[Mike O]

Mac,
STEP #1
There's a lot of items and relationships to cover. However, the intent or where you feel you direct the force in relation to the ball is a fundamental aspect of the movement - and the real cause for a few of your mechanical issues. While we'd need to cover many aspects - they are all related - however the neurological level is probably the best beginning point. It's a major factor in why you start releasing early, why the "right" hand scoops through impact and beyond.

Let me assume that you were using an 8 iron in the video. The sense that you should have for a contact point on the ball with the clubface should be #5 on my grid. That's not where the face actually contacts the ball - that's where you feel as if the face contacts the ball.

Here's why - you don't sense the clubface - hold the club and close your eyes - you don't feel loft - you are sensing the longitudinal center of gravity of the club - the center of mass in the length wise direction of the club. That's a straight line. If you hang a club from the grip end - then the shaft won't hang straight down because the clubface is offset. However, if you hang a weighted string from the grip - it will show you the "longitudinal center of gravity" of that club. Where that touches and passes through the face is the "sweetspot". You are sensing that straight line.

To simulate that straight line - you could use a dowel or flip your club around and grip it with the grip end down at the ball. Now, if you are going to simulate impact and hit the ball before lowpoint - with the shaft i.e. the longitudinal center of gravity leaning forward - you'll see that the contact point feel is above the equator.

Your issue is that you are trying to contact your feel of the club - that straight line longitudinal center of gravity - below the equator - requiring a shaft that is leaning away from the target. That effort shows up in the video - A) 1/2 down the early release, B) the shallow clubhead approach, C) the "right hand" flipping through.

They are other issues to cover in your movement - this is the first one that you have to understand and have. The feel of the ball compressed between the longitudinal center of gravity and the ground - which in most of our minds translates to the ball being compressed between the clubface and the ground - that's the "feel". Obviously, since you can't feel loft - the actual impact point IS below the equator since the club has loft on it, creating backsping and ball flight - however the important criteria is the procedural effort of sensing the longitudinal center of gravity hitting the ball before low point - thereby leaning forward and thereby providing the sense that you are contacting the ball above the equator with a descending blow.

In summary - step one is to not have your idea of the face contacting the ball below the equator - you need to have the thought of the face contacting the ball above the equator - short the shaft the more above the equator. Let's start there and see if that makes sense to you.