The Divot Tells All!

This past weekend was filled with a wonderful private session with a student who came in from Australia. Ah, the stories. More about that next week. But one thing popped up that I wanted to cover since, it seems, so many have had it on their mind. Divots.

Divots are like the clues they come up with on TV shows like NCSI. So simple, yet so telling when it comes to a golfer'€™s swing. When I walk along a practice tee at any club, it almost makes me dizzy looking at them, because I can tell what happened and where the ball (probably) went.

So I thought I would pull out my '€œterms and definitions'€ collection and give you '€œThe divot,'€ so you can become your own detective and figure out what you might be doing wrong '€“ and right. Here goes.

DIVOT: The turf removed and scar created in hitting an iron shot. A properly hit shot will produce a shallow divot with the grass torn from the ground. Swing Surgeon'€™s motto for divots: thin to win.
Shallow divots are preferred because:
1. They put less stress and strain on the fingers, wrist, elbow, and shoulders;
2. There is very little reduction in clubhead speed.
3. Striking the ground can cause the clubhead to be twisted, thus affecting the flight path of the ball and its direction.
Clubs that are more lofted create a steeper angle of attack and produce longer and deeper divots.
Checkpoints for deep divots:
1. Standing too close to the ball changes the angle of attack (see my definition from last week).
2. Right side dominant set up causes an outside-in path which makes for a steep angle of attack.

3. Starting the downswing with the upper body moving out over the ball and over the line makes the angle of attack steep. Start downswing with lower body and lateral left bump.
4. Clubs may be too long or lie too upright.
5. Hitting down on the ball! I believe the thought of hitting down on the ball is the number one worst enemy of every golfer and the cause of bad golf shots. Go out on the course, preferably the third shot area on a par five hole, and check out the divots. Most are big/long, deep and point 50 yards or more left of the green. Why? Because with a big turn, getting the arms and club deep in the graveyard, the only way back to the ball is around the body, (WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND) outside-in, and steep. Compound this with the fact that every golfer who has ever played was told and re told to keep his head down, and to hit down, which just maximizes the problems. Hitting down is the CANCER of golf.
Try the '€œhit-down swing test:'€ Get to the top of your backswing and hold that position. Now hit down on the ball, and feel which part of your body moves first. Most golfers I have tested instantly feel the shoulders, arms and hands move first and outside.
Problem:
1. The downswing is supposed to start with the lower body, so we have a sequence problem, the wrong part of the body moving first.
2. The shoulders are pulled left which throws the arms, hands and club out to the right which is the wrong path and plane (see outside-in path, out and across).
3. When you hit down on the ball, you drive the energy into the ground. We want the energy to flow out toward the target, thus the reason for a shallow/thin divot.
4. Hitting down, colliding with the ground sends tremendous amount of shock through the club into the hands, arms and shoulders, which can lead to sore and painful joints, tendinitis and tennis/golfer's elbow and even rotator cuff problems.
5. Hitting the ground slows up the clubhead. This loss of speed is loss of distance and can twist the clubhead off path and plane, which causes direction problems.
The answer to this is to think shallow, nip it, swing the club to bounce or ricochet off the ground. Think thin to win! Practice by nipping iron shots out of a fairway bunker or off hard ground. Many times all it takes to shallow out your divots is just a change of attitude of thinking shallow instead of hitting down.

By checking your divot, the mystery of a poorly executed shot can be easily solved.

The Surge!