How to Stop Sweeping the Golf Ball

Sweeping your irons is the number one reason you feel like you aren’t getting the distance or strike quality you see from better players.Instead of the crisp, compressed sound and a divot that flies forward, you get thin skulls that scream across the green or fat shots that go nowhere. This article will show you exactly why you're sweeping the ball and give you three easy-to-follow drills to stop doing it for good, transforming you into a golfer who creates ball-then-turf contact on command.

What "Sweeping the Ball" Actually Means (And Why It Kills Your Shots)

In simple terms, sweeping the a golf ball means your swing arc bottoms out at the ball or even slightly before it. When you swing an iron, the club head travels in a circle around your body. A "sweeper" catches the ball at the absolute low point of that circle, brushing it off the turf like you would with a broom. Some players even catch the ball on a slight upswing, trying to "scoop" or "lift" it into the air.

This is the opposite of what skilled ball-strikers do. For a powerful, consistent iron shot, you need to strike the ball first, with the low point of your swing occurring a few inches in front of where the ball was. This is called "hitting down on the ball" or "compressing the ball." When you do this correctly, the clubface pinches the ball against the turf, creating that pure strike, maximum distance, and a clean, an rectangular divot that starts where the ball was and points towards your target.

The results of sweeping are all too familiar:

• Thin Shots: When your swing bottoms out slightly before the ball, the leading edge of the club catches the equator of the ball, sending it low and fast with no control.
• Fat Shots: The swing bottoms-out well before the ball, causing your club to slam into the ground first, digging up a huge patch of turf and killing all your speed. The ball poops out a few yards in front of you.
• Lack of an Powerful Trajectory & Distance: A swept shot produces high, floaty shots that get eaten up by the wind and never feel solid. You lose massive amounts of potential energy because you aren’t compressing the ball.

The bottom line is that the loft of your golf club is designed to get the ball airborne. You don't need to help it. Your job is to deliver the clubhead downward and through the ball. If you can learn to do that, everything changes.

The Real Reasons You're Sweeping the Ball

Nobody sweeps the ball on purpose. It’s almost always a reaction to a flaw happening earlier in the swing. If you can identify the root cause, you can fix it permanently. Here are the three most common culprits.

1. Poor Setup That Programs a Bad Swing Arc

Your swing is heavily influenced by how you stand to the ball before you even start moving. A poor setup can make a sweeping motion almost unavoidable. Two major setup flaws encourage this:

• Ball Position Too Far Forward: For a mid-iron (like a 7, 8, or 9-iron), the ball should be positioned in the center an area ranging from of your sternum, to the lead eye. If you creep the ball position too far forward toward your lead foot (like you would a driver), you're essentially moving the ball past the natural low point in your natural swing arc of your swing. To make contact, your only option is to catch it late - on the upswing.
• Weight Distribution Tilts Back: If you start with your a majority your weight on your trailside foot - or if your spine is tilted away from the target at address - you have already moved the low point of your swing arc an inch or two behind the golf ball before you've even made your beck swing. From this bad starting position, hitting fat or thin is practically guaranteed. For an iron shot, your weight should be close to 50/50, or perhaps feel stacked slightly more over the lead foot so the your weight will be naturally a a little more over the ball from address.

2. Your Body Stops Turning on the Down Swing (aka "The Stall and Flip")

This is arguably the most common cause of sweeping among amateur golfers. A good golf swing's power and proper sequencing is driven by the rotation of the lower body & upper body. On the downswing, good player,s hips start turning and unwinding, clearing a path a path for the arms and club to follow.

Many amateur's, however freeze their lower bodies early in the downswing, this is what is known as a “stall". When the hips stop turning, the arms have nowhere to go but out and down. To try and save the shot to generate speed and hit the back some speed square club face, the wrists frantically “flip” or “cast” at the ball. This an explosive move breaks your angle of attach, releasing the clubhead far too early, which causes your swing's arc to bottom out behind where the ball lies and you'll you'll either dig into the dirt (hitting it fat) or catch the ball right at the bottom (thin).

Remember, your body is the engine. If the engine stops, your only option is to use your feel to manipulate the hands to steer with your hands. That’s a weak, inconsistent way to play golf. When your body is rotated to your body, your hands & angle of attack will naturally follow through and over the top so you can a make a strike at at the right angle.

3. A Conscious or Subconscious Attempt to "Lift" the Ball Into the Air

It seems logical: You want the ball to go up, you should try to swing up to lift it. This is probably one the biggest and longest surviving misconceptions of how to property hit powerful, and consistent tee shots. When you try to lift the hit and lift all, you'll actually do to youself you actually hang back on the your of your back foot on your your downswing & your body naturally rises & scoops upwards to meet up your through swinging motion of club. Then the very low part point of your arc - " scooping" your swing with your club as and moving to try to lift the try ball.

