"Spinning" Equipment

[gbigoose1]

Ok, as long as I've golfed I've played a Walter Hagen starter set that only comes with one wedge and that is a cavity back sand wedge. I've literally only spun a ball back once. I've stopped many but have only spun that one back. It was a ProV1x. And being a 12-14 handicap, that's pretty much in the middle on this forum. But, it seems like from everything I read, everybody can spin the ball on this forum except me... Hmm, so I'm wondering if this is me, or if my equipment just isn't up to par..

 

[JB]

Moved this over to the golf section.

It is most likely not your equipment. Spin on the ball is more about technique than equipment. However good, clean grooves, and a "spinnier" ball can make it easier to do so.

EDIT: I want to add that without certain technique, it wont matter what the equipment used is.

 

[gbigoose1]

It most likely is my technique but it's not like I flip. Normally I dig or at least think I am.

 

[junior lefty]

It's not the club. I can't spin it back either, but the greens where I live are probably the worst in the world. I have found a couple balls that I can spin back, but that is only with a full 56* wedge.

 

[Ryan555]

"Spin"? What is this word? I have spun a ball back once, I think. That's what the guys in the group ahead of me told me, but not sure it was mine that they saw. I've been working on my technique to trap the ball better, but I've been a sweeper most of my golf career, so I've never spun a ball that I've seen. Hell, most of mine don't stop. I basically have to allow for an additional 10 to 15 feet of roll after the ball hits the green, and it's been that way my whole career. Even when I'm chipping, my hop and stop is actually more like hop, hop again, hop some more, roll out about 5 to 10 feet, then stop. So, no, you are definitely not the only one who doesn't spin the ball. It sounds like you can spin it better than I can.

 

[Hawk]

Equipment helps, but it is mostly lie and technique. You have to hit it hard and clean if you are going to spin it. I struggle with both haha

 

[JRod]

Equipment helps, but it is mostly lie and technique. You have to hit it hard and clean if you are going to spin it. I struggle with both haha

:laughing:

 

[mdbuschsr]

Watching a ball spin back is really cool. I play more of a hop & stop, or hop, hop, roll. Watching Big Break it seems those that can spin the ball back often times have a hard time controlling the amount of spin back that they get. I've read that other places as well. Be careful what you wish for. Spinning the ball back may be fun, but I think I'd rather stay with my hop and stop (or at least get better with it).

 

[SprayTech]

Think of this food for thought , Lee Travino said this about a guy he played with in a Pro-Am many years ago . The guy asked how do you spin a ball back ? Travino said how far past the hole do you usually hit the ball ? The guy said never , and Lee said you DON"T need spin back then !
I think spin can be a double edge sword ..... Me , I would rather have it hit and stick .

 

[Fourputt]

Think of this food for thought , Lee Travino said this about a guy he played with in a Pro-Am many years ago . The guy asked how do you spin a ball back ? Travino said how far past the hole do you usually hit the ball ? The guy said never , and Lee said you DON"T need spin back then !
I think spin can be a double edge sword ..... Me , I would rather have it hit and stick .

This is the word of truth. Most amateurs rarely get the ball to the hole in the first place, so why are they always so concerned about spinning the ball back? I can spin a ball back, but I choose not to. The key is controlling your shot, and that can just as easily be done with a ball that which rolls forward anywhere from a foot to 10 feet, depending on the club used. Most of my iron shots (6I through GW) check up within 10 feet of the ball mark, and that is quite sufficient for my game. Every once in a while I will actually back up a short iron, but that's pretty rare. And my Bridgestone E6 is not a "spinney" ball.

Spinning the ball has more to do with technique and ball than it does with the club. Robot testing has shown that an iron with no grooves at all will spin the ball nearly the same from the fairway as a club with square grooves or V grooves. How much it spins is more a factor of ball type and crisp impact.

 

[og512]

I don't think it much of anything to do with the equipment... granted clean grooves and spinning ball will help, and I would imagine that a softer forged club would help also.

but, i think its all about technique... a friend of mine who is a single digit handicap, gives a lot of free and/or discounted lessons, did this one day to prove a point. we were standing around after a round and all walked back out to the 18th green. He took 5 different wedges from 5 random guys bags and walked out the 100 yard marker and hit 5 shots and spun every one of them. 2 of the wedges wedges Vokeys, 1 was my Nike SW, 2 were cavity back starter set wedges).

I've only done it once by accident... long story. I've actually become more obsessed with sticking it close rather than spinning.

 

[gbigoose1]

Ok then here's another question, if everybody can spin the ball back but choose not to, how do you control it? If your consistently hitting down on it and have a good swing, how don't you spin it?

 

[Hawk]

Ok then here's another question, if everybody can spin the ball back but choose not to, how do you control it? If your consistently hitting down on it and have a good swing, how don't you spin it?

I'm very curious about this as well.

 

[Fourputt]

Ok then here's another question, if everybody can spin the ball back but choose not to, how do you control it? If your consistently hitting down on it and have a good swing, how don't you spin it?

As I said, I play a Bridgestone E6 ball. It spins just fine on full shots, stops quickly, but rarely backs up. I have backed it up twice that I can think of, both times with 8 or 9 irons from a tee on a par 3 hole. In both cases it backed up about 4 or 5 feet. I've had it back up a foot or less a few times, but that is really no different than hopping forward a foot, which is more likely. For a longer iron, like 5 or 6 iron, it will nearly always roll 5-10 feet unless I miss hit the ball. That can also change with green conditions, but any ball can be similarly controlled if you make a good swing at it. If I land the ball hole high I can usually depend on not ending up more than 15 feet past hole high, and most often closer than that. Direction is another story.

I choose the ball I do mostly so that it doesn't spin for greenside shots. I prefer to play chips and pitches that roll out, so I don't really care for the urethane covered balls. They are more grabby on short shots and are more difficult to get consistent distance with. I've found over the last few months that I get up and down more often when the ball rolls to the hole.

 

[jmingt]

Ok then here's another question, if everybody can spin the ball back but choose not to, how do you control it? If your consistently hitting down on it and have a good swing, how don't you spin it?

You don't take a full swing or you can try holding off your release. At least that's what works for me.

 

[thepete]

Ok then here's another question, if everybody can spin the ball back but choose not to, how do you control it? If your consistently hitting down on it and have a good swing, how don't you spin it?

Go up a club and hit it a little softer. There're also things like angle of descent but usually it's easiest to go up a club.

There's a lot of talk about equipment this and that, but the biggest factor to me is having a crisp, tight lie. If the fairways and your lies aren't tight enough, getting a lot of zip is hard.