How to get the ball to spin

[Jemehl]

i have tried everything i just cant get it to spin back.. This is easily adding 5-7 strokes a round.. i need help please ?

[bjw181]

i have tried everything i just cant get it to spin back.. This is easily adding 5-7 strokes a round.. i need help please ?

Does your ball land on the green and end up rolling off the green or are you overshooting the pin and the ball ends up settling on the back?

[Jemehl]

Does your ball land on the green and end up rolling off the green or are you overshooting the pin and the ball ends up settling on the back?

i am getting the ball to land pretty close if not in front of the pin but it just rolls of the back of the green

[bjw181]

i am getting the ball to land pretty close if not in front of the pin but it just rolls of the back of the green

From what distance does this happen?

[Jemehl]

100 and in.. i am not expecting to get much spin from my 7,8,9 irons but from about 100 in i would say

[bjw181]

Can't do much without seeing your swing but I would guess that you are too shallow in your swing...or mishitting the ball...how is your trajectory? Divots? Swing speed? You are a 12 handicap so I assume you know the basics.

[Jemehl]

ill try to get a video of my swing up later.. i am going to the course now so maybe just swing steeper you think ?

[bjw181]

Yea. Try keeping your weight more centered if not slightly over your front leg. This should steepen your swing.

[grantc79]

No wrist uncocking into the ball, no divot after the ball, no spin.

[CarlSpackler]

What ball are you playing? I tend to play a lower spin ball, and play short of the green (assuming it isn't guarded) and allow for it to run in dry conditions. I have tried higher spin balls like the Nike One and Pro V1 but find that the covers get scuffed like crazy when I hit them.

[Jemehl]

i have been playing the nxt extreme maybe i should switch to a higher spin ball ?

[Fourputt]

You play Titleist NXT Extreme? 2 piece ball with a surlyn cover. That's at least part of your problem. Just as an experiment try a Bridgestone E5+. That's a 2 piece ball with urethane cover... might be a little bit stickier off the wedges and for chips and pitches. Another one to try might be the Nike Power Soft. I can spin that one well with my 6 year old Cobra irons.

By the way, you'll never get any ball of that type to spin back. About the best you can hope for is one hop and a short roll. They just don't have the short iron spin that you get from a premium ball. You have to play for at least 5-10 feet of advancement after the ball hits the green if you're going to play a second or third tier ball.

[Jemehl]

You play Titleist NXT Extreme? 2 piece ball with a surlyn cover. That's at least part of your problem. Just as an experiment try a Bridgestone E5+. That's a 2 piece ball with urethane cover... might be a little bit stickier off the wedges and for chips and pitches. Another one to try might be the Nike Power Soft. I can spin that one well with my 6 year old Cobra irons.

So give me a few balls to try i am going to the course soon ill try them out .. What about pro v1 ? any other ideas ?

[CarlSpackler]

i have been playing the nxt extreme maybe i should switch to a higher spin ball ?

It might be worth a try. I am not a pro by any means. Another thing to try, I think it was Gary Player, who used the image of striking a match, when hitting your ball. Basically, make sure the you are accelerating through the ball to generate spin.

[grantc79]

So give me a few balls to try i am going to the course soon ill try them out .. What about pro v1 ? any other ideas ?

From 100 yards you should be able to spin any ball realistically.

A Pro-V1 I can pull back 15-20 feet depending on the conditions if I really try to pinch it. A Top-Rock I can still stop on a dime and pull back a foot or two no problem. Hell you can take a rock ball and hit a high soft cut and stop a 5 or 6 iron on a dime if you hit it right (see Tiger yesterday on that par 5). If you cannot make a ball even stop from 100 yards then it isn't the ball, its your swing. Just answer this, do you take divots when you swing or not?

[Jemehl]

i usually do not ? should i be ?

[grantc79]

i usually do not ? should i be ?

Well let me put it to you this way in a simple way to look at it without getting technical.

Most bad players swing toward their target. The ball is sitting on the ground below you. Does it make more sense to swing toward your target or toward the ball which is sitting on the ground below you? Is it possible to direct force at your target rather than the ball and get the ball to go to the target in the way that you want it to? Do basketball players shooting a jump shot from the 3 point line direct force at the rim or at the ball that they are trying to get to the rim? A tennis player hitting a forehand to the corner will not swing at the corner. He would swing at the ball in such a way as to drive it to the corner. Assuming you agree with all of this and that little white ball is sitting on the GROUND beneath your feet should where should you swing to? Should you or should you not be hitting down on the ball? If you are doing that would you not hit through the ball into the ground in front of it? Wouldn't that produce a divot?

[grantc79]

Good players will swing down at the ball. They don't wind up off balance partly due to good flexibility but also partly due to the fact that when they reach the ball their power is dumped into that ball and the ground in front of it.

Thus their energy is dumped down into the ground and the ball snaps off like a rocket the ground absorbs whatever energy is left and the player is left standing there all of the energy having left his body.

If you don't take a divot you aren't compressing the ball downward, you are simply swatting it at your target. You are doing this because you aren't really hitting the ball, the ball just happens to be in the way of what you are swatting at which is you're target.

Make your target the ball and the ground in front of it and figure out how to direct your energy into that ball in such a way as to get it to go where you want it to.

If you hit it right you will take a huge divot and the hardest rock ball will still feel very soft on the face of the club at impact.

If you don't hit it then even a Pro-V1 is going to feel like a rock as it casually bounces off the face and rolls until its out of juice.