possible to have good swing but not make a divot?

[DavidFehertysBike]

Its not that big of an issue. 5iron on up im just barley clipping the grass. I do take a somewhat of a divot with longer clubs, but its more brush off of the grass. I do take a regular divot with my short and mid irons, though. Its hard not to.

[enduro]

As long as you're hitting the ball first, it doesn't matter. Usually, something will fly up after but not necessarily.

If you like your ball flight and you hit the ball first, that is all that matters.

But honestly, a small divot is usually the sign of a club swung correctly and a ball struck well. But not necessarily.

[Hidetake Ak]

It's interesting... if you asked this question to average golfers, you'd get all kinds of answers.  Reason - most golfers don't take a "proper" divot and many don't know the mechanics behind ball flight.   Their misconception of the mechanics of ball flight causes issues in their golf swing and many times inconsistency and lose of distance.

First - you should make a divot with every club in your bag besides your driver (off the tee) and your putter.
Why - it may seem obvious, but the driver and putter are the only clubs that the club is moving up at impact.  All other clubs, the club head should be moving down.

If the club head is moving down and strikes the ball first (before impact with the ground), the club should continue in the downward movement and strike the ground causing a divot (might be small, but a divot).

For most, the divots will appear bigger/deeper the shorter the club, and more shallow and narrow with the longer clubs.

[inthecup]

Steve Stricker is know as a pretty good ball striker.

[RayG]

Greatest player of them all, Jack Nicklaus wasn't a divot hound. he didn't dig a hole OR did he sweep. He "brushed" the ball off the turf most of the time. blades of grass might fly as he came through, but not a flying "Howie" (reference to a Cosell hairpiece flying down the fairway). From a Golf .com blog- "No, it's not necessary to take a divot with your irons if you have the nerves of a diamond cutter, but you should at least brush the grass. Johnny Miller tells a story about playing a round with Jack Nicklaus. Jack shot 66, but Johnny thought his irons sounded clunky and afterward he mentioned it to him. Jack's reply was "I was practicing hitting it one groove down." Think about that -- have you ever heard the phrase "fat to win"? Fat is not where it's at, but you can hit it thin all day and still win." Read more: http://blogs.golf.com/top100/2008/07/ask-the-top-1-1.html#ixzz2hKFcNZyc

[rehmwa]

Johnny Miller tells a story about playing a round with Jack Nicklaus. Jack shot 66, but Johnny thought his irons sounded clunky and afterward he mentioned it to him. Jack's reply was "I was practicing hitting it one groove down."

Johnny seems to have always had an unhealthy hero worship of Jack.  Jack's reply sounds strangely like a hilariously joking and not serious response.  He could have been feeding him a line.

[JCRuzanski]

I'm not sure one can possibly have an unhealthy hero worship of Jack... My divots are the width of the iron and maybe 5 inches in length. Not very deep, probably because of the crappy soil and grass here in TX. [quote name="rehmwa" url="/t/28386/possible-to-have-good-swing-but-not-make-a-divot/30#post_906993"] Johnny seems to have always had an unhealthy hero worship of Jack.  Jack's reply sounds strangely like a hilariously joking and not serious response.  He could have been feeding him a line. [/quote]

[Strandly]

I don't really get a divot with a 3 or 4 iron, all the other irons have a small one though.  Depends how soft the ground is too.  When I tee off with an iron I just throw the ball on the ground and hit it.  I've come to appreciate the look on people's face when I do that, usually after they pick theirs off a tee 2 inches in the air.  Ha

[inthehole]

I have a question for the divot guys - how do you play wedge shots on sun baked HARD sumer fairways - we have lots of these in the northeast, and I'm sure more in the south ??

I can't take a divot in these conditions - gave up on it - not worth the risk of jamming a wrist or bouncing the club.     I still go for my mini-divot, just to prove to myself I'm hitting down on it ... but it seems to me the guys who so profess the need to take a goodly divot must  play on soft fairways.

