Too much mash?
 

Can one have too much mash? Or in other words, too much down (maybe the two aren't related)?

I played with a guy this weekend who mashed the ball more than I've ever seen. There were a couple times I half expected him to finish his swing and find the ball buried there where it started. Awesome *thud* sound at impact! The problem he fought was a tendency to spin the ball too much, sometimes nearly off the green (and the greens weren't terribly fast).

I don't think you can have too much mash, but you can't go "down" only, you need to go "down , out and forward"

Turf Talk
 

Remember, Divot depth is a function of Plane Angle and Ball Location (7-6). The steeper the Plane and the more back in the Stance (Up Plane) the Ball is located, the deeper the Divot. Also, Newton's Third Law (Equal and Opposite Reaction) demands that the Impact collision drive the higher-lofted Clubs more into the ground than those less-lofted (which are driven more 'back' and less 'down'). So, both geometry and physics mandate bigger Divots with Short Irons and smaller Divots with Long Irons.

Regarding spin, we love to see the Ball 'dance' when struck by the Pitching Clubs. However, due to the loft of its striking surface and Impact point, the Five-Iron actually puts more spin on the Ball than any other Club.

No big deal...

Just something to think about!

Re: Turf Talk
 

Please go into more depth on this as i don't believe it...more loft = more spin all else being equal, so how does a 5 iron put the more spin on a ball than a 60* wedge?

Re: Turf Talk
 

Spin is a combination of club head speed and loft so a 5 iron actually puts more spin on the ball due to length of clubshaft, if both clubs were the same length and swung at the same speed that would not be the case.

then why don't we see people spinning their 5 iron shots off the green?

Sorry.

Show me some Launch Monitor data and then i'll believe it. You won't sway me otherwise.

My guess would be since the ball is in the air for 200 yards instead of 100, the spin will be reduced more by the time a 5 iron shot hits the green. The ball's trajectory/forward momentum would play into how far back the ball would spin, also.