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Spin from the tee

• BiffTannen90 6 Posts

  Mon, Feb 27 2012 1:34 AM

  Any advise on what to use?

  Back, top or normal? Or does it depend solely on the wind conditions?

• WGTicon 12,511 Posts

  Mon, Feb 27 2012 1:48 AM

  hi

  there is no exact answer. depending on hole, wind, elevation, line you want to take, you will have choices of spin.

  -wgticon

• zagraniczniak 1,984 Posts

  Mon, Feb 27 2012 1:57 AM

  Natural: For pure distance on wide open driving holes, I get best results with no added spin, under all wind conditions. Some claim that with a tailwind the ball carries farther with backspin. But on the course that far and away allows the most monster drives, St. A's, a great amount of the distance is rollout, and backspin obviously isn't going to help that.

  Backspin: There are definitely some holes where you want to use backspin to keep the ball from running through the fairway, such as Bethpage 12.

  Topspin: I find topspin on drives to be counterproductive in terms of pure distance, but you may hear other views.

• BiffTannen90 6 Posts

  Mon, Feb 27 2012 1:59 AM

  Thanks for the replies guys! 

• Rich1064 739 Posts

  Mon, Feb 27 2012 7:51 AM

  It's a good question Biff but as previously stated I don't think there is a definitive answer. I think it depends more so on the landing area of your drive.... if you use backspin with a following wind to get more carry in the air it may take the ball to an uphill landing spot which will offer no forward roll whereas using no spin or top spin on the same shot may result in the ball landing on a down-slope and the ball will kick on many more yards. 

  It's all about trial and error, the more you play particular courses and different wind conditions you will get a 'feel' for how to approach it. As in the real game though, it is not all about distance but more about course management.

  Keep it on the fairway, good approach shot, putt for birdie..... easy!!!  (Or so they tell me lol)

   

  Rich

• gr8flbob 592 Posts

  Mon, Feb 27 2012 8:28 AM

  zagraniczniak:

  Natural: For pure distance on wide open driving holes, I get best results with no added spin, under all wind conditions. Some claim that with a tailwind the ball carries farther with backspin. But on the course that far and away allows the most monster drives, St. A's, a great amount of the distance is rollout, and backspin obviously isn't going to help that.

  Backspin: There are definitely some holes where you want to use backspin to keep the ball from running through the fairway, such as Bethpage 12.

  Topspin: I find topspin on drives to be counterproductive in terms of pure distance, but you may hear other views.

  Here's the other view on top-spin for drives: I find it useful to minimize drift in strong cross winds like those encountered at St A's and RSG. Sometimes I don't mind sacrificing a few yds on the drive to better hold the fairway. The longer you ball is in the air the more it is affected by whatever wind you're dealing with.

  There are other ways to deal with cross-winds: aiming into the wind or, or alternatively hitting 'early' (for l-r wind) or late (for r-l wind) ... either of which will also cost you some yardage. If the wind is really savage I may use all 3 techniques at the same time!

• cadillac1961 268 Posts

  Mon, Feb 27 2012 9:48 AM

  @ gr8flbob

  The same option i do about.

  95% of Drivings i give with "Top-Spin", i think that the ball have more  properly and stabilized airline

  On 3 Par holes i dint give "Spin" , why i like to have a roll to the hole. or need a uprolling sometimes.

  Other, i make "Down-Spin" to stop the ball very quickly.

• godelescher 636 Posts

  Mon, Feb 27 2012 4:04 PM

  Backspin - center ball - topspin all affect the ball flight, which is how and why they should be used.

  Example of a situation where backspin is beneficial:

  Bethpage Black #1 with a tailwind. Because the fairway is 30'+ below the tee, adding full backspin will increase the carry (the distance before the ball hits the Earth), the elevation change allow the ball to carry additional yardage, and the tailwind adds more yardage.

  When teeing off on BPB #1 with a 10 mph tailwind, full backspin will allow me to pick a spot on the fairway past the dogleg to land the ball. In those conditions, a 300 yard ball flight is common even though my driver is only rated for 270.

  While the ball may carry 300, there is virtually no roll out once it lands.

  A center ball drive might also travel 300 total yards, but in those conditions, only 275 will be carry and the last 25 will be roll. This isn't enough carry to cut the corner of the dogleg and will plop me into 30-40% rough.

  Backspin will amplify the wind effect. If I have 52 yards to the hole and a 20 mph crosswind, I have 2 choices. I can either punch my 60 yard wedge 49-50 yards or I can take a full swing and try to draw the ball back to 53.

  In this situation, the punch has a lower ball flight than the full swing so it's less affected by the wind. The backspin/full swing option will result in amplified wind effect because the backspin causes the ball to fly much higher. For this shot, I have much more control by punching the wedge 3 yards short rather than adjusting my aim 10-15 yards to try to get it within a yard.

  My point is, every situation is different and requires a judgement based on a number of different factors. To say "I always do this..." or, "I usually do that..." only limits what you are able to do.

• cadillac1961 268 Posts

  Tue, Feb 28 2012 1:48 AM

  @godelescher

   

  you're on the right track. Just to explain everything that would be a philosophical manifesto. Too many factors affect the game, and whether they occur at all at WGT is questionable. I use at least some of what I also know of billiards. Although very different, but at some point you've found your own style. And then it works.

• gatordee 281 Posts

  Thu, Mar 1 2012 12:07 AM

  Also, height should play into your decision. A bunch of factors to look at when deciding.