of target, and if the face is not closed enough to match, the ball starts right and has mild draw spin that does not bring it back. This is a matchup problem. The face and path are not in agreement.
This is less common as a standalone cause. More often, the excessive in-to-out path is itself a product of the lower body stalling — the club drops too far behind and the hands have to swing out to find the ball.
Coach Erik Schjolberg coaching a student's golf swing with hands-on instruction at McCormick Ranch Golf Club Scottsdale
How Does the Pivot Failure Produce an Open Face?
This is the biomechanics question most instruction skips over. Let me answer it precisely.
The club face squares through impact primarily because of forearm rotation — specifically, the trail forearm supinating and the lead forearm pronating through the strike. That rotation is driven by the pivot. When the torso and pelvis rotate correctly through the ball, the arms are pulled through the impact zone and the forearms rotate naturally. The face squares without conscious effort.
When the pivot stalls, the forearm rotation has no engine. The face stays wherever it was when the body stopped moving.
Dr. Sasho MacKenzie's work on the kinematic sequence confirms this: the proximal-to-distal energy transfer — lower body to pelvis to torso to lead arm to club — is not just about speed. It is about timing. When the lower body decelerates on cue, it drives the torso forward. When the torso decelerates on cue, it drives the arms. When the arms decelerate, the club releases. If any link in that chain fails to decelerate, the next link does not accelerate. A stalled pelvis means a slow torso. A slow torso means the arms outrun the body. Arms outrunning the body means the face cannot square in time.
This is why "rotate harder" is not the answer. Rotation without proper sequencing and deceleration does not close the face — it just changes the path.
For a deeper look at how forward shaft lean and low point connect to this chain, read my post on forward shaft lean and low point control.
The Block vs. The Pull: How to Tell Them Apart
Before you fix anything, you need to confirm what you are actually hitting. I see students come in thinking they have a block when they actually have a pull, or vice versa.
CharacteristicBlockPullStart lineRight of targetLeft of targetCurvatureStraight or mild drawStraight or mild fadeFace angle at impactOpen to targetClosed to target or squarePathIn-to-out or squareOut-to-inFeels likeSolid but rightPulled, sometimes thinCommon causeStalled pivot, hanging backOver-the-top, steep path
If your ball starts right, you have a block. If your ball starts left, you have a pull. These require opposite fixes. Treating a block like a pull will make your game worse, not better.
What Is the Fix? The Cause-and-Effect Repair Sequence
I work through this in a specific order at The Science of Better Golf. Fixing a block means restoring the kinematic sequence from the ground up. Here is the sequence I use.
Step 1: Restore Pressure Shift
The fix starts at the ground. If pressure is not shifting to the lead side in the downswing, nothing else will work.
Force Pedal Setup is the first drill I assign. Here is how I use it:
Take your normal address position with a 7-iron.
Place a small wedge or folded towel under the heel of your trail foot — this pre-loads the lead side and makes it physically easier to shift pressure forward.
Make slow half-swings, feeling the weight drive into the lead heel at the start of the downswing.
Confirm: at impact, your belt buckle should be past the inside of your lead ankle. If it is not, you are still hanging back.
The Force Pedal Setup does not just cue a feel — it changes the physical geometry of the setup so the correct pressure shift becomes the path of least resistance. The body learns faster solving a physical problem than executing a verbal instruction.
Stork Drill is my second tool here. Stand on your lead foot only, trail foot lifted. Make chip-swing-length swings. You cannot hang back when you are balancing on one foot. This drill makes the pressure shift mandatory, not optional.
Step 2: Restore the Pivot Through Impact
Once pressure is shifting, the pivot needs to fire. A stalled pivot is often a mobility issue as much as a motor pattern issue.
Tush Line Wall Drill: Stand with your glutes touching a wall at address. Make your swing without your hips moving toward the ball (early extension) and without your hips moving away from the wall (hanging back). The wall gives immediate feedback on both errors. If your hips come off the wall into the ball, you are extending early. If your hips never come close to the wall, you never loaded properly.
