They Call Me Digger

I have been playing again for about three months after many years of not playing. I got out my old Titleist AC-108s and commenced to redefine the meaning of the word divot. These things were 4x9 sheets of turf that you could sod with. So I got new Burner irons thinking the new sole designs would cut down on that; well... now my divots are explosions of destroyed turf which can never be replaced.
The easier I swing the deeper the divot (sometimes to the point of stopping the club), if I swing too hard I blade the ball (I think I look up when I swing hard).
So, basic questions:
Divots, good or bad?
Divots, what size?
Divots, from where? Behind? At? or in front of ball?

Divots ....Good, means you are hitting down through the ball compressing it in the ground instead of sweeping.
Divot Size .....about a dollar bill wide and no more than dollar bill in length
Divot Placement ......definitely not behind the ball, generally at or slightly in front of ball

If you are taking huge chunks there's a few things you can look at, make sure you are not standing to close to the ball. Check to make sure you are not releasing the club too early(casting), let the club release naturally on its own. One of the most important things is your head, do not let your head move up/down throughout the swing.

The ball could also be way back in your stance. Ball placement should never be behind the middle of your stance

Good Call!

Is this on all shots, or just full swing mid irons that I assume OP is asking about?

I only have mid and short irons so it happens on pretty much all my irons. I try very hard to not have the ball behind the middle of my address. (Except some punch shots and chips.) When I was young I had a terrifying forward press, no ball was behind the toe of my left foot, the drive was 3-4 inches in front of my left foot. My forward press is now a "very strong grip" by today's terms.

What do your drives look like?

Have you done some mat drills so that you physically can't chunk like that?

I can almost guarantee there's something funky going on in your lower body. Break it back down and work on just swinging with your upper body, and using big muscles. Then, slowly reincorporate your lower body until you find the issue.

That would be my take atleast.

Different swings and different clubs produce different divots - but if your buddys call you digger there might be as much truth to it than what you can actually read out of your divots.

If you go onto a driving range and look at peoples divots you can spot those guys who can really strike the ball - they have this particular pattern - everytime the same shallow divot and size of the divot - AND they start taking there divot after the ball already left the club face as you can see in this video:


Without actually seeing your swing its hard to tell whats happening - since a deep divot can be produced by many factors - some of them already mentioned in here. The best thing would be to let somebody have a look at your swing and give you a reason for why your divots are too "fat" and then find a solution for it.

The description of the club stopping sounds like you're coming in very steep. Try to take easy quarter swings, making sure you're coming in shallow and from inside. Then slowly increase the length of the swing. This never fails as a drill for me when I'm not making good contact.

I hit my 60* from the middle, my driver off my front heel

I was under the impression that certain shots required the ball to be a bit behind center of your stance. I hit low punch shots back about a ball or two. If I want to really spin a SW, I'll put a ball behind center.

It insures that I make contact early, compress the ball, and keep the ball flight somewhat low.

When I'm striking my short irons well, i take obnoxiously large divots (like almost a foot long in some cases) - even take them with long irons and fairway woods. As long as you compress the ball and finish your swing, it doesn't matter what type of divot you take.

One of the only exceptions that I can think of is a low punch, from under a tree to place the ball back behind center. If your hitting your wedges from behind center, you probably have an issue getting a balanced follow through. You can definitely 'compress the ball by having the ball center or forward.

If I take a practice swing it almost always just brushes the grass and appears to be a very sweet swing. When I swing at the ball an odd thing happens at the top of my back swing, it is as if all my joints suddenly relax and I feel my arms lengthen as I come down in my swing, and thunk. I tried to look at the grass just behind my ball the other day to see if my mind's eye would control my swing better and it seemed to help. Because of the disconect between my practice swing and my real swing IO often do not do a practice swing... on the theory that if the first swing is better I should put the ball in front of that one!

I dont know how well this would work, but what if you used spray paint to make a 12-16 inch line on the ground. Then place a few balls on the line. Try not to take a divot behind the line and that may help you visualize where you need to make contact? I always find it hard to determine whether I took a divot right before or after my ball....since usually it is no longer sitting there as a reference.

Divots good.... The kind you describe, bad. Your divots should not be that deep. Sounds like you are getting really steep at impact. Try to shallow out your angle of attack......

Funny how the video of Brian Gay's swing (9 iron) shows the ball is clearly behind center. I would say the ball position is just in front of right heel.

When on the range you can set up 2 tees instead of painting a line, and you can see whether or not your divot starts before or after the imaginary line between the tees.

Things were better yesterday and today. Yesterday I played in a heavy mist, wet cart seat heavy, and played well with only two complete divot disasters. Today only one. I am getting to the point where I have a reasonable chance of landing on the green on a lot of holes and I am focusing on the landing zone instead of how to swing. Is this ZEN golf?