How to Stop Hitting the Ground Before the Golf Ball | Achieve Ball Then Turf Contact!
Struggling with hitting the ground before the ball? Want to hit the ball then the turf?
Look no further! In this golf video from David Leathem Golf (DL Golf Tips), learn the secrets to achieving ball then turf contact for pure iron strikes and pure shots on the golf course.
Discover the importance of hitting the golf ball first and then the ground, and uncover common reasons why you might be struggling with this aspect of your golf swing. Using a simple visual analogy with an aeroplane, David breaks down the concept into easily understandable terms, helping you master the technique effortlessly.
David provides actionable golf drills and practical tips to practice so you can hit the ball then the turf everytime, ensuring you no longer hit the ground before the golf ball.
Plus, don’t forget to check out our channel sponsor, GX Golf Gloves www.gxgolfgloves.com for premium leather gloves at a fraction of the cost. Use code ‘david’ at checkout for an exclusive 10% off!
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for a little bit and then takes off
again and that is our club doing the
same job in the golf swing okay this is
an absolute must if we want to hit good
iron shots okay hey golfers and welcome
back to my YouTube channel in today’s
video we’re talking about the most
common thing that I will see in golf
lessons and I’m not surprised to find it
was the most common question in my
subscriber video where I asked you guys
what you were struggling with in your
game and that is catching the ball first
and then the grind okay this is an
absolute
non-negotiable in the Gul swing there’s
many other things that you can argue or
Debate Club pH positions all of those
things but this we have to have so we’re
going to dive in in today’s video I got
a little toy plane here thanks to my son
that’s going to make some sense in a
minute and before we get started looking
at it if you haven’t done so already
please don’t forget to hit the like
button hit the Subscribe button and
let’s get started so I’m going to get
into the plan in moment and exactly what
I’m doing with that but let’s first of
all understand when the ball and Club
meet we need to have the club descending
down onto the golf ball it strikes the
ball first the ball will leave and it
will spend a little bit of time in the
ground and we’ll get more into that and
then it will start to travel upwards
okay so this can be used as a attack
angle so if you think about with this
stick if we have the little black spot
on my alignment Rod being the golf ball
and I’m hitting this direction if we
tilt that down this would be a a
negative attack okay now the GOL swing
is a circle it’s not straight lines but
imagine as the club would hit that black
spot the ball the club would be
traveling down and then come back out
that is something that we need now the
problem being is that you could have
this nice attack angle and still manage
not to hit the golf ball first and then
the grind and this boils down to a thing
called swing Arc or swing radius we
don’t need to make this too technical
because I’m going to show you how we
really going to simplify it so I want
you to think about where this club lands
okay and this is where our plane is
going to come into it okay so let’s take
a closer look at what that has to do
with
this okay so we’re we’re down on the
grind now and we’ve got our plane okay
just remember that this plane is in
reference to our our club head okay okay
up down and all those things right so we
now know we have to hit the ball then
the turf non-negotiable okay I’m going
to show you a really simple way to
achieve this and practice it let’s think
of this first half of this video as
understanding what it is we’re supposed
to do and you’d be amazed at how simple
it will become okay so we have our plane
okay we need to land the club or the
plane just after the ball spends a
little bit of time in the ground and
then comes back up okay so if this was a
play
which it is you think I’ve gone mad here
thanks for watching by the way if you’re
still here and I have a toy plan but if
your plan is coming in right so here’s
your Club coming down into the ball we
want to touch the plane down just at the
ball it spends a little bit of time on
the runway and then takes off okay that
would be our club coming down this
way spends a little bit of time on the
ground and then takes off okay now I
reference that some people can’t try and
hit down on the golf ball and still not
catch that ball first because let’s
think about the play n coming into land
and it’s coming in too Steep and it hits
early okay Crash Landing no good okay
Club coming down to steep too sharp and
early and what that kind of does is it
drives the swing Circle down below the
ground and it makes you contact early so
sometimes I’ll see that on my track man
where somebody has a downward hit but
they’re still fatting the golf ball
because they’re not Landing the club in
the right spot in front Okay now other
people Which is far more common are
going to get the bottom of their swing
before the ball here and this is roughly
where they’ll contact sometimes they’ll
miss that maybe come up th the ball top
the ball or hit the ground there now
that would be quite a shallow Landing
but still Landing too soon okay so the
real skill is that we have to get this
club and plane to come in land here and
take off okay again another thing to
watch out for is people try and land the
club after because they want to take
that divot they know that’s what they’re
supposed to do we don’t want to make it
a crash landing after okay so we have to
think about that plane and Visually it’s
quite a nice concept it’s coming in
Shallow for landing and touches down for
a little bit and then takes off again
and that is our club doing the same job
in the golf swing okay this is an
absolute must if we want to hit good
iron shots okay so let’s look at how we
can transfer that thought process and
that visual into some shots and some
things that you can practice okay so
we’re going to look at this and what I’m
going to do is I’m going to show you
here and then I’m going to flip around
because I haven’t quite got enough space
yet by the way for the in the studio to
get good front ons but that will
