help! how to stun the ball

[fahie]

Hi,

i just wondered if anyone could help me. i would like to know how to stop the ball dead on the green with all my irons?

anyones help would be appreciated

adam

[LowPost42]

Re: help! how to stun the ball

Stop dead with all your irons?

Simple. Swing like a pro.

Not going to work, you say?

Then the answer gets more complicated, and involves having a very good swing - which means a ton of practice.

Your ball striking has to be immaculate in order to generate enough spin to spin a ball back on a green.

To stun a ball, your ball striking has to be very, very good. You'll need that really good downward strike, that nice divot, and don't draw the ball.


All kidding aside - you'll need some lessons, and you need to hit the ball well. By well, I mean that you'll have to hit the ball fist (ie no hitting fat), and you'll have to take a divot (ie no scooping or sweeping).

[ph_kingston]

Re: help! how to stun the ball

With all the irons?! That's a tough one, there's probably only a handful of pros that can stop a 3-iron dead. The key factor is generating backspin and plenty of it. This means you've got to hit the ball on a descending blow, quite hard and with a sweet contact just as LowPost mentioned.

You need to use a ball that will take some spin too; hard, distance balls simply won't generate enough spin to stop on the green.

Depending on conditions, even with an excellent strike you simply might not generate enough backspin. On links courses it's often very difficult to stop a ball on the green as they can be very hard and dry. With a following wind on a seaside course the smart shot is usually to play short and let the ball run onto the green. Lusher courses with softer greens make it much, much easier for the ball to grab with not a huge amount of spin.

[fahie]

Re: help! how to stun the ball

thanks for your help.

maybe that was a bit ambicious but i can try

thanks

[LowPost42]

Re: help! how to stun the ball



Yes, quite ambitious, but you can try.

It reminds me of the following story.

A fellow was following Sam Snead during a practice round, and asked, "Mr. Snead, how do you put backspin on a 2 iron?"

Sammy looked at the fellow and asked, "Son, how far do you hit a 2 iron?"

"About 225," was the reply.

Sammy smiled and said "Then why the hell do you want it to stop?"

[matthinkle]

Re: help! how to stun the ball

Don't...if you don't know how, don't attempt. If you read people's advice, and attempt, you will only be adding to an pre-existing swing flaw. You shouldn't complicate matters by thinking about things while addressing the ball. Plus, most public courses, the greens aren't very good and won't respond to spin, it will simply bounce off the green anyway...What you should really consider is hitting short of the pin and letting it release to the hole, that's a much easier shot, with greater reward...and better chance of actually accomplishing...Develop a good, consistent swing, and stopping the ball will come as a byproduct...

[mr3856a]

Re: help! how to stun the ball

Actually, Lowpost, this is the story (taken from Harvey Pennick's Little Red Book).

An amateur was playing with Sam Snead, and he asked Sam how to get backspin on his iron shots.

"When you hit an iron approach, do you usually come up short of the pin or hit it past it?" asked Sam.

"I almost always come up short."

"Then what do you need backspin for?"

[Mike420]

Re: help! how to stun the ball

Well unless you've got a really low handicap, and your very consistent, always producing the same swing, then maybe you should worry about some spin. Personally i'd just work on my accuracy.

[89imf]

Re: help! how to stun the ball

If you want your ball to hit the green and stick like glue you need to get the ball up into the air, high up. It works for me. With that said ,you have to know how far you can hit each iron. Getting height on the ball will cause a loss of distance, so you really have to know how well you can hit each iron.

Example, last week I was about 175 yards out hitting my 6 iron. I took a nice full swing, got the ball really high into the air, hit the green and my ball moved about four inches toward the hole.

Even on greens that have a huge slope, if you get enough height on your ball it will pretty much stay where it lands.

I can't stress enough the importance of taking a full hard swing, because you want height and distance. Hope this helps.

Tom

[GreeBoman]

Re: help! how to stun the ball

Try playing a round with an old balata ball.
If you havent destroyed it after 18 holes then you can start to think about adding backspin.

Chances are for most amateurs the ball will be wrecked.