Getting a Golf Ball to Go Up Requires Hitting Down On It!

Golf is a difficult game. But to the uninitiated it might seem incredibly simple.

The objective is to strike a ball that is just sitting there.
After all, how tough can it be? It's not like the ball is moving as we attempt to make contact with it.

Why is it then, in golf, that this stationary ball is so difficult to hit?
Why do we even miss it completely at times?

Golf is deceptively difficult due to our perception of how to get the ball airborne. We want the ball to go up, and our natural inclination is to hit up at it. However, we need to hit down.

Part of this initial deception in golf lies in the fact that the ball is round and our clubface is lofted. We might think that our goal is to slide the lofted clubhead under the ball, striking its lower half on the upswing, and thus driving - or lifting - the ball into the air.

However, it is critical to note that the golf club has not been designed to get under the ball to lift it. It has been designed to strike the ball as the clubhead is descending - on the downswing.
The face of the club will then contact the surface of the golf ball just prior to reaching the bottom of the swing arc. As a result, the ball becomes trapped between the descending clubface and the ground and the ball compresses.

Because the face of the clubhead is lofted, the ball - rather than being driven into the ground as a downward hit might imply - will spin backwards up the clubface, decompress (adding energy to its escape) and climb into the air. The angle at which the ball climbs will be directly related to the loft of the club we have chosen for the shot.

Unfortunately, until the technicalities of hitting down are fully understood, hitting up seems more logical. If we want something to go up, we tend to hit up at it. Hitting down at something you want to go up is not logical. And until it becomes logical, your muscles may resist as a result.
Gaining a firm understanding of the golf swing, and especially the mechanics of "hitting down", is vital to programming muscle memory. And good muscle memory in golf is essential, so you can stop worrying about your swing, and concentrate on the game itself.