Ball flight

I remember watching the Faldo video and for years I aimed my body where I wanted the ball to start and my clubface where i wanted it to finish and hit the tree every time. I thought I was just rubbish.
You'll be glad to hear the PGA now teach the correct method :)
 
I have a book which was bought for me when I first started playing 20yrs ago, which showed exactly all this, so it isnt new at all.

I got into an argument a few months back with some golfing buddies, who were trying to correct some swing flaws of another mate.
They were adamant that off his 'out to in' swing path was purely the cause of his huge slice, whilst I was saying that his hands 'not releasing' was as much of a problem, if not more.

I feel vindicated :-)
 
Totally makes sense. I used to have a flight as described where it started well left then faded back on to the fairway. I straightened up by working on my swing plane and grip. My bad shot now is a push right which might explain that i'm now coming inside too much after converting from an out to in plane!! Great article. :cool: :)
 
Interesting article. I didn't realise that this wasn't widely know and much misunderstood as it seems fairly obvious. I'd always assumed that anyone teaching me and working on my swing path was simply trying to get my clubface square at impact.

Reading that article, I wonder now.

I assume then that an in-to-out swing is taught as "more desirable" as it is a more powerful action than an out-to-in because it would allow you to use your big levers more effectively to drive the ball.

Or have I misunderstood that?
 
Its all irrelevant to me. I can still hit it left or right without any change in my set up or swing. In fact until someone guarantees a swing that will get the bloody thing straight I'm going with the theory that every shot is actually governed by cosmos forces and our skill levels have no part in it
 
Iv never tried to draw the ball and i play with a slight natural fade so i dont try and over complicate things for myself by trying to hit shots which i cant and which i dont feel i need to......Thats just my take on it. :D
The less thoughts in my head at address the more relaxed i am and whatever comes natural to me prevails.
 
Very interesting read, something I have for many years in the past been unsure of. I can remember just by buggering about with different swings and set ups that I thought the old school explanation was either wrong or not complete.

Today I know it was wrong but didnt really know how to express my opinion as to what I thought was wrong about it. I am really pleased I read this thread/link.
 
Great, that's why I posted it. Read it this morning, and thought it made alot of sense. Read similar in a book I am reading, but hard to post a link to a book.
 
Hmm, the start looks dubious....

For decades, the PGA Teaching Manual has contained some incorrect information pertaining to a golf ball's flight. That information can be summed up as follows: "The golf ball starts on the direction of the swing path and curves back to where the clubface was aimed at impact."
Click to expand...

All these things depend on the maths surely. Everyone knows (or at least I thought they did) that if the face angle is more or less in harmony with the path, this statement "The golf ball starts on the direction of the swing path and curves back to where the clubface was aimed at impact." is probably true. However, once you get miles off with path or face angle, anything can happen.

I got LM tested years ago with an average of +3 degrees with -1 clubface...the result....a draw. A draw with an open clubface....
Clearly if the clubface is actually quite closed, the ball will not even start right.... :D

Whichever of the blokes (on the video) it is that is saying "they were all wrong" is taking a bit of a leap in the dark if you ask me.....to dismiss it all as wrong is a rather sweeping statement. Even I've played enough deliberate shaped shots to know that in essence the long-held view is correct. Once you start talking about paths and faces hardly on the planet, then maybe, I take the point.

"The rules that govern the flight of the ball have been misunderstood for generations"......:D

Either way, I interested.....but I don't like sweeping generalities.
 
Ahh, I get it now...

The true ball flight laws tell us that a push-draw (G) is a result of an open clubface with a swing path that's more inside-out than the clubface is open. For example, if the clubface is 3° open at impact but the swing path is 6° inside-out, the ball will start right (open clubface relative to the target) and curve left (closed clubface relative to the swing path).
How would the old ball flight laws tell us to hit a push-draw (G)? They'd tell us to swing in-to-out while keeping the clubface square to the target. Basically, they'd tell us to hit shot D. Ouch.
Click to expand...

If I understand, the "old" method would suggest getting the face square (100% on target) to hit a draw, whereas the truth is with enough in-out, you don't actually want it square, just less "open" than the path.....

Me understandeeee.......that's how I've always understood it since that day getting C/F in 1998.

I'm glad I never learned the "old" method then......

SO, ergo, Nick Faldos idea of aiming the clubface at the target and the alignment right (for a draw) would in fact hit the tree....agreed....what he was really hitting was a strong in-out with the face probably right of flag at the moment of impact......just closed in relation to the path. Nick Faldo knows that......

I can die a happy man......
 
I remember watching the Faldo video and for years I aimed my body where I wanted the ball to start and my clubface where i wanted it to finish and hit the tree every time. I thought I was just rubbish.
You'll be glad to hear the PGA now teach the correct method :)
Click to expand...

I'm not even going to go there...... bait, rise, me? Never!
 
Discuss....

ballflight.gif
 
Discuss....

ballflight.gif
Click to expand...

I like this.....(even though I'll probably mess it up)

If the face is square to the target line and the club was travelling 10* out-in, it's going to be a fairly bad slice?

According to this article (O.P.) it won't even start left?

If however the face was a degree or two closed to target but open to path, then a fade?
 
Nice article.

Whether it'll help me play any better is another matter! But I do find the physics of this game quite interesting in an 'adenoid' kind of way. Even if I don't fully understand it.

If I've understood it right then; swing path is more important than face angle in determining ball flight?
 
Face angle determines initial direction, swing path determines the side spin you put on it. Therefore, if your shots start straight, you have a swing path issue.
 
Face angle determines initial direction, swing path determines the side spin you put on it. Therefore, if your shots start straight, you have a swing path issue.
Click to expand...

Yup, that's the long and short of it.

Short in my case and probably either pulled or faded into the nice bunker at 230 off the tee.
 
Discuss....

ballflight.gif
Click to expand...





The answer is.................











You don't know what shot it really is unless you know where the person is actually aiming!





Yes you DO know that the ball is going to go towards the flag (club face direction) and it's going to move right (cut spin) but you cannot name the shot.




What I've actually done here is take someone who was pushing the ball right, into the trees (PUSH-FADE) and asked him simply to re-align further left, so he's still hitting a PUSH-FADE, only this time the ball will end up in the right place.

IF his feet were square to the target line then yes, the shot is a STRAIGHT-FADE, also IF the angle of the club face is considerably open to the swing path then yes, he would hit a bigger fade (slice?).

Therefore (technically) unless you know where the guy is aiming then you cannot possibly teach this person.

You COULD tell him that he could reduce the amount of fade by squaring the clubface a few degrees closer to the swingpath (perhaps by making sure his grip was strong enough) but... if he wanted to (for example) start hitting a DRAW then you're pretty much going to have to take him BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD. :D

Which proves that alignment is just as important as swing path AND clubface... and that there IS NO SPOON :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

GolfingPastor
Forgiving Irons without Major Offset
2
Replies
27
Views
5K
jim8flog
jim8flog
T
  • Poll Poll
Which bit of the ball do you focus on when striking irons?
2 3
Replies
41
Views
3K
AdoptedYorkie
A
N
Old Man Yardages
3 4 5
Replies
82
Views
2K
nickjdavis
N
M
First time on course(s)
2
Replies
35
Views
2K
Magcargo
M
LincolnShep
2025 End of term report
2 3
Replies
57
Views
2K
AussieKB
AussieKB
Top