This is what happens when a golf ball lands and then proceeds to back up. It is much easier to achieve when playing with a balata ball. Most pros prefer the Titelist balata, which has the softest feel of any other ball. It's the soft cover which stays on the clubface longer at impact, thus imparting more spin.

The problem with hackers is that if you don't hit this type ball cleanly, you will damage it beyond playability. For instance, if you hit it thin, with the flange of an iron, you can actually cut it in half. That's why hackers usually play with very hard balls, with a surlyn cover.

There are efforts underway, even as we speak, to merge these two traits in golf balls. Precept's MC Spin ball works fairly well, but it will never spin back like a balata.

The reason you need so much spin is not for the long shots, and balata actually cuts down on distance (another reason hackers do not like them), but for those little short shots over a hazard where the pin is just ten steps on the green on the other side. How can you hit a ball over 30 feet of a sand trap or creek and get it to stop near the pin? One word, my friend: Balata.

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