Divots! Yes, No, Not bothered?l

[Spanky]

Just thought I'd try and get an insight to what my fellow MG members feel about the divots that they make (or don't make), and what level of importance they place on them (or don't).

So if your in the mood please post any general comments you may have on the subject. Please just post your own personal view/ideas on what they mean to you!

Could everyone please include their handicap in their post if it isn't in their sig'.

The post is for PW- 7I/6I.

When I get a view as to how people feel, I'll post the reason why I asked the question!

Thanks:)

[M40TT B]

I do take divots :yes:

Taking divots increases spin & control on approach shots providing you hit the little ball first :D

Controlling the amount of spin is the hard part :yes:

Oh yeah HCP is 9.7 at the moment.

[Colossus]

Absolutely. I always take a divot. If I don't I generally thin the ball bag style. Taking a divot also helps explain why those bad shots happen, and show the general path of the club through impact. Tells alot about a particular shot. The ones I hate however, are the ones that look like you're digging to Australia. Generally tells me that my body has swayed forward during the swing, and leads to me hitting down steeply on the ball to try and make decent impact. Also has been said, taking a divot also helps put spin on the ball, and with a long iron, helps get the ball up in the air.

Handicap 17.1

[Newnick]

Handicap 15, still increasing with age!:)

Have always taken a small divot, gives me the feeling of hitting down through the ball, & may be part of the reason I can't get on with wide sole clubs.:D

I use them to check on swing path, and alignment, (before I replace em):biggrin:

[golfpro999]

Definate divot taker, helps show swing path and angle of attack. ;)

Pro

[Creosote]

Unless the ground is rock hard I take bloody great huge divots, unfortunately all too often they start about 6 inches behind the ball. They are usually sorta rectangular in shape and point pretty much at the target. I dont pay them much heed unless they appear a strange shape or are pointed away from the target line.
My own feel is a divot isnt an essential, just depends on your natural swing path and angle of attack. I have no choice in the matter so it doesnt really bother me.
H'cap 2.

[MisterS3]

Shallow divot at most for me.

Learned to play golf at a range and may have something to do with that.

But note that I hit the ball first and then the ground if at all.

I can hit 5 iron out of a fairway bunker because i don't take a divot on the fairway.

But i would say that 99% of the players better than me do take more of a divot thani do.

[Kevé]

I don't deliberately try to or not to take one, if I do I do if I don't I don't. Usually 3 to 6 more of a scuff than a divot, 7 upwards yes increasing in size from 7 to wedge. I have been know to have the odd one with my driver usually 6 inches before the ball.

[Paul Howard]

I got to a point last year when I was hitting those clubs with the tiniest divot you ever have seen. I really loved the contact, it felt awesome. I havebeen working on hitting pitch shots with no divot at all, actually like the feeling of thinning it. I discovered I get a lot of spin off it.

In teaching terms, I dont specify to the pupil how much divot to take, however, i will encourage them to hit shots with varying divots in an effort to discover, 1/ which one they like the best in terms of feel 2/ the differeing flights that are produced, ie lower flight more divot, no didvot higher flight.

Ibelieve we should learn to control our flight via contact and so varying divot sizes in a must.

[Spanky]

Thanks for the replies, it seems it's a bit of a mixed bag concerning peoples regard to the importance of the divots they take!

Possibly with the low cappers being more aware of the importance of them & the pros definitly knowing how important they are.

The reason I asked was because I usually take a scuff on hard ground (which is hard to to tell much by), but with the recent wet weather I've been using our practice ground which is perfect at the moment for reading divots.

So anyway, I'm not too bad a ball striker (not as good as I thought), but I have noticed on course after hitting a weak feeling shot (but straight) that the divot has indicated an out to in path, now I never really thought/worried about it too much because the ball flight would often be straight.

A couple of days ago I went on the practice ground with just a PW & 8I, low a behold virtually all my divots were out to in (but the ball was going straight). So I had to actually take notice of what they were telling me and try and do something about it!

I had been messing about on the range mats a few weeks ago with lag drills so I had an idea of how to address/fix the problem! The fix for me was quite simple, in essence I needed to create a bit more lag and hold on to it a touch longer: Hey Presto - straight divots!!!

But the best thing was the actual difference in feel/contact, it was a way more solid contact!

So for me: divots have in a roundabout way taught me to lag the club more and I now feel like I can strike the ball a lot more like I should be (have always felt a little bit armsy and mistimed maybe), and all I need to do is look at my divot and it will tell me pretty much what happen!

I'll be honest, the swing changes feel pretty big, but I feel that I should really stick with it.

I need now is 6 months to ingrain the changes!:)