Straight Lead Leg Post: At impact and through the follow-through, the lead leg should be straight or nearly straight — posting up. This deceleration of the lead side is what drives the torso and arms through the ball. If the lead knee buckles, the post never happens, the torso stalls, and the face stays open. Practice making swings where you consciously straighten the lead leg at impact and hold that position.
Step 3: Re-Educate the Release
With the pressure shift and pivot restored, the release usually self-corrects. But if the pattern has been ingrained for years, the forearms may need direct re-education.
Pivot Driven Release is the drill I use here. The concept is simple: the release is driven by the pivot, not the hands. Make half-swings where you consciously feel the torso pulling the arms through impact. The hands do not rotate the face — the body rotation does. If you feel the club face closing through impact as a result of your body turning (not your hands flipping), you are doing it correctly.
Motorcycle Move is a companion drill for golfers whose forearms are genuinely frozen in the hold-on pattern. At the start of the downswing, feel your trail forearm rotate as if you are revving a motorcycle throttle. This cues the forearm supination that closes the face. Use it as a feel drill, not a mechanical thought during full swings.
Scottie Scheffler chipping unknown — professional golf swing reference — Coach Erik Schjolberg Golf instruction
What About Path? When Is In-to-Out the Problem?
Path is a real variable. If your path is excessively in-to-out — more than +4° to +5° on TrackMan — the ball will tend to start right even if the face is relatively square. But here is the key distinction:
An excessively in-to-out path is usually a consequence of the same pivot failure that opens the face. Fix the pivot first. Measure the path second.
In my testing, when I restore a student's pressure shift and pivot, the path self-corrects by 2-4° in the same session. The club no longer has to drop so far behind because the body is moving through the ball correctly.
If path remains excessively in-to-out after the pivot is restored, I use these tools:
Alignment Stick Gate: Place two alignment sticks on the ground — one just outside the lead foot line, one just inside the trail foot line — to create a gate that forces a more neutral path. The physical constraint gives the body a problem to solve rather than a thought to execute.
Hit the Intentional Fade: Ask the student to intentionally hit a fade — left-to-right curve. This requires an out-to-in path relative to the face, which naturally pulls the path back toward neutral. Most blockers who try to hit a fade end up hitting their straightest shots.
Two Tee Gate: Place a tee 2 inches outside the ball on the target line. The task is to miss the outside tee — which requires a more neutral-to-out-to-in path. Simple, effective, immediate feedback.
For more on path correction and how path interacts with face angle in the matchup framework, see my complete guide to swing path and ball flight.
The Early Extension Connection: Why Your Hips Are Making It Worse
Early extension and the block are closely linked — and this connection is underdiagnosed.
When the hips thrust toward the ball in the downswing, the arc of the club shifts outward and upward, the attack angle shallows, and the club face cannot close properly because the geometry of the swing has been disrupted.
I use three drills for early extension in the context of blocking:
Head on Wall Drill: Stand with your head lightly touching a wall or alignment stick held vertically. Make your downswing without your head moving toward the wall. This constraint forces the hips to rotate rather than thrust, keeping the arc stable and the low point in front of the ball.
Chair Push Drill: Place a chair behind you at address, with the back of the chair touching your glutes. Make your swing without pushing back into the chair on the backswing, and without the chair coming forward with you on the downswing. This teaches proper hip rotation — back and around — rather than the in-and-out thrust that causes early extension.
Bungee Cord Clearance: Attach a bungee cord or resistance band to a fixed point at hip height, looped around the lead hip. Make swings where you feel the band pulling the lead hip back and around — not forward and toward the ball. The resistance teaches the correct rotational path of the lead hip through impact.
Citation Hook: Sportsbox AI 3D analysis data shows that amateur golfers who exhibit early extension demonstrate a measurably reduced hip-to-shoulder separation angle at impact, directly limiting club face rotation speed and contributing to open-face contact conditions.
The Complete Block Correction Protocol
Here is the full sequence I use at Coach Erik Schjolberg Golf for a student presenting with a consistent block:
Session 1 — Diagnose and Confirm
TrackMan baseline: confirm face angle, path, attack angle, dynamic loft, smash factor.
