Hitting ground before ball wih wood

Question
HI -I am trying to help a young friend with her golf game - when she uses her wood (3 or 5) - she is making contact with the ground a good few inches before the ball.  Her ball position is correct - closer to left foot than middle.  She has been working on a one piece takeaway as she was swinging very in to out and pushing everything.  

Suggestions welcomed !

Answer
Hello and thank you for the inquiry, when I teach I see 2 different things that can cause hitting the ball "fat".  I am curious if she hits her irons cleanly.......  What to look for is either DECELERATION caused by her recent concern for shot result with "these darn fairway woods",  leading to her guiding the club in to the ball hoping for good contact instead of swinging THROUGH the ball with confident acceleration.  If she is hitting the Irons well, this is probably it.  If this doesn't seem right,  she may need to "Spend more time at the top"  not be in a rush to get the club down from the top of the swing, yes these sound opposite and are,  too much acceleration from the top too soon,  gets the club into the equation too soon  ie...before the lower body had a chance to get started and clear.  If her lower body goes first,  by lagging the club at the top,  then she can not physically reach the ground behind the ball.  Another concern of mine with students is to learn with a great lie,  or even a short tee to build confidence and knowing when to hit a fairway wood and when the lie is not good enough and maybe a hybrid or iron might be a smarter play