It’s astounding how the pro golfers hit golf balls that end up spinning like a rocket. Some are way too pro that can turn the ball even in the wet conditions. Those who are beginners but want to shine like a pro golfer, always keep on wondering how to spin the ball correctly like them.
Spinning a golf ball is something that most novices or even seasoned golfers feel challenging to control. It requires experience as well as dexterity to do so. It also demands knowledge on how to make substantial “ball-first” contact with the ball with sufficient speed.
It is necessary to spin the ball when it is from a tight lie off the green or on a rough surface or there is an obstacle in between the golfer and the flag. On this account, one would desire to fly the ball close to the spin. They might even want to stop dead or spin a little.
Learn How to Spin the Golf Ball
This article is for those who want to take the game of golf to the next level as it centers around the techniques to backspin the ball. However, that too remembering specific tips.
Knowing what backspin is and how to generate it is the very first thing to do. Backspin indicates spinning away the ball towards the direction of the target. It occurs when the clubface and the ball contacts with each other.
The grooves on the clubface should grab the ball ensuring a spin before taking off. There are 3 key factors which put an impact on how much the ball spins. They are:
The Effective Loft of the Clubface
It is easier for the grooves to grab the ball when the loft is higher, and the clubface is closer. This points directly up towards the zenith and the face is to be rolled up. For example, it’s easier to conduct a backspin on the ball with a 9-iron rather than with a 3-iron. It gives a relatively little spin with a driver.
How Clean is the Strike?
The grooves will not be able to make contact with the ball if there is mud, grass, sand or any other substance like this between the ball and the clubface. As such, spinning the ball will be difficult. This is the main reason when we generally can’t spin the ball out of the rough surface. Normally, w want to get a solid spin by hitting the ball before the ground.
Club Head Speed
If a player wants to have a good backspin, it is crucial to accelerating through the ball. The clubhead should have a high speed and hit the ball shortly. Hence, the grooves can hold the ball and produce good spin.
Nevertheless, it should be ensured that the whole phenomena take place before the ball rockets off the face. It is believed that the steepness of the clubface path or the angle of attack affects the spin of the ball within a fixed loft.
On the other hand, there is an evidence from Trackman that it is contrary to this claim. Commonly, hitting down on the ball does not facilitate spin rates. Instead, the three factors stated above are the basic determinants of a golf ball to spin.
Now, to spin the ball, the following steps should be kept in mind:
Creating Backspin When on Pitch
Creating backspin on pitch and chip indicates the sign of a good golfer. It is necessary to find the right angle of attack to create backspin. It should be steep but, most importantly, the loft of the club would work perfectly.
Explaining further, the start should be made by setting the ball back in the stance and opening the feet so that they point a little on the left of the target. This will give one the room to turn through the shots smoothly.
Likeiwse, if this is done correctly, one will see that the butt of the club sits opposite to the middle of the left thigh. In search of spin, a lot of players distort this position. They just move the ball too far on their back and create too much shaft lean.
This gives birth to the danger of thin contact. At the same time, one will not have enough loft on the club to create the spin that they planned for.
Set the Angle
Hinging the wrists a little earlier before doing a normal swing is necessary. This will help one to find the steep angle of attack that one was looking for into the ball. Once the angle is set in the backswing, it is required to maintain this position through the rest of the swing.
In addition, it is prohibited to flick the wrists at the ball. To check this, one should ensure that he is holding his finishing position. A triangle must be created between the club end and the shoulders, and kept intact.
Maintain the Loft
The importance of maintaining the loft is already mentioned, and now it’s time to explain why this is crucial. If one holds the right action, will not have to take much of a divot, rather, they will be able to brush the grass.
Despite the steep angle of attack, the ball will continue to run by grabbing against the grooves. Due to this reason, a good spin will be created. Therefore, one should make sure that the face of their wedge is clean and the mud or the grass is devoid that can hamper both the spin and control.
Map the Shot
Imparting spin on one’s chips is a good ability as well as it is helpful because it allows one to be intrusive and dedicated to the shots. However, one needs to know about the ball’s activity after landing on the grass. It mostly depends on the solidity of the greens.
The ball will firstly take a big jump forward. Then it will grab a second bounce before dribbling out to the hole. If the whole picture is imprinted in mind about what the ideal shot will look like, it will help to make a rigid plan.
Examine the Grass
The grass should be closely cropped where one is likely to be landing his back spun ball. If there is long or irregularly groomed grass, it will create more obstructions for the ball. Ultimately it will hamper its spin.
