Cause Of Unequal Toe And Heel Divots During The Golf Swing (Video) - by Peter Finch
Cause Of Unequal Toe And Heel Divots During The Golf Swing (Video) - by Peter Finch

If you're on the golf course and you start to notice that you are striking the ball and you are taking divots with more of the heel or the toe of the iron, then there are some reasons why that would be happening. Now first of all, some of the patterns and shot shapes that you would be wanting to see, not wanting to see, that you should be seeing. If you are entering the ground with too much of the heel, what you will tend to find is that the divot will be deeper on the inside. So if there is a divot kind of pattern going down towards the target here, the divot is going to be deeper along the inside as the heel digs in.

And the opposite if it’s more of a toe divot, so the toe divot will be more sharper on the right-hand side as the actual toe enters the ground. Now that's pretty self-explanatory and you'll certainly get the feeling because as the heel enters the ground for example, the club will turn over and flip. Or if the toe enters to ground first, the club face will open. And generally you'll see the shot go left on a heel heavy divot, and you'll see the shot go right on a toe heavy divot if you are right hander. That’s all very well, but you also need to be knowing what the causes are. Now generally speaking, generally speaking if you're going to be taking a divot with more of the heel what you will tend to find is that as you're coming down into the ball, the hands are getting too low. The actual lie angle is getting much, much – well the actual toe is coming up more into -- more into the sky. But the hands are certainly coming in much lower, and I see contact in the ground with the heel first. If you can bind this with a steep angle of attack, so the hand’s getting a long way ahead of the ball, it will cause the heel to dig into the ground first. And the exact opposite is true if you're taking divots more with the toe. Now as you are coming down into the ball if the handle and the hand starts to get very, very high it can start to cause that toe to dig in a little bit more. Generally speaking you won’t see as extremes as this, or as this. But even a slight miscalculation along that sole slightly at the heel or slightly at the toe will cause that club face to turn, and it will cause that club face to move away from target. So if you are hitting it from the heel or the toe and those divots are taking those patterns I’ve just described, this is something that we certainly need to look into, and certainly something that we need to stop. 2016-06-06

If you're on the golf course and you start to notice that you are striking the ball and you are taking divots with more of the heel or the toe of the iron, then there are some reasons why that would be happening. Now first of all, some of the patterns and shot shapes that you would be wanting to see, not wanting to see, that you should be seeing. If you are entering the ground with too much of the heel, what you will tend to find is that the divot will be deeper on the inside. So if there is a divot kind of pattern going down towards the target here, the divot is going to be deeper along the inside as the heel digs in.

And the opposite if it’s more of a toe divot, so the toe divot will be more sharper on the right-hand side as the actual toe enters the ground. Now that's pretty self-explanatory and you'll certainly get the feeling because as the heel enters the ground for example, the club will turn over and flip. Or if the toe enters to ground first, the club face will open. And generally you'll see the shot go left on a heel heavy divot, and you'll see the shot go right on a toe heavy divot if you are right hander. That’s all very well, but you also need to be knowing what the causes are.

Now generally speaking, generally speaking if you're going to be taking a divot with more of the heel what you will tend to find is that as you're coming down into the ball, the hands are getting too low. The actual lie angle is getting much, much – well the actual toe is coming up more into — more into the sky. But the hands are certainly coming in much lower, and I see contact in the ground with the heel first. If you can bind this with a steep angle of attack, so the hand’s getting a long way ahead of the ball, it will cause the heel to dig into the ground first.

And the exact opposite is true if you're taking divots more with the toe. Now as you are coming down into the ball if the handle and the hand starts to get very, very high it can start to cause that toe to dig in a little bit more. Generally speaking you won’t see as extremes as this, or as this. But even a slight miscalculation along that sole slightly at the heel or slightly at the toe will cause that club face to turn, and it will cause that club face to move away from target. So if you are hitting it from the heel or the toe and those divots are taking those patterns I’ve just described, this is something that we certainly need to look into, and certainly something that we need to stop.