In Part I of this series, we broke down how University of Houston senior Hudson Weibel builds speed off the tee by organizing pressure from the ground up. But speed alone doesn’t win tournaments. You also need to be a great iron player.

Today, we shift the focus from driving to iron play. Specifically, how Hudson manages his low point to create crisp, compressed iron shots.

How Hudson hits crisp irons

Hitting flush iron shots doesn’t happen by swinging harder. The real key is having elite low-point control.

Hudson’s iron play this season has been a separator and helped him win three times. When we train irons, we’re not chasing divots. We’re organizing pressure — once again we’re using a wedge under his foot to achieve that.

At impact with an iron, three key conditions must occur. Your pressure must be forward, with the sternum slightly ahead of the ball, and the low point must be several inches in front of the ball.

When the low point sits behind the ball, the player is forced to flip the clubhead, add loft, lose compression, and ultimately deliver an inconsistent strike. Elite iron players don’t simply try to “hit down.” They move the bottom of the arc forward so contact with the ball occurs before the club reaches its lowest point.

Address

Unlike the driver pattern discussed in Part I, where pressure loads more into the trail side, iron play demands forward control. With a wedge placed under the trail foot, Hudson’s swing is pre-organized to shift pressure forward earlier in the transition.

This simple constraint discourages hanging back, prevents early extension and makes it much harder to bottom the swing out too soon. Even at address, you can see his chest subtly favoring the lead side, setting the stage for a forward-moving strike.

Top

At the top of the swing, his pressure has moved into the trail side — but not excessively. This is one of the key differences between irons and driver. With irons, we don’t need massive tilt or exaggerated loading. Instead, we want a centered rotation that can transition forward efficiently. Hudson’s trail hip is loaded, but the upper body remains structured with no sway and no drift away from the target.

Impact

This is the money frame. The lead leg is firm, the chest is covering the ball, and the hands are positioned ahead of the clubhead. The divot is ahead of the ball’s original position, confirming that the low point has moved in front of the ball.

Most amateurs attempt to “hit down” by aggressively pulling the handle from the top. That approach often creates excessive steepness, inconsistent face control, and thin shots that show up under pressure. Hudson doesn’t pull the handle. Instead, he shifts pressure forward and rotates through the shot. The low point moves forward because the body moves forward, not because the hands force it there.

How you can copy Hudson

Place a wedge under your lead heel and hit 7-irons focusing on one simple thing. By the time your hands reach hip height in the downswing, feel pressure firmly moving into your lead foot. Don’t try to hit down on the ball. Instead, feel your chest rotating over a stable lead leg.

When this movement is organized correctly, the results show up quickly. Your divots will move forward, your contact improve, and the ball flight will be slightly lower with a more penetrating trajectory.

When pressure shifts forward and the body continues rotating, compression becomes predictable. Elite iron play isn’t built on timing. It’s built on structure. If you practice your swing with a wedge under your trail foot, you’ll be able to control the low point and create crisp iron shots just like the best golfers in the world.

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The stable of Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr has gone with an unconventional tactic, allowing On Display a display gallop at Caulfield Heath to prepare for her re-entry to racing.

On Display prepares for her opening run of the campaign in the Group 3 Shaftesbury Avenue Handicap (1400m) at Flemington on Saturday.

Price commented that a Wednesday gallop before Saturday’s events is commonplace, although bringing the mare to a Wednesday city race meet three days before her comeback was deemed unusual.

The co-trainer detailed how On Display is packed with condition and will derive major benefits from the journey from Cranbourne.

“I would gallop, at home, on a Wednesday, no trouble, but she has plenty of condition on her and after that she should be pretty right for Saturday,” Price said.

“She came into us and has been there at Cranbourne the whole time, and there was the opportunity to stimulate her, and adrenalise her, by bringing her here which was fantastic.

“It just sparks her ahead of Saturday and it was exactly what I wanted, along with a gallop on a beautiful surface.”

On Display faces her first race on Saturday since placing third in the Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) at Flemington last spring.

