cut cover with my wedge, but not backing balls up?

[jpdx]

not sure if this is better suited in a different thread or not, but recently I've noticed I'm getting slight cuts on the covers of urethane covered balls.

 

so obviously I'm impacting the ball hard enough to generate spin. however I don't notice the ball necessarily backing up on the greens. the greens have been fairly soft so maybe that's the cause of it. I also ripped the cover on a b330 but I'm not sure how many rounds I played it for...maybe 3?

 

my questions is - if I'm generating backspin and impact is strong enough to cut the covers, why am I not seeing balls backing up on the greens?

[trackcoach13]

not sure if this is better suited in a different thread or not, but recently I've noticed I'm getting slight cuts on the covers of urethane covered balls.

 

so obviously I'm impacting the ball hard enough to generate spin. however I don't notice the ball necessarily backing up on the greens. the greens have been fairly soft so maybe that's the cause of it. I also ripped the cover on a b330 but I'm not sure how many rounds I played it for...maybe 3?

 

my questions is - if I'm generating backspin and impact is strong enough to cut the covers, why am I not seeing balls backing up on the greens?

 

Dry, hard greens?

[jpdx]

not sure if this is better suited in a different thread or not, but recently I've noticed I'm getting slight cuts on the covers of urethane covered balls.

 

so obviously I'm impacting the ball hard enough to generate spin. however I don't notice the ball necessarily backing up on the greens. the greens have been fairly soft so maybe that's the cause of it. I also ripped the cover on a b330 but I'm not sure how many rounds I played it for...maybe 3?

 

my questions is - if I'm generating backspin and impact is strong enough to cut the covers, why am I not seeing balls backing up on the greens?

 

Dry, hard greens?

 

not too dry, pretty soft. This will be the first season I'm confident playing urethane balls without fear of losing them on the first shot off the first tee, so zipping balls back will be a new feeling for me.

 

so I gather you're saying that if greens are not dry and hard, the ball won't zip back right?

[trackcoach13]

not sure if this is better suited in a different thread or not, but recently I've noticed I'm getting slight cuts on the covers of urethane covered balls.

 

so obviously I'm impacting the ball hard enough to generate spin. however I don't notice the ball necessarily backing up on the greens. the greens have been fairly soft so maybe that's the cause of it. I also ripped the cover on a b330 but I'm not sure how many rounds I played it for...maybe 3?

 

my questions is - if I'm generating backspin and impact is strong enough to cut the covers, why am I not seeing balls backing up on the greens?

 

Dry, hard greens?

 

not too dry, pretty soft. This will be the first season I'm confident playing urethane balls without fear of losing them on the first shot off the first tee, so zipping balls back will be a new feeling for me.

 

so I gather you're saying that if greens are not dry and hard, the ball won't zip back right?

 

Opposite, if the green is hard and dry they will not zip back. For me, I have to make clean contact with no grass between ball and clubface to zip them back. Anything less than crisp, ball first contact and I do not spin them back. Maybe getting some grass in between,

[augustgolf]

Also, it's going to depend on the grass on the greens.

 

I'm at the Wells Fargo this week. The greens were quite hard and firm at the beginning of the tournament, but since there was so much rain after day 1, the greens are now playing quite differently.

 

When greens are cut at a longer height, you will not see as much backspin on the ball being translated as "zipping back".

 

If they are exceptionally wet, they probably won't spin back as much either.

 

Grass between the club face & ball is another reason.

 

While there are many other factors that can influence this behavior, as you progress in your ability to create different angles of attack and clean contact, you will also be able to have a better control of exactly how the ball can (or should) react when hitting approaches into greens.

 

FWIW, many times I can scuff the cover of the ball with a wedge shot hit crisply, but won't spin the ball backwards.

 

Keep working on it, and noticing what is happening is a great first step into "golfing your ball", my friend!

[jpdx]

Thanks for the responses. most approaches with short irons and wedges, when I feel I've hit them well, I leave the ball within 6in around the mark. previously they'd roll out at least 6ft.

 

part of the confidence is better striking, but another part is due to the GWRX DOND cheap ball threads, nike not making hard goods anymore (great deals on rzn tour black and plats!!!!)...and Ksig...cheap enough that I don't worry about dunking $5 into the lake. lol

[playa]

Modern tour balls don't have anywhere the zip of balls of yesteryear. It seems modern tour balls are designed more for distance and low spin off driver, and to stop on the first bounce. I can still get them to back up a few feet occassionally on receptive greens, but I remember zipping nike TAs, cally rule 35 blues, and Strata Tour Ultimates back 30 feet on flat greens back in the day.

[Fade]

not sure if this is better suited in a different thread or not, but recently I've noticed I'm getting slight cuts on the covers of urethane covered balls.

 

so obviously I'm impacting the ball hard enough to generate spin. however I don't notice the ball necessarily backing up on the greens. the greens have been fairly soft so maybe that's the cause of it. I also ripped the cover on a b330 but I'm not sure how many rounds I played it for...maybe 3?

 

my questions is - if I'm generating backspin and impact is strong enough to cut the covers, why am I not seeing balls backing up on the greens?