[Golfingdad]

I have a question for the divot guys - how do you play wedge shots on sun baked HARD sumer fairways - we have lots of these in the northeast, and I'm sure more in the south ??

I can't take a divot in these conditions - gave up on it - not worth the risk of jamming a wrist or bouncing the club.     I still go for my mini-divot, just to prove to myself I'm hitting down on it ... but it seems to me the guys who so profess the need to take a goodly divot must  play on soft fairways.

I'm pretty inconsistent, to be honest.  It seems like I hit my best shots, though, when I take relatively modest sized divots.  And with the 4 and 5 irons, good shots come with really small divots.  But, yeah, for the most part out here, the fairways are soft enough that hurting your wrist taking a divot isn't a concern. :)

[theworldengine]

No. A good swing strikes the ball first, then the clubhead is in motion until it finds the ground.

[c peterich]

Been to million tour events.,,some take divots...some pick it clean,, both have advantages and disadvantages,,,

[MissouriHack]

[VIDEO]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-4UEn5q0R4[/VIDEO]

[mvmac]

Most good players take some turf, especially with the mid to short irons.  Irons are designed to be hit with some decent, flat lead wrist at impact.  The more "lag" you create (Sergio) the deeper the divot tends to be.  Watson above is hitting a long iron.  Extremely impressive though to hit it that solid and just clip the grass.

[inthehole]

I have a question for the divot guys - how do you play wedge shots on sun baked HARD sumer fairways - we have lots of these in the northeast, and I'm sure more in the south ??

I can't take a divot in these conditions - gave up on it - not worth the risk of jamming a wrist or bouncing the club.     I still go for my mini-divot, just to prove to myself I'm hitting down on it ... but it seems to me the guys who so profess the need to take a goodly divot must  play on soft fairways.

Thanks Golfingdad for the response ... anybody else care to chime in ?

[saevel25]

Maybe that is one of the reasons Tom is one of the greatest British Open champions of all time.

As for the hard pan fairways, I agree that having a shallower angle of attack helps. But if your hitting the ball first, it doesn't matter much.

[JCRuzanski]

Honestly I think this is the reason my near the green wedge play is erratic. Here in North Texas I don't play expensive courses. My current practice Muni is 11 bucks a round, 5 for a replay. The course is only 4000 or so yards, 60.4 rating, but better than sitting at the range, and the same price. It's great for working your 100 in iron game. But it's not in the best shape... putting isn't great, most of the greens you can see the sand underneath. When using wedges for chips, and pitches it's more of a brush the grass, or what little there is... my close wedges tend to be more of a putting type action, but the quality of turf makes it hard to be consistent. [quote name="inthehole" url="/t/28386/possible-to-have-good-swing-but-not-make-a-divot/30#post_907009"]I have a question for the divot guys - how do you play wedge shots on sun baked HARD sumer fairways - we have lots of these in the northeast, and I'm sure more in the south ??    I can't take a divot in these conditions - gave up on it - not worth the risk of jamming a wrist or bouncing the club.     I still go for my mini-divot, just to prove to myself I'm hitting down on it ... but it seems to me the guys who so profess the need to take a goodly divot must  play on soft fairways. [/quote] [quote name="inthehole" url="/t/28386/possible-to-have-good-swing-but-not-make-a-divot/30#post_907141"] Thanks Golfingdad for the response ... anybody else care to chime in ? [/quote]

[LocoPatrick]

When I hit the ball well, I don't take large divots, but I do scuff the grass in front of the ball. In my very limited experience, I have found that cutting into the grass and making "pro-type" divots that send grass flying thirty feet in front of me is highly dependent on the style of club I am using. My irons are Ping G15s with a very wide sole. These tend to slide over the grass rather than cut into the grass. However, my sand wedge is a Cleveland Trusty Rusty, which has a sharp blade type leading edge, and it cuts into the grass quite easily and I get larger divots with it.