hopefully be coming very soon and people
watching me from day one will appreciate
what we’ve done so far and there’s still
more to do okay so we’re going to hit
that shot but I’m going to do my drills
over here so I have two alignment sticks
okay and obviously they are in line
imagine the target is this way as we set
up thinking of the plane right nothing
technical here I’m not talking about
weight shift because all this stuff is
going to start to happen naturally and
you won’t need to think about it I’m
going to swing and try and just
land the club like my plan here nice and
shallow landing and off so I’m just
brushing that Turf if you were in a
bunker or on the beach used hit balls on
the beach and as a kid great way to
learn how to strike your IRS draw a line
in the sand or a bunker at your practice
area and just
skim the sand off in front of the line
get really really good at that skill now
the beauty is we all talk about Weir
shift and we we want to know how do I
shift what should be turning what should
be doing where should my weight be whole
list of things right but watch what’s
actually happening in my body as I make
this
move okay there’s a natural I’m not
conscious of
this I’m Just Landing that club CU my
brain knows that if I’m back here I
can’t achieve that so I get all of that
kind of for free without much thought so
all I’m thinking about is this is my
plane and I’m going to land it
here okay now it is not and I’ll show
you how to practice in a second it is
not
a crash landing you might be able to
hear that or see that
that’s quite steep down into the ball if
you catch the ball first on that
fantastic it’ll come out low and strong
but it can be very very difficult to
control because it is coming down so
sharp all right so it’s funny we kind of
want to hit after the ball but still
remains some mind shallow okay we’re not
looking to head help on it like a drive
remind you but I hope you get the
picture from the the plane okay so how
do you practice you go to the range or
the grass grass is really good because
obviously you can see where you just
skim the grass I like to refer to it as
bruising the turf so it’s a bruise
just there okay you want to do two or
three of
these and feel it and look where it’s
Landing if you’ve done it three times in
a row and it landed in the right spot
perfect okay step into your golf shot if
you’re anything like me and you like to
wear a good quality leather glove when
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as well and do not make a fool swing but
start to feel the same
thing ball turf little land not a dig
didn’t land too early so I would repeat
that process over and over and guys
please do this you know these type of
videos that I do on YouTube don’t get
the same type of reach as some of the
others but this will help you probably
more than any video I’ve done so far
okay so really do take time to run
through the process whether it takes you
10 reps to actually fail that you have
got that club Landing in the right spot
then that’s what it takes and you then
step into a shot and get the same
sensation over a short
swing ball Turf you’ll feel it and
you’ll hear the sound difference I
always notice it in lessons if I close
my eyes even though I’m hitting off a
mat close my eyes I can tell if this
happened or not and it really really is
such a big part of the golf swing okay
so you repeat that process over and over
until you’re sitting hitting an eight or
a n iron 4050 yards with little swings
and lovely strikes because it’s such a
transferable skill right through the
chipping pitching even bunkers as well
okay so once you feel that pick up the
pace start to do some more half
swings land the club no technique here
just physically I’m in control of that
with my hands the same way I would put
pen to
paper hi do I do it I’m not thinking of
this it’s all happening then get up into
some half swings
and get the exact same feeling I can
feel the strikes off those Landing the
plane ball Turf and back up again okay
guys thanks so much for watching I hope
you enjoyed this video if you did please
don’t forget to hit the like button hit
the Subscribe button and I’ll see you
guys in the next one
11 Comments
Thanks for the careful explanation. A great reminder of what is really important. I never practice this skill but I should. Cheers!
Quality as usual 👍👍👍👍
Thanks
You could have been honest and told us you just wanted to play with your sons airplane.
Swing plane – I’ve seen it all now 😂😂. Sometimes my planes have no landing gear down 😂
STRIKE is KING, in this game. Period. You cannot skull wedges over the green, or fat iron shots that go halfway to the hole, and expect to score. I’m a near scratch player, and I shot an 80 the other day. My driver was good as always, my chipping and putting was also on, as usual. However, my strike was suffering that day. Even though all aspects are important, direction, distance, and short game will always take a backseat to STRIKE.
What do you think about putting your awareness towards the sole of the club to achieve this? I've had a tendency to create too little dynamic loft and found that imagining the ball isn't there and just landing/skimming the sole of the club gave me the height and spin I was lacking. Never heard anybody talk about it (other than with wedge bounce). It occurred to me that it is not an entirely crazy swing thought to have, given that my irons have more of a sole than a blade does for a reason i.e. to be used. However, I also wondered if that thought could be detrimental long term and cause problems with more bladed clubs?🤔
Hi David great video thank you, any chance you can do or have done a video on how to release the club? Be a good help thanks
That's a great picture you are painting with the "Swing Plane" 😂In my opinion for me this drill automatically improves how my "right hand body side" is activated more at impact (which is definitely truly needed). Once again, our children's toys can be so useful for golf.
David, i always enjoy your videos and find them helpful. As a senior golfer I have begun to use more hybrids than irons. My Mizuno set includes a 4,5,6 and 7 hybrid. Would you please discuss: 1. Nuances in the senior swing and 2. Differences in swinging hybrids v irons. All the best!
Now explain me how I do this without constantly topping the ball ……….