I have a hard time believing that the ball is compressed against the turf by the impact of the club — I’ve never played off of a fairway that was harder then a golf ball, which it would have to be for this effect to be present. I think it far more likely — and important to the quality of the golf shot — that the interaction of the club face and the ball create backspin. The interaction between the surface of a spinning sphere (the golf ball) and the fluid through which it is moving has a profound effect on the path of the sphere, via the Magnus Effect; and of course, the amount of spin the sphere has retained when it comes into contact with the ground affects how it behaves on the turf.

So – intercepting the ball with the clubface while the club is still in some portion of the downward arc of its motion is pretty much certainly a Good Thing, but I think that most people misunderstand why it is a good thing — esp. the huckster-proponent of “Hit Down, Dammit!”.

Thanks again!

If you never take a divot, it may be that your swing plane is very shallow and flat. If you’re not familiar with what that means, this might help: http://www.lifeintherough.com/2007/12/22/golf-glossary-swing-plane-edition/

In relation to that image that you’ll see by clicking that link, a shallow plane would have your club approaching the ball on or underneath that line and with the shaft possibly more parallel to the ground. The opposite would be more upright where the shaft is more vertical as the club approaches the ball.

There’s probably nothing inherently wrong with that, but you might not be maximizing your spin by hitting down on the ball.

Regarding ball position, I don’t typically like to play any standard shots behind the center of my stance. I might do it for a punch shot or something, but I pretty much play everything from 7-iron and down in the middle of my stance. For longer clubs, I like to move it a little more forward, but even for long irons, I don’t like to move it more than a ball-width or two forward of center.

Your pro was probably trying to maximize the spin with your shorter clubs by having you put the ball a little behind center. That forces you to hit more down on the ball because if you don’t, you’d likely end up making really thin contact. But it also may force you to keep your weight hanging to the right some to avoid smothering it (hitting down on top of the ball).

Without seeing your swing, it’s difficult to give an opinion. However, one possibility that does come to mind is that you may be swaying way too much during your swing.

The low point of your swing will generally somewhere just forward of the center of your chest (not quite in the center, because you hold the club with one hand below the other and your shoulders are tilted). If you sway that point forward two inches, then your low point will more forward two inches. Same if you sway the opposite way.

Next time you hit some range balls, maybe try and get a sense of whether you are swaying excessively during the swing. Generally, your hips probably should not sway over the outsides of your feet.

Another possibility is that you’re changing your spine angle during the swing. If during the back swing, you tilt more to the right away from the ball, or even the opposite way in a reverse-pivot, you could be adding all sorts of variation to the low point of your swing. But that definitely has the effect of moving that point in your chest where your low-point will occur.

One thing that might help is searching around YouTube for some CBS SwingVision clips (face on) of some of the PGA Tour pros. Pay careful attention to how their weight shifts during the swing, how their shoulders tilt, and how the center point in their chest moves during the swing. That might help you to understand what a proper weight shift should look like and might help you understand what you’re doing differently.

I hope that helps some.