Divots

[drifterdon]

When I am taking a practice swing or two before a shot with my irons or wedges, I seem to have a real hard time hitting the ground. It seems i have to try extra hard to hit the dirt with the practice swings. Once I get a slight divot (really more of a feel of it) I get ready and hit the ball. Some are good some are thin and some are fat. Is there a psychological aspect to taking a good practice swing that I don't know about? Should I really be taking a divot of sorts with a practice swing?

[Buck Nutz]

  drifterdon said:

When I am taking a practice swing or two before a shot with my irons or wedges, I seem to have a real hard time hitting the ground. It seems i have to try extra hard to hit the dirt with the practice swings. Once I get a slight divot (really more of a feel of it) I get ready and hit the ball. Some are good some are thin and some are fat. Is there a psychological aspect to taking a good practice swing that I don't know about? Should I really be taking a divot of sorts with a practice swing?

Please tell me you aren't trying to take divots on practice swings. I used to work at a muni in high school (unpaid btw, just free golf) and almost got fired on my day off because a ranger saw me taking divots on my practice swings. He taught me about how much damage it did to the course and how long it took to heal. It's the equivalent of dragging your spikes across the green. Sure, it happens from time to time on accident for most weekend golfers but please, be kind to the course.

[Golfingdad]

  drifterdon said:

When I am taking a practice swing or two before a shot with my irons or wedges, I seem to have a real hard time hitting the ground. It seems i have to try extra hard to hit the dirt with the practice swings. Once I get a slight divot (really more of a feel of it) I get ready and hit the ball. Some are good some are thin and some are fat. Is there a psychological aspect to taking a good practice swing that I don't know about? Should I really be taking a divot of sorts with a practice swing?

You should definitely NOT be taking divots with practice swings.

[drifterdon]

  Buck Nutz said:

Please tell me you aren't trying to take divots on practice swings. I used to work at a muni in high school (unpaid btw, just free golf) and almost got fired on my day off because a ranger saw me taking divots on my practice swings. He taught me about how much damage it did to the course and how long it took to heal. It's the equivalent of dragging your spikes across the green. Sure, it happens from time to time on accident for most weekend golfers but please, be kind to the course.

No to clarify, I do not try or intend to take a practice divot. What I do try to do and seem to have a hard time at is just brushing the grass or bumping the dirt with the sole of the club. I have a hard time taking a divot period unless I have hit it fat.

[rkim291968]

  drifterdon said:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buck Nutz

Please tell me you aren't trying to take divots on practice swings. I used to work at a muni in high school (unpaid btw, just free golf) and almost got fired on my day off because a ranger saw me taking divots on my practice swings. He taught me about how much damage it did to the course and how long it took to heal. It's the equivalent of dragging your spikes across the green. Sure, it happens from time to time on accident for most weekend golfers but please, be kind to the course.

No to clarify, I do not try or intend to take a practice divot. What I do try to do and seem to have a hard time at is just brushing the grass or bumping the dirt with the sole of the club. I have a hard time taking a divot period unless I have hit it fat.

Was mentioned earlier in the thread.   If you are not making divots, you may want to see if you are flipping.   Once flipping is firmly embedded in your swing, it's hard to get rid of.    I used to take divots albeit small.   Once my flipping got worse, I made less divots.   I am now working hard to get rid of flipping and beginning to get bigger divots again.

Regardless of what ranger says, I am in favor of making the practice swing to be as close as my real swing.   But I make sure I fix my divots and others' as well.   I go through 4 - 6 cans of sand per round to fix a lot of divots left by others.