High-speed video: identify whether the cause is hanging back, early extension, or path.
HackMotion: measure lead wrist extension at impact to confirm hold-on pattern.
Session 2 — Pressure and Pivot
Force Pedal Setup — 20 half-swings, confirming belt buckle past lead ankle at impact.
Stork Drill — 10 swings on lead foot only, feeling the shift.
Straight Lead Leg Post — 15 swings, hold the finish with lead leg straight.
TrackMan check: face angle should be moving toward square.
Session 3 — Release Pattern
Pivot Driven Release — 20 half-swings, body pulls the arms.
Motorcycle Move — 10 swings with the forearm cue, then blend into full swing.
L-to-L Drill — confirms the release is completing correctly without flip.
Full swings: TrackMan confirms face angle, smash factor, and start line.
Session 4 — Path Refinement (if needed)
Alignment Stick Gate — 15 swings through the gate.
Hit the Intentional Fade — 10 swings, feeling the out-to-in path.
Full swings: confirm face-to-path relationship is within ±3°.
I walk through this drill sequence on video here — watch my full block correction breakdown .
Coach Erik Schjolberg conducting a one-on-one golf lesson focused on ball striking and impact at McCormick Ranch Golf Club in Scottsdale
What About Ball Position? Can That Cause a Block?
Ball position can contribute to a block, but it is rarely the primary cause. If the ball is too far back in your stance, the low point arrives before the ball, the shaft leans back at impact, and the face is often open at that point in the arc. Moving the ball forward one ball-width can reduce the block in some cases.
However, I want to be direct: ball position is a band-aid if the pressure shift and pivot are broken. Fix the sequence first. Then adjust ball position if the miss persists.
For iron shots, I want the ball positioned just forward of center — approximately opposite the logo on your shirt. For longer irons, one ball-width more forward. This gives the arc room to reach low point in front of the ball while the shaft is still leaning forward.
The Fight the Power | Uphill and Downhill drill is useful here. Hitting from a slight uphill lie (lead foot higher than trail foot) forces the low point to shift forward automatically — the hill makes the correct low point position the only option. Use it to train the feeling of ball-first contact before returning to a flat lie.
Why "Swing More Left" Is the Wrong Fix
I need to address this directly because it is the most common advice given for a block — and it is wrong in most cases.
Telling a golfer who blocks to swing more left (more out-to-in) can produce two outcomes:
The path shifts left, the face stays open, and now the ball starts left with a slice. You traded a block for a slice.
The path shifts left, the golfer unconsciously closes the face to compensate, and the ball goes straight — but the root cause (stalled pivot) is still there, waiting to produce the next block when the compensation breaks down.
Neither outcome is a fix. A real fix removes the cause and measures the improvement immediately. If a student's face angle does not move toward square or the intended angle on TrackMan after an intervention, the intervention was wrong.
The correct fix is to restore the kinematic sequence so the face squares naturally as a result of the pivot — not as a result of a compensatory path change.
This is the core principle at The Science of Better Golf. Every fix must answer one question: does this make impact better? Path manipulation without face correction does not make impact better. It just moves the miss.
For students who want to work on this remotely, I offer online golf lessons where I analyze your TrackMan or video data and build a personalized drill sequence — the same process I use in person in Scottsdale.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my iron go right even when I feel like I'm swinging straight?
Your ball starts right because your club face is open at impact — not because your path is wrong. The feel of a straight swing does not guarantee a square face. When the pivot stalls and pressure stays on the trail side, the face arrives open even when the path is neutral. TrackMan will show you a face angle of +3° to +7° open on a typical block, regardless of what the swing felt like.
Is a block the same as a push?
Yes — a push and a block refer to the same shot. A push starts right of target with no slice curve. Some instructors call it a block when it is more pronounced or when path is involved, but the ball flight and root cause are identical. The fix is the same: restore pressure shift, restore pivot, re-educate the release.
Can grip cause a block?
