Water, water and more water.....

[drs1878]

As mentioned on another thread I played yesterday and was just not happy with my ball striking at all.... Been practicing loads through the winter at the range with positive results, but yesterday the strikes weren't just right.... Ok, I probably caught a few heavy and thinned a few to compensate but even when I thought the strike was right I just didn't get the distances....... Which I up down to poor striking, but then this morning I was thinking............ (Yes it hurt a little)

As the fairways are soo wet and there is quite a bit of standing water about, should I be playing approach shots as if I was coking out of a fairway bunker?? My thought process is that I can't quite get the compression on the ball as it's so wet....

I may be clutching at straws ........

 

[Doh]

Sounds like your hitting the big ball before the small ball, one of the reasons for loss of distance is casting, something you can be doing without knowing it. Plenty of youtube vids on this. As I say that is only one reason but I mention it because I was doing it and it felt just like what your having problems with. Hope this helps.

 

[lex!]

Like you, I have been on the range all winter because it's been raining all the time and its so wet here. I walked a few holes for the first time in ages on Sunday and it was great to be out in the fresh air. It was quiet so I was able to replay my approaches when I had the opportunity and they weren't going too bad. I kept the backswing short and tried to let the club accelerate smoothly, I didn't try to pinch down too much.

 

[Foxholer]

My thought process is that I can't quite get the compression on the ball as it's so wet....

I may be clutching at straws ........

Much as I hate that expression, that (or 'clean strike') is the reason for the loss of distance. With the conditions as they currently are, I'd suggest you simply enjoy the chance to be able to hit a ball, rather than trying to make a great score! Because a change you make to handle these (hopefully temporary) conditions could cause mayhem if you continue to (unconsciously) adjust when conditions improve!

 

[HawkeyeMS]

As mentioned on another thread I played yesterday and was just not happy with my ball striking at all.... Been practicing loads through the winter at the range with positive results, but yesterday the strikes weren't just right.... Ok, I probably caught a few heavy and thinned a few to compensate but even when I thought the strike was right I just didn't get the distances....... Which I up down to poor striking, but then this morning I was thinking............ (Yes it hurt a little)

As the fairways are soo wet and there is quite a bit of standing water about, should I be playing approach shots as if I was coking out of a fairway bunker?? My thought process is that I can't quite get the compression on the ball as it's so wet....

I may be clutching at straws ........

Why would being wet have any bearing on compression?

 

[Foxholer]

Why would being wet have any bearing on compression?

Because it doesn't happen!

Mind you, it doesn't happen anyway, but that's a different matter!

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Because it doesn't happen!

Mind you, it doesn't happen anyway, but that's a different matter!

Why doesn't it happen?

 

[lex!]

I am guessing that not all our readers sat O-level physics

 

[Foxholer]

Why doesn't it happen?

Because that's not what happens!

Provided you are not de-lofting the excessively (in which case you'd actually be hitting the ball into the ground!), the ball will go upwards - at about 80-85* of the effective loft of the face (seem a familiar amount? Yes, Ball flight laws, which allow for energy loss!)

It may be what you feel happens, and what so many coaches tell you to do (they should say 'feel as if you are compressing the ball' rather than simply 'compress the ball'). But Feel isn't Real (in this case). The feeling of 'compression' is an illusion! You have simply hit the ball and then the club has entered the ground and encountered resistance. The fact that the 2 events are almost simultaneous - and is a 'good' feeling - is what provides the illusion.

Here's a hastily found vid that explains a bit http://www.andrewricegolf.com/2013/02/compress-the-golf-ball/

But check out a few super sol-mo vids of impact and you will see for yourself.

And Lex is correct - there's no getting away from Physics! Think of the 'collisions'/reflection and the angles - ball bearings and fixed metal blocks etc. Though that was Third or Fourth Form in NZ. Maybe that's why there have been quite a few renowned Kiwi Physicists!

 

[bluewolf]

Is this one of those threads that is going to get quite pedantic? Should we substitute deform for compress? What type of "compression" is being discussed here? Genuine questions....

