In the way

Hitting the ball by 'letting it get in the way' is definitely good advice. However, changing the target from ball to flag or green, etc., as previously discussed, has some dangers, as follows.

It is essential to stay down on the ball, that is, not lift up when the club is in the impact zone. This doesn't mean we should become extremely ball focused, with the clubhead aimed at the ball. The imperative is still to hit 'through' not 'at' the ball.

It's also possible, even likely, that focusing on a distant target will be just as distracting as ball focus, and detract from the essential focus on rhythm. From personal experience, I've found that focusing on rhythm, including a smooth transition, is far more effective than any other swing thoughts. In general, swing thoughts that even remotely resemble technique or mechanical thoughts can be dangerous.

The other issue of swing bottom has similar issues. Trying to artificially change the swing arc (swing bottom) other than via a rhythmic, athletic move does not help with ball contact. Moving the arc forward can lead to swaying, dipping, moving in ways that are jerky, uncoordinated, un-athletic.

That's not to say that the theory is wrong - the ball does have to be struck first, the ground second, for high quality ball striking. The key is to do it the right way - with the athletic, rhythmic swing mentioned above. There's no quick or artificial way (via a swing thought or otherwise) to achieve this. Knowing what a good swing looks like might help, but it comes down in large part to natural ability, combined with plenty of practice.

That's in, don't let swing thoughts get in the way - just the ball.

Move the target

Found a really helpful video from the guy from (I think) Scratch Golf Academy. It concerned target and, to some degree, risk taking when it comes to ball contact.

His two main points, as I heard them, were as follows:

The target is the flag or green or whatever is 'out there', not the ball. Too often we get concerned with making contact, especially solid contact, with the ball. This has several negative consequences, including an early release of the lag that you want to build up on the downswing to achieve decent distance (for longer shots). Ball focus can also lead to a less than free and often too steep downswing (on all shots). It's important to realise that the ball just gets in the way - not an easy thing to accept - but absolutely crucial for a free-flowing golf swing.

Another crucial factor in a good golf swing is to achieve ball contact before ground contact, primarily of course with iron and fairway shots. This means that the swing bottom, the point at which the swing arc is lowest, is actually in front of the ball. This is how really good golfers achieve solid contact, how they compress the ball, achieve consistent and good distance with their shots. It involves having a free (non ball-conscious) swing, but also a forward move of the hips and legs towards the 'real' target - the flag, green, etc. coming into impact.

These two factors, realising that the real target is not the ball and knowing that it's essential to get the swing arc down, through and after the ball (without coming over the top), are really important. I would add a couple of another factors - good set up and a smooth rhythm - but that's been discussed elsewhere.

The difficulty with working on the new target and swing bottom factors is that they requires a willingness to take risks, to accept some bad shots, before the improvement in contact and shot-making can come. Years of inconsistent ball striking will not be overcome by doing the same thing with the same swing and expecting improvement. Yet this is what 90 percent of golfers do. I hope I can embrace these ideas - which I've already started to do. Let's see how it goes.