Josh’s Tips & Tricks: Dry Your Balls
Intro
Hello golfers, welcome to this week’s tips & tricks. I’m not sure if you have noticed but the weather has been wet for a few months. It won’t be long and we will be playing winter rules from the winter tee boxes. With that in mind I wanted to show you how your ball can be impacted by the wet conditions, whether that be dew in the morning or rain. Let’s have a look.
Wet Conditions
For the testing that I did I used the same type of golf ball and used the same club. The club I used was a 56* Wilson Staff Model. This wedge is relatively new so should still spin nicely in good conditions. It’s a lovely wedge that I teach with a lot. The shot I was playing was a mid length pitch shot. Roughly 50-60 yards.
Here are the results:
Wet Clubface + Wet Golf Ball
Average spin rate – 2812 RPM
Average launch angle – 37.8 Degrees
Dry Clubface + Dry Golf Ball
Average spin rate – 5349 RPM
Average launch angle – 31.4 Degrees
Results
To get maximum control around the greens the golf ball needs to have backspin. Having wedges with good grooves will always help with this. Having dry, clean grooves and a dry, clean golf ball will really help with this also. If you’re playing an event and there are no “winter rules” or “lift clean and place” and the ball is wet there isn’t much you can do. However if you’re playing with your mates you should always be cleaning your clubface and the ball, especially in the wet. This should help build confidence and give you more consistent results. If the ball and clubface are wet the ball will launch higher with less spin, meaning it will fly further through the air and carry on running when it hits the floor. If you want the ball to stop quicker, give yourself the best chance.
Summary
When you have a good lie, with a new wedge, premium ball, clean grooves, a dry golf ball, and a dry clubface, the ball should spin with a wedge. If any of these factors are comprimised, the spin on the ball and the distance it travels will vary. If you want to shave shots off your scores you need to be practicing with a wedge a lot more frequently. You will have a wedge in hand on almost every hole you play so get confident with them and learn to control the ball with some spin.
If you’re in the market for a new wedge or would like some help with your short game, book a lesson or fitting by clicking the link below.
Catch you soon.
Cheers,
Josh