Skulling a wedge and taking a divot.

[clearwaterms]

I was at the range today and working mostly on 100 yard and in shots. In the past I have used my 56 deg wedge which has 14 deg of bounce. Today I noticed that even though I was taking a divot I was still hitting a lot of shots thin and skulling them. When I started hitting other clubs I didn't have the problem. I have been working on adjusting my swing, and the new swing does have me digging a divot, which starts just in front of the ball and generally points down the target line. Thoughts?

[iacas]

Where in relation to the bottom of the golf ball did the divot start with your wedge?

You can flip and still take a divot. You can also hit the ball thin and take a divot that starts two, three, even four inches after the golf ball (it's rare, but you can do it, especially if your head is well forward).

[clearwaterms]

Originally Posted by iacas

Where in relation to the bottom of the golf ball did the divot start with your wedge?

You can flip and still take a divot. You can also hit the ball thin and take a divot that starts two, three, even four inches after the golf ball (it's rare, but you can do it, especially if your head is well forward).

In most cases the divot would start either at the bottom of the ball or just before of the bottom of the ball.

In most of my well hit wedges, the divot is 3-4" long, this was much shorter.  To me it indicates that I was still hitting down on the ball, but something (swing or turf interaction) was causing the club face to come up faster than it normally does.

[SoundandFury]

Originally Posted by iacas

Where in relation to the bottom of the golf ball did the divot start with your wedge?

You can flip and still take a divot. You can also hit the ball thin and take a divot that starts two, three, even four inches after the golf ball (it's rare, but you can do it, especially if your head is well forward).

I have a hard time understanding this.  To me, a flip is when your wrists break before impact.  If your wrists break, the club head is no longer descending, it's ascending.  How can an ascending club head hit the ball first and still take a divot after the ball? Now,  I get how you could thin the ball and still take a divot (did it this morning), because the club can hit the ball above the equator and still continue down into the turf.

[mmoan2]

Originally Posted by SoundandFury

I have a hard time understanding this.  To me, a flip is when your wrists break before impact.  If your wrists break, the club head is no longer descending, it's ascending.  How can an ascending club head hit the ball first and still take a divot after the ball? Now,  I get how you could thin the ball and still take a divot (did it this morning), because the club can hit the ball above the equator and still continue down into the turf.

I don't think he said you can flip and take a divot after the ball, he said you can flip and take a divot period. You can hit the ball thin and take a divot after the ball is what he said (which is rare, like he also said).

Clearwaterms: IMHO, your divot should ALWAYS be after the ball - whether for a lob wedge or a long iron. If your divot is before or even right under the ball and you're hitting it thin, I would imagine you may be flipping the club and the bounce of the wedge is causing the bad contact. When my divots are behind the ball, it's usually a fat shot because I'm pretty consistent with having my hands ahead of the clubface at contact, especially with a wedge. Maybe you might want to exaggerate getting your weight on your front foot and concentrate on keeping your hands forward. I would take 1/2 swings with a wedge to drill that action. Also, where is your ball position? Maybe put it an inch or two back if it's beyond the middle of your stance. I'm sure the pros around here have better suggestions, but that's my thoughts.

[ladders11]

I can relate - I recently had a run of mysterious fat wedge shots, and half wedge shots, and punch shots.  I was sticking my clubface into the ground well before the ball - this meant shots that would make bystanders think I was an absolute beginner.  These shots were terrible, and I would often hit two in a row with the same problem, failing to get onto the green from 100 yards in two.  Essentially, I was crapping the bed, as an adult.

The problem was basically a lack of rhythm.  Feet and weight transfer out of sync, and hands getting away from my body.  Sometimes it is a sway back, or taking the club too inside.  Or not unwinding the upper body into impact, leaving the chest and shoulders behind.

Yet mostly this was cured by focus/tempo/being the ball.  No more complicated than that.