Originally Posted by kalio

I am a golf beginner and do not yet have the proper golf terminology down, so please excuse the description of my problem.

Whenever I go for the full swing I tend to strike the ground before I hit the ball resulting in bad shots. When I try and be careful to avoid hitting the ground, I end up hitting only the top part of the ball, again resulting in bad shots. There are times when I will make a good connection with the ball, but I have no idea what I did right to repeat that process.

Can anyone help diagnose what the problem is and suggest ways to cure it?

Thanks.