 

Interesting question. In my mind, when a cover gets cut it isn't strong enough to accept the backspin the golfer is trying to impart to the ball. Is that your logic, that you are putting as much backspin on the ball as it will take, yet you are not seeing it back up?

[Mtngolfer1]

I see the most amount of spin from both a tight fairway and a fast green. Especially with a wedge in hand I will see shave marks on my ball when I mark and pick it up off the green, however when it hit the green it may have just have sat where it landed, had a few inches of back up, hopped out of its pitch mark, or more common than not rolled forward a short distance. Fairway and green conditions have allot to do with how the ball reacts conditions have to provide clean contact, also if there is any moisture from morning dew or rain forget about it. Honestly I would rather my ball remain close to where I land it rather than have a bunch of spin and give me a longer put or worse zip off a green.

[jmkenn0]

Not an expert, but I am a high-spin player who doesn't back up wedges - to me its all about AoA and/or where I hit it on the club face - I'm pretty steep on the way down, hit it high, usually just stops by its divot. If for some reason I shallow it out, I'll get back up. If I hit it between the sweet spot and blading it, with a lower trajectory, it will back up every time.

[KenRobie]

Just a dumb question but are you damaging the cover from the grooves or the leading edge of the wedge??

[LightBearer]

I think some of it may be trajectory. A ball that stays in the air longer may have buckets of backspin, but if it is in the air for a long time (relatively) it will have less spin when it touches down.

 

You may find some backspin from lowering the trajectory of your approaches, but that isn't a catch all. I prefer the high launch and rely more on descent angle to stop the ball. Good luck.

[jpdx]

not sure if this is better suited in a different thread or not, but recently I've noticed I'm getting slight cuts on the covers of urethane covered balls.

 

so obviously I'm impacting the ball hard enough to generate spin. however I don't notice the ball necessarily backing up on the greens. the greens have been fairly soft so maybe that's the cause of it. I also ripped the cover on a b330 but I'm not sure how many rounds I played it for...maybe 3?

 

my questions is - if I'm generating backspin and impact is strong enough to cut the covers, why am I not seeing balls backing up on the greens?

 

Interesting question. In my mind, when a cover gets cut it isn't strong enough to accept the backspin the golfer is trying to impart to the ball. Is that your logic, that you are putting as much backspin on the ball as it will take, yet you are not seeing it back up?

 

I think that's what I mean. lol. I don't really think it's an issue, but I just see players zip ball back, I hear people on here talk about spinning the ball back, I've just never experienced it. I get the ball to stop with one hop and sometimes when I walk to the hole, I see the pitch mark between the ball and the hole and it's within a 6-12in behind the pitchmark. but yes, I feel that I'm putting as much backspin on the ball as it will take and it doesn't back up - more likely is that I'm just not good enough to know how to impart MORE spin.

 

 

Not an expert, but I am a high-spin player who doesn't back up wedges - to me its all about AoA and/or where I hit it on the club face - I'm pretty steep on the way down, hit it high, usually just stops by its divot. If for some reason I shallow it out, I'll get back up. If I hit it between the sweet spot and blading it, with a lower trajectory, it will back up every time.

 

I have no idea how much spin I generate so I don't know. but this talk about AoA and where I hit on the club face I haven't really paid any attention to that to see the correlation.

 

Just a dumb question but are you damaging the cover from the grooves or the leading edge of the wedge??

 

I assume it's the grooves. I wish I took a picture of the ball in question to show the cut on the ball and post it here. I guess the best visual I could describe is - take a knife and slice the cover in a straight line. it was clean so it definitely wasn't a cart path scuff or from hitting a tree. and the slice couldn't have been done by the leading edge of the wedge.

[jpdx]

I think some of it may be trajectory. A ball that stays in the air longer may have buckets of backspin, but if it is in the air for a long time (relatively) it will have less spin when it touches down.

 

You may find some backspin from lowering the trajectory of your approaches, but that isn't a catch all. I prefer the high launch and rely more on descent angle to stop the ball. Good luck.

 

great point. I didn't think of how long the ball stays in the air. does spin on the ball also have an impact on trajectory?

[Pcola Ken]

There are several variables that have already been mentioned. I will add that all urethane balls are not the same when it comes to full shot spin.

 

If you have to see wedges spin back, I would recommend trying a ProV1x. The full wedge spin on that ball is HIGH.

[G-Bone]

Along with everything mentioned here, the ball you play is a significant variable.

 

I have "shaved" B330's with no spin back. While I have left no marks and backed up V1x 30+ feet.

[Pepperturbo]

Keep in mind, lots of multi-layer balls today are designed to cut down on green back spin. Cutting the cover doesn't necessary mean your imparting large amounts of back spin on the ball either. Cutting the cover is often the result of grooves crossing the ball, creating side spin. Meaning club head grooves hit the ball on an angle. A properly struck ball means the ball slides squarely up the face. I am in mid 60's, play ProV1X and spin them back 2-4', all depends on HOW HARD I hit the ball, and how fast and receptive greens are.

 

Played a course this past weekend that was tough. Greens "LOOKED" fast, but not receptive to spin. Subsurface wasn't properly prepped, leaving surface thin and firm, so balls bounced more than normal. Took me two greens to realize I had to land the ball in the front to accommodate various pin positions.