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Why are there grooves on drivers?


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Why are there grooves on the outer parts of a driver?

If your hitting it off the toe/heel why do you need more spin?

My Clubs
Driver - LV4 10* R flex
Wood - sam snead persimmon 2 wood (for windy days)
Hybrid burner tour launch 20* stiff flex.
Irons - Tour Mode 3i,4i stiffIrons - FP's 5-PW R-flexWedge - spin milled 54.14Wedge - spin milled 60.07Putter - Victoria Lowest round 2010: 79 (par 70)Latest rounds at...

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Why are there grooves on the outer parts of a driver?

Decoration. Alignment.

Grooves don't give you more spin, particularly for a ball that's sitting on a tee and - one assumes - not wet.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
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Decoration. Alignment.

why are there grooves on other golf clubs?

My Clubs
Driver - LV4 10* R flex
Wood - sam snead persimmon 2 wood (for windy days)
Hybrid burner tour launch 20* stiff flex.
Irons - Tour Mode 3i,4i stiffIrons - FP's 5-PW R-flexWedge - spin milled 54.14Wedge - spin milled 60.07Putter - Victoria Lowest round 2010: 79 (par 70)Latest rounds at...

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To promote better ball/surface contact by channeling out debris such as grass, dirt, water, etc.

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Drivers have grooves because they might look too different if they didn't. Golfers might think the manufacturer "cut corners" on design.

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Originally they were there on metalwoods to strengthen the face. On wooden woods the insert was smooth and flat and it was a way to keep crud away from the ball and perhaps to manage weight and shape.

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I suppose the grooves help if you can hit your driver off the fairway or from the rough. Off the tee---the grooves are nothing but decoration.

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Some drivers don't have grooves in the middle of the face, where you normally strike the ball. I doubt the grooves do anything when hitting it off the deck. Who hits the driver from the rough? Decoration and alignment sounds like the most reasonable to me.

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Originally they were there on metalwoods to strengthen the face. On wooden woods the insert was smooth and flat and it was a way to keep crud away from the ball and perhaps to manage weight and shape.

Wooden woods had grooves.

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Wooden woods had grooves.

yeah, my ones do anyway.

Some drivers don't have grooves in the middle of the face, where you normally strike the ball. I doubt the grooves do anything when hitting it off the deck. Who hits the driver from the rough? Decoration and alignment sounds like the most reasonable to me

"raises hand"

I was in a scramble on a par 5 and my ball was sitting up in the rough. I hit the shot, struck it well but it went right and OB.

My Clubs
Driver - LV4 10* R flex
Wood - sam snead persimmon 2 wood (for windy days)
Hybrid burner tour launch 20* stiff flex.
Irons - Tour Mode 3i,4i stiffIrons - FP's 5-PW R-flexWedge - spin milled 54.14Wedge - spin milled 60.07Putter - Victoria Lowest round 2010: 79 (par 70)Latest rounds at...

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On wooden woods the insert was smooth and flat and it was a way to keep crud away from the ball and perhaps to manage weight and shape.

The grooves were cut right through the inserts on wooden woods. The insert was not flat.

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The grooves were cut right through the inserts on wooden woods. The insert was not flat.

exactly.

Why did they have insert's? Couldn't they make a full all-plastic wood?

My Clubs
Driver - LV4 10* R flex
Wood - sam snead persimmon 2 wood (for windy days)
Hybrid burner tour launch 20* stiff flex.
Irons - Tour Mode 3i,4i stiffIrons - FP's 5-PW R-flexWedge - spin milled 54.14Wedge - spin milled 60.07Putter - Victoria Lowest round 2010: 79 (par 70)Latest rounds at...

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why are there grooves on other golf clubs?

Other clubs aren't hit (nearly exclusively) from the tee.

They're for decoration and alignment on the driver. Nothing more, nothing less.

Erik J. Barzeski —  I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. 🏌🏼‍♂️
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution • Owner, The Sand Trap .com • AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 • WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

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Decoration. Alignment.

So if you could hit a ball hovering in midair(with no debris, water, etc..) with two wedges, one with a bare face(no grooves) and one with grooves, they would spin the same amount.

That's what i got from your post and others.
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I don't think its possible to hit a ball with a normal swing and not impart some spin, grooves or not. That being said if you grease the face of the driver can you prevent spin?

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Who hits the driver from the rough?

On the super rare occasion that I am sitting up in the rough and stuck behind a tree and need to put a big cut on the ball and have lots of room ahead and right (after going left of the tree) I will hit a driver. I don't practice it enough to be good at it consistently, but struck correctly it's a pretty good save shot.

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5H: Adams A3
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Note: This thread is 5028 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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