Struggle taking a divot?

[ezra76]

I practice with my 8yr. old, he already has a good swing though. For standard iron shots I use a penny or a tee all the way in the ground 1/2" in front of the ball, pretty simple just hit the penny.

 

For wedge shots a deck screw on a 45* angle 1/2" in front of the ball. This one I have him think more about driving the screw into the ground. This is more of a shot to use the bounce and hit a higher short pitch from a square face, slightly open to target setup. 

 

 

[mikpga]

Start small…

 

Bump lead hip towards target…

 

Aware of more pressure into lead foot…

 

Maintain pressure into lead foot…

 

Handle forward of clubhead…

 

Small triangle swings, keeping both arms STRAIGHT…

 

Allow the sole of the club to “thump” the ground during a few practice swings, then strike the ball with your small triangle swings keeping both arm STRAIGHT…

[Feelingofgreatness]

You don't need to take a deep divot, you just need irons that match your swing, probably low bounce sole with very low cog. 

[bobfoster]

On 7/17/2020 at 1:10 PM, leekgolf said:

I'm playing well conditioned Bent grass most of the year. I play some in winter on Bermuda grass. You can get away with a shallow approach on good Bent but shots will be inconsistent. The Bermuda needs a negative AoA.

This is actually a huge point. The difference between (for instance) Northeast Bentgrass and Southeast Bermuda is huge. My swing flattens slightly in the south. (If I tried to hit down as hard in FL as I do in NY I'd probably break my wrists).

[bobfoster]

Have played with many friends over many years, and really, I get what you are saying. There are people that are naturally pickers (who's miss is nearly always thin - e.g., the OP), and diggers (who's miss is nearly always fat - e.g., me). 

 

It really is a mental thing. Pickers generally have something psychological (its a weird thing) that somehow actually feels "bad" about a divot, about hurting the grass. Its some sort of emotional thing - but I have a good friend that has has been thinning irons for literally 20 years. He just can't get past the internal roadblock. 

 

The technical advice is easy to give. When I "look down" at the ball, my eyes are always on the nadir, the bottom of my swing path - about 2-3 cm in front of the ball - I swing for the nadir, and just let the ball "get in the way" on the downswing. Gonna try to "hurt the ball and Mother Earth". Downswing starts with hips driving slightly downward, weight shifts significantly to the front foot, shaft and hands always 2" (or so) forward from the clubhead on contact.

 

My friends that have problems with "hurting the grass"? Two biggest flaws are that they don't drive their hips, and they try to "help" the ball get into the air - which often means they finish with their weight still on the back foot - and a thinned shot (not just irons, even with the driver - was a walk-on today and played with a guy that literally sliced every drive in the woods - did the same thing wrong on every tee box, took everything in me to stop from saying "good grief dude, finish with your weight on the front foot, not almost falling over backwards for f*** sake). Golf is a game of counterintuitive opposites. The farther up you want the ball to fly, the father down you have to hit on it.

 

But (if I understand the OP correctly) the mechanics aren't the issue. Just saying this because I do have some friends that have had (and still have) this "hurting the grass" issue. The solution will not come from Butch Harmon or Hank Haney, but from Carl Jung or Sigmund Freud. Is not physical, it is primarily psychological. Is 25% the swing, and 75% a different mindset (and when the mindset is handled, fixing the swing is actually pretty easy). 

 

So (this may sound a bit radical?) to the OP. Want to get through the mental block? Give yourself the privilege of playing three terrible rounds. Forget about your score, but have the goal be to take a huge, deep divot on every iron. Give yourself the freedom to do a "Cleanup on Aisle Five" sized divot. Try to hit irons horribly fat (if I understand your mindset, you may have a hard time doing it). But with a least a few of those shots, you'll actually get the sense of what it feels like to pinch a ball, clubhead moving downward on contact, weight finishing on the front foot. 

 

Trust me on this? I have a good relationship with Mother Earth. We often have speaks. She won't mind your divots. She'll dig them. Think of the fairways as strippers that like to get spanked. (Hee hee, sorry, shot in the 70s today, and am enjoying a delicious beverage, so am feeling particularly good tonight - but still, the advice may be worth considering). 

 

WRX is so much fun because I can say whatever the hell I want, no matter what mood I'm in, as long as it isn't politics. 

[YouDaHamHider]

I never take a divot either. In my case it's because my swing plane is too shallow and from the inside. Its getting worse too... Last time I used a Trackman I had a path of 12 degrees right! 🤦‍♂️ No divots with irons or wedges but I can hit great drives. 

[Valtiel]

4 hours ago, YouDaHamHider said:

I never take a divot either. In my case it's because my swing plane is too shallow and from the inside. Its getting worse too... Last time I used a Trackman I had a path of 12 degrees right! 🤦‍♂️ No divots with irons or wedges but I can hit great drives. 

If you were any further inside your playing partners would start calling you "The Proctologist". 😄