Reading Divots!

kid2

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Afternoon all,

Golf is on just having a lazy one as i played yesterday......
Anyhoooo...........Its said that your divots tell a story of your swing and your ball striking......
I take a divot with every iron shallow with the long irons and progressively getting deeper the shorter they get.....

What i have noticed over the last 3 or 4 rounds is that they seem to point left at least 10 to 12 yards of where i had the face of the club aimed.....

Im guessing its my swing path but the thing im most confused about is that i hit my 3 and 5 woods pretty straight with no divot and i can at times hit my long irons dead straight off a tee......
Could my shot inconsistency be down to the distance im standing from the ball and can this have an effect on the ball flight.......

Also the divots seem to be a little deeper on the edge closest to my feet....

I guess what im trying to achieve is a ball flight that i can trust.Rather than addressing a ball aligning myself properly and not knowing the outcome...Our course is a parkland but the wind plays a big factor in your game....its practically always windy when we play.......
 
You don't say what the ball flight is when you take a divot. Am I right in assuming you fade the ball?



Sorry Clive......Ya its pretty much a fade.....
But i tend to hit a pretty straight shot at times as well......This is whats so confusing.......
Yeterday my shot inconsistency cost me 5 holes.....26 points for the rest but 5 lost balls aint good. :D
 
My shots and divots point a long way left of target and i have a very slight fade which absolutely baffles me.How can a divot that points miles left actually produce a relatively straight shot.
 
I have the same divot style as you. take big divots with irons that point left of where I was aiming. It was this week I realised I was lifting the club up to high rather than go round which caused the out to in swing and the fade across the ball. Have been working on it this week and certainly getting better contact by trying to swing more rounded than vertical. This also happened on my driving had a wickid slice but now I realised this I am getting much straighter ball flight and if you really work through the ball you can start to see it shaping up for a draw.
 
My shots and divots point a long way left of target and i have a very slight fade which absolutely baffles me.How can a divot that points miles left actually produce a relatively straight shot.


Im puzzled anyway PJ. :D
I know im only a bit away from having some decent consistency as if i nail this then my handicap will definately start dropping.....well when the season comes bck in!
Where my cards are getting destroyed at the moment is from errant shots rather than dodgy short game. :(
 
I told this to a pga pro last week and he said it could be the shafts in my clubs so im up to see him next week.


Too soft or too stiff.....I went back to regular from stiff.....
 
Mine are regular,however they are fakes off ebay so im sure the shafts are not helping.I have got an out to in swing which is not helping either.Saying all this it still doesnt explain how the divot can point so far left but the shot is fairly straight.
 
If they are fractionally deeper towards your feet could this have more to do with the lie of your clubs than necessarily anything overly untoward with the swing if you are still hitting straight shots?
 
Iv just been doing a little research on it and 1 thing that popped up was that maybe im standing a little too far from the ball causing the lie angle to be too upright......Not sure if this is making sense but im sure Bob or someone will put us straight.... :rolleyes:
No pun intended ;)
 
reason why it will still go fairly straight is that the club head on impact is pointing at the target but the out to in swing causes the side spin on the ball. which causes the fade. i would be suprised if you are standing to far away as this would make an out to in swing very hard. maybe you are too close. one thing that encourages a more in to out swing is on the range move your right back so your right toe is in line with out left heel. this causes more rotation and makes it harder for the out to in swing to occur
 
If they are fractionally deeper towards your feet could this have more to do with the lie of your clubs than necessarily anything overly untoward with the swing if you are still hitting straight shots?


Cheeses.....Im doing more homework today than i did in school :D

Checking there Homer....My irons are a 1/4 of an inch longer than standard....Havent a clue why.....
Also a few months ago i was talking with bob aout having the toe of the clubs slightly off the ground at address......Maybe iv started to slip a little and have them too much off the ground at address......

I havent really noticed before rather putting it down to the fact that they were new clubs and that i was just in the honeymoon phase with them.....But now that im getting curious to find answers for myself to the issues i have!
 
Kid2, I've been looking at this thread on and off today and wondering if I could offer any advice. Sounds like there's quite a bit about what's happening when you hit the ball that's puzzling you. If it were me, one word would spring to mind.

Lesson.

Looking back at the thread on lessons I see you say you haven't had one but are thinking about it. I'd say give it a go. You could book 3 or 4 over the winter and work on what you're being taught in time for next season.

Looks like you've been progressing well but could be you have reached a natural plateau in terms of what you can achieve on your own and it's time to get some help. No shame in that. Most of us reach that point sometime. Better players aren't exempt either. It's what Faldo did in the 80's. Result: World No.1 and 6 majors. Even Tiger improved when he had some lessons off Butch Harmon ;)

Whatever you do, all the best with it. And keep us posted. :)
 
Kid2, I've been looking at this thread on and off today and wondering if I could offer any advice. Sounds like there's quite a bit about what's happening when you hit the ball that's puzzling you. If it were me, one word would spring to mind.

Lesson.

Looking back at the thread on lessons I see you say you haven't had one but are thinking about it. I'd say give it a go. You could book 3 or 4 over the winter and work on what you're being taught in time for next season.

Looks like you've been progressing well but could be you have reached a natural plateau in terms of what you can achieve on your own and it's time to get some help. No shame in that. Most of us reach that point sometime. Better players aren't exempt either. It's what Faldo did in the 80's. Result: World No.1 and 6 majors. Even Tiger improved when he had some lessons off Butch Harmon ;)

Whatever you do, all the best with it. And keep us posted. :)


Cheers Mashie......I hate giving in but if it keeps up ill have to get a lesson.
 
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