Willie says ...

Anyway, most of the divots in the field can all be smoothed out with a little work on a rainy day, and here's what I noticed while working the grounds on a wet Sunday past. 

As far as technique tips, I'd offer that you use both the pointed corner and the flat part of the blade and hit the divots with the idea that its the soil compression that you're trying to undo at the impact site of a big weight divot. The heavy square weights cause a much different divot than the round ball of the hammers and therefore the technique is a bit different. The divot by square weights often can be smoothed by using the corner and blade while walking all the way the divot to work the edges by repeatedly striking to loosen and fill hole. On the other hand, the hammer divots often only need a few strikes on the down field side of the rounded hole to loosen and fill the hole.

The caber toss divots as also an easier fix than the square weight divots and require a bit somewhere between the two techniques mentioned above.

Divots at the WOB standards are difficult and long lasting. I've tried filling in the divots with loose topsoil in the past but again its the soil compaction that changes the ground surface most and its only going to loosen up if it a silty clay topsoil like we have in the Midwest with a little work. After a few years of WOB in the same location we had some long lasting divots. But with the good soaking of the overnight rains, and a strong hoe and a bit of a hangover, I was able to loosen up much of the hard pack.

The hammer cages help create different set of divots but they are also easily loosened and holes filled with a good hoe.

So take care of the field when you get a good rain and good luck in your training,

    

-K