Hank Haney on When to Take a Divot

When I found this article over at Golf Digest, I was fascinated because this is something I've noticed for a long time -- namely, that many of the best players don't take much of a divot despite how often we're told that divots are important. Hank Haney's explanation in Make a Tour-Quality Divot is a simple one that makes some sense of this apparent contradiction.



Haney says that many weekend players take divots that merely slow down their swings without creating backspin. You can read the article to get all the details -- it's fairly short -- but here's the paragraph that sums up what he's talking about:

To make better divots, remember that they should be something you're thinking about only with a short iron in your hand. That's when you want to make a descending blow, catching the ball first. On anything longer than a 7-iron, it's OK to make a sweeping swing that produces little or no divot.

Now bear in mind that a sweeping swing can take a divot without sending chunks of dirt and grass into the air. The longer clubs make a shallower swing so they merely skim the ground, rather than digging deep. In addition, a sweeping swing hits the ball on a higher trajectory than a steep swing, so the ball comes down more softly anyway.

Or, to put it another way... While short irons and wedges may take a strip steak, divots with the longer clubs should look more like a thin strip of bacon!

And remember: Backspin is caused more by solid contact than by digging deep. Whether you take a deep divot or a shallow one, you won't get backspin unless you catch the ball crisply first.