Divots: De-classified In these heady days of space-age designs and tomorrow’s-world technologies we tend to forget that some of the most valuable information on the health of our golf swing is – quite literally – right under our noses, in the form of the DIVOT. For instance, if your swing is too steep your divot hole will be too deep. If your swing is too shallow, you'll barely disturb the grass. Slicing or hooking the ball? Your divot hole can point the way to a cure.

Irrespective of the thickness of your divot, it must be on the forward side of the ball, otherwise you're not making ball-first contact (which leads to the rather unflattering ‘fat’ shot). Once you have that aspect in order have a look below at the different images and see which relates to your divot. Remember; divots can give an indication of what’s wrong with your swing – to fix that problem you need to visit your local PGA Pro.

The variable that determines where the ball goes is the clubface position at impact. Below I’ve listed the combinations of path and face position so you can tell what has happened after the shot.


Divot Pointing Right
  • If your clubface is square to the divot you'll produce a straight push.
  • If your clubface is open to the divot you'll produce a shot going to the right and then fading/slicing.
  • If your clubface is closed to the divot you'll produce a shot starting to the right and then drawing/hooking.


Divot Pointing Straight
  • If your clubface is square to the divot you'll produce a straight shot.
  • If your clubface is open to the divot you'll produce a shot going straight to the right.
  • If your clubface is closed to the divot you'll produce a shot going straight to the left.


Divot Pointing Left
  • If your clubface is square to the divot you'll produce a straight pull.
  • If your clubface is open to the divot you'll produce a shot starting left and then fading/slicing.
  • If your clubface is closed to the divot you'll produce a shot starting to the left and then drawing/hooking.

Once you've noted the shape and the direction that your ball flight takes have a look at your divot shape, refer to the options above, and you’ve found your problem! Then you can click here to book a lesson with me and we’ll have you sorted out in no time!