Is it just the greens?

[James_Black]

Was out practicing 20-30 yard pitching.

I was playing with TP Reds and I kept spinning the ball back at least a foot and most were going back 3+, it was weird.
I had been practising chipping at home chipping onto my pool table with air balls and trying to maximise spin but I don't think it could have made such a difference.

The greens were soft-ish that day and playing slow.

Was it just the greens or practice?

[Gioguy21]

what loft wedge? high release or quick back and quick through? odds are since we don't know the greens we can't say either way but...reds are a higher spin ball i believe (not sure), and green...sloped towards you? hittin off a fairway? rough?

[James_Black]

what loft wedge? high release or quick back and quick through? odds are since we don't know the greens we can't say either way but...reds are a higher spin ball i believe (not sure), and green...sloped towards you? hittin off a fairway? rough?

60 degree.

Ball would hop forward and then zip back. Green was flat. Reds are between a cheap ball and a Pro V1 on spin terms Hitting out of rough

[Fourputt]

Actually TP Reds were one of TaylorMade's premium balls. They usually sold for less because they just didn't catch on with the golfing public. They were supposed to be competitive with the Pro V1 etc. This year they are coming out with the Penta TP to replace both the Red and the Black.

[James_Black]

Actually TP Reds were one of TaylorMade's premium balls. They usually sold for less because they just didn't catch on with the golfing public. They were supposed to be competitive with the Pro V1 etc. This year they are coming out with the Penta TP to replace both the Red and the Black.

I find they give a little less bite than a Pro V1

[Gioguy21]

if it's a 60 from 25-30 yards and you hit it high...with a new/fairly new vokey and premium balls i can't see why it wouldn't check up...coming back is definitely probable

[bman1313]

I would like to see a video of a 20 yard pitch shot out of the rough spin back.

[colin007]

I would like to see a video of a 20 yard pitch shot out of the rough spin back.

bro, its the internets, dont you know that anythings possible?

[Big_M]

if it's a 60 from 25-30 yards and you hit it high...with a new/fairly new vokey and premium balls i can't see why it wouldn't check up...coming back is definitely probable

I would like to see a video of a 20 yard pitch shot out of the rough spin back.

I'm going to have to agree that a 20-30 yd pitch is NOT going to spin back unless you are hitting into a severely sloped green (e.g. rolling back at you). Maybe from 50-60 yds where you can make an agressive enough swing. Anyway... I'll be waiting for some video as well.

[bogeyhitter25]

If it was a brand new Spin Milled Vokey, with an untouched TP Red ball, from the fairway, to a soft green from 20 yards I can't see it spinning back more than a foot.

I'd like to see some proof.

[iacas]

If it was a brand new Spin Milled Vokey, with an untouched TP Red ball, from the fairway, to a soft green from 20 yards I can't see it spinning back more than a foot.

Hey, y'all can believe me or not, but I was goofing around four years ago (I think - three seems too recent) with a fairly new 54° spin milled wedge and a Pro V1. Normally my ball is the Pro V1x, but I was giving the V1 a try that day.

I spun a shot out of some rough, 20 yards, I was just short of a bunker to the right-front part of the green, and the ball took one hop and spun back six feet to its little pitch mark. I paced it off - 20 yards exactly (pin was middle of the green so even if it was on the back fringe it would have only been 30 yards). I put the Pro V1 away right then. That was frightening. Not the ball for me. And another example of why I typically take a new wedge into the sand and wear it down a little (no more, not with the CC grooves). So I believe it can happen.

[Gioguy21]

Thanks Erik lol...

[James_Black]

I'm going to have to agree that a 20-30 yd pitch is NOT going to spin back unless you are hitting into a severely sloped green (e.g. rolling back at you). Maybe from 50-60 yds where you can make an agressive enough swing. Anyway... I'll be waiting for some video as well.

Not sitting down in the rough mind you.

Sitting up so I could get underneath it.

[RC]

Yeah, almost any thing is possible when hitting high spin balls with good 60 degree wedges. A lot depends on the wind. Into a strong wind, you can get amazing spin backs on relatively short pitches, even to fairly flat greens. Today, I had one spin back 54 feet -- but admittedly the last half was due to the slope of the green. I stepped off the distance myself (from the pitch mark.) It was into about a 20 mph wind. Slope, wind, and the type of shot can produce some nearly unbelievable results. The worst I've ever had was a ball that spun back off a green and down a slope to about 80 yards from the green -- demoralizing. I think most of us have had pitch shots that spin back so that the next shot is further from the hole than where we started. I am sad to say I have had many putts that rolled back twice as far (or more) than where I started -- somehow that seems even more disheartening (even though in such cases it was green slope rather than from the spin of a pitch shot -- at least a pitch shot that spins too much makes you feel like you put some stuff on the ball -- a small consolation.)

[Zeph]

Of course you can spin it from the rough. It's all about speed and good contact.

[WUTiger]

... Slope, wind, and the type of shot can produce some nearly unbelievable results. The worst I've ever had was a ball that spun back off a green and down a slope to about 80 yards from the green -- demoralizing. I think most of us have had pitch shots that spin back so that the next shot is further from the hole than where we started. ...

Golf course architects know all about this, and sometimes put false fronts on greens: the first 10 feet or so slopes uphill, and any short, hot spinners will roll backward off the green. The way to beat this is hit a slight draw, so the ball releases forward a little rather than sprinting backwards. No. 9 at Augusta National has this contouring.

[nike_golf]

I've been shooting softer, spinnier balls for years now. Unlike some folks, being able to work the ball, spin, and workability on and around the greens is what's most important to me in a ball.

I guess it's not that hard for me to believe that you can spin it the way the OP said, but without the right wedge, ball and strike of the ball, it's definitely NOT possible.

My regular golfing partner can't spin a ball to save his life. If he were to tell me this (he wouldn't) I wouldn't believe him because I know his swing won't allow it.

So, unless the OP is for whatever reason making stuff up to make himself feel better, you gotta believe it.

No?

[bman1313]

To answer the question "Is it just the greens?" I would say no. It is a combo of the green surface condition, clean contact, clubface, ball and an accelerating club head.

If the greens are too soft it will kill the spin of the ball. Perfect spin greens would be firm but resilient.