What's in a divot?

[Grizvok]

So today I was hitting into a net for a short while working on a few key pieces mostly revolving around creating a centered turn and keeping a stable head. It was a very experimental session and for the second half of it I was really visualizing hitting ball then ground which is of course what we are looking for when it comes to striking irons. Typically my good iron strikes are relatively clean picks of the ball right off the ground which I know is not ideal. However during the second half of this session where I really focused on ball first contact I instantly began taking nice looking divots starting at or just after the ball and the contact felt incredible.

What I'm wondering is this: are proper divots the result of better control of low point, are they the result of a steeper angle of attack, or is it a combination of both of these? My assumption is that it is a mix of these two things since simply moving the low point more forward on one of my normal strokes where I cleanly pick the ball off the turf will not cause a divot.

 

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, Grizvok said:

are proper divots the result of better control of low point, are they the result of a steeper angle of attack, or is it a combination of both of these?

Both, yes.

You want the low point forward of the golf ball, and it's usually going to be with an AoA of -1° to -9° with the irons (shallower for longer irons, more down for shorter irons, with some extension of that range for pickers and diggers).

There you'll see PGA Tour averages (emphasis on averages) goes from -3.1° with a 3-iron to -5° with a PW. Not a big range. But downward enough.