How to get backspin w/ irons and wedges

After my first 5 or 6 times golfing, I'm having a great time, but to my knowledge I've never his a shot with an iron or wedge that has any backspin what-so-ever.

Whenever a nice shot hits the green w/o bouncing from anywhere from 150-20 yards out, it always keeps going and ends up going past the green.

How do you get that nice backspin that allows the ball to "stick"? And also, should I be trying to get backspin with wedges, or just try to give it enough loft that it will stop on the green w/o backspin?

Thanks for the help!

HI
without sounding too harsh, if your balls are falling short of the flag , why do you need backspin?.

Concentrate on chipping and pitching closer to the pin.
If the greens are hard, chip it low.
if the greens are soft pitch it high.

good luck pal

The public coarse I play has really short holes, mostly 110-170 yards. That's why.

Want to try again ?

Sorry pal.
i completely mis-read your original post.
Try some range work , get to know your average yardages for each club and practice your short game.

good luck

lol, for some reason I still think my original question is not being understood, so I'll shorten it....

How do you put backspin on the ball when using an iron?

And is there supposed to be backspin when using wedges?

You have to hit down on the ball, pinching it between the clubface and the turf. Small ball first, big ball (the Earth) second. Decending blow is the key. Saying this though it is pretty hard for us mortals to get a ton of backspin without a fast swing speed and blade irons. I would stick to hitting a nice high trajectory so that the ball just takes a couple of hops before coming to rest near the flag, you'll have far more control that way.

Thanks for the help, I think I totally understand it now. So sounds like backspin comes way later and us mortals should just try for the "bounce and roll onto the green" thing.

It will also depend on what club you are hitting from 150-170. It is harder to get spin the less loft you go. I'd say most people ain't gettting much spin with much more than their wedges, 9 and maybe 8 iron. After that it gets harder and harder to put spin on it. I try to spin the ball back only with my 54 degree wedge from about 120 yards and in. Outside of that I just want to hit and stick, or hit and roll, depending on where the flag is on the green. If you want spin with a wedge, play it back in your stance a little bit further than your regular iron set up and hit down on the ball. A lot of backspin also depends on your lie. Some fairways are different and harder to get spin on the ball. It is almost impossible to get the ball to spin out of the rough.

To produce maximum backspin, create the most descending blow you can and pinch the ball as firmly as possible against the surface beneath it. If there's nothing beneath the ball, a more descending motion will produce a low trajectory shot but only moderately more backspin. Increasing your club head loft at impact by opening the face will also increase spin a little, as impact occurs farther below the ball discussed above.

Also he mentions the lie will affect the spin. Ball sitting up in the grass -- low spin. Ball sitting on hard-pan dirt or sand -- more spin.

Totally agree with the "mere mortal" comments. A world class swing, with world class course conditions are pretty much a requirement to pull off such a shot. Especially from the distances you are discribing.

Conditions of the green will also have an effect on how much back spinning roll you will get out of the ball after it impacts the green. This regardless of how much pinch you put on the ball at impact. or fairway conditions. The slope of the green, away/towards you, the wetness/dryness, firmness/softness, stimp, which way the grass (grain) is growing all will have some effect on rolling the ball backwards.

I'd go with a higher softer shot into the greens you have discribed. A couple of bounces in front of the pin, with a little roll would work well. If possible even a bump/run shot might work well for you. GJS

Hittin down on the ball is not the easyiest nor best way to get a ball to stop dead. To get the ball to stop like a bird with sore feet the ball must go really high and peak out

Pros dont hit balls into greens with the ball coming in a downward motion they hit them high and the ball peaks out and cant go any further so it drops and stops dead!!!!

i think one major thing that has been forgotten in this thread is the type of ball you are using. you dont' want to use an extra distance ball when you are trying to get teh ball to stop dead for you on teh green.

probably the best ball i've used for spin is a Precept U-Tri Extra Spin, they arent' too bad for distance either.. if you can't find them, get the U-Tri Extra Distance... i know i just contradicted myself, but both balls are very similar.

I'm currently using a Titlist NXT Tour and i can stop these within 2 - 3ft of where they land on teh green.

another important factor is how cleanly you hit the ball. hit the ball first before the ground and apparently the bigger divit you take out the more spin you are suppose to get on teh ball... as you are hitting down on the ball you take the divit. but it must be after you have made contact with the ball.

my 2c

Hi fire fly,

Also what people have forgotten about to mention is that you need clean groves on your club. You will not get spin if these are full of mud / grass.

Cheers
Mark

HI Mark
Believe ti or not you have made the single most important point regarding obtaining back spin.
We can be the most technically proficient person on the course but if you dont keep your grooves clean then you just won't obtain backspin.

I use the pointed end of a tee peg to clean my grooves after every shot.

cheers pal. excellent reply .( you just beat me to it )

aft

hi aussie
yes good point about the ball, fire_fly try a distance ball for par 4/5 and change to a high spin ball for the par 3s.
bill