Good Ball Striking- what is it? Does it make a difference??!!

[mahbo]

Hi team.

I tend to hit the ball clean off the turf, never take a divot. Even when teeing up on a par three, I will hit it clean and see no need to take any turf. I know my thinking is wrong and messed up!

I know you leak power if you hit the ball fat. However, do i leak power if I hit the ball FIRST but take no divot?

Can somoeone please let me know why I need to be contacting the ball first, and taking a divot after?

your thougths would be appreciated

thanks

[Beowulf]

Re: Good Ball Striking- what is it? Does it make a difference??!!

Taking a divot usually means that you are hitting down on the ball as opposed to "sweeping" it off the turf. Remember, golf is sometimes a sport of opposites. Hit down to make the ball go up. Also, hitting down on the ball is a requirement if you want that "spin" when it hits the turf.

[GolfJunkieSr]

Re: Good Ball Striking- what is it? Does it make a difference??!!

Not taking a divot is not a big deal as long as the golfer maintains the hands leading the club face through impact, Especially with irons, but not so much with the driver. Maintaining the correct hands, and club face relationship through impact allows the loft of the club to do it's work as designed. In other words a 7i would deliver 7i loft to the ball. If the club head catches up with or passes the hands at impact, that same 7i might be delivering 8i-9i loft to the ball. This is why think a lot golfers who can hit their driver 250+ yards, only hit their 6i maybe 130-140 yards.

I don't take very much, if any divot with my irons, and still do all right score wise. Maybe once in a great while with one of my wedges, if the shot might require it I will take a divot. In fact with the number of un-repaired divots I see on the fairways, and tee boxes that I play off of, there are quite a few golfers who should not be taking divots as it is. Those types of golfers should just give the turf a slight hair cut, which does not cause the rest of us grief trying to play out of their left over, damaged turf. Walkers are especially bad for this, since most don't carry divot repair mix, or take the time to replace their divots. GJS

[BrianW]

Re: Good Ball Striking- what is it? Does it make a difference??!!

The reason you should be taking divots is that most energy is transferred from the club to the ball when the ball is contacted out of the clubs sweetspot, the only way you can hit the ball in the sweetspot with an iron is when the clubface is descending at impact. Your hands need to be ahead of the clubhead as it strikes the ball and the bottom of the swing arc will be ahead of the ball, this will make the leading edge strike the ground after the ball has been impacted. As longer clubs have less loft they can strike the strike the ball in the sweetspot with a shallower swing arc so they will create less of a divot than shorter irons.

Place a golfball on a table or in the open palm of your hand, now take a wedge and position the face so that the ball is contacting the clubface as high up as possible without lifting the ball. You will see this is only possible by leaning the shaft forward and making the swing low point ahead of the ball.

[mahbo]

Re: Good Ball Striking- what is it? Does it make a difference??!!

The reason you should be taking divots is that most energy is transferred from the club to the ball when the ball is contacted out of the clubs sweetspot, the only way you can hit the ball in the sweetspot with an iron is when the clubface is descending at impact. Your hands need to be ahead of the clubhead as it strikes the ball and the bottom of the swing arc will be ahead of the ball, this will make the leading edge strike the ground after the ball has been impacted. As longer clubs have less loft they can strike the strike the ball in the sweetspot with a shallower swing arc so they will create less of a divot than shorter irons.

Place a golfball on a table or in the open palm of your hand, now take a wedge and position the face so that the ball is contacting the clubface as high up as possible without lifting the ball. You will see this is only possible by leaning the shaft forward and making the swing low point ahead of the ball.

Thanks Alot for your reply Brian and crew. Hey I agree with you, as I am sure if I am taking a divot, you will get the proper trajectory and the sound you will deliver on the ball will be more solid.

Brian- thanks for comment about sweet spot- I never thought of that point. However that said, say I am teeing up with a 7iron on a par three hole. IF I tee up ball one very high, and say contact the ball first, and hit it at the sweet spot, and the club travels to the lowest point after the ball is struck.....how would that differ from ball 2 being teed up normally where you do the same as above and take a divot. Would they both go the same distance and have same trajectory? sorry if too technical!!!

thanks
Mahbo

[BrianW]

Re: Good Ball Striking- what is it? Does it make a difference??!!

Thanks Alot for your reply Brian and crew. Hey I agree with you, as I am sure if I am taking a divot, you will get the proper trajectory and the sound you will deliver on the ball will be more solid.

Brian- thanks for comment about sweet spot- I never thought of that point. However that said, say I am teeing up with a 7iron on a par three hole. IF I tee up ball one very high, and say contact the ball first, and hit it at the sweet spot, and the club travels to the lowest point after the ball is struck.....how would that differ from ball 2 being teed up normally where you do the same as above and take a divot. Would they both go the same distance and have same trajectory? sorry if too technical!!!

thanks
Mahbo

If you strike the ball on the sweet spot then it will produce good results whether teed up or off the ground. The problem with teeing the ball too high with an iron is that you may strike the ball higher on the face than the sweet spot. This will produce a high ball flight with reduced distance as the loft is increased as you move up the face and less force is transferred when the ball contacts above the sweet spot.

I hope that makes sense to you.

PS:-

If you want to improve ball striking try getting the 3 skills book, "Nail It" It has some great drills for creating great ball contact.

[LowPost42]

Re: Good Ball Striking- what is it? Does it make a difference??!!

If you strike the ball on the sweet spot then it will produce good results whether teed up or off the ground. The problem with teeing the ball too high with an iron is that you may strike the ball higher on the face than the sweet spot. This will produce a high ball flight with reduced distance as the loft is increased as you move up the face and less force is transferred when the ball contacts above the sweet spot.

I hope that makes sense to you.

PS:-

If you want to improve ball striking try getting the 3 skills book, "Nail It" It has some great drills for creating great ball contact.

Just one quick note: There's only more loft on a head with vertical roll - MOST irons don't have this (the Acer XP Pro's come to mind as irons with roll).

The problem is that high on the face is NOT where the sweetspot resides in irons - so when you hit high on the face you're losing energy (hence the short shot) and the strike is more oblique, hence less spin.

On most drivers however (save Tom Wishon designs), there is less loft on the lower part of the face and more loft on the upper part. The reason there's more distance for the average golfer by hitting it higher on the face (and on most drivers, missing the sweetspot) is due to the increased launch angle (from more loft) and the decreased spin (from vertical gear effect).