Golf: How To Get Backspin
Golf: How to get backspin - Our golf expert Rickard Strongert shows how to reach the tricky pin positions with a crafty backspin shot
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Step 1:
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The lie
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The ball needs to be on a good neat lie to allow the clubface to make clean, direct contact.
Obstructions like grass, especially wet, greatly hinder the transmission of spin from clubface to ball.
Practice from a bunker around 40 to 60 yards from the hole.
To play a good backspin shot, the club head must strike the ball before touching the sand.
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Step 2:
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The Ball
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Another key factor is to play a soft-covered ball. The soft covering allows the ball to penetrate further into the grooves of the clubface, lengthening the time over which the clubface transmits spin to the ball at impact.
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Step 3:
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Other factors
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Backspin is more effective with a headwind, on a soft green, or when the green slopes in the direction of the spin.
Your choice of club is one factor you can control. The more lofted the club, the more it can spin the ball, so if the distance is right use a sand wedge or pitching wedge for maximum effect.
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Step 4:
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Setting up for a backspin shot
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Place your club behind the ball and open the clubface slightly.
Set up in a open stance, aiming your body to the left of the target and put 60 to 70 percent of your weight on your left foot.
The ideal ball position is in the middle of your stance, which, along with keeping your weight on your left foot, makes the club swing down at the ball at a steeper angle, creating more spin.
With such a steep swing, the leading edge of the clubface would normally cut down into the ground. Instead, the open clubface allows the club to bounce off the ground and slide under the ball.
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Step 5:
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The swing
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The set-up makes the swing steep enough, so you need only use a slight wrist action when rotating your body, arms, and hands into the back swing.
As you swing down, your body rotates through while your hands keep the clubface open, increasing the time of impact and generating a lot of backspin.