When the club makes contact with the ball, there
are three directional factors, which determines whether or not
the ball is going to go straight or if it’s going to fly with a
curve. There are two other factors which help determine the
trajectory of the shot and how far the ball goes. The biggest
influence with direction is the clubface alignment at
contact. If the clubface is open at contact that will make the
ball start slightly to the right and curve further to the
right. If the clubface is closed or aligned left at contact that
will make the ball start slightly to the left and curve further
to the left. So to hit a straight shot we need to have the
clubface aligned at right angles to the target.
The second influence is the direction of the
swing path of the club head and the shaft. We need to have the
path of the club travelling somewhere near along the target
line. If the club head is travelling from inside out, that will
generally make the ball start out to the right. If its
travelling from outside in, that will make the ball start to the
left.
The third of the ball flight laws that influence
direction is called Centredness of Hit. If the clubface is at
right angles to the swing path and the ball is struck on the toe
end of the club that will produce a right to left spin through
something which is called ‘Gear Effect’. This twists the
clubface to the left when the ball is hit off the toe, which
makes the ball curve from right to left. If the club face is at
right angles to the swing path and the ball is struck off the
heel part of the club, the gear effect twists the club face open
and the ball is hit with a left to right spin. The ideal
situation for a straight shot is the clubface at right angles to
the swing path with the path travelling along the target line
and with a ball struck in the middle of the clubface.
The fourth ball flight law mainly has to do with
the trajectory of the shot. It’s called the ‘Angle of Attack’ or
the ‘Angle of Approach’. This is the actual angle that the club
head and shaft is travelling down at in the approach to the
ball. There are a number things which have an effect on angle
of approach. Generally speaking, when the club is coming from
outside swing path wise on the down swing the club will be
coming down on a steeper angle of approach and when the club is
coming more from inside out or behind the body, the club head
will be coming into the ball from a more shallow angle of
approach. From the outside swing path wise will normally mean a
lower ball flight and when the club is travelling from the
inside and shallow it is easier to hit a high shot. The width of
the arc will also have an affect on angle of approach. If the
club is coming in wide, it will come in much shallower and much
closer to the ground earlier. If it’s coming in narrow, it will
approach much steeper. So, if the arms are soft and perhaps bent
on the downswing, the club is going to come into the ball on a
steeper angle of approach, so preferably we have the left arm
almost straight and the club can approach with a relatively
shallow angle of approach.
Weight distribution will also have an influence
on this ball flight law. If the body weight is too much into the
left side, the club is going to be travelling down on a steeper
angle and if the body weight is still back on the right side,
the angle of approach will be more shallow. Often divots can
even be taken before the ball if the weight is still on the
right side.
Top | NEXT - Section 8 - Putting
Club
Face Alignment