how does face size effect shot shaping?

[erikpmort]

It seems that smaller club faces are better for shot shaping. I think i have read this when reading about clubs. I also think this is true for both irons and drivers. Am i correct? If so, why is that? just curious

[sc golfer]

usually it's because the smaller faces are players irons, and the bigger faced/big cavitiy clubs are game improvement/super game improvement. players irons you can shape and game improvement irons are difficult to do so because of all the forgiveness in the club. eg clevelands cg1 irons, and the hibore sgi clubs

[erikpmort]

thanks for the reply. so the cavity makes the ball less likely to spin R or L? so is my idea that a smaller face makes it more playable wrong?

[sc golfer]

no, you're right, less cavity/moi makes it easier to shape and also harder to hit

[VALSALVA]

I don't disagree with the above responses. However, regardless of how large or "forgiving" an iron is, any shot can be sliced/hooked at will by either opening or closing the club-face and making a normal swing. I don't care how forgiving a club is, if I want to hit a severe hook I shut down the clubface. The opposite is true for a slice.

[erikpmort]

yeah see i guess i'll explain how i figure it: take a driver and forget irons and cavitys. On titleists website their tour drivers like the 905s and the 907d2 are always smaller and say are more "workable" so does size matter or not? I was just trying to understand.

[VALSALVA]

  erikpmort said:

yeah see i guess i'll explain how i figure it: take a driver and forget irons and cavitys. On titleists website their tour drivers like the 905s and the 907d2 are always smaller and say are more "workable" so does size matter or not? I was just trying to understand.

I'm not sure what they mean either. I was at a demo day last week and hit a whole bunch of irons - mostly for fun. One thing I like to do besides hitting "normal" shots is try to hit big sweeping hooks and fades, just to check workability and what not. Once again, not big surprises. I could hit just as big a hook or fade with Callaway X-20's as I could with Titliest AP-2' or Mizuno MP-57's. Again, for me, it has everything to do with how open or closed my clubface is and maybe deviating just a bit either inside-out or outside-in depending on what shot I'm trying to pull off. For me, club-face size makes no difference.

[erikpmort]

cool thanks.

[iacas]

  VALSALVA said:

For me, club-face size makes no difference.

Clubface size really won't matter if you hit the exact sweet spot (which is infinitely small).

Once you start mis-hitting the ball, twisting comes into play. The gear effect comes into play. MOI comes into play. Forgiveness comes into play. That's where cavity-backs, etc. offer their "forgiveness." Since most golfers don't find the sweet spot every time - and some rarely do - forgiveness is a factor. The 907D1 IS more forgiving than the 907D2, the ZB IS more forgiving than the ZM, and so on.

[VALSALVA]

  iacas said:

Clubface size really won't matter if you hit the exact sweet spot (which is infinitely small).

Yeah, I think we were talking about workability...not the ability to avoid disaster due to a mis-hit shot. They are related in some ways but certainly not the same. Anyhow...like I said before. Give me a Callaway Big Bertha iron or a forged muscle back and I'll hit any shot you want with either.

[iacas]

  VALSALVA said:

Yeah, I think we were talking about workability...not the ability to avoid disaster due to a mis-hit shot. They are related in some ways but certainly not the same. Anyhow...like I said before. Give me a Callaway Big Bertha iron or a forged muscle back and I'll hit any shot you want with either.

So was I.

You can work the ball if you hit the sweet spot. If you miss the sweet spot, your ability to work the ball is compromised by the "forgiving" clubs. Since most golfers don't hit the sweet spot frequently, "forgiving" clubs are "forgiving."

[michaeljames92]

  iacas said:

Once you start mis-hitting the ball, twisting comes into play. The gear effect comes into play. MOI comes into play. Forgiveness comes into play.

this is how you get pushes and pulls. perimiter weighted clubs try to stop some twisting and hence less right or left shot direction.

[erikpmort]

i was just thinking- geez then why do tour pros play with smaller faces if there is NO benefit to a smaller face?

[iacas]

  erikpmort said:

i was just thinking- geez then why do tour pros play with smaller faces if there is NO benefit to a smaller face?

Better control, better feel, thinner sole (typically), easier to get through the rough and other thick lies... There are advantages.

[erikpmort]

oh yeah. read that stuff before too i guess