i need some tips about getting spin on the ball when it lands on the green.

i do alright with a 60 degree, or 64 with spin, but that should be close to automatic with such lofted clubs. and spin into a wet green is not that hard to get it to stop on the green.

but i'm meaning more with the mid-low irons and even with the pw and sw. just struggling with this.

i play currently with the Bridgeston E6+. now i know its not a soft soft ball but it isn't an extremely hard ball either. i prefer hard to medium balls so i can work with my swing more to generate spin. so currently i'm thinking, it can't be the ball, its my swing.

so any tips or suggestion would be appreciated. i've found some and plan on trying them out but i'd be more than happy to try any ideas you all share.

duffer, when you address the ball where is your ball position? Is it forward of center, center or back of center?
Are your hands set up behind the ball, even with the ball or ahead of the ball at address?

depends on what type of shot i want to play and in what type of position or situation i'm in. if i'm in the fairway, or light rough, normally my ball position is in the center to back of center.


usually my hands are setup ahead of the ball at address.

Duffer, you're ball position and hand position seem to be correct, which makes this a trial and error thing, since I can't see your swing.
Most people have a difficult time getting backspin because they don't accelerate through the ball. They usually try to keep an even tempo that actually deaccels (is that a word?) the clubhead through the ball. Another thing that keeps people from spinning the ball is not hitting down and through the ball. Many golfers come into the ball too shallow with their mid to short irons and hit them soft or scoop the shot a little.
I don't know if either of these suggestions fit, but if they do, great, if they don't.............?

Duff,

I usually think basic spins will come if I strike the ball solidly, hitting the ball first, not the ground. A lot of us have a problem with that and as Bill said we sort of scoop them off the turf instead of pinching them into the turf. It sounds like your ball positions pretty good. I think Bill's given you most of the typical information.


Another thing is that the Bridgestone ball you're playing, the e6, is the lower compression ball, whereas the e5 will have a bit more spin.

that makes sense. i've heard that before and been trying it out. about hitting those shots on a more downward angle. which means the divot would be after the ball correct?

i do see my iron shots and wedge shots as being hit high and soft. i've always been afraid of either one topping it by hitting it down and through the ball, or going over the green. but i have had to back up on what i use for places, so i'm just going to try it and not worry about maybe accidentally going over. i do appreciate those things. will check back in in a couple of days to let you know the progress.

i got a gift card from work so i'll pick me up some of them, or maybe get back to the place i got the Top Flite Gamers once at but i've been curious about the Bridgestone E5 balls.

i'm just kind of skeptical with using extremely soft balls. sure i want spin, but i'm always worried how its gonna react if i miss hit it with the driver or my woods.

I notice that different balls will spin more or less. For example, when I use Precept Laddie Extreme 2-piece balls off a gap wedge, I get a nice check and hop or two with little back spin. When I use a TaylorMade Red/Black (w/LDP) or Cally HX Tour56, I get a check, a short hop and backspin off the same wedge shot. I tried this out last week when I was playing with my friend (who was also teaching me how to chip/pitch) at a local 3-par course.

I just picked up the new Cally i balls (suppose to replace the Tour56 ball) today and hope to try them out soon.

i've played with the callaway i balls. they are pretty good.

i plan on going golfing after i get off of work in the morning, and i'm gonna try either the new Bridgestone B5's, or maybe get gutsy (for me its gutsy) trying the Bridgestone Treo Soft. i'm really liking Bridgestone balls and they are decently priced, or go and pick up some Top Flite Gamers. i have 12 hours of work to make a choice.

Duff, I played with the Bridgestone e5's this winter (what little we had of it here in Carolina) and really liked how they felt and played. other than the spin and bite on the green, yes to me they were as good or better than the Pro Vs do in cold weather.

I played with the B330's yesterday for a few holes and liked them as well. They also make B330S which is the "softer" ball but i didn't notice anything un-soft about these and the B330 is supposed to be a longer ball. So I'm going to try it again tomorrow..have 36 holes on tap and will see how it does.

