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Re: Using Spin with Drivers

• nigyrob 92 Posts

  Sun, Jan 2 2011 8:36 PM

  G'day all,

  Can someone please shed some light on using back/top spin when driving?

  I recently purchased the new 2010 Rapture v2 club set (Lvl 48) which has half a ball of spin on the driver. I have tried top spin off the tee with a down wind and it doesn't seem to make any difference, in fact the ball seems to hit the fairway a little sooner than with no spin at all, sometimes with plenty of run and others not much at all!

  Am I doing something wrong????

   

  Cheers.....Nige

• GoodyChamp 595 Posts

  Sun, Jan 2 2011 8:55 PM

  Nige,

  backspin carries the ball longer, but stops it quicker

  cheers, GC

• VanHalenLover 1,422 Posts

  Sun, Jan 2 2011 9:15 PM

  expected behavior nigyrob, 

  as the poster before mentioned, backspin gives you a little more carry and a little less roll out. Use it when you have a bunker or such you are trying to carry, and need a bit more carry distance.

  When you need no extra carry, topspin can get you a little more roll out and a little extra distance, especially with a heavy tail wind. Caution though, I have seen some times where full top spin sends the meter across the screen faster than anything I've ever seen, lol. if ya ding it, you'll get the extra yardage, if not - all bets are off.

  your clubs might not have as drastic affect on the meter, and also may bot yield as drastic of results with full b/s or t/s, but it is a good thing to practice for down the road.

• zagraniczniak 1,984 Posts

  Mon, Jan 3 2011 1:34 PM

  In my humble, topspin on the driver never seems to generate any extra distance, even the opposite, so I don't bother.

  However, backspin on the driver is crucial in a couple of situations. The most pertinent of these is the drive on Bethpage hole 12. It truly can keep you from driving through the fairway. Some other examples would be when you are driving a relatively short par 4 on St. Andrews, downwind (e.g. the 9th when it is set at 290-something yards), when the backspin may keep you from overdriving the green into the rough on th'other side. 

  Topspin in general seems less effective than backspin. To me it only ever matters if I want the ball to kick out in a certain way at the end, for example when I expect to land in the rough and want to try and carry on beyond the rough.

• nigyrob 92 Posts

  Mon, Jan 3 2011 10:26 PM

  All great replies - thanks.

  I didn't even think of using b/s on the driver to stop myself running through the green as I've always tried to adjust the power, which is hit and miss most times for me :-)

  Thanks again guys.

  Cheers....Nige

• CharlemagneRH 1,054 Posts

  Tue, Jan 4 2011 12:07 AM

  VanHalenLover:

  When you need no extra carry, topspin can get you a little more roll out and a little extra distance, especially with a heavy tail wind.

  I think we're all probably just guessing here, but I do the opposite (half-backspin) because it seems to me that it's better to have the ball traveling in the air (if the wind is at my back, as that would lower air resistance) than on the ground.

  Regardless of what anyone does, though, there's a lot of other factors.  Carrying a bunker is a typical example of the justification of backspin, but there's also fairway speed (shots seem to roll a lot further on STA than BPB, so I favor backspin on BPB) and the slope of the area upon which the ball will land.  It's a lot better to use topspin and hit a flat or downslope area than it is to hit the ball with backspin and land on an upslope... and vice versa... if backspin will get you over a hill, but topspin would make you hit the upslope, then definitely use backspin.

• TDHarvey 433 Posts

  Tue, Jan 4 2011 7:09 AM

  I personally use full backspin on 95% of my shots hit with a driver. Usually the only time i  dont when im laying up. Of course i dont have a problem with distance its direction lol....but Char is right you must know the landing areas and since i use BS i aim away from those upslopes when i can and if i cant well i just bomb away. I think topspin sucks with the driver, i use it with irons occasionally for a little roll but then again im just an average, middle of the road legend so take it for what its worth.

• zagraniczniak 1,984 Posts

  Tue, Jan 4 2011 8:42 AM

  CharlemagneRH:

  if backspin will get you over a hill, but topspin would make you hit the upslope, then definitely use backspin

  Well, if I could pick your royal brains while you're on the topic, how does one reach the green in 2 at the 5th hole of St. Andrew's without rolling out 50 yards past the hole? Conservative play leaves me rolling up that moat in front of the hole and rolling back down again. An excellent shot at a birdie, but no chance for an eagle.