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Again, please bare with my newbie-golf ignorance:
Watching the pros play, it seems like every iron shot they hit, they tear a sizeable divot. When I play, it seems like my best shots come with no torn grass, but it also feels like I'm "clipping" the ball.
When I do tear divots, it's always right before the ball, and I never get clean contact....so logic is telling me that PGA guys tear the grass after the ball.

If I'm right, how do you get in that habit, and when is it ok not to tear one?
Mike

The idea is to hit the ball before the club hits the ground.

With irons, the club should be traveling downward as it strikes the ball; hence the saying "hit down on the ball to make it go up." Of course, there are various degrees of hitting down: Some players take a big divot after hitting the ball, and others take little or no divot. But all good players have the face of the club travelling downward as the club strikes the ball. I'm sure that some of our more technically knowledgeable members can elucidate the effects that hitting down on the ball have on spin rate, so I'll leave that to them.

Hope that helps a bit.

Harvey Penick always said the perfect divot should be the size and shape of a dollar bill and pointing at the target. Personally, I think that can sometimes be a little excessive, but you get the point. "Clipping" the ball is not only OK but absolutely the way to do it on "fluffy" lies...you don't want to bury the clubhead in that stuff. But try to clip the ball off a hardpan lie and you're askin' for trouble. Forged is right...you want to catch the ball first with a slightly descending blow...if you do this properly you can even get away with hitting a little behind it...the reason you don't now is because it sounds like your coming in a little shallow - trying to catch the ball at bottom dead center...you really want to make contact at one or two ticks before "six o' clock" with a slightly descending blow...don't try to lift it or help it in the air.

Shade

Jack Nicklaus was never a fan of taking excessive divots. He was quoted in a golf magazine that he could practice all day in a grass area no larger than the size of a shoebox. May just be the golfer, where they want the shot to end up, and the action desired on the ball.

Yeah, to each his own, I guess....I mean, look at Jesper's divots...yeez! you can drive a VW off in most of 'em.

Shade

Good ball strikers always hit the ball first on full shots. You can hear that distinctive "click" when they hit their irons, or in the case of today's oversized drivers "boom," "PING," "Snap," "Crackle," "Pop," etc...

As mentioned above by numerous posters, a downward motion is usually recommended, but there have been some very good golfers who took minimal, if any, divots.

"hit down on it"- yes that is is the key to good irons shots. I have always been told..increase spin by hitting the ball then excellerting further taking a divot after the ball is struck. Its a tough concept to follow as most people think hitting the ground decreases speed and keeps you from getting the distance you want due to "running" into the ground. But in all reality the ball is traveling so fast at impact..by the time you get 1/2 way into your divot...the ball is already on its way and wont be affected at all.

"Why do some not take divots and do quite well"- Its all about angle of attack as stated before..you can have a steeper angle to the ball BUT...its what you do after you hti it...some say to increase spin..your angle is steep..but on your follow thru after contact..you sweep thru letting the club stay parallel and just above the ground to allow maximum contact and promote more roll. Its like 1/2 and 3/4 wedge shots pros take, they keep their wrists unc0cked and take a sweeping motion almost like they are trying to keep the club as close to the ground as possible after impact (hence you see them "hold up" on their follow thru)

Divots are weird..I take some pending on the shot. Deeper stuff I tend to decrease my attack angle and go in softer and accelerate thru quicker instead of attacking at a greater angle and losing speed once the club hits the rough. Its all about your comfort level and the stuff yoru playing on..if its hardpan then you try to pick it clean so that you dont have a huge bounce back off the ground (most courses around here are harder fairways right now...ugh) softer ground...steepen up the angle and rip into it

Also divots can tell you if you are hitting the ball square or not. I make divots on some of my shots and the ball goes well. If you hit it to fat the ball will fall short.