Every pure iron shot in history hit the ball before the ground. If your divot starts behind the ball, nothing else in your swing matters yet.
The club travels on an arc. The bottom of that arc is your low point. Hit it right and the low point sits 2 to 4 inches in front of the ball — ball first, then a divot that starts on the target side.
Low point behind the ball means fat, thin, or that awful double-hit feeling where you catch grass then ball. Same swing, wrong bottom.
Green bottoms out past the ball. That’s the divot you want.
“You don’t lift the ball. You trap it and keep going down.”
Two golfers with identical swing speed can be 30 yards apart on the same club, purely from where the club bottoms out. Turf before ball kills ball speed instantly — that’s the whole smash factor story.
And the fix isn’t “hit down more.” It’s pressure forward and chest turning through, so the arc naturally moves ahead of the ball.
Divot in front. Every single time.
Spray paint, a tee scratch, or a range mat seam. No ball yet.
Not behind it. Look at each one before you swing again.
Same swing. The ball just happens to be in the way of a good divot.
60% lead side at setup and it stays there. If you hang back, the arc bottoms out early.
Divot starts at or after the ball — never behind
Divots point at your target, not left or right of it
8 of 10 in a row, same club, same line
Film face-on, low to the ground. Three drags: both edges of the ball (that sets the scale — a golf ball is 1.68″), then where your divot starts. The tool reports it in ball-widths and inches. Video never leaves your phone.
Drag the vertical line with the white handle. Scrub the video with the play bar.
Divot starts after the ball, not behind it
Weight stayed forward — no hang back at impact
Hands ahead of the clubhead at impact