Backspin… Good or Bad?

Ok so lately i have been creating a lot of backspin with my irons. the other day i hit my 4 iron 205 and the ball ended up 1 inch past the pitch mark. as far as my irons 7i - 60* my ball spins back on the green. 3i-6i stop on a dot. is this good or would it be better to have roll out? i don't mind the stopping, but at the same time i would like a little roll out with my long irons. any thoughts?

The gallery will love it. They will cheer more for a shot that lands a foot past the pin and spins back to 15 feet than a shot that lands a foot from the pin and stays there.

Seriously: Sometimes a lot of spin is a useful thing and sometimes it's not. Being able to control the spin is important. I heard a guy in the clubhouse one day acting like he was proud that almost every shot he hit that day spun back off of the green. SMH!!!

hahahaha. ya i've spun it off and it drives me bonkers because my distance is right, but the spin effects it to much. any ideas on reducing spin on some shots? i have a steeper swing so i think that is part of the problem. i don't really want to change my whole swing just to reduce spin

Several ways. More club, less club speed. Less negative angle of attack. Hands slightly more forward through impact to reduce loft (Same result as more club).

Do you play tennis? If you want the ball to have a lot of backspin you hit down through the ball at a steep angle. The faster you swing, the more loft on the racket, and the steeper the angle of attack, the more spin.

If you want the ball to have little or no backspin you hit through the ball on the path you want it to go.

Top spin doesn't apply to golf (hopefully) so I won't go there.

The golf club does the same thing to the ball.

Your 3-6 irons stop? Christ I wish I had that, than I could just aim at the flagstick. I usually have to take aim at the front of the green because I have a ton of rollout. I can get 7i - Wedges to stop but I've never seen any backspin yet. I think it'd be incredibly fun to aim over of the flagstick and have it spin back.

You are probably hitting your irons way to high. I am guess being a 13 handicap your swing is pretty repeatable. By hitting a 4 iron 204 yards, you get good clubhead speed and contact. I am guess that you lack partially the first three keys and must flip at the ball. Your timing is good, so you don't hit them fat, but you have a very negative angle of attack, and increased loft by not having a flat wrist at impact. This would cause the ball to go very high. So it isn't much backspin, as it is the angle in which the ball descends into the green.

Just guessing

As someone who can't spin the ball ... my thoughts aren't worth much, but if I were the OP, I would try a less spinny ball rather than change swing dynamics or club selection

i actually have a medium trajectory. which i like because i gets pretty windy where i play. do you think i should worry about it or learn the new distances?

ya i used to play the proV1x but changed to the bridgestone E5 which has helped a little bit, but it still stops. the shorter irons don't spin back as much which has really helped

ya some courses out here have crazy soft greens. i can really tell those. maybe i need to play a course with more firm greens. anyone out here in so cal familiar with the greens? i don't think i've played enough courses to tell the difference. are greens in so cal softer than other areas???