What It Means to Duff a Golf Shot
"Duff" can be used generally to refer to any misplayed or mishit shot. Today, that is a common usage. Many modern golfers use the term for any bad shot.
But the term also has a more-specific usage. To duff a shot is the same thing as hitting the ball fat, or chunking it, or sclaffing the shot. In this more-specific usage, duffing a shot refers to your golf club hitting the ground behind the ball first, and bouncing up into the ball: the type of contact more commonly referred to as the fat shot, or catching it fat.
A duffed swing usually results in a shot the travels a lot less distance than intended. The worse the duff, the less far the ball is going to go. And with the worst duffs, the golfer's club will dig into the turf behind the ball and the ball might only go a few feet, if that.
There is another term in golf, "duffer," that refers to a golfer who is not very skilled. Which came first, "duff" or "duffer"? In their golf sense, that isn't clear.
The Historical Dictionary of Golfing Terms defines "duff" as "to mishit (a shot) by hitting the ground behind the ball and then topping the ball." That reference book explains the origins of the golf use of "duff" as "probably Scottish and probably related to Scottish schoolboys' slang dowf or duff = 'to bounce a ball up with the fist'; but felt by most golfers as a back-formation from 'duffer,' and thus tended to be used in the generalized meaning 'to mishit'."
If duffing shots is something you struggle with, you can find many instructional videos on YouTube that address the causes of fat shots and how to stop hitting them.
More golf terms:
- What is the 'high side' or 'pro side'?
- Explaining the meaning of 'bite' in golf
- What is 'moving day' in a tournament?
Davies, Peter. The Historical Dictionary of Golfing Terms, 1993, Robson Books.
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