golfrewind.com

I don't make divots when i hit my irons off the ground. Am I supposed to? I am realizing now that maybe I should be because I am not so great with my wedges. But anyway, could someone explain why people make divots? Thanks

i somtimes have the same problem, or i hit too fat and the ball goes nowhere. whats the purpose of the divot?

Taking the right size (a dollar bill) divot is ONE indication that you are hitting down and through the ball. I rarely take a divot with my irons either, especially the longer ones. I'm not sure what the latest teaching is on the subject. I seem to hit my ball well, but just rarely make a divot.

when striking a golf ball with an iron, you are suppose be striking down on the ball with the clubhead bottoming out in front of where the ball lies. this gives you ther proper distance for your swing and adds spin to the ball so to stop on the green. generally, larger divot will be taken from the shorter irons because the angle of attact will be steeper, causing the club head to go into the ground, thus a divot.

I don't make many divots and when I do they are usally small. I don't think it matters if your happy with your swing. As for your short iron problem have you tried moving the ball back in forth in your set up.

my best shots are when i make a divot.

I think the smaller the divot, the longer the club-- the larger the divot, the shorter the club. With longer irons your swinging around and thru, with a more wider swing plane and arc - because your farther from the ball at address and the face of the club is more flat.
With a shorter, more lofted club, it will naturally "dig" onto the ground more.

I have always honestly believed that this is something that comes more naturally than thinking about it. Also, the longer clubs, you have a tendency to "release" the head earlier to get the flatter club-head square, thus- less divot.

My suggestion is to not think about it so much and to release the head of the club thru on longer irons with small divots and swing down and thru with shorter ones, with the divot coming naturally.

The physics behind hitting down and through on the ball are rather simple. When you hit down and through on a ball, the grooves on your iron grab the ball. The ball runs up the clubface and creates the necessary spin on the ball, depending on the loft. This spin and the forward motion is what gets the ball to fly. The backspin in combination with the forward motion create lift, not the upward swing on the ball. Tiger is able to hit his long irons with almost a pitching wedge trajectory by hitting down on the ball and giving it plenty of spin, enabling it to land softly on a green. I hope this explains taking a divot.

Just remember you take a divot after you hit the ball!

The divots are supposed to be more or less the same with every iron. Taking a divot that is the size of a dollar bill is correct. Hitting the ball first, with this divot shoul wind up with a very good shot.

The trojectory will be good, and distance too.

excellent help guys. Thanks a lot!

Taking divots...hummm. you strike the ball first..divots after the ball...one of the greatest ball strikers Moe Norman...I have his tape.."Pipeline Moe" during the interview says he can hit balls all day and not make a divot..and he can make the ball do wonders.

Moe was a special creation of God. There are no others like him. The rest of us need to take divots to hit the ball correctly. I even take a divot, or at least bother the ground seriously, with a 3 wood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqsf4bEBF-Q
pretty good vid of tiger hitting an iron shot with a close-up of the divot. Was that a tee that flew out behind the ball?

Great analysis on the divot making swing, guys. Very helpful, thanks.

For myself, I do make divots occasionally with the short irons, but not so with the long ones.

I have 2 questions which need input from your guys :

Firstly, the ground on courses where I play seem be quite hard.
With the exception when there is seasonal rain.
I can't seem to take a 'dollar-note' divot at all on these turfs.
If i go for more divot, my club head seem to get stuck in the bottom of my swing, or the head just bounces off the harder ground ... eventually ending with a bad hit.
Does the hardness of the ground affect your swing and 'divot-taking capability' too? What adjustment would you make?

Secondly, the geometry of the sole on the iron head. With more game-improvement iron coming out in the market, there seem to be a trend to have wider sole, and more bounce across most of the irons. I personally find my wide sole Cleveland quad-pro be taking less divot than my previous Wilson which has a smaller sole. What do you think? Sole matters?