2 subtle swing mistakes keeping you from hitting crisp iron shots

Welcome to Play Smart, a regular GOLF.com game-improvement column that will help you become a smarter, better golfer.

When you watch pros and other high-level golfers hit the ball, you’ll notice they take a chunk of the turf out of the ground when they swing. This happens because they are making contact with the ground during the swing. Crucially, though, they are making contact with the ball first.

If you’ve been around golf for any meaningful time, you’ve likely heard the term “ball-first contact.” This term isn’t just some cliche that gets thrown around willy-nilly. It’s the foundation for all solid ball striking.

When you’re making ball-first contact, you’re creating compression and putting spin on the ball. This helps the ball get up into the air and then stop on the green once it comes down. Suffice to say, if you want to be a proper ball-striker, you need to know how to generate ball-first contact.

If you’re someone who has historically struggled with creating ball-first contact, worry not. It could be that you are making some crucial mistakes that make it difficult to create the proper conditions for ball-first contact. Instructor Kelan McDonagh explains more in the video below.

Why you struggle with ball-first contact

In order to gauge why you might be struggling to create ball-first contact, it’s important to first look at how you grip the club. If you have a poor grip, you’ll be setting yourself up for failure before you ever take the club back.

“If I find that their [lead-hand] grip is running up in their palm, or it’s a little too weak, there’s going to be a general give out of the club too soon,” McDonagh says. “So it’s hard to maintain those angle at impact.”

When you have a weak lead-hand grip, your knuckles will be turned more toward the target at address. And when you have a grip like this, it can create conditions that lead to more “scooping” at impact.

Another reason you might struggle to generate ball-first contact is not getting the weight onto your lead side during the downswing. If you turn back and shift your weight away from the target but don’t get it back onto your lead side, your arms and hands will take over, and you’ll get “flippy” through impact.

“That lower body has got to keep turning to generate the correct angles,” McDonagh says.

If you struggle to keep your lower body moving during the downswing, try flaring your lead toe just a touch. Doing so will open up your hips a bit more and help you get your weight onto the lead side.

“Flaring the lead foot allows the lead hip to continue to rotate, which in turn will help you create better impact conditions,” McDonagh says.

If you’re someone who struggles generating ball-first contact, take a moment to check on these two things. Chances are, if you correct them, you’ll be well on your way to hitting more crisp iron shots.