I believe that the easiest way to hit down through the ball is to really understand weight shift. In order for you to hit down through the ball, the grip of the club has to be in front of the ball at the time of impact. This position is way to hard to get into when your body is behind the ball. Too many of my students come in and have a HUGE shift to their trail side. This slide or “sway” makes it almost impossible to shaft back in front of the ball so you can hit down.
Students do this for 2 reasons in my opinion. First, someone told them that they had to shift to the trail leg to hit it further. Or second, they are trying to keep their lower body to stable or quiet. If you understand how to turn properly, you can stay more centered over the ball or even a little left. This will make it so much easier to hit down through the ball into the ground in front of it.
According to GOLFTECs swingTRU motion study where we measured 163 tour players and 35,000 regular golfers, we found a direct correlation between hip sway and handicap. The average Tour player moves their tailbone 3.9 inches TOWARDS the target in the BACKSWING. This is a necessary movement to stay centered or left. The other key number is that the average tour player leans their trail leg TOWARDS the target 11 degrees at the top of the backswing. This is another key position to keep the weight centered to left so you an hit down through the ball.
HERE’S THE DRILL
Setup in a door jam at your house without a club. Place your left heel against the left jam. Make a practice backswing. Your hands should swing into the room behind you and your back pockets should BRUSH AGAINST THE LEFT JAM as you turn. See the picture attached of Arnold Palmer at the top of his backswing His rear end hasn’t left the target side line and his hips and legs are doing exactly what I stated above. This move will make it so much easier to swing on plane and hit down through the ball from the inside.