Driving distances

[USER1999]

It was, but I can't remember where.

That said, what he went through in terms of physical torture, to increase his hip rotation and shoulder rotation so far beyond what was normal, is not feasible for any of us, and as I said, he will be lucky if he can walk later in life. He had a nice swing though, didn't even look like he was lashing it.

 

[Mungoscorner]

The COR limit of 0.83 has been proven pointless.Todays drivers are as long if not longer than pre COR limit drivers,and most high handicappers would struggle to find the sweet spot with any regularity,which would obviously lessen the trampoline effect.
I'm not sure that a Persimmon headed driver could compete distance wise with todays Titanium drivers,but a large percentage of distance gain could be attributed to advance's in shaft technology,so maybe the companies that are offering Persimmon headed drivers with modern shafts and grips are onto something ?
I have a Tour Edge Hyper Steel 15 deg 3 Wood,that can comfortably carry the ball as far as my driver,in fact i spent nearly a whole season with no driver in my bag,and didn't think i was at any disadvantage on longer holes.It has a Reg 75g high kick point shaft in,and the ball flight is mid/high trajectory,and not overly effected by headwinds so i'm assuming ball spin isn't massive,but i do have probs with the ball going left if i really jump at it.With this in mind i thought fitting a stronger shaft may improve the club,as i'd be able to swing harder without the fear of pulling the ball left.I fitted a stiff 75g Aldila NV,which was the fairway wood shaft of choice for many capable golfers at that time.What a mistake ! I was able to lash at it without it going left,and the ball flight was low and piercing with plenty of run,but overall distance was down by at least 20-30 yards,and hitting over the trees on the dogleg of our par 4 8th hole became a thing of the past.Needless to say the old shaft was returned to the club pretty soon afterwards.The head/shaft combo in this club was obviously maximising my swing,and producing a very good blend of carry,distance,and accuracy.
If i could only find a similar head/shaft combo in a Driver.

 

[DaveM]

Dont we all. Only I could do with the same in the 3 wood to. Must be the worse club in my bag.

 

[Dave B]

Today I think that the shaft is as important as, if not more so than the head.

A longer shaft will give more club head speed however the downside is that it can affect accuracy.

We all have different swings and the key to optomising distance is finding a shaft that will fully load without losing accuracy or control.

The equation of force = mass x acceleration is fine however the weight of the club and profile of the head will have an impact on the overall equation as will the weight and flex of the shaft combined with the ball which can also make a difference to overall distance.

As many good golfers would state it's better to hit it straight out of the middle and lose 20 yds than hit it long and suffer the consequences when you miss the fairway.

 

[JustOne]

Once a player has been measured up, has the optimal shaft and loft is it really possible to see a significant improvement by buying the next new thing?

Maybe.



Hope that helps

 

[sawtooth]

I was never that good at physics but I'd say that friction, drag , aerodynamics has a part to play.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Am I a lone voice (probably ) who isn't actually that bothered. I learned a valuable lesson at FoA and that is th have a game plan, stick to it and use your shots. It's not good me wanting more distance if my second shot is coming out sideways of I'm hiiting another off the tee. I knew at FoA I couldn't get any of the par 4's in two with any guarantee the approach wouldn't be in grief so opted to lay up and wedge on. Worked a treat.

I'm happy with my TM Burner and bearing in mind how often I try clubs, think about changing etc is probably a testament that I really won't see too much difference off a 13 handicap between a 4 year old model and the latest offerings. Is a nominal ten yards really going to make any difference to me on the long par 4's if I am still erratic with long irons, hybrids and fairway woods. If I could hit those perfectly on a regular basis I wouldn't be 13 anyway.

 

[MadAdey]

Well Hobbit I think you have stumbled onto a good topic seeing as it is getting towards new shiny buying time. Do you remember the weekly golf show on SKY Sports that always had a pro or a coach that gave a little tip to help us all out. Well Monty was on it once and he spoke about a similar thing to what you are talking about. He said that going out and buying a new driver is not going to lower your scores even though you may get a couple of yards extra and hit 1 more fairway. He said you should spend the £300 on either improving your swing for higher handicap players or for lower handicap players they should have some playing lessons and learn how to shoot lower scores.

 

[DappaDonDave]

Force may be the same but as mentioned, ball spin, direction and environmental factors will play a part.
Also the material n the head will make a difference as f=ma is only measuring force. It's not measuring anything else if you could work out that

Distance = force x responsiveness of material (with other fancy stuff in there, you may get a suitable formula to prove how useful. Piece of equipment is)

 

[DappaDonDave]

Deep breathe

Force Q. A 6'1" man swings a 48" golf club weighing 275 grams and launches a 20 gram ball at a 45 degree angle. How many miles per hour must the man swing the golf club for the ball to travel 400 yards? How many more yards will each additional 5 mph of club speed generate?

