Sweeper vs. Divot?

[Eeryck]

In many posts many folks will recommend taking a divot with their irons. It seems that if I take my normal swing with my normal set-up and consistant contact I have a tendancy to consistantly sweep the ball off the turf.

Now I don't really have a problem with this as it is working for me at the moment and allowing me to play down the course and allowing me to focus my practice on putting and chipping where I am losing a lot of strokes.

I have just taken some video and realized that my right arm is taking over at impact and pushing my left hand/wrist is very pronated at impact which I am sure is contributing to my complete lack of divot. Since I have to make a correction of the position of my left wrist at impact (supination) should there also be some focus on taking a divot?

In short does a divot with an iron indicate a more repeatable swing technique? or are some golfers just naturally sweepers?

[beung]

This depends on a couple of things.

Are you a sweeper because you have a shallow attack angle or are you a sweeper because your swing is bottoming out before getting to the ball or never actually bottoms out?

Most people who don't take a divot tend to try and help the ball up and are probably hitting the ball thin because they are making contact with the ball as the club is on it's way up instead of on the way down.

Take some practice swings and pay attention to where the grass divot starts. That is where your swing is bottoming out, now put the ball at the very back part of where the divot starts, not in the middle and then try and hit the ball. See how that feels for you, there is nothing wrong with have a sweeper swing as long as it is because you have a shallow attack angle and not because you are contacting the ball at the wrong part of your swing or are lifting, trying to help the ball up.

[Eeryck]

On my practice swings my club first touches the grass at approximately the point where the ball is touching the ground. Sometimes a small bit behind the ball and sometimes a bit ahead but not more than about 1/2 inch either way.

[iacas]

This depends on a couple of things.

It does, and some players - Tom Watson and myself included (not that I'm in any way comparing myself or my swing to Tom) - are sweepers. Sweeping doesn't necessarily mean "swing flaw" or "fix it!"

But in general, yeah, taking a divot with the mid and short irons is generally the way to go for most players. I don't (and Tom doesn't) sweep my short irons. Mid-irons it depends, as sometimes I will and sometimes I won't.