I am intersted in learning how to put back spin on the ball.

Also I am curious why the players in the British open could not put back spin on the ball like they do when the PGA plays in this country.

Please explain.

Rick Barber, northern Michigan

Rick,

I will agree with James. When attempting to put spin on the ball, you must make clean contact with a stroke that is not too shallow and that is excellerating through impact. One fact that was not mentioned... the ball. If you are playing a so-called "distance" ball or one with a hard cover, it will be hard to get a lot of backspin... especially on shorter shots around the green. My name is Joseph Bauer and I am a professional golfer and instructor from Kansas City as well as the inventor of the PRO TOUR CARD http://www.protourcard.com. If you have not seen this amazing little training aid, I urge you to give it a look at the website above. Also, it provides a drill to help acheive the backspin you are searching for. Take care and good luck! ---Joe

I agree with the explanation that it was harder to put spin on the ball during the British Open because of the hard ground, but I have some different reasons. It's more difficult because the ball squirts away from contact instead of climbing up the club face. When you hit down on the ball and the ground is soft, the extra friction of the soft ground helps the ball stay on the club face longer. As Froggy has noted, softer greens make spinning balls much more noticeable because of the extra grip the spinning ball gets upon landing. Also, the pros wanted less spin, because they generally preferred lower ball flights in order to minimize the effects of wind.

If you want to learn how to spin the ball, the easiest place to start (as Joe has noted) is with a "soft" or "feel" type ball, but expensive balls with Urethane covers generally spin the most. Use the Golf Digest ball spin chart to find a ball in your price range with the most spin. Mark your ball with a solid line all the way around it (check-go devices help). Thicker is better. If your eyes are as bad as mine, put 3 -5 lines on it to make it look like a basketball.

The next easiest step is to make sure that your wedges have square grooves instead of V grooves. Hey - spending money is easier than having talent. If you're going to invest in one club for this experiment get the highest lofted wedge you can find. 64 is best, but they are hard to find so 60 is ok.

Next make sure that you're hitting from the fairway instead of the rough. Into the wind is better than downwind.

After these steps are done, skill is required. Start with chipping. Set your ball 3-4" behind your back foot with the line on the ball perpendicular to your target. Turn both feet slightly towards the target. Make contact with the ball with your hands ahead of the club face and hitting down on the ball. Keep the hands ahead even after contact (don't break your wrists). Watch the rotation of the ball as indicated by the line and see if it checks a little on the first couple of bounces. Note the "click" sound of the ball contact as opposed to a "thwack" sound.  Don't worrry about aim or distance or roll out. All you want to do is create spin. As long as the ball is hopping up more than hugging the ground you're doing it.

Pitching is next. Place your ball slightly behind center to encourage ball first contact. Back swing to 9:00 (arms parallel to the ground), make contact with your hands ahead of the club face and finish with arms at 12:00 (straight up).  You may find this easier to practice at first with your ball in the rough or even without a ball. First make sure that your hands stay ahead of the club at the bottom the swing (ball first contact). Then focus only on your finish position. It's ok if you don't get all the way to 12 o'clock on your follow through at first, but keep going until you do. Your chest should be facing the target at finish. It may help to step forward with your back foot at the end of the swing (i.e. walk it out). Keep your swing speed slow until you've got the full 9-12 swing. Make sure you can still hear the click instead of the thwack. Now you can start swinging faster and adding more length to your backswing. You should start noticing some spin.

The last step is bunker shots. Find a practice bunker with soft fluffy sand. Put the ball forward in your stance so that the bottom of your swing is 2" behind the ball. Then make your pitch shot swing as hard as you can, making sure you finish your follow through higher than your back swing. You will make the ball spin.

Be careful what you wish for. Making the ball jump backward after landing is sexy, but you may score better by having just enough spin to make the ball hop and stop.

Rusty,

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Looks like I have my work cut out for me on the practice green. Time to go ball shopping.

Rick