A. 1mph = 0.447m/s and 1 yard = 0.914m.

The ball is set into projectile motion. The range of projectile is given by the formula - R = u²Sin2q /g where u is the initial velocity of the projectile, q is the angle with which the body is projected and g is the acceleration due to gravity and R is the range or the horizontal distance that the projectile covers.

Now, R = 400 x 0.914 = 365.6m and angle = 45 degrees.

Substituting, we get, u = 59.8m/s. This will be the initial velocity of the ball.

When the golf club comes and strikes the ball, it will transfer some of its kinetic energy to the stationary ball. If we assume that an elastic collision takes place, then since the ball is 13.75 times lighter than the golf club, it will transfer 13.75% of its kinetic energy to the ball (this can be shown mathematically).
Thus, (13.75/100)(1/2 m1 v² ) = 1/2 m2 u² where m1 is the mass of the golf club and m2 is the mass of the golf ball and v is velocity with which the club strikes the ball and u is the initial velocity of the ball. Calculating we get, v = 43.1m/s. So this is the velocity with which the golf club will have to be swung.

Now, since the golf club is swung in a circular movement, the taller the golfer and longer the club, the more will be the radius of the circle. From, v = ω r. So for a particular velocity v, the more the value of r, the less will be the value of ω or the angular velocity or the golfer will have to swing his arms more slowly.

For calculating the increase in the range, for each 5mph increase in the club speed, we will first have to calculate the increase in the initial velocity of the ball using the energy relation and then find the new range and the increase in range.

 

[JustOne]

^
^
^

Crikey,..... I'd give you credit for that if I didn't have Google

Nice post though. (although it's flawed as a ball weighs more than 20g)


For a further 10 points... what does it mean? ....buy the new club YES/NO?

 

[CMAC]

@dappondave, that formula is exactly what I was thinking, my first thought was the flux capacitor, but your formula makes more sense :clap:

 

[JustOne]

What is interesting is that according to that equation you only need 43.1m/s clubhead speed to hit a 20g ball 400yrds... that's about 96mph.... so I need to get (ahem!).....lighter balls

 

[USER1999]

But that doesn't take aerodynamics into account.

Without the dimples, a golf ball would not go more than 130 yards, and the flight would be all over the place. Dimple pattern has a huge affect on carry, height, and spin rates.

 

[ArnoldArmChewer]

Thanks for that DappaDonDave, luckily I watched Goodwill Hunting on the telly last night so I understand exactly your theorum.

I thought we all played golf for fun, I never realised that a pre-requisite was a Phd in advanced maths, I shall now burn all of the Golf Monthly back editions, cancel my subscription and take out Advanced Applied Maths Weekly instead, just watch my handicap tumble!!!!!

 

[Hobbit]

The original point I was trying to make(badly), was that buying a new driver is fairly pointless unless it adds a significant benefit to your game. F=MxA quoted in the first post was more to do with your current F won't change a great deal because neither M nor A will change a great deal from the current starting point. Picking relatively random figures, if you are driving 250yds now with a driver that was custom fitted in the last few years then buying this year's model will add not a great deal more. And if it adds less than 10yds, i.e. you'll still be hitting the same club into the green, there's no point in buying a new shiney shiney. Spend the £££ on lessons will benefit driving AND iron play. And no I'm not a pro touting for business.

That said, boy's and toy's...

 

[JustOne]

I think 10yds is worth it for 99% of all golfers (if it's truly measurable), even more so for the shorter hitters. Likewise the extra forgiveness. Development of the ball also means optimising clubs, if you have a ball the needs to be launched high for maximun ballflight then you need to make a club that will do that.

I agree that there should be a standard measure although perhaps it might not be optimum, eg one club may perform better when it launches a ball higher at 100mph than another model which needs a lower trajectory. If they are both tested level then it will not show the true capacity of either club.

 

[Mungoscorner]

Hobbit,there are lots of golfers in the Mug or Tart category.
The Mugs will buy anything they believe will improve there game,and usually believe all the sales talk,whether theres any truth in it or not.
The Tarts just want to have the latest equipment,and usually base there choices on Brand snobbery and cost.
Both these types of golfers would get much better results (distance) from having a lesson or two,and putting some time in at the range/course.
Me,i'm too poor and tight fisted to fall into any of the above Categories.

 

[DaveM]

As above I will wait until last years better than sliced bread. Is being sold off for £50 to make way for the next loaf LOL.

 

[DappaDonDave]

Haha thanks guys, it was straight off google but I am very much into my equations.

Like its been mentioned a formula which took into account gravity, wind,air density,Magnus effect would be epically useful. BUT

It's much more fun to hit the range with a club and slug it as far as you can until your arms are 10inches longer than when you started