They Call Me Digger

[tim31x]

divots are good, they are a sign that you are hitting down on the ball resulting in more backspin and height. your divots should get a tad larger with each iron(ie 4iron has minimal divot if any, where pw has bigger divot). your divot should be infront of the ball not behind it as this means you are hitting ball first, not ground. no club should ever produce a giant divot, but the average divot should be about 2-6inches long and not too deep haha.

[You're Away]

  kpaulhus said:

I always find it hard to determine whether I took a divot right before or after my ball....since

It's "usually" not there?

OP, I almost always take a pretty good divot with my irons because I have a somewhat step swing. If you're getting a massive divot then you're probably coming in way too steep. Try practicing at the range by swinging your club more like a baseball bat for a few swings then step up to the ball and swing (you may want to line up with the ball closer to the toe of the club as well). This should cause you to be more flat and have an inside-out swing path.

[jambalaya]

  steve8820 said:

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......

I agree. Probably coming way over the top and steep. How does one easily shallow out a swing. What exactly physically would he do?

[timastyle]

I have the same issue as the OP. I take out some serious divots at times (I would say probably around a foot long and about an inch or more deep). I used to have an over the top swing and I wouldn't take any divots. Since I've been working more on my swing, I now have an inside out swing (the reason I think this is that I now have a draw on the ball with my misses being duck hooks). Since my swing change, I have started taking divots when I used to be a picker.

I have gotten jammed pretty bad a couple times because of the depth of my divots. When I do take a shallower swing, it seems to only pronounce my hook. Any thoughts?

Sorry OP for asking about myself here, but figured it was the same subject and was better than starting a new thread about a similar issue.

[FHopper]

The more true confessions the better.

[GamerJG]

  FHopper said:

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.

i would have to guess that your deep divots are caused by one these things:

1- you have to fix your grip and make it weaker. 2- you have to check your whole set-up to the ball, stance, ball position, body alignment. 3- your swing plane is too steep and need to have a flatter swing. try these things and it should solve this problem. it is good to take a divot, it's much better than trying to pick the ball off the turf but just make some adjustments to make the divot shallower. good luck!

[GamerJG]

  timastyle said:

I have the same issue as the OP. I take out some serious divots at times (I would say probably around a foot long and about an inch or more deep). I used to have an over the top swing and I wouldn't take any divots. Since I've been working more on my swing, I now have an inside out swing (the reason I think this is that I now have a draw on the ball with my misses being duck hooks). Since my swing change, I have started taking divots when I used to be a picker.

i have the same type of swing as you(inside-out, slight draw) and i have this problem on occassion. i would guess that for those sporatic swings, you just were standing too close to the ball or just not watching the club to the ball(i do this all the time if i don't make myself). you can fix that very easily by checking your set-up position and start to focus on the back of the ball when you start your downswing. good luck

[timastyle]

  GamerJG said:

i have the same type of swing as you(inside-out, slight draw) and i have this problem on occassion. i would guess that for those sporatic swings, you just were standing too close to the ball or just not watching the club to the ball(i do this all the time if i don't make myself). you can fix that very easily by checking your set-up position and start to focus on the back of the ball when you start your downswing. good luck

Thanks for the tip. I'm playing tomorrow morning and will try this out and see how it goes. I'll report back...

[R7Player]

Tom Watson does not leave a divot. He hits it clean, or a superintendent's dream. Bubba takes chunks as he shapes shots. It's all about your angle of attack into the ball.
The ball should be hit at the bottom of the downward arc, ball then grass. this tip helps
place a tee down until it is just showing, hit the tee top with your irons over and over.

[iacas]

  R7Player said:

The ball should be hit at the bottom of the downward arc, ball then grass.

To pick a nit, the ball should be hit about four inches before the bottom of the lowest point of the arc with nearly every club (driver being arguably the only exception).