Can you spin the ball with wedge? How?

[yamhang]

I always wondering if I could spin my wedge shot like a pro. You see, I play mostly in far east and the greens are relatively harder than the Parkland course in the US, the closest thing would be a shot stopped dead on the green and never really see any shot being spun back past the flag. May be I'm not hitting my approach in certain way to generate enough spin on the putting green. Please share your thoughts.

[Flopshot]

Stopping dead is better than spinning back . Just cos it looks flash doesnt mean that its better. You have no control . On the Spin Back but you can aim somewhere where you would like it to stop dead.

[golfchief]

You need a soft ball and sharp edges on your wedges.

[niblick]

Get a urethane ball (pro v1, B330, HX 56, etc.). Any wedge shot struck flush with those should spin. Good ball-first contact is key.

[eclark53520]

steep decending blow...ball first divot second...basically this gets teh ball to "run" up the face of the club utilizing the entrie face and not just bouncing off the club

Maybe the greens around me are softer/more receptive but i get tons of spin and i dont use any of the "premium balls"...just regular old top flight d2 or nike juice balls will spin back a few feet with even a well struck 7 iron for me. As said above though, i would rather havea ball that drops and stops than have one come ripping back its very hard to control where it ends up.

[TommyD69]

I'll ask you the same question Harry Vardon asked Tommy Armour when the "Silver Scot" wanted to know the same thing, "How to spin the ball back".

Harry asked Tommy, "how many times are you PAST the hole on the green?".

Unless your answer is ALL THE TIME, you really don't need to spin the ball back. Having the ball stop where it lands is your best bet, and you will get that from a "premium" ball, like the Titleist Pro V1, Pro V1x, and even the NXT Tour.

I must admit it is fun to watch the ball ZIP back when it lands on the green, But I believe in my heart of hearts, that's what cost Greg Norman all those majors he DID NOT win.

[b_diddy746]

I've never looked at it that way. I guess it is good if the ball stops on a dime rather than spinning :) Thanks.

[Big_M]

Nicklus always talks about how he would rather control a shot with trajectory rather than spin. A nice high shot that stops dead or rolls forward a few feet is much easier to control than when the ball rips back... he always wanted to try to spin the ball less, as the spin was more of an unwanted result of a well struck shot.

I play cleveland wedges because the vokeys spin too much, especially a new one.

[DaveLeeNC]

If you aren't using a high end, 3 piece ball (Pro V1/V1x, Callaway Hx Tour, etc) you are unlikely to be able the kind of spin that you are talking about. It is not impossible, but MUCH harder.

Next comes grooves on your wedges that at least are not worn out (ideally new and sharp).

After that you can worry about possible issues with your swing technique.

dave

[Ringer]

You need the right kind of ball with a pretty lofted wedge. A steep angle of attack at the ball usually by using an open stance with an open clubface. Choking up on the grip to steepen the angle of attack even more and a hard hard hard release with maximum acceleration through impact.

[mikelz]

I'll ask you the same question Harry Vardon asked Tommy Armour when the "Silver Scot" wanted to know the same thing, "How to spin the ball back".

Solid observation about Norman. It was his curse. Amateurs (generally) have no business trying to back a ball up. Somebody said something about Nicklaus and a dead shot. That's the same thing Paul Runyan said about playing the hard, sand greens in Texas in the 20s. Look him up sometime. He beat everybody and was 50 yards behind them off the tee.

[b_diddy746]

My grandparents live in Texas, and wehn we go to visist and play golf he always tells the same stories. And one of them is about Paul Runyan. Sooo crazy that you know about him too!

[barrycuda]

spin it as in getting the ball to back-up? i cant. but i get enough spin to stop the ball quickly after landing..

[Crafty]

Dont worry about spin. The easiest wedges to control are ones that stop dead after one bounce. If you are looking to achieve a little more spin still, set your wrists at a greater angle at the top of the swing. This will help you put a steeper blow on the golf ball. You might also want to look at purchasing a groove sharpener. THey are a great tool to have when you know you will be playing a cousre with deep rough or fluffy sand.

[beaker]

Learn to take a divot unconsciously w/a 5iron or so...then learn how to punch straight down directly onto the ball(with a wedge)...the faster your clubhead moves downward to the ball...the more spin the clubhead will produce when coming into contact with the ball...this is all done unconsciously...take it one step at a time...

[acantrell]

I get plenty of spin w/ NXT Tours, but when I play Pro V1's there is a marked increase in spin, especially on shorter pitches and even chips. Almost too much at times. For me, most of the time the ball will take a hop then spin to the right more so than backwards with my approach shots. Does this happen to anyone else?

[RX Phoenix]

You want the ball to do different things depending on the pin location.

If the pins in back ie. 5 paces off the edge, you don't want to carry the ball to the hole because a slight misclub or the ball releasing will shortside you into the rough behind the pin. The best play is to hit to the middle of the green and have the ball release and run up towards the hole. To do this you need to sweep the ball with a very shallow angle of attack.

If the pin is tucked in front ie. 5 paces from the front edge you want to avoid trying to land the ball at the hole, a slight mishit will leave you shortsided in front rough or bunker, so you want to land the ball past the hole and spin it back toward the hole. To do this use a very steep angle of approach hitting the ball first and high clubhead speed.

If the pin is in the middle of the green, that's when you want the one hop and stop ball which is achieved by a normal angle of attack to the ball, especially if the ball is a ProV1, HX56, or other high spin soft ball.

Of course, wedges will spin the most. Be careful if the green is severely sloped back to front as the ball can roll off the green with too much spin.

The pros can adjust their amount of spin depending on what their plan is to get close to a pin. That's why it's such an advantage to be long off the tee and be hitting short irons in, much easier to attack tough pins by varying the amount of spin.

[mikelz]

My grandparents live in Texas, and wehn we go to visist and play golf he always tells the same stories. And one of them is about Paul Runyan. Sooo crazy that you know about him too!

I have or had a book written by "little poison". I'll look for it. I love reading the books written by the really old timers. They write more about how to score/win than execute a pretty looking shot. Sounds like you have a fun grandfather.