Can a divot be too big?

Last weekend I played with 3 of my buddies (two of them are 20+ cappers and the other is like a 12) and they were amazed at the size of my divots (there were many of the "Hey, leave some turf for the rest of us" jokes).

With my short irons (7-LW) I normally take a divot that is about an inch to an inch-and-a-half thick, 4 to 6 inches long and about the width of the club head wide.

Is this an abnormal size, does this say something abuot my swing? I am seriously paranoid that I am doing something wrong now. Guys, help me with size issues here ...

(and YES, before your ask, I always put the ones back that I can ... sometimes they obliterate after the shot.)

I changed my swing mechanics a little in the last few days I used to put my 8-PW shots way back in my stance, usually at or sometimes behind my back foot. I now am trying to move it inside my back foot or even further. I seem to be taking a lot smaller divots. I think my divots were about what you mention above before and now are about half the size.

So far its helping me get more spin and a huge jump in accuracy, especially with longer shots. Chopped about 10 strokes from my game with this and a few other changes including gear.

Yes. If it looks like you begun to dig for sewer pipe installation, it is too big.

I play my short irons just behind my belly-button ... my longer irons I play about half-way between my front foot and belly-button and my drivers I play just inside my front foot ...

I am not a sweeper (obviously) I do hit down on the ball with my irons, maybe I am coming down with too steep of an angle from my back swing? My ball flight is a slight fade (becuase I am still slightly inside-out).

Thats where I position the ball and where I have been instructed to position it, I can't see those ball positions causing a divot problem.

I have been getting more divots recently because my technique is changing, i'm no longer firing across the ball, instead have a better arc and release, before I would thin the ball more and get a very low trajectory ball flight as I fired across it with almost no divot. That said I use Ping G5 'improvement irons' with a larger sole hence I would assume less divots. Don't really know the answer to your problem but the ball placement looks about correct to me.

I think ball position is a huge factor when it comes to divots. If you place the ball forward in your stance, you must manipulate your arms to hit the ball clean, the club will be on its way up or at the bottom when it strike the ball. If you take any divot you'll surely have a mishit. By moving it backwards you encourage the club to come down earlier with your arms. The club will still move on the arc you normally swing, but you will hit the ball and ground earlier, thus digging deeper.

With the ball in the middle or a bit forward you'll still take a bit of divot, but not too much.

I don't think too much about the size of my divots, I'm more concerned with the angle. Still, I occasionally take a huge divot, but as long as I hit the ball first it doesn't matter on the result. I like taking divots, but I don't want them too big, it give the club some resistance and could inflict the feel you get with these shots. The ground is also a factor here, if it's very soft and you easily take divots it doesn't matter too much, but if the ground is tight and hard, digging the ground can put the swing out of balance. If doesn't matter on the shot you just took, the ball is in the air long before, but it can make you hesitate on the next time you got a similar shot. That's not something we want, you want to set up and hit the ball just the way you planned, hesitation and lots of worries on your mind does not help a bit. If you hit the shot the same every time, you know how it should feel, it'll make you a lot more confident.

How you strike the ball is the determining factor in divot size. Work on controlling the size of you divots - and see how each affects the ball in different situations.

Ball flight doesn't lie, just keep that in mind.

Right, which is why I know I am still slightly inside-out (due to my fade) ... I guess I was just more concerned that maybe I am loosing some distance because I am perceiving that I am getting too much ground ...

You said you have a fade, this leads me to believe that your grip is weak. change your grip if you want to straighten it out or draw it.
(I hope you know what I mean, Im not making fun of you)

From the fade you are losing distance compared to a straight shot or a draw guarenteed.

As for your current setup taking monster divots, you must be coming down awfully steep to the ball.

Think about your ball position on a driver, theres no way that you can take a divot with the driver, try to move the ball forward in your stance and see if this gives you the results you are looking for.

If you hit consistently, it won't matter. There could of course be factors which also lead to large divots that can cause it, but in means of just the divot size it doesn't. The ball is in the air before you start digging.

Yeah, I know what you are saying, in-fact I can purposley hit a draw when I want to just by rolling my wrist a little.

See my post on current ball position - I would hate to deviate from that set-up a whole lot ... it's a pretty "safe" set up ...

if you're honestly a single digit handicapper and the ball flight you get from your swing allows you to play to the ability of a single digit handicapper, i don't see why you or your 20+ handicap friends should care about what your divots look like...

maybe they should be trying to make larger divots haha

I wouldn't worry about it at all. Just watch most pros hit with their short irons and wedges. Although it's hard to tell how big their divots are, it isn't hard to tell that they're a pretty good size. My ball position with the 9 iron is right in the middle and I still take 4-6 inch divots in length. I start questioning a player's swing when I see them take no divot with a short iron. In all honesty, I would have a hard time hitting a ball effectively with a short iron and not taking a divot.

I too have had cases of deep divots, especially with irons. A couple of questions to ask yourself that may help you decide if you need to take action:

1) Am I delofting the clubface through impact so much that I can't control trajectory (everything becomes a punch shot)?

2) Are the divots inconsistent, or starting behind the ball, destroying my shot quality?

3) Do the divots show a distinct toe down or toe up cut pattern? If so, your lie angles may be really off for your swing.

4) Does the deep divot affect your ability to swing smoothly and finish in balance?

5) Have you encountered any hand soreness or tendonitis as a result of steep impact?

6) Have you started having trouble with woods because your approach angle is getting too steep?

7) Are you having to get overly handsy through impact to square the face and save every shot?

For me, it was a bunch of these, and solving the problem has required some serious changes in my swing and grip. My divots were toed in, hitting behind the ball, and I was getting serious hand and arm soreness. It made golf very difficult. Some grip and stance changes, and lots of hits later, and I am making much better divots that still generate great compression.

BTW, I have found that a strong grip with the right hand, along with too much forward press, always causes deep divots. For me, Hogan was right. The right hand V points at the chin. You can still strengthen the left hand a shade to help square the club if you need to, but don't get into the bad habit of having such a strong grip that you basically are hammering the ball.

Lol... hammer... reminds me of that infomercial.

The HAMMER... PooooooWWWWW!

That's my mentality too ... if I didn't take a divot, I didn't hit it correctly.

I guess this whole thread started because I just thought it was abnormal, I guess the reality is, I may take a hell of a divot, but I can also take thier money too!

My irons are less than a season old. I haven't noticed a change in flight trajectory. I will keep an eye on this next year and see if anything changes.

They do start slightly behind the ball, but I am talking less than an inch or so. The divots are very consistant in size and shape for the most part.

No, same depth on the toe side as on the heel side. Very even.

No, I finish pretty well balance-wise.

I have arthritis (at age 31) so I everything is sore ... but relatively, no, nothing above and beyond what I am used to.

No, I think my issues with my woods are with my weak grip, as it is here with the fade with my irons.

Not that I am aware of ... I am not purposley doing antyhing to getthe club head square.

If your ball flight is to high or your spin on short irons and wedges causes inconsistent distance or erratic suck back after landing I might consider an adjustment otherwise as long as you hit the the little ball first who cares? In the rough or with grass fairways where the ball tends to sit down a little you probably have an advantage.