How to get backspin w/ irons and wedges

Just get a Titleist ProV1 392 ball and you have the best of all worlds.......that ball is very long but will spin like crazy. You don't have to go out and spend 50 bucks a dozen either.....I get mine off eBay lately for about half that for mint balls. Long and soft baby.......best ball I've ever played.

To hit short irons high it is regarded as best to have an early wrist set, to almost feel like your picking the club straight up in the air. Some call this a right forearm pickup. You then come down on the ball very steep, take a big divot and the ball should fly high and stop quickly. The more high spin ball you have and the better quality greens you are playing then the ball may spin back soon after landing, but it shouldnt run on and on

A wedge like the Vokey Spin Milled might help abit.

It's amazing how everybody is obsessed with backspin - you aren't going to get ANY unless all of the following conditions are met:
Brand new balata ball, very good receptive greens, dry conditions, absolutely perfect ball strike with blade irons with clean grooves and probably a whole lot more besides.
Get to about 5 handicap then start worrying about backspin, it's not that important in itself anyway espeically as 90% of high handicapper's approach shots are short!

if have been super busy lately so sorry for joining so late.....

backspin may not be that important untill your hndcp is 5 or so.....

but backspin is a result of hitting it correctly and you should always try to hit correctly no matter what your hndcp is.

just like power should not be your only goal, but if you hit correctly power is achived. so proper swing will result in accuracy power and backspin.

to get alot of backspin is all in the release. which gives you better contact and a result of that is backspin.

proper release is through lag and uncocking of the wrist

Not necessarily......It is mostly to do with the way you strike the ball. We have a small 9 hole course here which I do a men's night screw around round with a few buddies each week. The fairways are underdeveloped and very hard...the greens are very hard, not receptive at all. Last tuesday I dropped 4 balls at 90 yds and took out my 58 degree wedge, just to prove a point to a guy who told me I couldn't spin the ball there......1st ball a pro v1, came back about 20 feet, which actually surprised me that it came back that hard. The other 3 balls I hit just to prove my point better, were a callaway hx hot, a topflite XL, and a dunlop double titanium. All 3 of them balls are very hard with no feel at all. All 3 came back between 8 and 12 feet. Ball don't really matter, greens don't really matter, fairway don't really matter...what matters is in the way the ball is struck, which brings me to agreeing with your last point that nobody should worry about it until they reach a very low handicap.

__________________
Driver: Titleist 905R 9.5 Proforce V2 stiff shaft. Wicked long and straight!!
3 wood: Callaway Steelhead III Penley stiff
5 wood: Callaway Steelhead III Callaway uniflex
Irons: KZG cavity back forged blades AWESOME!!!!
Wedges: KZG forged
Putter: Odyssey 2 ball

hi all
yes its a good point about a low handicap being able to add back spin but even the best cant control it, you never know for sure how much you are going to get, if you are a 5 or under you will be striking the ball the same most of the time but still the amout the ball spins it never under your control, some time it will pull up dead and other spin back from anything from 3 to 30 feet. when your a 15/20 handicap you dont hit the ball as crisp and with the same bite every time so the spin sometimes works and sometimes dont and you can be anything for 30 past to spinning 30 feet back. you would be more consistant with a chip or a pitch to middle of green every time than thinking about trying to spin the ball back with a hard hit with a wedge.
bill

Changing balls would be considered cheating under USGA rules, can you change balls under R&A?

hi
you can change ball if the balls the same name before you tee off and not before you putt out, most pro's use a one ball odd holes and a another ball on even holes has to be same name and number but can be a spin or a distance ball as long as same make, a wam ball flys further that why the change each hole. you cant change a ball thats in play unless its damaged rule 5.3
bill

This may seem like a silly reply, but all shots have back spin, but to get the ball to spin back you need serious back spin to counteract the foward momentum of the ball. In addition to clean grooves, you also need a soft enough ball to make it spin back that hard.

Just learn how to hit the ball with consistancy, back spin come with a good tech and high clubhead speed. I never worried about trying to get backspin I just wanted to hit the ball crisp. I don't try to take divots I try to hit the ball before the ground. Do this yourself and backspin will come.

hi
lots of backspin is more often something you dont want, how many times you seen a pro on tv hit a shot to 3/4 feet of pin and have it spin back 10/15 feet, its so hard to control the the best pro's cant do it every time, so what chance us mid-handicapers, the best shot for mid-handicapers is the low pitch and run, like a long putt, it gets you to the hole more often for your one putt than the high wedge shot with lots of spin.
bill

I control the backspin by moving the ball ahead or back in my stance. If I want it to come back, I'll play the ball back and hit down on the ball kinda like a punch shot with more follow through. If I want it to stop dead I play it ahead a bit a for a high shot that will hit and stick. I like the hit and stick better but use this when it is a still day with none to not much wind. Sometimes I'll use the spin, just because it's cool.......

hi tiger
but surely you cant control how much it spins back it just a guess and its never going to be the same every time, more a hit and hope at what you want it to do, i agree the stop dead works more often. trevino said he hated back spin and only did it for show and it was so un predictable.
bill