How to Spin a Golf Ball

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: March 29, 2019 Approved

Backspin on a golf ball causes it to spin backwards as it travels through the air, making the ball back up after hitting the ground. This is an especially useful technique when hitting your ball onto a green that has a hole nested close to and right behind a sand trap. Hitting a ball with backspin will allow you to land the ball beyond the hole, then the spin will carry it backwards in the direction of the hole.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Setting up to Spin

1
Examine the grass. You'll want the grass you'll be landing your back-spinned ball onto to be closely cropped. Long or irregularly groomed grass will create more resistance to your ball, hampering its spin. It also increases the chances of the grass getting caught between the ball and your club-face, reducing the backspin.
- Backspin is possible when hitting your shot in longer grass, though it'll likely be easiest for you to practice hitting your shots from close cropped, well-groomed grass.^{[1]
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2
Choose your golf ball. Most regular golf balls come in 2 types: soft core and hard core. A soft core will make it easier for you to backspin your ball than one that has a hard core. For this reason, you may want to begin practicing backspin with soft core balls.
- Hard-core balls are used to get more distance in a shot and frequently have a compression rating of 100. Soft-core balls typically have more backspin when struck, which results in more control. For backspin purposes, a compression rating of 90 might be best.
- Softer cover balls will also grip your club better, creating a greater backspin effect. For this reason, you may also want to choose golf balls with soft cover and core.
- If you only have hard-core balls available, practice the technique using them. Once you have soft-core balls, you can apply what you’ve practiced and greatly backspin the ball.^{[2]
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3
Determine the type of golf club you'll be using. You should prioritize lofted clubs, like irons, wedges, or lob wedges. Clubs with more loft on them are the easiest to impart backspin with, especially the lob wedge, so beginning with one of these can help you master this difficult shot with greater ease.^{[3]
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- Lofted clubs are preferred because there is a greater distance between the loft of the club and angle of attack of the club head, which increases the backspin.
- Since height is an important factor when choosing the type of club you'll be using for your backspin shot, you should avoid clubs over a 7-iron (like a 6-, 5-, 4-, or 3-iron).
4
Inspect your club. Bits of grass or turf can sometimes stick to the head of your club creating an uneven surface on it. This can negatively impact your backspin game as it causes grass or turf to come between the ball and the club-head. To prevent this from happening, inspect the clubface to see if it is worn or dirty.
- Grass, dirt, or other gunk can be wiped away in most cases with a rag dampened with water. For more intensive cleaning, you should follow your club's care instructions.
- If you notice wear, like scuff marks, scratches, or other blemishes that may affect the performance of the club, you may want to select a different iron, wedge, or lob wedge.
- Damaged clubs can often be taken to a professional golf-club repair person to get the clubface re-grooved if it is worn down.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Swinging with Spin

1
Position yourself so the ball is deep in your stance. "Deep," in this sense, generally refers to the back of the ball being positioned or played toward the back of your stance, as opposed to in the center or toward the front of your stance. Placing your ball 1 inch (2.5 cm) or so toward your back foot should be enough for backspin purposes.^{[4]
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- By placing the ball deeper in your stance, your club will come in contact with the ball on a downward angle, which can increase the distance between the amount of loft the club-head has and the angle of attack of the club-head
- Every golfer is unique. You may find that you have the best luck with backspin with your ball even deeper in your stance, or you may find that only ¹⁄₂ inch (1.3 cm) backwards placement is enough.
2
Aim to compress the ball against the club-face. Compression is essential for creating backspin. The ball will be compressed against the club-face if the club is accelerating or maintaining a constant speed when it comes into contact with the ball, creating more backspin. If the club is decelerating, the ball will roll up the face of the club and won’t create as much backspin. Therefore, ensure the club isn’t decelerating through impact.
3
Swing your golf club for a backspin shot. When raising your club to swing, make sure that you raise it into an upright straight position before bringing it down to swing. Aim to increase the angle of attack into the ball so the club-head travels down to the ball at a steeper angle that you would normally use. When shooting for backspin, you should always come into contact with the ball before you strike the soil.
4
Attempt to make a shallow divot. When you follow through with a shot in which the angle of attack is steep, it's almost certain that you'll dig into the turf and form a divot. When executing the backspin swing, try out different techniques to find one that creates a shallow and relatively short divot.
- A deep divot could signify that your angle of approach to the ball is too sharp which can negatively impact the direction or distance of your shot. You'll have to experiment with small adjustments to your ball-address and swing to determine the cause of deep divots.^{[5]
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5
Maintain good form in the follow through. Let your hands lead the club-head through impact. In particular, you'll want to keep your wrists straight. When your club comes in contact with the ground, this can often cause your wrists to move out of alignment, which is also known as "breaking." Maintaining the correct position of your wrists through the impact with the ball is integral for consistent backspin.^{[6]
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Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Troubleshooting Your Technique

1
Backspin into the wind. Wind direction is highly important when learning backspin shots. Hitting into the wind will often result in increased spin. However, this may be back-spin, which is desired, or it may be side-spin, which can cause your ball to travel off course. The higher your ball goes, the more time it has to travel sideways.
- Aim to hit shots with lots of backspin when there isn’t much head-wind.
- You may find that you are never able to consistently backspin without a favorable wind. Many professionals avoid attempting to hit shots with higher-than-average backspin when the wind is against them.^{[7]
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2
Backspin long shots for better results. Friction is essential to creating backspin, so it’s more difficult to create backspin on short shots (like those at 50 yards (46 m)). It’s easier to create friction between the ball and the club-face when the club-head is travelling at higher speeds, such as those used when hitting shots at longer distances (such as 160 yards (150 m). You may want to start with mid- to long-range shots while learning backspin.^{[8]
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3
Strike low on the face of the ball. The "face" of your ball is the circle you see when viewing the ball head-on. Hitting your ball lower on its back face will create even greater force in your backspin, improving it.
- This characteristic is called the "vertical gear effect." It states that balls hit lower on the face will have greater spin than those that are hit high.^{[9]
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- If you hit a shot high on the club-face, grass may be caught between the ball and club-face, as the club-head travels toward the ball, into, and through the ground lower.