A weak grip (hands rotated toward the trail side on the handle) can contribute to an open face at impact. However, grip is a matchup variable — it must agree with your wrist conditions, release pattern, and swing plane. I never change a grip in isolation. If a student has a weak grip and blocks, I first determine whether the grip is the cause or whether the grip is compensating for something else. In most cases, restoring the pivot is more important than changing the grip.
How do I know if I'm hanging back or extending early?
The quickest diagnostic is to look at your hip position at impact on video. If your hips are behind the ball and your weight is on your trail foot, you are hanging back. If your hips are close to the ball and your lower back is straightening up, you are extending early. Both produce blocks, but through different mechanisms. On TrackMan, hanging back shows a shallower attack angle and lower forward shaft lean. Early extension shows a more upward attack angle and high dynamic loft. HackMotion will show lead wrist extension in both cases.
Why do I block my irons but not my driver?
The driver is played from a tee with a positive attack angle — you are hitting up on the ball. This naturally changes the geometry of the swing and the position of the low point. Many golfers who block their irons have a pivot pattern that works acceptably for a driver but fails for irons, which require a negative attack angle and a low point in front of the ball. The block with irons is exposing a sequencing problem that the driver geometry partially masks.
How long does it take to fix a block?
In my experience at Coach Erik Schjolberg Golf, most students see measurable improvement — confirmed on TrackMan — within a single session when the diagnosis is correct. The face angle moves toward square, the start line moves toward the target, and the smash factor improves. Ingraining the pattern so it holds under pressure takes longer — typically 4-8 weeks of deliberate practice with the correct drills. Golfers who practice with feedback (TrackMan, video, HackMotion) improve faster than those practicing by feel alone.
Can I fix a block without TrackMan?
Yes — but it takes longer and requires careful attention to ball flight. Start line is your primary feedback tool. If the ball starts right, the face is open. Use the drills in this post, focus on belt buckle position at impact, and film your swings from down-the-line and face-on. The Stork Drill and Force Pedal Setup require no technology and produce immediate feedback through the physical constraint. For a complete drill library with video demonstrations, visit the free drills guide on my site.
The Bottom Line on Blocking Irons
The block is not a mystery. It is a predictable result of a broken kinematic sequence — specifically, a failure to shift pressure to the lead side and complete the pivot through impact. The face arrives open. The ball goes right.
The fix is not to aim left. It is not to swing more left. It is not to "cover the ball." The fix is to restore the sequence from the ground up: pressure shift first, pivot second, release third. Measure every step on TrackMan. Confirm the face angle is moving toward square. If it is, you are on the right path. If it is not, the diagnosis needs to change.
Citation Hook: According to peer-reviewed research published in the Journal of Sports Sciences, the proximal-to-distal kinematic sequence — where lower body segments decelerate sequentially to accelerate distal segments — is the primary mechanism for both club head speed generation and club face control in skilled golfers.
You can read more about my full coaching approach and background at about Coach Erik, and explore every topic I cover in The Science of Better Golf blog.
The information in this post is the same framework I use with every student who walks into a lesson at McCormick Ranch Golf Club. The tools are real. The cause-and-effect is verified. The improvement is measurable on day one.
Start Fixing Your Block Today
If you are ready to stop guessing and start measuring, here is where to go:
→ Download the free drills guide — every drill referenced in this post is in there with full instructions and video links. It is free. Use it.
→ Take the Ball Striking Machine Blueprint Video Series at The Science of Better Golf — this is my complete system for building ball-striking from the ground up, built around the same impact hierarchy I use in every lesson. If you want to understand not just what to do but why it works, this is the resource.
→ Book a lesson — if you are in Arizona, come see me in person for Scottsdale golf lessons at McCormick Ranch. If you are outside Arizona, I work with students worldwide through online golf lessons. Send me your TrackMan data or swing video and I will tell you exactly what is causing your block within 24 hours.
The block is fixable. The cause is identifiable. The improvement is immediate when the diagnosis is right.
Let's get to work.
Coach Erik Schjolberg | PGA Professional | 25+ Years Coaching EJS Golf | McCormick Ranch Golf Club, Scottsdale, ArizonaTrackMan 4 | HackMotion | Sportsbox AI | The Science of Better Golf
