Gearing - what the..

Jensen

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Following my club fitting with Dave Fletcher he spoke about the gearing effect, something I have never heard of. This relates to how the ball reacts to the clubface on impact as it twists or opens.
The analogy was how a cog attached to another cog would react if the top got moved clock ways then the other would move the opposite direction.
He showed me 2 videos of pros hitting driver. The first was Faldo where at impact the ball looked like it had come out the middle, but the face twisted open. The flight was a draw as his angle of attack was from the inside.
Then onto Derksen where at impact his face closed, as the strike was more out of the heel, and although the angle of attack was slightly out to in the ball drew.
He mentioned that a client came to see him as he thought he was cutting his driver and coming from the outside, in fact it turned out that he was actually 5 degrees inside but was hitting the ball out of the toe which gave it that flight.
I'm no scientist and this was extremely technical, but was impressive and maybe should have been posted under "Ask the experts", but thought this was useful to all.
No doubt I've got something wrong but some technical expert will understand.
 
Following my club fitting with Dave Fletcher he spoke about the gearing effect, something I have never heard of. This relates to how the ball reacts to the clubface on impact as it twists or opens.
The analogy was how a cog attached to another cog would react if the top got moved clock ways then the other would move the opposite direction.
He showed me 2 videos of pros hitting driver. The first was Faldo where at impact the ball looked like it had come out the middle, but the face twisted open. The flight was a draw as his angle of attack was from the inside.
Then onto Derksen where at impact his face closed, as the strike was more out of the heel, and although the angle of attack was slightly out to in the ball drew.
He mentioned that a client came to see him as he thought he was cutting his driver and coming from the outside, in fact it turned out that he was actually 5 degrees inside but was hitting the ball out of the toe which gave it that flight.
I'm no scientist and this was extremely technical, but was impressive and maybe should have been posted under "Ask the experts", but thought this was useful to all.
No doubt I've got something wrong but some technical expert will understand.


Would any of this have anything to do with him earning a lot of dosh ?
 
I think you've got them wrong way round... Heel strikes promote cuts and toe strikes promote draws

You are correct. A strike near the toe with a wood will cause the face to open, so that the ball will start out right. However the clubhead twisting around its centre of gravity will impart a counter clockwise spin to the ball that will make draw to the left. Hence the ball will start right but then draw back. The opposite will apply to a heel strike.
 
The Gear Effect is probably one of the reasons why many players find hybrids and lofted woods easier to hit than long irons, Hit a long iron off the toe and the ball will start right and then go further right. With a hybrid or a wood it will start right, but then draw back. Off the heel it will start left and then fade back. There is also normally no protruding hosel to cause a shank. However an off-centre hit will always lose distance, so it is better to learn to hit the ball off the centre of the club face if you can! :)
 
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