Roll out or back spin?

[Twire]

Just reading the Groove Sharpener thread got me thinking.

I use old 52 and 56 wedges, probably 6-7 years old their battered and bruised, but I've never thought of sharpening or reconditioning/replacing them. I use them alot around the greens, full shots and bunkers. I never have any problem stopping them on full shots, probably due to the height i get with them, or from the bunker. Around the greens I'm quite happy as I personally believe roll out is more predictable than back spin for a handicap golfer like myself (12) the pureness of strike is not in my locker to get any consistent zip, so I change the trajectory with ball position to get different rollouts.

So my question for you handicap golfers, are you more consistent with rollout or backspin?

 

[User101]

As you say, it's relevant to strike and lie. Ball in semi...its rolling out, clean strike off fairway and it's stop. Personally I'd rather have stop than roll out.

 

[Bazzatron]

I get no spin at all, it's all rollout.

 

[Khamelion]

I firmly believe that there is an invisible dome over the hole about 6 feet in diameter.

When I hit a shot that lands in front of the hole and requires the ball to roll forward, the ball hits the dome and gets backspin.

When I hit a shot that lands behind the hole and requires the ball to backspin, the ball hits the dome and rolls forward.

Needless to say I'm not that close on a regular enough basis to worry about backspin.

The only time I've had backspin recently was after dumping two balls into a pond and hitting off some hard packed ground, anger helped me catch the ball flush, launched a 56 degree wedge, hit the green and spun back about 18 feet, the ball had landed within 4 feet of the flag, some forward roll there would've been nice. Hence proving my point above.

 

[anotherdouble]

Roll out for me as I find it far easy to control and to get the consistency

 

[patricks148]

At the moment our Greens are like concrete, so its quite difficult to stop it unless you are into the wind. But that's part of the skill and course knowledge of playing in these condition.

Played Downfield last week and the greens were quite receptive, even though it was quite firm on the whole

 

[brendy]

It absolutely depends on each occasion, a tight flag coming on from the side I will try and nip it a little cleaner in the hope it does bite a little, if it has 40 feet of clear fringe/green Ill let it roll out.

 

[Capella]

A typical full wedge shot off the fairway for me drops, hops once (3 to 6 ft) and stops. No zip-back, no real rollout either. Which is nice, because I can aim right at the flag. The irons roll out. So do half shots with the wedges and everything I hit out of the rough. Which is usually okay. I tend to be short rather than long anyway.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I'm a high h/c and don't get backspin on purpose. I get some in wet weather but if the greens are dry it doesn't happen at all. I know that so hit my shots accordingly. My parkland course is currently very dry so on some greens I am playing approach shots like a links course and landing short and rolling on. On other greens I am factoring in the roll out to the shot. I'd love to have the option of backspin but it is not there for me.

 

[BrianM]

I’ve only ever had backspin once, not even sure how I did it to be honest.
is it club head speed that produces the spin?

 

[ScienceBoy]

I had one last night that I felt had thinned but stopped super quick by the hole.

Hit one sweet a few holes later on a similar sloping green. Ran on past.

Same club, same shot, similar green, different results.

Only difference was the strike and even that was backwards to what I expected.

 

[Mark1751]

I prefer to have it stop fairly quickly, as others have said it all depends on lie, strike etc rolling out is less predictable for me than going for a bounce and stop.

If only I could do it every time then I would be happy.

 

[NorwichBanana]

I can't stand ready to hit the ball and be sure to get any sort of spin on the ball. I always play for the ball to run out, as 99 times out of 100 that's what the ball will do!

 

[Orikoru]

What's backspin?
:rofl:

 

[Carpfather1]

My wedge shots half to full tend to bounce and stop within a ft ,Ive never had a problem stopping a ball ,I think playing a premium ball and newish wedges with good grooves helps this mind ,if I want the roll out I’ll use a lower loft club and move ball position.But for me spin every time .

 

[Dasit]

I don't have a camera on the green so can't tell if my balls is backspinning from 100+ yards...

Usually my ball ends near my pitch mark if I strike it well

 

[jim8flog]

On greenside I always prefer the ball to have some spin, it is part of the reason I play with 3 piece high spin balls and why my 'greenside' wedges get changed every couple of years.

 

[User101]

On greenside I always prefer the ball to have some spin, it is part of the reason I play with 3 piece high spin balls and why my 'greenside' wedges get changed every couple of years.

Your "greenside" wedges won't spin the ball that much "greenside"

 

[HomerJSimpson]

For the longer shots I tend to get enough stop after the first bounce with my old Ping gorge wedges although this is becoming harder as the greens continue to firm up. Even when my wedges were new I never really got too much zip back and to be honest I'm pleased as it's far too unpredictable. For shots around the green, subject to the lie of the land and any obstacles I'd rather roll it out playing a chip/pitch and run

 

[User101]

I'm finding it very difficult to get anything close around the greens just now, course so firm and greens so quick anything inside ten feet is good for me at the moment, losing loads of shots due to it also.