Could be TLDR for some, but...
Does anyone agree that controlling the bottoming out of the clubhead around contact with the ball is one of the most fundamentally important skills of the golf swing? Sometimes when I practice dry swings in my living room (which I do quite a bit), I get it down really well and that is when it feels that everything comes together. The swing plain and clubhead speed seem to be vastly superior when I have it down. The element of timing during the swing, particularly around transition at the top suddenly becomes of paramount importance, and I get the feeling that I would stripe the ball with consistency and power with the same swing on the course.
An interesting element of when I'm in this zone is that my takeaway is quicker and has more tempo. When I'm on the course I tend to have a considerably slow takeaway when hitting balls. People tend to complement it and some people even draw comparisons to tour players with a slow takeaway. Even one of the local pros likes it. But my take on it is that it isn't necessarily natural, but that I have learned to use it to get the club and my body in good positions that work.
Earlier I posted a video in this or another thread of a dry full swing that I claimed to have liked, but it was something of an anomaly in that it had the slow takeaway but also the controlled bottoming out. On other occasions though, when the bottoming out of the clubhead is
really dialed in the takeaway is quicker and has more tempo as I stated above (although it might be slower than average), and I'm employing my innate athleticism to its fullest. But I have to say that I'm usually shocked and dismayed that if I come back to my living room even just five minutes later I find that I have lost this desired control and feel for the swing that I just had and could employ over and over again. Timing in the transition seems to be key and being off with it even a smidgen has significant consequences.
Whenever I've watched a PGA tour event live in person at the course I've noticed the players would always seem to have a release of the clubhead on the bottom of their swings with their iron shots that seemed so conspicuous but even funny in a cartoonish way. It was like the club wasn't going that fast but then there was this really quick mini-circle that was always there at the bottom and the ball would subsequently fly on the most beautifully consistent lines. Of note is that I never observe this when watching their swings on TV; it just seems different in person. Anyway, I've concluded that control over the bottoming out of the clubhead is fundamentally related to this funny-looking release that I've consistently seen on their iron swings in person. It just allows for the massive generation of clubhead speed IMO.
I believe this concept of controlling the bottoming out of the clubhead is so important for my own game, but I must admit it is a bit funny that I didn't actually go into any specific detail about how I achieve it in a dry swing in spite of so many words, but thanks to anyone who bothered to read this.