Five Keys to Better Contact and a Higher Ball Flight, According to Kellie Stenzel

The practice range is often the clearest place to see beginners trying to get a small golf ball into the air while also hoping it will fly straight. One of the most common misses is a topped or thin shot that barely gets airborne. In an August 23, 2026, GOLF.com instruction article, GOLF Top 100 Teacher Kellie Stenzel outlines five ways beginning players can improve contact and launch the ball higher and more solidly.

Stenzel’s central point is simple but not intuitive for many golfers: the ball does not need to be lifted from underneath. A sound strike requires the club to continue moving down, contact the ball first, and then touch the ground on the target side. That sequence produces the proper launch and places the divot after the ball.

1. Understand how the ball gets into the air

According to Stenzel, the way a golf ball gets airborne is not obvious. Before considering the other recommendations, golfers should ask themselves a basic question: how does the ball actually get into the air? The answer is not that the club passes underneath the ball and lifts it upward.

A player should not scoop or lift the ball. Even the phrase “hit down” needs to be understood correctly. If the swing’s low point reaches the ball but not the ground, the ball still will not launch properly. The club must travel all the way down to the turf.

When the ball is sitting on the ground, the club should contact it on the descending part of the swing and then strike the ground on the target side of the ball. In other words, the proper divot occurs after the ball. Stenzel says the club should actually contact the ground and make a small mess. That is different from the motion golfers make when they try to lift the ball into the air.

2. Establish proper posture

A consistent low point starts with proper posture. Stenzel advises golfers to bend forward from the hips so the arms can hang naturally, with the hands positioned directly below the shoulders.

This setup brings the eyes a little closer to the ground and helps lower the club without excessive knee bend. If a player lowers the body mostly through the knees, the body height and low point can vary from swing to swing.

Maintaining consistent spacing between the hands and the thighs with each club can also help. That spacing makes it easier to return the club to the ground consistently and In this context, posture is not merely a setup preference; it is a tool for repeating contact.

3. Allow the trail arm to straighten

During the backswing, the trail elbow folds to create leverage and help produce speed. Stenzel emphasizes that this folding is correct and necessary.

On the way back to the ball, however, the trail arm needs to actively straighten. She compares the movement to a throwing motion directed toward the ground. Straightening the arm helps bring the club down to the turf while also allowing the clubface to release as the trail arm returns toward its natural hanging position.

As the arm straightens, the body should be allowed to move naturally toward the target. The trail heel will release from the ground as the weight moves forward, helping the divot occur in the correct location—after the ball rather than before it.

4. Practice on low tees

A golf tee can be one of the most useful training aids for a player learning to get the club properly down to the ball. It is readily available, inexpensive, and provides immediate feedback.

Stenzel recommends teeing the ball very low and making sure the club also hits the tee when the ball is struck. The exercise teaches the golfer to bring the club all the way to the ground. Tee height can be adjusted according to the result: if the exercise is difficult, raise the tee slightly; if the player is succeeding, make the challenge harder by lowering it.

The process is then repeated. Stenzel often notices that newer golfers make better swings when hitting from a tee. The inclination to lift the ball is reduced, and the golfer can see whether the tee was hit or even broken by the speed of the club.

5. Make peace with an occasional chunk

The opposite mistake also has to be accepted during the learning process. Topped and thin shots can be frustrating, but once golfers begin learning to contact the ground consistently, they will not always find the correct location immediately. That is normal.

Stenzel argues that hitting the ground is still progress. If a golfer refuses to accept an occasional fat shot, the player may unconsciously return to the old motion of avoiding the turf. That can cause learning to stagnate and preserve the original topping problem.

When the club strikes the ground before the ball, the first check should be ball position. The golfer should then make sure the swing finishes in balance on the forward foot. Those two checks can reveal why the low point was too far behind the ball.

The five recommendations form one connected sequence: posture helps the club reach the ground, trail-arm straightening directs it toward the target, and a low tee provides immediate feedback. Even an occasional chunk can be more useful than continually avoiding the turf. For a beginning golfer, a higher ball flight starts not with trying to scoop the ball, but with making confident contact with the ground after it.