Reverse golf logic strikes again!  Almost half the students I ask think that – with an iron shot – the ball should be struck either at the bottom of the swing arc or slightly on the upswing.

As a previous video shows, a correctly struck iron shot should be hit with a slight descending blow.  In fact any time a ball is sitting on the ground, it should be stuck with a descending blow.  The only shots in golf where this doesn’t apply are drives and putts.

Every swing you make is roughly circular, so it must have a low point.  All you need to do is have the ball positioned just before the club reaches its lowest point.  The reason I’m saying that is so that a descending blow isn’t interpreted as a chopping action.  That would mean another video to explain that you shouldn’t chop down on the ball.

Watch the video below and use the drill for chips, pitches and full shots.

The longer the club you are using, the shallower the descending blow.  This means if you are placing something behind the ball to help with the drill, the longer the club, the further behind the ball the object will need to be.

The bonus in doing this drill is that you will also learn that your hands need to be slightly ahead of the clubhead at impact, as you can see from the thumbnail below.