It also increases the chances of reducing the backspin by catching the grass between the ball and the clubface. Although backspin is also possible in long grass, it becomes easier to practice in well-groomed grass.
Choose the Perfect Golf Ball
Regular golf balls are of 2 types: Soft Core and Hard Core. A soft core is much easier to handle and will help to backspin the ball than that of a hardcore. For this reason, beginners mostly prefer practicing backspin with soft core balls.
Hardcore balls help to cover more distance in a single shot. They have a rating of compression of about 100. When the soft core balls are struck, they have more backspin, and it ultimately results in ensuring more control. A rating of compression of about 90 might be the best for backspin purposes.
Softcover balls also create a good backspin effect because they can grip the club better. This might be another reason for which, beginners choose golf balls of soft core and cover. When one has only hardcore balls available, he or she should continue practicing the technique in the same manner.
Accordingly, once soft core balls are managed, one can put on what he had practiced and backspin the ball correctly.
To Determine the Type of Golf Club to be Used
It is necessary to give priority to the angle faced clubs like wedges, lob wedges or irons. Backspin is easier with clubs that have more lofts in it, mostly the lob wedges. Therefore, starting with any club like these can help one hone this tough shot with much ease.
Since there is a huge distance between the club’s loft and the clubhead’s attacking angle, lofted clubs are preferred more. It helps to increase the backspin to some extents. On the other hand, clubs over 7 irons (such as a 6, 5, 4, or 3 iron) should be avoided because height is also an important factor for making a good spin.
Inspect Your Club
A rough surface is created on the head of the club due to grass or turf sticking to it. The grass or turf can come between the ball and the clubhead that can hamper the backspin. To prevent this, the clubface is to be inspected so that it is not worn or dirty.
Aim to Compress the Ball
To create backspin, compression is necessary. When the club maintains a persistent speed or accelerates while coming in touch with the ball, the ball will get compressed against the club face. This will create more backspin.
At the same time, if the club is gradually losing speed, the ball will start rolling through the clubface. Thus, it won’t create the backspin that was expected. In that sense, it is necessary to ensure that the club is not decelerating.
An Attempt in Making a Shallow Divot
When the attacking angle is steep for a particular shot, it’s almost sure that one will create a divot by digging into the turf. It is crucial for golfers to practice and experiment with different techniques that can create a relatively short and shallow divot while executing the backspin swing.
Similarly, a deep divot can put a negative impact on the distance or the direction of the shot because it signifies that the angle of approach to the ball was way too sharp. One has to go through a lot of practices and experiments to determine the reasons behind the deep divots
Maintaining a Good Form in the Follow Through
Maintaining a good form is necessary for golf practices. In this case, one should keep the wrists straight. Otherwise, when the club comes in touch with the ground, it might cause the wrists to move and come out of alignment.
This came to be known as “Breaking.” Hence, for a consistent backspin, it is mandatory to maintain the accurate position of the wrists.
Back Spin in the Wind
While learning backspin shots, the direction of the wind is also to be kept in concern. Giving a good hit in the wind might result in an accelerated spin.
However, it may be a backspin that was very much wanted or it might turn into a side spin that can cause the ball to fly away from its track. It will take more time to travel sideways as long as it will continue to go higher.
It’s recommended to aim for shots with a couple of backspins when there is a little wind. Without sufficient wind for golf, one might find difficult to make consistent backspins. Many expert golfers avoid hitting shots when the wind is not in favor of them, even if they have higher than average backspin.
Backspin for Long Shots
Consequently, it is indispensable to have friction to create backspin. This makes it tougher to create backspin for the short shots. For example, the shots that are made at 46 m (50 yards). If the clubhead has a higher speed, it becomes easier to generate friction between the club face and the ball.
Besides, beginners mostly want to start with mid shots and long-range shots while they are learning backspin.
Strike Low on the Ball Face
When viewing the ball head, a circle is seen. This is the face of the ball. Hitting the ball below its back face will improve the quality of the backspin with a greater force.
These phenomena are known as the effect of verbal gear. It says that balls will have greater spin when they are hit below the face than those that are hit above the face.
Lastly, if one hits a high shot on the clubface, the clubface might catch up grass in it since it will travel towards the ball into the ground.
Our Final Thoughts
Spinning a golf ball is an instrumental technique. Hitting a ball with a strong backspin will help to land the shot beyond the hole, and finally, the spin will take it towards the direction of the whole.
Acquiring this technique will assist the beginners to get an advantage on the score and put them a step ahead than that of the other novices.