I would think that a solid descending strike of the ball with continued acceleration would produce adequate spin.
What I find surprising, however, (and this may not apply to duffer101) is how many people want to know how to spin the ball, but on their approach shots are consistently short of the hole. I have played with some people who insist on playing certain golf balls because of the feel and spin factor, yet they shoot in the 100s and need to work on other things beside ball spin.
Maybe it's just me and I need to worry about putting consistency, driving accuracy, chipping, etc...before I start to concern myself with ball spin.
-Rob

Rob, I think I know what you mean. Sometimes people talk about spin as if it they are advanced players working on advanced technique (not you, duffer!). At my level, I don't focus on spin, yet, I notice that some of the same swing elements that make my pitch shots fly high and soft and check up fast also make my driver, iron, and chip shots work. So, I think spin can be a legitimate concern of a person on a sincere quest for their golf swing. For example, the better I maintain my spine axis and use my body rather than my arms for power, the farther my irons/woods will travel, the quicker my pitches will check, the more my chips will travel the path I intended.

Before you spend endless hours working on changing your swing with your irons, why not just try a tour quality urethane cover ball and see if it's the ball and not your swing? If you can't be the spin you want with a tour quality ball, then work on your ball striking. But first find out if it's just the ball you're playing. That's what I'd do in your situation.

Laney, nice to see ya again. How's the recovery and the game?

Rob, truer words were never typed....Spin will happen with proper swing mechanics and trying to add more spin should follow getting solid fundamentals...but I used to want the same thing. Now, if it happens great, I am more concerned with being on the part of the green I was aiming for.

Hey, who cares about scores??? It's playing the game and having a great time,right??
The reason for learning to spin the ball off the green is the fact that it's fun. So, forget scoring, you can't beat Tiger anyway, but you can learn to back the ball up on the green like Tiger.

I'm guessing Bill H. does. Or ... he's about to start giving Scott strokes.

Scott, thanks for asking about me. I've been doing fine with the injury for a long time. Haven't been around here much because I've been so busy with work. Still haven't broken 100, though I've been close. When I learn to stay focused on the course, things are going to be fine.

Laney, actually, I don't care about scores.

When I was Soott's age, nobody my age could beat me, but I'll give Scott as many strokes as he requests.

Better swing mechanics are giving me more spin on the ball. I'm not looking to back the ball up, I just want it to land on the green and not roll off the back. I've noticed now that I'm focusing on keeping the arms relaxed on the wedge shots, the ball is landing nice and soft...and staying put.

While I can not say I don't care about scores, I have recently taken a new approach in my game. I went back to playing a couple Par 3 courses. Today I am going to play an 18 hole Par 54 course, all the holes are between 50 and 125 yards. This gives me the chance to pratice ball striking by changing my irons or mostly wedges to different distances, more fun than the range. I am really starting to understand striking down on the ball. It seems that when I do this, even when I am do not make perfect contact, i still get pretty consistent ball flight and distances. The less than perfect shots will fly good but may come up just short of where expected. The perfect shots though seem to fly 10-15 yards further than expected. A good example is when I played the other day on a 125 yard shot I pulled out the PW and hit it to the back of the green maybe 145 yrds with some roll, but I as still on the green. At this point in my game it is usually best to pick my distance to the center and if a bit long or short I can still be in scoring range.

You know, after my last outing where I hit my wedges and iron shots poorly, mostly a little heavier than I like, this week I decided to play my irons shots with a little hover over the ball instead of laying the club on the ground. I also moved the ball back in my stance just a little bit and wow, was I able to control the spin more on the ball on approach shots into the green. I have to admit, that sort of opened up some options like hitting the ball past the hole and spinning it back to the hole. I actually did that (on purpose) when I was between clubs but it didn't come back as much as I would have liked, but it did come back.

Now the downside, if you play for spin and get it, you better have factored in throwing the ball behind the hole enough that it doesn't come too far back. That happened to me once this weekend, I hit a wedge about 3 ft past the hole but it spun back about 12 feet. Actually it happened more than once.

But it did remove the issue of hitting fat and it did put more spin on the ball.

dear really thanks for the useful information

thanks again