Divot question

[mont86]

What are golfers doing different who take a divot compared to pickers?

[klaymon]

Re: Divot question

I have recently changed from picking to taking good divots. The biggest change I have made is swinging more with my shoulders than my arms. Before, I had very little shoulder turn and I would lift the club with my arms. I never took a divot with this swing.

A couple of weeks ago, I re-worked my swing and now make a good shoulder turn and keep my hands as far from my head as possible. I then swing back through with my shoulders leading and have started taking divots and striking the ball more consistently. It also helps to keep my spine angle constant.

As a side note, I've also worked on keeping my left wrist flat and it's helping my slice.

[BrianW]

Re: Divot question

Good question.

Tension in the arms by gripping to tightly will pull the arms up, swinging with loose arms will maintain the arc.

A fixation with getting the arms high at the finish also tends to make you hit on the upstroke and not take a divot, this will also create thinned and fat shots. If you focus more on striking the ball then allowing your arms to extend past by around a foot you should make better contact and divots, just let the follow through happen by natural momentum. See the attached picture.

[GolfJunkieSr]

Re: Divot question

I play the ball back in my stance, and make a steeper down swing to impact for divots. I also tend to give my trailing hand more control when I need to take a divot. I take divots more so with my shorter (6-LW) irons, than with my longer irons, and almost never with a fairway wood, or hybrid. The longer clubs are more of a sweeping motion for my game. One thing about divots...........Some courses are not what I call "divot friendly". What I mean by that is the turf is too firm (hard) for the club head to move enough turf for a proper divot. To avoid injury to yourself, and damage to your equipment make sure of the conditions you are playing on. GJS

[mont86]

Re: Divot question

As of late I have moved the ball back in my stance and have been making better contact with the ball, but I don't take a big divot, never really have
I was lust wonder what the other people are doing/

And I know what you mean about courses that aren't soft enough to take divots.

[kbp]

Re: Divot question

Obviously , the only thing that HAS to be different is the trajectory of the clubhead through the ball. Many, many reasons why the trajectory may be one way or the other but......

IMO, having a good lag makes it a lot easier for the clubhead to move through the ball in a descending blow. Consider the arc of the clubhead as it approaches the ball WITH good lag. The hands are about even with the ball but the shaft is still parallel to the ground. From here, the radius of the arc the clubhead travels is relatively tight, not much more than the length of the shaft. A fairly steep path into the ball Contrast this with a "casting" swing. Take the club back to waist high with NO wrist hinge. Swing it back down to the ball with NO lag. The arc is much wider. The clubhead approaches the ball on a very flat angle. It spends a lot of time near the ground. The descending part of the path is well behind the ball. If you are fairly precise, you can still "sweep" the ball or "pick" it, but it’s not a good path if you want to hit down and trough the ball to take a divot.

First things first. Make sure you have some lag. Otherwise, you will be making potentially destructive compensations, like moving the ball TOO far back or sliding forward through impact, etc, to get a descending blow.

[mont86]

Re: Divot question

I have been working on lag...This has been a learning process to say the least..lol

[jambalaya]

Re: Divot question

If you allow your swing to bottom out with full extension and hit the ball with a downward blow the amount of divot depends on the trajectory of your clubhead, how you address the ball and your impact position. You can still hit solid shots without a big divot. I take a solid divot when I hit my high loft irons and shallow divots with clubs like a 4 or 5 iron. All I know is that I hit the ball further and more solidly when I take a divot.

[BrianW]

Re: Divot question

Keep it simple.

Mark a line in the grass. Address a 7 iron with no ball, have the line in the centre of your stance so that the leading edge of the clubface is on the line. Now make a swing with the aim of creating a divot in front of the line. Don't get your head confused with lots of swing thoughts, just swing back and hit the turf in front of the line. Move forward a little and do it again, and again, and again. when you can repeat this at will then try it with a line and a ball. Then just a ball.

[GreeBoman]

Re: Divot question

I play the ball back in my stance, and make a steeper down swing to impact for divots. I also tend to give my trailing hand more control when I need to take a divot.

Why would you "need to take a divot"?
I assume you mean when you need to hit a punch type shot for a low ball flight? Otherwise I dont see any benefit from getting divot.

[AussieGolfBoy]

Re: Divot question

divots help with getting a little further distance because you are hitting down on the ball (promoting the proper swing), and they also increase the spin rate on the ball.

i don't always take divots, but i usually trim the grass, i still get the work on the ball i want, distance required and stopping power i need.

however there are times when i want more divot if playing a LW and wanting it to stop quick. i'll swing at a steeper angle to the ball, feel a solid contact and see a divot fly out of the ground.

i never try to take a divot out of the ground, i always just focus on hitting the ball on the downstroke and hitting it clean. if you take a divot, then so be it, but there are more inportant things in this game than focussing on taking divots with every shot... IMO.

if you have beginner clubs you may find you can't take a divot because the bounce is so large. (fat bottom on the club)

[GreeBoman]

Re: Divot question

divots help with getting a little further distance because you are hitting down on the ball (promoting the proper swing), and they also increase the spin rate on the ball.

i don't always take divots, but i usually trim the grass, i still get the work on the ball i want, distance required and stopping power i need.

however there are times when i want more divot if playing a LW and wanting it to stop quick. i'll swing at a steeper angle to the ball, feel a solid contact and see a divot fly out of the ground.

i never try to take a divot out of the ground, i always just focus on hitting the ball on the downstroke and hitting it clean. if you take a divot, then so be it, but there are more inportant things in this game than focussing on taking divots with every shot... IMO.

Thats exactly my point. You should worry about what you want the ball to do, divots are largely irrelevant. Lots of top golfers dont take them and some take huge ones. Different stroke for different folks.

[GolfJunkieSr]

Re: Divot question

Why would you "need to take a divot"?
I assume you mean when you need to hit a punch type shot for a low ball flight? Otherwise I dont see any benefit from getting divot.

I play with fitted clubs, and I take divots to create more back spin, which helps with accuracy, and distance control. No big secret there. That being said, I know some pretty good golfers who do not take divots with any club, while using just a sweeping motion to impact the ball. GJS