Tag: contact

How does strike location influence spin?

Bryan Pate

One of the more popular questions when it working with students on their distance wedges  or scoring wedges is “How do you spin it like the pro’s?”.  This zone is from about 30 yards to around 100-125 yards depending on club head speed.  In a previous blog “Spin Generation“ I discussed a few factors that help create friction.  In this article lets look at strike location.

The most important factor when talking about spin creation is FRICTION.  This is created from how well the strike was between the ball and club face.  If you look at a good flighted wedge players wedge you will notice the wear spot is low on the face.  The reason for this is to help reduce the chance of getting any interference between the club and ball.  IF the club is coming in too low or shallow there is chance of the club face running into the grass and standing it up.  Grass is like little water packets waiting to explode between the ball and club.  In the photo on the right you can notice the contact point was lower on the club face.

If you were to hit a ball off of a tee the impact point does not matter as much.  The tee raises the ball above the grass so if the ball was struck a few grooves higher there will still be a clean strike. 

In summary keep an eye on the lie.  The tighter and dryer the lie the more potential of a clean strike resulting in more friction.  Make sure you are using a premium golf ball that has a softer skin for the club to grip.  Last point is to make sure your wedges are newer, clean of debris, and dry.  As a wedge ages with use the less spin it will produce.

You can disregard the 5.5* toe down in the above picture.  Being 6.6 I tend to deliver all my clubs more toe down.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.  Share it with those that would benefit from this information.

3D Flat Spot?

Bryan Pate

Chris Como and Andrew Rice had an Instagram Live chat on May 2nd 2020 during his Lockdown Learning series where they were discussing a hypothetical hypothesis of a 3D flat Spot. The idea behind this thought is having more consistency or repeatability around the impact zone. Their conversation can be found here: https://youtu.be/un29EVrjDpE

I posted a few videos on Instagram with some thoughts. In the wedge game if the wedge is going to skim the ground instead of crash into the ground there will be more room for error on the skimming club. The one crashing into the ground has one chance before it is stopped or changed due to the collision.

I recorded a chip shot with my iPhone camera and traced the top of the club head blur. The video can be seen here: https://youtu.be/KM-6tj_Ihm4. Below is 3 frames through the impact interval.

What we need to take into account is the video is taken in 2D and the wedge also collided with the turf. As the wedge comes in contact with a firm surface like my carpet or firm conditions outdoors the wedge will slide or bounce off of it. Notice how the red line was coming down on the top image then flattened out with the ground as contact occurred.

Let’s take a look at a parallel parallel stock short game wedge shot using @gears.sports in the @tourstrikergolf studio. The video can be seen here: https://youtu.be/HQ4Fsf9l1qM.

You can see the hands and club head work in an arc. The handle is starting to travel slightly up as the club travels slightly down. If the club did not run into the ball and get deflected down or touch the ground and get deflected as well what would the club actually do?
The high speed video I posted above had all of that going.

You might say the club would keep swinging in a smooth arc, as the handle is slightly going up and the head slightly down it could add a little flatter spot at the bottom of the arc, no true flat spot but it could get flattish or smoother, and due to the ball contact then the ground contact can appear to be flattish in video.

From the wide view the curve looks smooth. In the zoomed in image above you can see the white line dips down slightly at the ball to after it. With the loft running into the ball the club gets deflected down slightly, ball gets launched up, the club brushes the turf (slides or takes a small divot depending on turf firmness), then gets back on its way.

There might be some merit to this hypothesis as the grip is working up on its inner little circle as the club head is working down on its larger outer circle. If the club head did not run into the ball or ground the bottom of the curve could flatten out some. Some food for thought as you watch good players perform in short game and full swing.

Thank you for reading.