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From Ed,
golfer: |
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"Spinning the ball! I play to an 8
handicap. I haven't been able to spin the ball back on the green. The most
I have been able to do is stop it. I try to play my approach to the green
from about 100-120 yards out and hit the ball with a descending
blow...taking a slightly larger divot. Still no spin." |
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PGA/LPGA
TEACHING
PROFESSIONAL
RESPONSES: |
California
"Ed - The key to spinning the
ball is making sure your target hand is almost bowed at impact to
insure trapping the ball between the clubface and the ground. This
keeps the club head low after impact resulting in a thin divot. Also,
play the ball back of center slightly. Do not try to hit down as
this
results in a deep divot which gets too much grass or dirt between
the clubface and ball. Good Golfing."
- Kati
Biszantz, Teaching Professional |
California
"Spinning
the ball involves more than just a descending blow to the golf
ball. It includes the centeredness of contact and club head speed.
If you are an 8 handicap, I wouldn't get all concerned about
spinning the golf ball. There are other parts of the game that you
can work on that will help you maintain your handicap or lower it
with out spinning the golf ball. The # of times in a round that it
is imperative that you spin the ball are minor. In 20 years of
teaching it is my experience that there easier things that will
help your game like developing a softer touch around the greens,
chipping, pitching, and lag putting long putts that will help your
game. The tour players are playing on fairways that are maintained
like the greens that you play on. They generate higher swing
speeds also for the most part. We are all limited with the amount
of time we actually can practice, so make that time more beneficial
and productive my working on soft shots around the green and not
putting backspin on your approach shots." - Bob
Veroulis, Teaching Professional |
Florida
"Dear Ed, here are the keys to
creating backspin. #1) You must use a ball that spins, i.e. Pro
V1, Precept extra spin, Callaway. #2) Your hands must be ahead
of the ball at impact. Check this at impact in slo-motion.
Practice hitting punch shots. Watch your ball position. Too far
forward is not good for iron shots. #3)You must have a swing
speed at impact of 88+mph. Good Luck."
- John
Pallot, Teaching Professional
|
Florida
"You would be much better off
if you would swing the club forward and let the club spin the
ball instead of you trying to go down to make the ball go
forward with spin. Don't forget; the grass on the green has a
lot to do with whether or not the ball will spin back, forward
or sideways. If your ball stops as you say, why would you want
it to spin back, just hit it at the flag and stop it. If you
indeed need to spin it a bit more just put it back in your
stance about 1" and make your normal swing and that will do
it. I think you are very fortunate that you can make the ball
just stop. Every golfer alive would like to do that."
- Pat
Kimball, Teaching Professional
|
Oregon
"Mike, back
spin is the most overrated aspect in golf. All golf shots have
back spin or they would never become airborne. Now if your talking
suckem (past the hole and bringing them back) many factors will influence
this. First must have soft ball (pro vi) 2. Must have good clean
contact (hitting ball before ground). Must have green that is soft
and receptive (facing towards u in an uphill manner). The ball
must be contacted first on a downward swing plane (most people hit
the ball on an upward swing plane) and you must accelerate down
through the shot. Focus on punching the ball into the turf. But
take course conditions into consideration, if you watched the British
open, I doubt that you saw a lot of back up shots!! Thanks for
your question." - Scott
Lusk, Teaching Professional |
South Carolina
"Have someone stand on the green and mark
where the ball lands, bounces to and finishes. Pick a flat
green with typical conditions your course offers. Record your
thoughts for each shot relative to did I swing
correctly then compare to your results." - Doug
Weaver, Teaching Professional |
Texas
"Hello Ed: You are doing
exactly what we would all like to do when playing an iron shot
into the green...stopping it! Why would you want the golf ball to
back up? Personally, I want the golf ball to stop exactly
where I land it. Having a golf ball back up off a green may
impress many higher handicap golfers but I would rather be putting
than chipping back on to the green. Ask anyone who plays in the
Master's Golf Tournament at Augusta National whether they would
like the ball to stay where they hit it or back up. Overwhelmingly
the answer would be, "STAY PUT!" The type of golf ball
you use is going to determine much of the spin rate as well. A
softer, thinner covered golf ball will spin more than one that is
harder with a thicker cover. The double edge sword is that the
higher spin rate golf balls will spin more sideways (hook &
slice) off the driver. For most amateurs, that's not good! Down
the middle."
- Dan
Howard, Teaching Professional
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