Backspin

[starchyy]

I was watching golf on tv the other day and I was just thinking, how do golfers put that sick amount of backspin on a ball when chipping onto the green (the ball takes a few bounces and then rolls backwards). I was wondering if anyone can let me know how they do it.
Thanks

[TobDog]

Ill try to keep this short, I am assuming you are talking about full(ish) wedge shots. You first need to hit the ball with enough clubhead speeed to make the ball travel a good distance, second, you must get adequate loft out of the shot, if it looks like a 4 iron, its not going to stop as easily. you also need to make solid contact consistently, that means middle of the clubface almost all the time. You also need a clean lie, Im sorry, out of the rough, you are not going to spin the ball back on the green, you need a clean fairway type lie, and taking a divot after the ball, you hit down into this shot. And the last factor is your golf ball, the softer type golf balls will provide you the best spin, actually for example a Titleist NXT Tour will probably give you more spin on this type of shot compared to a ProV1.

tobdog

[1C5]

nxt tour is softer than a pro v1? didn't know that.

[matto]

Yeah, pro v1 will spin far more than an nxt tour. Anyway, with regard to full shots, compression and solid ball->turf contact is crucial.

For greenside spin (pitches and chips), wedge grooves play an important part in spin and you'll find that using a high lofted wedge with aggressive grooves will definitely make a difference. I get more than enough spin with my 60* tour issue Y-cutter but good retail choices are Spin milled vokeys, Eidolon (really loved these) and Cally X-tour (MD grooves).

Use a soft cover ball like pro v1 and a wedge like I mentioned above, learn to make crisp, solid contact on your partial wedge shots and you will see more check on most greens. That being said, I prefer a nice little 1 bounce, check and release shot in most cases. Spin isn't everything. Best of luck.

[ntnBO]

[ QUOTE ]
Ill try to keep this short, I am assuming you are talking about full(ish) wedge shots. You first need to hit the ball with enough clubhead speeed to make the ball travel a good distance, second, you must get adequate loft out of the shot, if it looks like a 4 iron, its not going to stop as easily. you also need to make solid contact consistently, that means middle of the clubface almost all the time. You also need a clean lie, Im sorry, out of the rough, you are not going to spin the ball back on the green, you need a clean fairway type lie, and taking a divot after the ball, you hit down into this shot. And the last factor is your golf ball, the softer type golf balls will provide you the best spin, actually for example a Titleist NXT Tour will probably give you more spin on this type of shot compared to a ProV1.

[/ QUOTE ]
Sheesh, as always stated, there is quite a bit of misinformation in this post. Let me try to clean it up a bit.

You can hit a low shot with lots of spin. Conversely you can hit a high shot without much spin. In other words you don't have to hit it high to juice it. You just have to hit it correctly.

You don't have to be in the fairway to juice it, but it certainly helps. The less grass there is trapped between the ball and the clubface the better. I have spun the ball back countless times from the rough.

To juice it, while you do need a slightly descending blow, hitting down on it too steeply will take spin off. Ideally, you want a thin divot after contact.

As already stated, there are lots of balls that spin more than an NXT Tour.

Now, after all that, very few amateurs want to create spin. It just creates more variance among other things. Furthermore, on tour the pros cheat in a lot of ways to create that extra juice. They don't actually cheat, but they have lots of advantages that you don't such as sharp edges on their grooves, extra tight fairways, perfect greens, the ability to hit the ball precisely to impart that spin, a fraction of an inch off either way results in a skull or a chunk.

This post was correct in saying that you do need to generate some clubhead speed and make solid contact.

BO

[pokerjfb]

Just out of curiousity what exactly do you mean by sharp grooves.

[ghostface]

after a lot of use grooves wear out. sharp grooves are better at gripping the ball.

[bonds]

[ QUOTE ]
after a lot of use grooves wear out. sharp grooves are better at gripping the ball.

[/ QUOTE ]

Speaking of which, anyone ever use a groove sharpener?

My PW and SW are old Eye2s that have had many years of use. I get very little spin and would like to get a little more check around the greens.

[Shoe Lace]

So the horizontal angle (make it point towards the sky for backspin, or ground for topspin) of the club face shouldn't be used to create more/less spin?

[ntnBO]

[ QUOTE ]
So the horizontal angle (make it point towards the sky for backspin, or ground for topspin) of the club face shouldn't be used to create more/less spin?

[/ QUOTE ]
No, you are confusing loft with spin. And it is impossible to hit a golf shot with topspin.

BO