Tip From the Archives
Read Your Divots
Problem
You want to learn how to tell when your divots indicate that there is a flaw in your swing.
Cure
When you make solid contact with your irons, your divots should appear after you make contact with the ball and should be shallow. If your divots start before you hit the ball, then you are not making a steep enough swing and need to start working on making more of a downward blow onto the ball.
Therapy
Take a minute during your game to read your divots. Draw an example on your score card and take note of their depth and width. Next time you are on the driving range, take out the card and evaluate them. Check to make sure that your divots are about as wide as the sole of the club. If not then you need to determine if you are hitting more with the toe or heel of the club. When you are using your middle irons, you want to see a divot on the target side of the ball with the top layer of the dirt removed after impact. A deep divot that goes to the left of your target line indicates that you are taking too steep of a downswing across the ball or an out to in path causing a slice. When this happens, you will want to widen your swing by swinging more around your body to help make it shallower. You know that your downswing is too shallow if you do not see a divot. This may occur when your swing is too much along the inside path with a divot that points to the right of the target, causing a hook.
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