Seamus Mills, major stakeholder in On Display, stated the mare’s itinerary depends on her effort at the next appearance.

Projections call for On Display to contest the Sunline Stakes (1600m) at Caulfield on March 21 before tackling the Anniversary Vase (1600m) at Caulfield on April 11.

“If she wins the Sunline, she may get weighted out of her next start, the Anniversary Vase at Caulfield, a Listed race against the boys,” Mills said.

“Then the plan is to go back to Adelaide for the race she should have won last year, the Group 2 Queen Of The South Stakes (on April 25).

“But if she wins the Sunline, then we’ll probably have to readjust that program.”

Ben Melham, who guided On Display in Wednesday’s session, holds the ride for Saturday.

Find the best betting sites with competitive markets for the Shaftesbury Avenue Handicap.

The comeback of Floyd Mayweather sent shockwaves throughout the world of boxing. Now, one of his former opponents has followed suit and announced his return to combat after hanging up the gloves four years ago.

Mayweather walked away from the sport after halting UFC icon Conor McGregor, in what seemed to be his 50th and final professional contest back in 2017, ending on a stoppage after seven consecutive decision wins.

Since then, ‘TBE’ has fought solely in exhibition bouts, continuing to earn huge amounts of money while keeping his undefeated record protected. That ends in September, as Mayweather rematches Manny Pacquiao in a must-see professional showdown at The Sphere in Las Vegas.

The two icons are not the only ones looking to prove that they still have what it takes to compete for belts, as former world champion, Victor Ortiz, has today announced a move to BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing.

Ortiz trumped Andre Berto to get his hands on the WBC welterweight world title back in 2011, but controversially lost the belt to Mayweather five months later – Mayweather’s most recent stoppage win against a recognised boxer.

Now, the Kansas-born southpaw is eyeing up another title, in what he called ‘the purest, most intense version of the sport’, in a press release that confirmed his signature.

“I’ve accomplished so much in gloved boxing – from winning a world title to battling the best in the world.

“Now, bare knuckle is the next challenge. It’s the purest, most intense version of the sport, and I’m pumped to bring my power, heart, and experience to BKB.

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“I’m coming to win another world title and prove I’ve still got it. All glory to Jesus Christ.”

Ortiz retired from boxing in 2022, off the back of a super-welterweight triumph. If he can still make that weight, Filipino Rolando Dy is the titleholder that he will be eyeing up, following his BKB super-welterweight title win against Liam Rees back in December.

However, Dy is first scheduled to take on two-division boxing world champion Paulie Malignaggi on Saturday, May 16, in Manchester.

A three-year-old hasn’t taken out the Canterbury Stakes in ten years, though co-trainer Tom Charlton feels Napoleonic is primed during his preparation to snap that sequence.

The previous success story from that age division against elder sprinters was Holler in 2016, trained by Charlton’s partner John O’Shea.

Those two both took the Red Anchor Stakes (1200m) at Flemington the previous spring, arriving at this Group 1 after a 1400m effort, an element Charlton deems crucial for Napoleonic Saturday.

“That should leave him in good stead this weekend,” Charlton said.

“He’s got good form, he comes into this third-up and, we feel, ready to run the best race of his preparation, which should put him right among the chances.”

For Napoleonic, March 7 was long anticipated, with his second in the Hobartville Stakes (1400m) locking in his feature.

Though the Randwick Guineas (1600m) lingered as a possibility for O’Shea and Charlton, the 1300m proved more suitable.

“We always had this race day as a plan, and we were just going to work out whether it was Randwick Guineas or Canterbury Stakes,” Charlton said.

“His last run was excellent, but we concluded the best option would be coming back to the 1300, rather than try to stretch him to a Randwick mile.”

The Canterbury Stakes (1300m) lacks recent three-year-old triumphs, but Napoleonic runs alongside age-peers Beiwacht and Nepotism.

