Divots! Or lack there of..

[gilbo]

the way i was taught was picking the ball and topping the ball are two different situations, u can b a picker and still strike the ball well, topping the ball has more to do with spine angle movement

best thing to do is go see a golf pro, particularly one that uses video so u can see your swing

[crayputter]

Is there a difference between the divot of a 9 iron, compared to say, a 5 iron ?

[Camo]

I make a point to study my divots after each swing. They can tell you a lot about what is going on with your swing. If I am swinging inside out, starting to get a bit lazy and coming from the outside, if they are to deep it usually means I am to steep, I can identify my diviot shape, direction orientation and width by the shot I am trying to hit. Wether it is a draw or a fade the divot will reflect it. ..... Just one more little bit of feed back for working on my game.

And for me, my divots get shallower the longer the club. My mental picture when I am in my swing and looking at the ball is. I think of putting the leading edge of the club right where the ball touches the ground and take a 1/8 diviot.....and yes I am a S&T swinger.

[kennay92]

Alright, so dont change the stance. I got that down..

not neccasarily, no.

[596]

I always heard........."thin to win". Better to hit it thin then fat : ) I've always had better results on a bad shot when the bad shot was thin.

[JetFan1983]

A pro takes a divot because his low point is after the ball. Ball first, then divot. My guess, and it is only a guess because I have not seen your swing, is that your low point is before the ball. If you allowed your low point to be the same depth as a pro you would hit it fat. So you compensate by moving your low point higher than the ground and catch the ball on the upswing.

^^^ This.

No!! Back in your stance

Yea, this is what is commonly called a "quick fix" and doesn't really help anyone.

Tom Watson spent his whole career not taking much of a divot; he's a "Picker" as they say. If you notice, folks that have the ball more forward, take much less of a divot. It doesn't mean anything.

Highly doubtful that you've pinpointed the problem for the OP. We haven't seen his swing, but I'm going to venture to guess that he and Mr.Watson don't share the same divot problem. The OP said he was topping the ball often.

I'd venture to guess that if we saw video of the OP's swing, we'd see that his arms aren't fully extended on the through swing and that his weight is too far back at impact. Fat and Thin (including topped) shots are (most of the time) the result of the same problem. The low point of the swing is too far back. Hitting it thin is a result of "short-arming" yourself to prevent from hitting it fat. You're actually hitting the ball slightly on the upswing. If you fully extended your arms, you'd smash the clubhead into the ground well behind the ball. Your subconscious is compensating for this by retracting your arms as they come through. The problem here though is that when your elbows drift farther apart from each other (by bending the arms to prevent from hitting it fat), it releases the angles in your wrists far too early, and you once again have compounded the problem even further. And to think all these new problems have arisen just because you hit a few fat shots. There are a few fixes for these types of mishits. The first is getting more weight forward as you approach impact. You really need to be driving your lower body towards your target. This moves the low point of the swing forward. Your shoulder center should be slightly forward of the center of your stance at address as well. If it's too far back, you'll have a hard time getting forward when you're swinging because the shoulder center isn't supposed to move laterally at all during the swing. Make sure your set-up is correct so you can at least set yourself up for a good swing. Make sure the notch of your sternum is forward of the center of your stance at address. Not understanding how the wrists are supposed to work in the swing can cause the low point to move backwards as well. This is better known as a "flip" or "casting the club." You're releasing the angles in your wrist too early, and this often leads to all kinds of misses and poor contact. So in review: 1) Set up with at least 55% of your weight on your forward foot at address. At the top of your backswing, you should have about 60% of your weight on your forward foot. And by impact, you should have at least 90% of your weight on your forward foot. You accomplish this by driving your hips/lower body laterally/towards your target to allow the hands and arms to drop into the correct positions on the downswing. 2) You need to drive the butt of the club forward on the downswing and be fully extending your arms on the through swing. Don't start straightening your right arm (for right-handed golfers) until your left arm is parallel to the ground on the downswing. Feeling a stable right wrist, no flexing in the arms, and your weight driving forward are all requirements for consistent ballstriking.

[Aquaguru]

Im a picker and still get alot of spin on my irons and wedges.  I have just always done it since I started playing.  I tried taking a divot after making ball contact but I never felt right and I didn't get the hang of it so I just went back to picking and now I'm playing better than ever.

[westcyderydin]

make sure your weight is on your front foot around the time of impact and not falling to your back leg.

[Michael]

Trying to hit the ball at the low point of one's (iron) swing is a trick shot that requires much more timing and coordination.  I'm sure tour pros could not hit as many good shots swinging that way. And that is why so many people who do not take divots have problems.  If you think about it, a descending blow is actually much easier - there are far more opportunities to hit the ball square as the club descends.  A descending blow, however, requires a release of the hands after impact - unless you prefer to keep the club stuck in the ground.  A release of the hands after impact requires a kind of "letting go", which many golfers are afraid to do.  Golf is a lot about overcoming fear.