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Topspin?! Really Butch?

anonymous golfaholic

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I guess because he's an expert, he thinks everyone else is stupid. Either that, or the laws of physics cease to exist on his practice green.

Maybe I'm completely ignorant. I mean, who am I to dispute the great Butch Harmon.
 

trumb1mj

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Sheesh, that is absurd. I wonder if he was trying to put that line of thinking in your head? Like, "okay, let's try and hit an overspin shot here like a forehand in tennis." This maybe could help some visualize it better? Weird though.
 

TEA Time

Grumpy Gilmore
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Mickelson put forward spin on a ball once. Of course he was actually hitting it backwards which essentially resulted in "top-spin"... but whatevs.
 
OP
anonymous golfaholic

anonymous golfaholic

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Mickelson put forward spin on a ball once. Of course he was actually hitting it backwards which essentially resulted in "top-spin"... but whatevs.

I have tried to that so many times and I can not manage to pull that off.
 

SilverUberXeno

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Better for pros if people are ignorant. What would doctors do if we could take care of ourselves? :p
 

Augster

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The first time he said topspin it didn't bother me. Yes the ball is rolling out with topspin.

But then at the end he says, "You put topspin on the ball, not backspin." Ugh.

Anything you hit below the center of gravity with an inclined plane is going to have backspin. Some shots will have LESS backspin and therefore stop spinning and start trundling quicker and longer. But you are certainly not putting topspin on the ball.

I mean, you could do it, but you wouldn't use the face of the club to do it. You could use the bottom edge and hit above the equator of the ball with a little upward angle of attack and that should put a great deal of topspin on it.

Somehow I don't think this is the shot Butch is describing.
 

IrishGolfer

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I had a chipping lesson once. The pro taught me this shot that Butch is describing. He got me to toe in the club and said that it would run out a lot more. I play this shot a lot on links courses, best to keep the ball on the ground as much as possible. I normally putt from off the green, but if there is a fringe and it needs to be chipped, then this makes sense. It is a bit weird hooding the club fo rthe first few goes, but it works with practice and is a useful shot to have in the bag.

Don't worry about top v. backspin. Worry about how close the ball is from the hole time after time.
 
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anonymous golfaholic

anonymous golfaholic

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I'm not knocking what Butch was teaching at all. I've been playing that shot for years, because I only use my 60* around the greens. That shot is guaranteed to release when you need to get to a back pin. I just cringed when I heard Butch say "topspin".
 

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