Divots
 

For the teachers on the site, what is the hardest time you have had teaching someone to hit the ground after they hit the ball. On short pitches I can take a divot, full swing with irons, no divot, the ball is hit low on the face. I had my lie checked on my irons the other day and I could not hit the lie board for anything. I want to tear some turf, any suggestions? Again, I am having the issue with full swings, not partial shots. Intellectually, I know it should not be that hard to hit the ground with a golf club.

Seems that some of us have an inbuilt fear of contacting mother earth with our golf clubs. It takes a deliberate effort to strike down and through the ball to low point.

Two good drills are,

place a tee peg, or a part thereof, in the ground and then swing and obliterate the thing. Once you have gotten used to doing that,

place a tee peg flush with the ground around one inch to the target side of your ball and slightly outside of the target line. Hit the ball and take the tee peg with it.

It needs work and perseverance to grow this habit.

Focus on sending your hands 'down to the ground' at spot about 3 feet in front of the ball. Forget the ball. Drive your hands to that spot.

Ed, that's a great response. :)

Good drills Burner and Edz, thank you. It is a little embarrassing not being able to hit the ground with a golf club.

Not just you.
 

It took me quite a while to do that years ago. Even for now, if I don't play on the course (only maybe 6 or 7 rounds so far this year) and have the chance to practice on the real grass (not much here in Taiwan), the first thing I would like to do is "taking a divot" for my, at least, short irons.

This reminds me recently giving a lesson of taking divots. I drew a line and asked the student to have the leading edge enter the turf at that line in the absence of the ball. No problem, 8 out of 10, precisely at the line. So, clearly it's not the mechanics. Once, however, the ball is placed slightly behind that line, guess what? Fat, fat, fat, fat, fat (2~3'' behind), or thin, thin thin, thin, thin (gliding through the grass), or either, exactly as I anticipated, even with the ball placed 2~3'' behind. What's going on here?:eyes: At least it's quite clear that it has to do with the brain.

I knew long time ago that one reason is the intent of "scoop/dig", which trys to hit the ball upward and ends up hit it fat or thin and, can sometimes be easily fixed by "not scooping or digging". Other times, it's the illusion/instinct of "hitting the equator of the ball with the exact center (vertical + horizontal) of the clubface from behind".:laughing1

By bringing the clubhead and the ball close enough to the eyes, it's clear that the higher the loft, the lower for the contact points both on the ball and the clubface for a regular impact. With that "illusion/intent" in mind, the leading edge will for sure contact the ground way before the center of the clubface kissing the equator of the ball, especially for the wedges which all have big faces. The defaut reaction of avoiding that to happen is certainly again a thing shot.

By explaining the above to the student and directing his intent to the opposite ("hitting downward", "hit the ball to the ground", or "cut the ball downward in half with the leading edge", .......) was able to eventually fix the problem, which is not easy at all. Also check this thread: http://www.lynnblake.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5156

At the end, it all comes down to the mind or intent. Further at the end, it's mindlessness. :salut:

How hard is it to hit it high by hitting it low, hit it far by hitting it slow, or hit it straight by hitting it slightly to the right? :crybaby: :crybaby: :crybaby:

One of the most important things to know about taking a divot, is that the uncocking of the left wrist is the downward dimension of the three dimensional Impact, and it is what makes the club go into the ground from Impact to Low Point.

In one of the clips of Lynn teaching Colin Neeman, Colin talks about driving the ball down into the ground. I find that to be a great image to have in my mind when I want to focus on taking a divot and getting great compression fom the ball.

I don't know if you have looked at those clips but if not, you should check them out, they are fantastic.

Know that you must be in position to be able to make a correct divot (weight pressure on front side). As others have stated, this may be accoplished through use of the hands.

More great responses, thanks, I will try them all. As a warning, my issue arose when years ago I worked in a golf shop with an indoor range. Hitting off a mat, I failed to hit down enough and was rewarded for thin contact. When teaching your kids, stay away from mats!