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Because that's not what happens!

Provided you are not de-lofting the excessively (in which case you'd actually be hitting the ball into the ground!), the ball will go upwards - at about 80-85* of the effective loft of the face (seem a familiar amount? Yes, Ball flight laws, which allow for energy loss!)

It may be what you feel happens, and what so many coaches tell you to do (they should say 'feel as if you are compressing the ball' rather than simply 'compress the ball'). But Feel isn't Real (in this case). The feeling of 'compression' is an illusion! You have simply hit the ball and then the club has entered the ground and encountered resistance. The fact that the 2 events are almost simultaneous - and is a 'good' feeling - is what provides the illusion.

Here's a hastily found vid that explains a bit http://www.andrewricegolf.com/2013/02/compress-the-golf-ball/

But check out a few super sol-mo vids of impact and you will see for yourself.

And Lex is correct - there's no getting away from Physics! Think of the 'collisions'/reflection and the angles - ball bearings and fixed metal blocks etc. Though that was Third or Fourth Form in NZ. Maybe that's why there have been quite a few renowned Kiwi Physicists!

Foxholer, I think you misunderstood me, I know how compression works and I know that you don't compress the ball into the ground. I was asking the OP why he thought the ground being wet would stop him compressing the ball. It was a bit of a leading question TBH as I kind of knew the answer that I would get.

 

[Foxholer]

Is this one of those threads that is going to get quite pedantic? Should we substitute deform for compress? What type of "compression" is being discussed here? Genuine questions....

If so, start another thread!

Foxholer, I think you misunderstood me, I know how compression works and I know that you don't compress the ball into the ground. I was asking the OP why he thought the ground being wet would stop him compressing the ball. It was a bit of a leading question TBH as I kind of knew the answer that I would get.

I did wonder!

Of course, it's Physics (again). In this case mainly Friction! But some Momentum and even a bit of Aerodynamics!

 

[bluewolf]

If so, start another thread.

Why? Why would I start another thread to clarify what your exact meaning is on this thread?

 

[HawkeyeMS]

Is this one of those threads that is going to get quite pedantic? Should we substitute deform for compress? What type of "compression" is being discussed here? Genuine questions....

How many types of compression are there when golf club hitting golf ball is concerned? (That's a question by the way, I just realised it may sound a bit sarcastic )

The answer the OP is looking for is that the firmness of the ground is irrelevent to the amount you compress the ball when hitting it.

 

[bluewolf]

How many types of compression are there when golf club hitting golf ball is concerned? (That's a question by the way, I just realised it may sound a bit sarcastic )

The answer the OP is looking for is that the firmness of the ground is irrelevent to the amount you compress the ball when hitting it.

That's how I understood it. I was intrigued by Foxy's assertion that compression didn't happen. Didn't take it as sarcastic by the way. This thread appears to be riddled with misunderstanding.

 

[drs1878]

Thanks for feedback guys...... I did kinda think it would be my timing......

 

[the_coach]

Thanks for feedback guys...... I did kinda think it would be my timing......

{Guess I don't see how semantics is particularly helpful in addressing the OP's experienced difficulties in striking a golf ball well in wet weather.}


The only real way to experience a better strike through impact, is to make sure the majority of your weight is on the lead leg, the hips clear in the correct way and at the correct time in the swings motion. So this results in the hands and handle leading the club head through impact with a forward leaning shaft. Little ball first, big ball second, lowest point of the arc target side of the golf ball.


The only way to accomplish this is for the golfers lower half to initiate the downswing and everything to move in a correct timed sequence down and through impact.


Most handicap players tend, at best, to start the lower half and upper half simultaneously, so the 'lag' pre-set in the backswing isn't 'held' ontoproperly or completely, so again at best this leads to the hands, shaft and club-head arriving at the ball at the same time so putting 'extra' dynamic' loft on the shot leading to the ball flying higher but traveling forwards less, so ends up shorter than was expected.
But also to contacting the ball and the ground at the same time, lowest point of the arc not far forward in the swing enough.


