How important is a divot

Question

I was told by my instructor that I should take a little dirt with my swing. I hit a pretty straight and distant ball with my irons but leave no divot,how important is a divot and will it affect my play in years to come when I actually know what the heck I'm doing.

Answer 1

I agree somewhat with beach bum... but that divot is too large... you should at least ruff up the ground a good bit,  if you do not take a divot. Also, your divot should start under the ball not behind it. "Hit down and through the ball".  

Answer 2

they are not that important all you need to do is be sure to brush the grass when you hit

but its not a really big issue if you do or don't.......

i hope that helped

Answer 3

Divots are not as important as people say they are.

as long as you can still spin the ball with no divot then you'll be fine.

As you get better you will start to do it naturally so don't worry about it.

They don't really effect anything, it just comes down to how you hit the ball.

Good luck with the golf!

Answer 4

Divot or no divot?  Yes, you can still play descent golf without taking divots, and yes, your ball will still go straight.  Instructors' advise of taking a divot is for 2 main reasons.  (1) It let's you know you are making proper ball contact by hitting down on the ball and not trying to sweep or lift the ball with the club face, (2) You will have better ball control (spin, distance...etc) if you hit down on the ball and create a divot.

Generally speaking, a ball will fly farther if it was compressed in to the ground, then pops out of the divot and up the club face with spin, and since it has spin, you can control how far the ball will roll (or roll backwards) when it lands.  If you combine ball position relative to your stance, club's loft, and the divot taken, you can have many many options in how you want the ball to behave in flight and after landing.

A proper divot should start at the ball's resting spot and depending on how much spin you want, and which club you use, gets shallower towards the target.  The long stripped divot will also give you good feedback on how are you hitting the ball.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Some pros will tell you that spin isn't all that important. It's all about making a quality shot. There are some pros that don't use spin at all. Obviously if they've made it to the pros, spin isn't as important as most people make it to be.  

Answer 6

If your instructor says a divot is important to a good golf shot, try to follow what he has to say. Taking a little turf or dirt usually indicates good contact and  the swing is to the target line you have chosen.You are striking ball then turf which will make the ball check up on the green instead of getting a long roll. If your swing speed is near the 100mph that ball-turf contact will give the ball backspin and it will back up.

Answer 7

A fundamentally sound golf swing will result in your taking a divot.  You can play pretty well without taking one, but watch the best players in the world on TV, they always take a divot when playing iron shots, so what does that tell you?  Might as well learn to do it properly now, after all that is the purpose of having an instructor.

Answer 8

I hate divots ... but Tiger swears by them.

... and if your instructor says so, try it.

My problem with divots is they are not suited to all grass types. Know if you go to a park that allows golf balls if the grass will grab the club head and sprain your wrist instead of allowing grass to fly.

Answer 9

yes you should be taking a divot that starts just behind the ball and goes forward about the length of a dollar bill.  If you don't take a divot your ball doesn't have any spin on it and you will not get any backspin on it when it lands on the green.  Like the pros when you see them "backing" the ball up...  this is from taking a clean, flush divot. It's fairly important to take a divot and if you want to get better you will need to learn to make one. Good Luck!