On my last outing of hitting balls, I realized that I was not digging up the turf like a gofer on a good day at Bushwood. No, instead they seem to be not as deep and becoming more consistent in size. Now when I say that I personally think it's a good thing but, is it? I'm a bit of a duffer so how would I really know? I was watching a guy smacking balls next to me and every time he hit a ball the turf was flying with it. Every time. His contact sounded solid but he was an Army golf guy. His divots were obvious, big, and flew about 15 yards with hang time. Do the size and the consistency of the divot, especially the direction give us any indication of anything?
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@Tom Holt - @burkholder.ronald's reply is spot on. With regard to the size of divots, Moe Norman - one of the game's all-time great ball strikers - was known to say, "bacon strips not pork chops". If things are firing on all cylinders, then a straight line of divots approximately the width of the club's sole occurring after the ball and all pointing in the same direction would be a good indicator.
By the way, since you are likely hitting off of Bermuda grass, the proper range turf management etiquette would have you leaving a couple of inches of healthy grass between each line of divots rather than excavating a wide swath. In doing so a little top-dressing by the maintenance crew will allow the root system of the live turf to shoot sideways and quickly repair the narrow divot gaps. The superintendent will appreciate that.
I don’t believe the size or direction of a divot is a significant indicator of swing quality. After all you can take a large divot but if it starts 2 inches behind the ball that’s not going to be a good shot.
I believe the most important quality of a divot is that it starts in front of the ball. Some information can be deduced from the depth, direction, and size of the divot‘s mark in the turf. For instance, a deep divot may indicate a steep angle of attack at impact. The direction of the divot provides an indication of swing path. The size of the divot can indicate the steepness of the swing path, also. One other divot quality is the depth consistency. Fro instance, if the toe are is deeper than the heel area that could indicate the hands were too high at impact.
Just my two cents on this topic. I probably owe you some change.