In wet weather this also means the sole of the club-head loses the 'bounce' effect this not so correct same ball/ground strike has off a firmer/harder ground surface.

Also if this is combined with leaving weight on the right side through impact, and/or starting the downswing with movement first of the shoulders and the upper body, this will result in contacting the ground first with varying degrees of a 'fat' shot and in wet and over soft ground the leading edge digs in and you get a good bunch of earth between face and ball.


In wet weather ground conditions you have to swing easier and be more controlled to get a better centered strike on the face, and the 'low point' of your swings arc has to be in front (target side) of the golf ball, to do this your weight prior to and at impact has to be on your leading leg and your pelvis and spine angle has to have been retained so you can clear your left hip left correctly and so allow your right hip and whole right side to move through towards target, there is no other way.

 

[the_coach]

That's how I understood it. I was intrigued by Foxy's assertion that compression didn't happen. Didn't take it as sarcastic by the way. This thread appears to be riddled with misunderstanding.

How many types of compression are there when golf club hitting golf ball is concerned? (That's a question by the way, I just realised it may sound a bit sarcastic )

The answer the OP is looking for is that the firmness of the ground is irrelevent to the amount you compress the ball when hitting it.

Guess given that compression has 'become' the word that most teachers of the game have 'borrowed' to try give players direction in what they should be trying to 'feel', 'achieve' through impact.


Also given that it has also become the word that the world's top players use to describe the 'intention' and 'feel' of what they are trying to do through impact with the club head in a swing where the ball is on the ground, it would probably make a bunch of sense in 'golfing terms' if folks continued to use it.


If you look into the etymology of the word, back in the mid 1300 hundreds in latin (comprimere, compressare from premere - to press) and in french (compresse) both the latin comprimere and the french compresse were terms used in the description - to squeeze- something.

If you think in golfing terms of a 'feeling' or 'intention' the 'impression' to squeeze the ball between face and ground, you can better see how 'teachers' took to 'borrowing' the word 'compression' as a descriptive tool to try to convey a feeling to pupils.


In the true sense of the word in physics we are not trying to force the ball into a smaller space than it's volume, neither are we trying to make the ball into a different and smaller shape permanently, or attempting to cause material to become a solid mass.

But seeing that it's become a word generally accepted world wide in golf as part of the 'shorthand' way to try to describe the 'impression' of the 'intention' to give the swing motion a 'purpose' to result in a purer strike downwards on the back of the ball through impact at collision, it sure kind of feels like folks should keep using it, to me anyways.

 

[bluewolf]

Guess given that compression has 'become' the word that most teachers of the game have 'borrowed' to try give players direction in what they should be trying to 'feel', 'achieve' through impact.


Also given that it has also become the word that the world's top players use to describe the 'intention' and 'feel' of what they are trying to do through impact with the club head in a swing where the ball is on the ground, it would probably make a bunch of sense in 'golfing terms' if folks continued to use it.


If you look into the etymology of the word, back in the mid 1300 hundreds in latin (comprimere, compressare from premere - to press) and in french (compresse) both the latin comprimere and the french compresse were terms used in the description - to squeeze- something.

If you think in golfing terms of a 'feeling' or 'intention' the 'impression' to squeeze the ball between face and ground, you can better see how 'teachers' took to 'borrowing' the word 'compression' as a descriptive tool to try to convey a feeling to pupils.


In the true sense of the word in physics we are not trying to force the ball into a smaller space than it's volume, neither are we trying to make the ball into a different and smaller shape permanently, or attempting to cause material to become a solid mass.

But seeing that it's become a word generally accepted world wide in golf as part of the 'shorthand' way to try to describe the 'impression' of the 'intention' to give the swing motion a 'purpose' to result in a purer strike downwards on the back of the ball through impact at collision, it sure kind of feels like folks should keep using it, to me anyways.

To be fair, being self taught, and not a particular student of the game either D), it has never been a word I have used to describe a feeling of compressing the ball into the turf. In all honesty, it's not a word I have ever particularly utilized to describe my game.