Direction of scuff marks on irons soles???

**Brent Nadeau** · 07-10-2005

I have never really bothered paying attention to this before, but I was wondering if there is some major significance to the direction of the scratch or scuff lines on the bottom of my irons after I have played a round. My typical shot with irons is a slight draw. I have noticed that after a round the lines on the bottom of my irons tend to make a slight angle from heel to toe. These lines almost make it look like I am cutting across the ball, which would impart fade spin, would it not? Or maybe it is just from the follow trough, were most of the ground contact takes place...any insight? Is it something I should pay attention to when practicing?

**PA Jayhawk** · 07-10-2005

For a draw it should go from Toe to heel from face to back. I notice this when I go to a range with matts and sometimes after a round. I have an inside out swing path. You can see the same thing by just looking at your divot path.

Not sure why yours is the opposite if you hit a draw. You may have hit off of a harder surface when it scratched or scuffed, and the toe got caught or something, or possibly had the club face open on the shot. Which would cause the opposite.

When I first started learning the club path that I wanted, I would hit off mats for this exact purpose. Then clean the sole after each shot to learn what the proper path felt like.

**jordoo** · 07-10-2005

U probably hit straight through the ball with a slightly closed clubace to cause ur draw which is why ur markings are different.

**PA Jayhawk** · 07-10-2005

Originally Posted by jordoo

U probably hit straight through the ball with a slightly closed clubace to cause ur draw which is why ur markings are different.

Didn't think about that.

If this is the case, you will probably notice the ball starts on line and draws left, or may even start left. I you hit a inside out draw, the ball will start right of the target because the club path pushes the ball outside, prior to coming back on line. If you find you are aiming way right (for a right handed person) to draw it on line, you are probably doing as jordoo indicated.

You may also be getting the closed club if you have swooping shallow swing path, were an early release may be the cause of the closed clubface. Do youself a favor though, if you try to correct for this, I wouldn't recommend doing it without an instructor. It could be shallow swing, weight transfer, club path, or any combination. If it is workable and reliable, trying to correct the wrong way may really screw up your game. I speak from recent experience on this one.

**Brent Nadeau** · 07-10-2005

With my old offset irons I would try to force an outside swing to fight the pull a bit, but I am still hitting draw...I guess it is possible I have the face a bit closed, but I think my swing is pretty square through the ball...well, at least I thought it was...whatever it is it is working, but I would like to know more to diagnose it if there is a problem that develops.

**Brent Nadeau** · 07-10-2005

If this is the case, you will probably notice the ball starts on line and draws left, or may even start left. I you hit a inside out draw, the ball will start right of the target because the club path pushes the ball outside, prior to coming back on line. If you find you are aiming way right (for a right handed person) to draw it on line, you are probably doing as jordoo indicated.

This is exaclty what is going on...the ball starts off completely on line, then draws in about 5 yards or so. I have been taking a little aim to the left (lefty), and working with it, although I don't care for the amount or direction of the roll on the greens...the ball seems to land on the green and go into 5th gear right away. With my new, compact, shorter swing, I thought I was staying really square through the ball. Maybe I am closing the club face a bit too much..it is wierd now setting up with no offset...I really like it, but I have to tinker with a lot. Any suggestions I might try apart from the obvious trying to keep the face more open?

**PA Jayhawk** · 07-11-2005

It's hard to say how to correct. As I said it kinda screwed up my game. 3 years ago I hit better, had a better handicap, and my ball flight was straight and then drawing left, I just aimed right. It got out of control so I took a lesson. The instructor I had at the time, who taught me to play and I really trusted, told me I was not transfering my weight at all on the back swing. This was really hard to get used to, I finally went with a more compact swing from my own experimentation as it seemed to allow for an easy transfer, and the club path changed to a more inside out path. My scoring improved dramatically. And I aim just a little right of the flag, hardly at all.

In the last two years my irons fell off, and I hit a lot of good shots, but the straight start then draw appears out of no where, resulting in a lost ball, or trouble. It is coming around. I tend to believe it is when I go with the longer non-compact swing, usually when I am trying to stretch a few yards out of the shot. When I moved, I had some issues this year with my backswing feeling bad, my new instructor up here indicate that I need to bring the club more inside on the takeaway, more like a one plane swing. He indicated that my current swing is really one plane, but I am bring the club back on a two plane path and not letting the club fall into the slot. This fixed the comfort level with the inside path, and I am just now starting to see the results, after a month or so. It is all very confusing. I understand everything about my swing, and what is being said. I am just now starting to understand why it feels the way it does during the swing. I spent the last year trying to correct the wrong way. Mainly buy opening the clubface up thinking that was part of my problem. He said my clubface was pretty open, probably because my perspective had changed. By closing it down to straighter and making the change I am seeing a truer ball flight.

When I do start the ball straight turning to a draw, it is usually sharp and out of control, I think mainly because I am closing down the face and still have a inside out path.

Again, if it is predictable and accurate by just aiming 5 yards right, I think I would leave it alone, but at least be aware that if it starts to change to unpredictable, it may be worth a lesson so you don't mess up your swing by changing the wrong thing. I could shoot myself for not taking my yearly checkup lesson last year when we moved.

**Brent Nadeau** · 07-11-2005

The accuracy is pretty good, and I do hit the occasional true draw, where the ball starts left and comes back on line right when landing. The only major concern I have is the roll. As I said earlier, my ball tends to hit, start rolling protty quickly, and almost always to the right, which takes me off the green from time to time on par 3's and approaches.

**Brent Nadeau** · 07-11-2005

I went out and hit a few this evening, and tried two things:

1. Standing with a much straighter posture.
2. Squaring the face as much as humanly possible.

The result was pretty impressive. I sprayed a couple at first, but then got it under control and began hitting some impressive shots. I was using an 8 iron because the field on campus is too short for much more than that. The flight I was getting was high, straight, and long. I usually carry between 145-150 with the 8. Tonight i was carrying around 155-160 with it...not sure how happy I am about the distance change, but the straight balls were pretty nice.