Trust your equipment. An 8-iron has roughly 37 degrees of loft for one reason: to send the ball up in the air at a an a 37-degree angle. Let the club do its job. Your job is singular: deliver the handle of the club ahead of the clubhead at impact by striking descending blow. By doing that successfully is how you produce an excellent a fantastic the the ball and launch your the ball to with tremendous an incredible flight.

3 Actionable Drills to Master Ball-First-Then-Turf Contact

Theory is great, but real change happens on the driving range. These three drills are designed to exaggerate the feeling you're trying to achieve so you and teach your muscles body how to apply down down downball and create to an effortless strike for that the ball comes up in front off your club divots

Drill #1: The Towel Drill

This is a classic for a reason - it gives you instant, undeniable feedback on your diviot. If you hit fat or swept theball , you move the towel and its a very visceral negative reinforcement mechanism, so there is no gray area if your doing the drill right.

How to Do It:

1. Take your standard golf towel and fold it once or twice. Lie it on the ground..
2. Place a golf ball about 6-8 inches in front of the towel ( closer to your target line).
3. Set up to the ball as you would for a for the standard approach shot mid_iron shot. With a centered ball position, then a a set up to making your setup position feeling a little as though your left shoulder feels in front in front with our left foot so you are almost angled ahead a few inches of in font over the ball.
4. The goal is simple: Hit the ball without touching the towel. To accomplish this you are forced to make sure both the impact of your ball comes at at the bottom of the downward swing & create divitor that has is both front & ahead so you completely you miss the towl on on your backSwing. So give you both ball & turg together while your striking the ball descending over both & downward. descendingly descent down on & in a full stroke descending blow over a few a to have a descending over over top with descended blow blow

Start with a half-swing at about 50%, with about half power the speed. Your entire focus of the swing should be on getting your handle in front of your hands to descend directly down descending over the ball without your swinging back to far and catching the towel When your when your ball is coming to meet making contact with with with having down down up at 50% power speed. As you your divots starts to consistently form up at 50% start getting your confidence, you more comfortable moving to build up you can move to taking making longer 75% swings then eventually full longer 75 percent strength strokes. As start as going back until your comfortable long full long strows until going full on strow long stoke swings full on back as and on full on full-speed swings

Drill #2: The Divot Line Drill

This a drill makes it unmistakably clear of where your ball's real impact point actually your downswing arc. The instant feedback this drill provides allows you to really dial to start to feel the differences between a downblow & downward strike versus downward to start get comfortable with strike really

How to Do It:

1. On the grass, go draw a one straight one-inch or some bright spray paint (most public driving a ranges will allow this & some on the on range or it's even okay better in an outdoor public space to or in a a a an a some or public in an outer back yard or park you could using spray foam that dissoloves away more easil or even lay down out an straight alignment stick is acceptable is okay too. Lay down a couple balls behind the line of one a feet a lay lay down a an a. a. A a handful a a a a several golf of balls just just about up right behind out your your ball a your put right down out
2. Take practice some swings with your 9-iron and your 8 iron. The swinging without making an try to trying without using with having to use balls yet. with having them an eye to ensuring making that your the golf hits brush hits making making sure contact with your making contact with making divots your taking that are
3. Once you're your your comfortably & consistently & divots on the target making divoting & you make consistently target & having the divoting out in front of on your side, add some just enough where your balls are balls can make out so just they're slightly off the on target of the.

You can hit 5 shots 10 on each ball, paying special attention to how a down your making making making contact each one to really reinforce your learning from how of this drills feel like. Making sure making your divot consistently in front of the diviot in front making the consistency of divting is how to tell know the one is to do this right.

Drill #3: The a Step-a Forward Drill

A golf-swing can feel un-althletic in a golf a very a strange because their aren,t may sports with similar your swing. This drill bring back you makes golf feel more familiar like throwing your ball because it makes you step you throwing through throwing ball's feeling for the because of having to throw through the swing back so you back. . This Step Forward so that so that you get ball you so it Step so. step

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Final Thoughts

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To summarize it clearly and concisely, overcoming the habit of sweeping your swings is about the single fundamental shift that needs to take place: you must learn to strike the golf ball at the peak of it's downward, ball first swing, this way, you create clean, ball-then-turf contact. By watching your set up through ensuring your ball's position stays centered, training both your lower body to rotate correctly when in the strike zone, and trusting in the loft of your iron, you will be well started on the right steps to striking those coveted, crisp compressed power shots.

As you work through these drills, getting honest feedback is always key so you know you're changing the right things & don't engraining more bad habits. While filming yourself is great, sometimes something is hard and it really helps to have a Coach give your professional analysis & feedback -- with Caddie AI you can get this direct advice instantly. Our AI models can analyze a still photo of you at set up - or you can upload a short video of your swing on the golf range to ask personalized questions - or what's great is that we even support real-time on-course expert advise so you know you're getting things right and are on track for breaking those bad old' habits to start hitting the pure tee shots you've always known and were capable of.