He bolsters O’Shea and Charlton’s lineup, joined by 2024 Randwick Guineas hero Linebacker and The Ingham scorer Yorkshire on return.

Doncaster Mile is their mutual goal, Yorkshire rebounding from a small knock that bypassed last weekend’s Liverpool City Cup, as Linebacker’s plan has centred on this race.

Juvenile Scintillation bypasses Randwick after barrier woes in the Reisling Stakes (1200m).

Charlton indicated she’ll contest the Group 3 Ottawa Stakes (1000m) at Flemington concurrently.

“She’s going to run in Melbourne. Just the draw was a bit tricky in Sydney on Saturday.

“She did a good job on debut. She’s a nice, racy filly and hopefully we can get some black type.

Discover competitive betting sites offering odds for the Canterbury Stakes.

Naoya Inoue is regarded by many to be the pound-for-pound king, but now there is a fellow multi-divisional world champion who is eyeing up a fight with the Japanese phenomenon, even targeting a clash with his brother first.

Inoue has ruled supreme in four weight classes but it is his recent efforts at bantamweight and super-bantamweight, where he became a two-division undisputed world champion, that have forced the world to take notice.

After claiming all four belts at 118lbs, he stepped up to 122lbs in 2023 and needed just two bouts to dethrone both unified titleholders and become the second multi-weight undisputed champion of the four-belt era.

Now, ‘The Monster’ is set for his toughest task to date, as he takes on unbeaten countryman Junto Nakatani on Saturday, May 2, at the Tokyo Dome in a historic event for Japanese boxing.

Should he come through that test unscathed, unified super-flyweight champion Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez told The Ring that he is willing to face both of the Inoue brothers in the near future, ahead of a move up to bantamweight.

“The best fight to make for Bam at 118 right now is against the WBC champion, Takuma Inoue.

“That would be very exciting, to beat Takuma and then face the brother, Naoya, in a big fight.

“That’s a great fight and a great plan to look forward to and very well could be a possibility.

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“The biggest challenge for Bam in the future is Naoya Inoue. He’s not going to hold back too long before going up against someone like him.”

Takuma Inoue won the vacant WBC bantamweight title with a victory over Tenshin Nasukawa in November, and a clash against Rodriguez could indeed pave the way to a future battle between ‘Bam’ and Naoya Inoue. Boxing News understands that Takuma is set to fight on the Inoue-Nakatani undercard against Kazuto Ioka.

Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are set to meet again, over a decade on from their fabled first encounter, and two-division world champion and former Mayweather opponent Zab Judah, weighing in on the surprise rematch.

Judah was touted to be one of the major threats to Mayweather during the early 2000s, but a loss to Carlos Baldomir scuppered their unification plans as the New Yorker lost his world title. Instead, he assumed the role of challenger when he collided with ‘Pretty Boy’ in 2006.

Mayweather dominated proceedings to defend his IBF welterweight world title and he would then go on to defeat stars such as Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Juan Manuel Marquez in the years to come.

However, the biggest rival of Mayweather’s career was Manny Pacquiao, who he was linked to fighting for a number of years before their eventual 2015 meeting, which came too late in the eyes of many fans.

Still, Mayweather outpointed the Filipino icon relatively comfortably and hung up the gloves two fights later, but now the pair are poised to run it back at the respective ages of 49 and 47 years old.

In an interview with MillCity Boxing, Judah was asked if Pacquiao ‘has an edge’ going into the fight given the fact he had a professional bout against then world champion, Mario Barrios, last year.

“I mean yeah you’re gonna give Manny an edge, because he has movement, he has fluidness and he has those good combinations. He is a combination puncher with speed and power, so he is always going to do good – and he is elusive.

“The only thing with Manny Pacquiao – his biggest problem is his defence, sometimes he slacks on the defence and gets caught standing straight there and allows his opponent to connect. Other than that, the guy is phenomenal.”

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Mayweather-Pacquiao 2 takes place on Saturday, September 19 at The Sphere in Las Vegas, for what will be Mayweather’s third outing of the year.