Good golfers always make divots with their irons. If you’ve played golf for a while, you know this. Even though the swings are different, there is one thing that always happens when the ball hits the ground: it digs into the ground.
The best way to tell if you hit the ball well is if you hit a piece of grass with your swing. You should get a nice, even divot most of the time if you make good touch with the ball.
However, how does a divot actually form? Also, what are the best ways to make a divot? Mark Blackburn, a GOLF Top 100 Teacher, can help us with that.
Don’t go up too high
Of course, your club needs to touch the grass in order to make a divot, but you don’t want to be too aggressive in your search for this goal. Your divots are too deep if they look like you’re digging up the golf course.
Blackburn says, “If you have one of those really big divots that looks like a big pork chop, you’re always too steep on the golf ball.” “Your loft isn’t high enough.” The ball usually goes very, very low.
It can be hard to get any height on your approach shots if you get too steep and make a low dynamic loft at impact. When greens are firm, this can make it very hard to hold them, but it can also let you attack the flag when it is hidden behind some trouble.
Attack position that is too low
To avoid making divots that are too deep, you want your attack angle to be pretty shallow. That being said, you should hit the ball hard, but not too hard.
Blackburn says, “The best 7-iron players in the world are averaging between 4.5 and 5 degrees down.” “They’re not putting too much pressure on it.”
But not too little
A small mistake can happen when making divots, just like with most things in golf. If you go too high, you’ll make divots that are too big. But if you go too shallow, your club won’t be able to touch the grass, which means you won’t be able to squeeze the ball.
The right divot
Once you find the right angle of attack for your irons, the head of your club should start to connect properly with the grass.
Blackburn says, “That lets them make sure they deliver enough loft while still having the ball control they need.” “We want to make it look like we’re taking a dollar-bill style divot, which is a lot like a bacon-strip style divot over a pork chop.”
You can control the dynamic loft and press the ball down into the ground if you can hit the ball with a clubhead that has a relatively shallow angle of attack and a forward lean on the shaft. It will make a nice hole that looks like bacon strips.
