How to Take a Divot With Irons and Strike the Ball First
Updated: Sep 4
How to Take a Divot With Irons and Strike the Ball First
If you're struggling to take a divot with your irons, there's one simple adjustment I'd check before changing your entire golf swing.
Your ball position.
Great iron strikes generally have one thing in common. The club strikes the golf ball before interacting with the ground, with the divot beginning on the target side of the ball.
If you're hitting fat iron shots, struggling with inconsistent contact or rarely taking a divot, try this simple four step setup.
Why Should You Take a Divot With Your Irons?
With an iron, we generally want the clubhead travelling downwards through impact, contacting the golf ball before reaching the bottom of the swing arc.
That's why good iron shots often produce a divot after the golf ball.
If the club reaches the ground too early, you get that frustrating fat strike.
If you're continually trying to lift the ball into the air, you may also struggle to create the downward strike we're looking for.
Instead, let the loft of the iron get the ball airborne.
Step 1: Grip Down the Golf Club
Start by gripping approximately around the middle of the grip.
The club may feel slightly shorter, but that's exactly what we want.
A slightly shorter effective club can give you more control and make it easier to find the centre of the clubface.
This is particularly useful with your scoring irons such as your 7 iron, 8 iron and 9 iron.
Step 2: Move Your Iron Ball Position Back
This is the most important adjustment.
With my normal 7 iron setup, I'd generally have the ball slightly ahead of the centre of my stance.
For this drill, move it approximately half a ball further back.
That small change can encourage the club to contact the golf ball earlier in its downward journey.
We're not moving it dramatically towards the back foot.
It's a small adjustment designed to help you experience ball first contact.
Step 3: Start With More Weight on Your Lead Side
At address, put approximately 60% of your pressure towards your lead side.
For a right handed golfer, that's your left side.
Then maintain that feeling as you make the swing.
This can help move the bottom of your swing forward and reduce the tendency to hang back and try to scoop the golf ball into the air.
Step 4: Make a Controlled Iron Swing
You don't need a huge swing for this drill.
Feel as though you're swinging:
Shoulder height to shoulder height.
Keep the motion compact and controlled while maintaining the pressure towards your lead side.
Before hitting a golf ball, make a few practice swings.
You should be able to brush the turf in roughly the same place every time.
Then introduce the ball and look for that same interaction with the ground, but now with the golf ball being struck first.
How to Stop Hitting Fat Iron Shots
Put the four pieces together:
Grip down slightly
Ball half a ball further back
60% pressure towards your lead side
Shoulder height to shoulder height swing
Then hit some controlled 7 iron shots.
Don't worry about maximum distance.
Your priority is strike first.
Once you're consistently contacting the ball before the ground, you can gradually progress towards your normal iron swing.
You can even use the same technique on a par three with the ball teed very slightly above the ground.
The Key to Taking a Divot With Your Irons
If you want to learn how to take a divot with irons, don't deliberately try to smash the club into the ground.
Your divot should be a result of good impact, not the goal itself.
Move the ball slightly back, start with more pressure on your lead side and make a controlled swing.
Think:
Ball first. Turf second.
That's the strike we're looking for.
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