Understanding spin is so important

May 1 2008 by Tim Taylor, The Journal

WEDGE shots around the green set one main question of club selection. The answer to it is that the closer the flag is to the front of the green, the better off you are trying to take a little bit more loft and hitting the ball a bit harder. The harder you hit the ball, the more spin you are imparting.

But if the flag is towards the back of the green, think about taking a little bit more club, ie with a little bit less loft and hitting the ball more softly. That way, you can pitch the ball in the middle of the green and let it run up to the flag.

Most golfers do the opposite. They play the same club each time and hit a softer shot to the front of the green and it runs to the middle, or they try to hit a hard one to the back of the green that pitches in the middle and spins.

Understanding how you impart spin on the ball is important. If you create a little bit more clubhead speed you impart more spin, but if you hit it a little bit more softly, you’ll put less spin on it. If you’re hitting it a little bit harder you might take your sand wedge (56 degrees) instead of your pitching wedge but you might take your pitching wedge (48 degrees) to run up to the back flag, hitting it a little bit softer and putting less spin on it.

On our practice putting green at Matfen Hall Academy, we have flags at different distances from the edge of the green so golfers can work on various shots, depending on how far they want the ball to run on the green.

It takes a bit of practice. It’s quite hard to hit a ball softly and well. It’s a question of keeping the swing a little bit smoother and not getting quite so much acceleration through the ball. On the tee, the harder golfers hit their driver the more they tend to slice the ball, again because they put more spin on it. So why not try to swing the club easier off the tee? You’ll very likely impart less spin and hit the ball straighter.

IF you have a question for Dr John, email dr.john@ncjmedia.co.uk, or write to Dr John’s Golf Clinic, c/o Sports Desk, The Journal, Groat Market, Newcastle NE1 1ED. If you want to remain anonymous in the paper, The Journal still needs your name, address and phone number in case they need to get in touch with you.

To contact the Matfen Hall Academy, ring (01661) 886146.