Get these tips from Will Zalatoris to improve your hitting skills.
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Every time I watch a PGA event, I’m always in awe these guys have control of the ball. While an average handicapper like myself just tries to consistently hit good shots, the pros not only have the ability to do that, but they have the ability to fly or spin the ball on command, which helps them get closer to approach pins and wedge shots.
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One of the most common skills of great players is putting your back on the ballwhich is not something the average golfer can usually do successfully.
We’ve all seen the shot drop to the back of the green and it spins back to the pinalmost as if the player pulled a string to make the ball land near the cup. It’s just incredible to watch.
So what’s the key to executing such a shot? In the video below (courtesy of Titleist’s YouTube channel), one-time PGA Tour winner Will Zalatoris reveals his two rules for doing just that. Check out his tips and see if they help you put the ball back like a pro.
2 backspin rules, for Will Zalatoris
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While putting backspin (or any spin, for that matter) on the ball is fun to try, it’s important to understand that there is a time and place to try it.
“It’s kind of a situation where everyone always asks Tour players how to spin,” Zalatoris says.
With that in mind, Zalatoris says the two biggest rules for swinging it like the pros are simple: fresh grooves and keeping the ball on the clubface as long as possible.
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“Rule number one, you have to have fresh grooves,” he says. “Fresh grooves create more spin, clean grooves create even more spin, and then from there, it’s also dependent on the lie and putt.”
Zalatoris then explains how he would spin the golf ball, offering his adjustments.
“If I’m going to try to spin the ball as much as possible from a pretty simple lie, I get my hands up a little bit higher, I’m just a hair closer (to the ball), then I’m trying to keep the ball in my face for as long as I can – so I’m not actually going to hit it too hard, I’m trying to keep this club as low to the ground as possible.”
So, on an approach shot from about 50 yards, Zalatoris would do the following.
“The hands would be just a hair taller and I’m not trying to feel the wrist hinge too much,” he says. “If the club rests horizontally on the ground and the ball rests on the face, now we’re creating a bunch of friction, which makes a lot more spin.”
