To Divot or Not To Divot...

That is the question.

I do not take a divot with my iron shots. I am not sure if this is a good thing, bad thing or moot thing. It seems, however, that when I have a wedge shot from 100 yards and in I will hit a thin shot. Now, I am thinking that if I took a divot that would be a good thing because I would not be catching the ball somewhere above its south pole.

And if to divot is the proper way to go and not just personal preference, can someone offer me some tips on how to re-train myself in order to take said divot?

Thanks as always!

Hi kbradb,

Taking a divot is the correct way to go, however you should never go searching for a divot, let it happen.

I suspect you may be a little flat footed through the ball or trying to hard to hit at it, both usually take it clean of the top of the turf.

An exercise to work on!!! stand with a wedge in hand and keep your weight firmly on your left side and the ball back in your stance, take a few half swings and feel like you are hitting down on the top of the ball.

Once you are hitting the turf after the ball start shifting your weight to the right on the back swing then shift it to the left at the top and through swing.

Have a light grip and don't hit at the ball, drop the face on to the top!!


Hope this helps

Ian.

Just a point to add to Ian's great advice..... take a few pratice swings creating a divot. When you see where your divot naturally occurs, place your ball almost exaxtly where your divot started. This will ensure that you are striking the ball first.

Gord

Thanks for the advice. I will certainly give those points a try.

Hi. I'm new to the game and am having the same problem as described (sometimes, anyway.) Your advice, while good, is a prime example of the ambiguity of advice that has left me a bit befuddled at times. You mention that the golfer with this problem is "trying too hard to hit at it," a rather confusing statement to begin with, and then you follow up with the common adage that we "hit down on the ball." What exactly is the difference between these two things? Isn't hitting down on the ball also hitting at it? Others have told be that I need to hit "through" the ball. Now, not hitting at but hitting through seems to mesh, but hitting down on the ball seems to contradict both hitting through and not hitting at.

My head is spinning. At this point someone could tell me to hit it below from the front and I'd take it in stride.

Jonathan

Don't feel bad, one problem with golf instruction has always been terminology. Basically you never want too hit at the ball, it must always be a swing, when we say hit down on the ball, it simply means to catch the ball wth the clubhead prior to reaching the bottom of the arc (lowest point of swing), Hitting through is just another way to insure we don't stop our hands or clubhead at the ball, this would destroy the swinging action we are trying to achieve, and slow the clubhead (decelarate). People that do not hit down or through, do so because they flip the hands (clubhead passes hands) thereby not hitting through, and the low point of the swing is behind the ball, hence they have not hit down on the ball, but are hitting up (also called scooping). Hope this clears up some confusion.

Thank you for your quick response. I think that clears things up a bit. Let me type out my thought, and you can tell me if I'm still off. What you seem to be saying it that the bottom of the swing should actually be past and below the ball instead of right at the ball. Am I on the ball?

Yes you are correct, with short irons, longer irons and fairway woods would be at the bottom of the swing, more a sweeping action. Driver the swing bottoms out slightly behind the ball, so as to catch it slightly on the upswing, hence why you use a tee, this allows this action without hitting the ground first. The swing does not change, you accomplish this by changing the ball position in relation to your body.

I agree that taking a divot is a good thing. A divot (as mentioned) will create better distance, and accuracy when created correctly. That being said, not all golf courses are "divot friendly". By that I mean there are some courses out there that have some pretty firm fairways. If you try to take a divot on some of these firmer fairways, you might be risking a wrist injury, or damage to the club. It is also possible to bounce the club off some of these firmer fairways. You will find these firmer fairways in warmer regions (desert courses) where the sun tends to bake the fairways, and minimum amounts of irrigation water are used.

Also, if you are a taker of divots, please take the time to fix your divots, plus one other................GJS

Now, it may not be my place to reply to this as I am only a beginner, but it seemsed to me that GoNavy was saying that the club should always hit the ball first, not the ground, so the divot would appear after the contact. Hence, if you do bounce your club off a hard fairway it happens after the ball strike so makes less of a difference. I was just at the range today and even though I couldn't take a divot off the mat, I had great success in just hitting the ball first and then bouncing off the mat. Just my thoughts. Feel free to tell me where to put it.

Jonathan

That is interesting, some times my wrist is killing when I leave the driving range. I try to place the ball or lift the club up off the ground an quarter of an inch before my swing so as to barely take a divot or touch the mat. As you can image when I actualy play a round the 1st 2 holes are spent reajusting to the ball laying on the grass and not the mat. Concerning hitting down on the ball, my son starting playing when he was 4 (now he is 6) can hit pretty good, I signed him up for lessons this year, and the Golf pro told him to hit down on the ball more. I shook my head, now he is chopping and doing everthing he can to hit down. If he could have only showed him or given him a drill that would accomplish the task, with out saying it, it would have been so much better. for kids and adults, just my opinion.

Willie

I have experianced exactly what you are speaking of. The problem is not striking down on the ball, it is hitting from mats. I spend several hours a day on the range in addition to playing. I rarely hit off of mats unless the grass tees are closed. I too had wrist pain after sessions off the mats. I consulted my sports doc. Basically he told me too avoid long hitting sessions off of them because the provide so much more resistance than grass. It increased my potential for hand and wrist injury dramatically. My suggestion is avoid them if you can because you are basically wasting your time if you can not practice properly hitting shots. You will only ingrain bad habits into your swing. Just my (and my doctor's ) two cents worth of advice.

As for the main question of taking divots, most of the earlier post have correctly addressed that issue. Better ball flight, the ability to control spin, trajectory, and distance. Plus your divots can tell you quite a bit about your swing and if you are swinging the club on the correct path.

__________________
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what is your objective, hitting the ball at the target, or hitting the ball towards the ground? my objective is hitting the ball towards the ground. Maybe too simplistic, but that is what I do untill it gets to my hybrids, fairway woods and of course driver

You make a divot because the club hits the ball. The ball bounces off the club face and the club face bounces equally off the ball. This means that the club goes "down" into the grass and as the club goes through the grass it takes some of it with it. Cause and effect that's all.

If your divot occurs before the ball strike, you're not hitting the ball correctly because the dirt and grass from the divot will come between the ball and the clubface interfering with the ball strike.

Great thread,

I don't take a divot - unless I hit it fat. I wish I could.

Now Ian, what do you mean by flat footed?

Shootin' - like your concept - very interesting. Different way to thinking 'hitting down on the ball'. Will try it next time when I'm hitting balls.