| ateurs watch the pros play golf on television, they | | | | to hit down on it for the best results (thus creating |
| see that all of the best players in the world take | | | | the divot) instead of trying to sweep the golf ball like |
| divots when they hit an iron shot, especially a high | | | | most amateurs do. |
| iron shot. Then, they try to emulate them on the | | | | As I said, I was successfully creating divots without |
| course, but do not get the desired results. Why? | | | | shooting better scores. One look at my divot told me |
| The answer is because a divot, in and of itself, will | | | | quite a bit. My divots all pointed to the left. This |
| not improve your golf results. | | | | meant that my swing plane was slightly off and my |
| After seeing the professional golfers take divots, | | | | club head at impact was not square which cost me a |
| amateurs will hit the golf course and try to take | | | | lot of distance and many inaccurate iron shots. |
| divots. Well, anybody who can swing a golf club can | | | | Here is how I fixed my problem on my quest to |
| swing it so that it digs up a little bit of mother earth. | | | | become a par golfer. I waited until the golf course |
| Thus, taking a divot on its own will not improve your | | | | was relatively empty and, when I noticed that I |
| golf swing. However, taking the right kind of divot will | | | | would have the golf hole all to myself for a good 30 |
| improve your golf swing. | | | | minutes, I put 10 balls on the 145 yard marker. I |
| As a low handicap golfer, I remember the first time I | | | | pledged to swing until my divots went straight and |
| started taking divots. I hit a few good shots and my | | | | not to the left. It took a little while to achieve this. |
| playing partner said, "I love how you get that divot. | | | | At first, I was swinging to fast. I intentionally slowed |
| It looks a lot like the players on TV. How do you do | | | | down my swing, made it very deliberate, and |
| that?" | | | | ensured all of my divots were going straight. This |
| At first I was complimented. After all, he was saying | | | | exercise not only improved my divots but improved |
| that I look like the guys on TV. However, I was still | | | | my whole golf swing, improving the plane of the golf |
| not getting the exact results that I wanted. In fact, I | | | | swing so that I was "hitting out" on the ball as |
| think I took it to extreme as I remember thinking, | | | | opposed to "across the ball." |
| "The bigger the divot, the better I look." | | | | For me, it was imperative to do this on the golf |
| In the end though, I was looking for results not big | | | | course. The driving range may work but you cannot |
| holes in the ground. Here is how I improved my golf | | | | do this exercise on a golf matt. |
| game through a bit of divot analysis. | | | | Now, though I am far from perfect, I am taking a |
| The reason for taking a golf divot is to ensure a | | | | perfect divot. This exercise has consistently shaved |
| descending blow on the golf ball to create | | | | strokes off of my final score and only took me |
| compression, get a clean strike on the sweet spot of | | | | about 30 minutes to do. |
| the golf ball, and increase spin to control the ball | | | | Occasionally, I will still revert to my old swing path. |
| landing, ideally, on the green. Many golf ball reviews | | | | However, now I can immediately correct it with one |
| suggest that this compression and spin can be | | | | look at the divot. Who would have known? A little |
| drastically improved also by the golf ball that you | | | | whole in the ground can tell you a lot about your golf |
| play. It is ironic--and seems athletically | | | | game. |
| counterintuitive--that for a ball to fly high, we need | | | | |