Tyler Ferrell is the only person in the world named to Golf Digest's list of Best Young Teachers in
America AND its list of Best Golf Fitness Professionals in America.
Meet your new instructor.
Subscribe now to watch the full video.
If you are not consistently taking a divot with your irons, there are really only two possible causes. The first would be that you are losing your posture by standing up, which is going to make it very difficult to control low point. The second cause would be that you are maintaining your posture, but bending your arms through impact. Or in other words, you are not fully releasing the club. As a quick fix, you can always make some "9 to 3" swings where you simply work on keeping your chest level and fully extending you arms through impact. If you do this, you should have no trouble creating solid contact. Of course, this should also give you a feel for what may be happening on your thin shots. So, as a general rule of thumb, always ask yourself after a thin shot: "Did I stand up or did I bend my arms?"
Playlists: Find Your Best Swing Quickly, Beginner Program
Tags: Poor Contact, Standing Up, Chicken Wing, Iron, Drill, Beginner
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000
This drill answer the question, what if I'm not taking a divot?
00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:07,000
So I give many of my students the simple rule.
00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:12,000
If you are not making ground contact, if you're not taking a divot, then one of two things
00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:13,000
are happening.
00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:19,000
Either you are losing your posture by standing up, and so therefore the club is coming
00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:21,000
above the ground and I can't get it all the way down there.
00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:26,000
Or I'm keeping my posture, but I'm bending my arms.
00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:32,000
Now I could be bending that left wrist or bending that left elbow or not fully straightening
00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:33,000
that right arm.
00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:38,000
But if I stay down and I don't take a divot, then the arms are preventing the club from
00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:39,000
getting all the way down there.
00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:45,000
If my arms are straightening and I don't take a divot or don't brush the ground, then my body
00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:46,000
is standing up.
00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:53,000
So this is the simplest application of the factors of low point, and if you're trying to make
00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,000
solid contact as your first key skill,
00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:02,000
I would highly recommend working on the chesting and about the same height and the arms
00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,000
extending through impact.
00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:09,000
If you do that, you will hit the ground and you'll have a much better chance of hitting
00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:14,000
the club or making contact higher up on the face, which is where the sweets bought for your
00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,000
irons are.
00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:24,000
So when you're worried about topping the ball, or if you're worried about just making
00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:29,000
a thin contact where you're having no turf interaction, the first question I want you
00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:33,000
to ask yourself after you've hit a shot is did I hit the ground?
00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:38,000
If the answer is no, then I want you to ask yourself, did I not hit the ground because
00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:43,000
I stood up or did I not hit the ground because I bent my arms or both?
00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:48,000
But if you stay at about the same height and the arms extend, then the club will have no
00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,000
choice but to make contact with the ground.
00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:56,000
If you have the club face in a good position and it's coming from a reasonable path,
00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,000
you will hit a solid shot dead online.
00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:04,000
But the first key for me is getting solid contact and in order to do that, if you're not
00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:10,000
taking a divot monitor those two key factors, did I stand up or did I bend my arms?
00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:15,000
If you get good at answering those two questions, I guarantee you'll make a lot more solid
00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:17,000
ironshots on the course.
