Swing Basics

Digger vs. Picker in Golf

The difference between a digger and a picker lies in the angle of the player’s downswing when he hits an iron shot. A player with a steep downswing is called a digger because his divots, as former PGA Tour pro Johnny Miller, writing in "Golf Digest, put it, are “the size of dinner plates.” A picker’s swing angle is shallower, meaning he will take “thin, shallow divots or no divot at all,” Miller said. In other words, he picks the ball off the ground, rather than digging into the turf.