Backspin
Secrets to Backspin
Secret #10-#11
Were beginning to close in on this backspin thing. Can you feel it? Number 10 and 11 are so closely related that I put them together so you can see the big picture. The angle of impact, length of swing and speed of swing are so important you cannot believe the role they play.
Let’s talk about angle first. The golf club can enter the back of the golf ball on three different angles, shallow, steep or neutral. You can impart backspin with all three angles. What is important for you to understand is that the angle that creates the most backspin is the one that matches the club face with the ball the cleanest. The most natural thing to think is the angle that is the steepest will impart the most backspin. That could not be the furthest from the truth. If you make contact with a steep angle and catch a little bit of turf between you and the ball, the ball will not have any backspin on it at all. One last thought on a steep angle, if the club head arrives too steep it takes the loft off of the clubface and the golf ball will probably have topspin instead of backspin.
On the other hand. You can impart a lot of backspin on a ball with a shallow swing. There are two major problems. If the fairway is mowed really low it is very difficult to get the club head underneath the golf ball without sculling the ball. If there is room for a club head the golf ball will have backspin on it.
Let’s continue on with the speed and length of the swing. The golf club has to be moving at a high rate of speed for maximum backspin. The slower the club head speed the less amount of friction will be created when the ball contacts the clubface. As far as the length of the swing is concerned it is a shorter backswing and longer follow through that will create more backspin than a longer and often times SLOWER downswing.
In a nutshell you have to work on a shorter and faster swing that makes a clean impact.
Join me tomorrow with a lesson on high shots over trouble.
Golfingly yours,
Bobby
