Saturday, October 11, 2008

The Ball Flight Laws


Above are the shots that a golfer can create from a swing. There are total 9 different ways of the ball flight.

1st) Pull Hook : Close Face + Outside-In Swing Path
2nd) Pull : Square Face + Outside-In Swing Path
3rd) Hook : Close Face + Inside-Out Swing Path
4th) Draw: Close Face + Straight Swing Path

5th) Pure: Square Face + Straight Swing Path

6th) Fade: Open Face + Straight Swing Path
7th) Slice: Open Face + Outside-In Swing Path
8th) Push: Open Face + Straight Swing Path
9th) Push Slice: Open Face + Inside-Out Swing Path

The direction of the ball fly can be effected by two factors. They both measure in degrees.

1st) The Club-Head (Swing) path/Path of Hand. Which meaning how did the club contact the ball. And there are 3 ways that a "SWING PATH" can be produced. The swing path is measure from usually the distance/track between player's two feet.

a. A Straight Path. This is what every golfer's good swing path. If the Face is Flat when contact. The ball will travel nice and straight.

b. A Path from Out-side to In-side. Usually happened to most of the golfer because the right arm is stronger than left arm. (Right-Handed) Sometimes it can be generated also by "pulling" the club down or "chopping" the club down from the top. More than 80% of the beginners have this type of the swing path. The initial of the ball fly will goto the left side.(right-handed)
c. A path from in-side to Out-side. Usually can see from player that also play other sports that have the pulling out motion. Also from better players will favor in this style of the swing path.The initial of the ball fly will goto the right side.(right-handed)

2nd) The Club-Face Angle. There are basically three way you can impact the ball for the club face angle. OPEN, SQUARE, and CLOSE. However, degree of open and close can be different from swing to swing. The more degree it open, most likely the ball will spin to the open direction more later after the ball fly out.(Fade or Slice). The more degree it close, most likely the ball will spin to the close direction. (draw or hook).


EFFECTIVE LOFT AT IMPACT
This will determine the height the ball will fly. If, at impact, the hands are behind the club-head, the loft will be increased and the ball will fly higher. In another hand, if, at impact, the hands are ahead of the club-head, the loft will be decreased and the ball will fly lower.

SWEET SPOT
This is the focal point of your club-face(usually in the center) and, if struck there, you will get solid contact and maximum distance. Also today, there is a measurement call M.O.I. this is also the measurement of the size of the sweet spot. So, when a golfer hits a off-center shot. Today's high M.O.I. driver will still hit the ball far and not lose much distance.

CLUBHEADSPEED
This will determine the distance your shot will travel with a given club, assuming you make solid contact.