Grooves on drivers

[Garesfield ACE]

I have noticed some more 'recent' drivers have grooves on the sweet spot area...e.g..TM Burner Superfast does.....wheras mine the 2009 Burner doesnt.Do the grooves in the centre of the driver face make any difference compared to those that dont? Or is it just superficial?

Cheers Kev

 

[JustOne]

I'd say it probably wasn't measurable and not to worry about it. I'm sure someone will crop up with a stat that says they go 2.8759% straighter with slight grooves ;-)

 

[Foxholer]

Superficial as far as I know.

Groove 'patterns' were one way of telling which style of Driver was which though. In the Compliant/non-compliant days, TM Drivers with grooves were the compliant ones, while those without were the 'Max CoR' (non compliant) ones. And no, the grooves were not put in after testing!

Helps keep the counterfeiters on their toes too!

 

[MashieNiblick]

As I understand it, in perfectly dry conditions, a smooth fact imparts similar spin to a grooved face (might even be more, I'm sure someone on here knows). Grooves are really designed to improve spin when there is water or grass between the ball and clubface which isn't really a factor with a driver.

 

[Imurg]

A Grooves are really designed to improve spin when there is water or grass between the ball and clubface which isn't really a factor with a driver.

Maybe the way you use it.........:mmm:

 

[duncan mackie]

I have noticed some more 'recent' drivers have grooves on the sweet spot area...e.g..TM Burner Superfast does.....

the implication here is that hitting it outside the sweet spot would result in very different flight if the groves made much difference - eg on that club if you hit it at the lower edge there are none, and slightly left or right very few will be impacting the ball.

you could also consider how, esp with drivers and their minimal grooves, with out vertical grooves players manages to put so much spin in the tilted axis (why can't we call it side spin any more )

my conclusion is that the head weighting etc has a greater impact on imparted spin for a driver than grooves.

 

[MadAdey]

I read that the idea of the grooves on the driver face was to do with water displacement on a wet day. The idea beaing that as you strike the ball the groves can move the water from the impact area rather than trapping it between the face and the ball.

 

[Alex1975]

Yep, sounds like its all been said. Grooves do not add spin they are just channels to remove water or debris.

 

[RGDave]

I'd say it probably wasn't measurable and not to worry about it. I'm sure someone will crop up with a stat that says they go 2.8759% straighter with slight grooves ;-)

Close, but no cigar.

Strictly there to stop people being afraid of the smooth surface. (i.e. pointless)

 

[SocketRocket]

As I understand it, in perfectly dry conditions, a smooth fact imparts similar spin to a grooved face (might even be more, I'm sure someone on here knows). Grooves are really designed to improve spin when there is water or grass between the ball and clubface which isn't really a factor with a driver.

Thats pretty spot on. It's a bit like racing car tyres. In the dry they get better traction with slick tyres, in the wet they need groves to wick the water away and create better grip.

Cochran & Stobbs book 'Search for the Perfect Swing' showed some interesting experiments hitting a ball in dry conditions with clubs that had grooves and ones that didn't, actually the smooth club created slightly longer overall distances. As mentioned: when moisture or grass is trapped between the ball and clubface this reduces grip and groves assist with wicking this away.

 

[Garesfield ACE]

Thanks a lot for all this fellow golfers.Very helpful to me.

Cheers Kev