Question regarding hitting down and "trapping"

[ERdiesel]

Hi all,

So i've combed through the threads here regarding properly compressing the ball to trap it against the club face and ground to get the proper distance and such. The question that I have is that i feel as if i'm "sliding" in under the ball and if i hit down on the ball, it's as if i'm trying to time the leading edge of my club face to hit that small sliver of the back of the ball if it makes sense (espeically with higher lofted irons like wedges), and i simply can't picture how the club face strikes the back of the ball. i suppose it's a silly statement, but the the loft of wedges and shorter irons, seems as if it makes it difficiult to properly hit down on the ball due to the leading edge. I guess the questoin is if anyone has any impact pictures to show the the angle at which the club face impacts a ball to properly trap it. Hopefully this is not a silly request. thanks in advance.

E

[iacas]

The clubface doesn't actually trap the ball. It's just a feeling. The ball will immediately start rising - it is never "stuck" or "trapped" between the clubface and the ground. Ever.

[DavidFehertysBike]

Yeah. Generally, if you hit the golf ball first youve done good. What youre getting at is angle of decent, attack angle, etc..concepts i dont really try to understand. I think your set up determines that more than your swing.

[saevel25]

Thats not true, the golf ball is not perfectly inelastic, as in the clubface. There is a time were the ball will travel with the golf club, it will be on the golf club, and it travels up the club face as well. The golf ball just doesn't immediatly fly off the clubface.

Just make sure the divot occurs after the ball.

[ERdiesel]

Thanks guys, i've done google searches on the subject and i guess it's the notion of "trapping" the ball that leads me to visualize the wrong thing. I see several articles from supposed professional teachers that talk about hitting "down" on the ball to trap it between the ground and clubface so that the ball compresses and rides up the clubface before launching off..............i guess "trapping" the ball provides a wrong picture of what actually happens. going back to my question regarding higher lofted irons such as wedges, at address with the clubface squared, it seems as if it's designed to slide under the ball unless due to the loft you almost come in at a steep angle and deloft the clubface a bit in order to properly hit down on the ball.........or if not, and the ball is contacted by the same angle i see at address, then the point of impact to hit the ball first than ground just seems so small with "topping" the ball or hitting it thin the likely outcome

[Zeph]

Imagine hitting the top of the ball with the club face. It's impossible, but the visual image may help.

[Tiger Spuds]

I've always wondered about this.And the same question keeps occuring to me.If you're consciously trying to hit down on the ball, won't that create a swingpath that's too steep and not enough in to out motion?Obviously it is do-able, but at the moment that just seems like the logical outcome to me.

[shortstop20]

Don't overthink this, when people say, "hit down on the ball", they mean slightly, this is not a thing where more is better.

If you are hitting down on the ball just slightly, that's enough.

A good divot would be something like the size of a dollar bill and only deep enough to remove the grass from the soil. Anything more than that is really not needed unless you're hitting some specialty shot.

[TigerWoodz]

When i first started trying to hit DOWN on the ball the divots i made were huge and deep,i quickly realised i was way to steep and trying to hard to hit down,now my divots are shallow or you can see the turf has just been clipped by my club,much better results and more consisitent...hitting down on the ball can be misleading...

[jdjanda]

I'll often place a tee down to mark the middle of the ball so I can tell where my divot starts to make sure I am hitting the ball first.

[nuck81]

Beginner here but I think if you're "trying" for a divot you're taking the wrong approach. From I understand a divot is the effect of a good strike, not a cause...

[Zeph]

Forward swing bottom is a result of weight forward at impact. Not something you should try to force, but it is possible to have a mental focus on hitting the ball, which can lead to casting.

[saevel25]

All that will do is cause you to dig at the ball, don't worry about a divot. If you can't get a divot or if your hitting the ball thin, your probably loosing your spine angle in your downswing and your waist gets closer to the ball. Tuck your left hip behind you in the downswing to maintain that spine angle.

[motteler621]

yea when they say "hit down" on the ball, they dont mean to literally hit down on the ball. You take your normally sweeping swing but you will contact the ball first and then the turf after the ball so you will be coming down a little and through the ball.

A good thing to do to practice this is place a tee flat on the ground about 4-5 inches in front of the ball, when hitting it with your iron try to take out the ball and the tee. This will help.

[saevel25]

I still don't like that drill.. I think it might lead to someone really pushing forward with there irons or cause other issues. If a person works on there golf swing, gets the proper set up, and gets the club on plane. All you need to do is unwind and maintain your spine angle. Check out your divots and that is your natural swing arc, play the ball a few inches behind this mark and just hit it normally, the ball is just in the way of the club.

[Zeph]

The spine angle changes through the entire swing, you are talking about inclination of the upper body to the ground.

If your divots start inside the right foot, should you position the ball at your right foot? The forward swing bottom is not something that comes natural, it is something everyone has to work on. If you just "unwind" from the top of the backswing, you can be sure the bottom of the swing will be too far back. If you want the bottom more forward, the centers of the body has to stay centered or slightly forward, and the weight has to be moved well forward in the downswing.

[motteler621]

I still don't like that drill.. I think it might lead to someone really pushing forward with there irons or cause other issues. If a person works on there golf swing, gets the proper set up, and gets the club on plane. All you need to do is unwind and maintain your spine angle. Check out your divots and that is your natural swing arc, play the ball a few inches behind this mark and just hit it normally, the ball is just in the way of the club.

Not nessasarly. I mean you dont put the tee way ahead of the ball. Just to were the divot should be which is slightly in front of the ball. Most people who have a problem with putting a divot after the ball are trying to flip the ball up when they hit it. This will take that away.

[ERdiesel]

Another question regarding visualization of impact, is the toe of the club supposed to be slightly "up" in relationship to the ground so that there is a slight "gap" between the toe area and the ground or is the whole bottom of the club (iron) supposed to be flat in relationship to the ground for a properly struck ball?