Tiger's Ball Flight

[whip_it_out]

Any one else see the shot tracker of one of Tiger's drives last week? He hits the ball unbelievably high. I mean I don't understand why he'd switch to a 10 degree driver and tee it up higher.

[Shindig]

Any one else see the shot tracker of one of Tiger's drives last week? He hits the ball

I think the driver was to decrease sidespin, probably with the intent of getting a better result on the bicritieria of (accuracy, distance).

[ApocG10]

its not like he's a short hitter. Even with the added loft, he was averaging like 285+ yards at Bethpage I believe. So if he can trade a few yards for accuracy, when his driving was horrible since his return, I think he made the right choice.

[CG031]

Any one else see the shot tracker of one of Tiger's drives last week? He hits the ball

Because he's all over the place with a lower lofted driver. And what's the point. He hits the ball PLENTY far enough so give up a few yards with a high controllable ball flight. He hit the ball pretty well at Bethpage. His short game and putting was un-Tiger-like though.

[pshizz]

I followed tiger last week at the u.s. open, and his ballflight was not nearly as high as it appears on t.v. with shot tracker. Shot tracker is very decieving, because the camera is set at an angle, so it displays a ballflight that is different than in real person.

[iacas]

Any one else see the shot tracker of one of Tiger's drives last week? He hits the ball

No, it's not. It's lower than virtually every other PGA Tour pro.

In other words:

I followed tiger last week at the u.s. open, and his ballflight was not nearly as high as it appears on t.v. with shot tracker. Shot tracker is very decieving, because the camera is set at an angle, so it displays a ballflight that is different than in real person.

Now, on to something else...

I think the driver was to decrease sidespin, probably with the intent of getting a better result on the bicritieria of (accuracy, distance).

No, that wasn't it at all. Tiger's launch angle has been too low for the past few years. He hit one at Doral that was under 7 degrees. The extra half a degree helps him achieve a more optimal launch angle.

Because he's all over the place with a lower lofted driver. And what's the point. He hits the ball PLENTY far enough so give up a few yards with a high controllable ball flight.

Tiger didn't give up yardage with the extra half a degree. He may have even picked up some with better launch conditions.

[senorchipotle]

Any one else see the shot tracker of one of Tiger's drives last week? He hits the ball

if what you say is true, i imagine it's because of the muddy fairways where you don't get any roll off hitting a lower trajectory. so with a higher trajectory it will go farther because you're playing for the carry, not for the roll.

[iacas]

if what you say is true, i imagine it's because of the muddy fairways where you don't get any roll off hitting a lower trajectory. so with a higher trajectory it will go farther because you're playing for the carry, not for the roll.

No, that's not it at all. He switched at Memorial where there was no mud. Again, he's had one of the lowest launch angles - too low - for quite a few years. This was discussed before in this very thread as well as a few others.

[Leftygolfer]

If you hit the ball with the right launch conditions (13-14 degrees, low spin) you will get the most distance out of your drives. It might go farther when it is super hard and fast with a lower launch angle, but you will still get plenty of roll with the optimal launch conditions. And I really don't want my ball to roll more than 20 yards on the ground because you just will not hit alot of fairways with tons of roll (that is why fast is a more difficult playing condition than wet).

[MiniMoe]

most of the guys on tour want to hit the ball very high with very little spin. They believe it will carry farther then not roll out into the rough.... which is true. However, reducing spin on a driver is a double edged sword. I personally believe that the more you reduce spin on a driver the less you have control over the golf ball... it makes it hard to work the ball. The biggest difference I see is on miss-hits. If the ball starts right, most of the time it is going to stay right having no chance to work back to the fairway. If you don't believe me, put a little grease on a driver and hit a ball. The ball goes straight and will not curve. The ball does have backspin otherwise it would not stay in the air very long, but there is not enough spin to make the ball curve right or left.

Apply that picture to Tiger's intentions with his driver. He wants to hit the ball high and straight with very little curve. Good idea, the problem is, however, his swing is not a swing to hit the ball straight. He pushes and pulls a lot of shots, so with little spin, the ball starts right and stays right.....right into the trees.

[pjsnyc]

Also, I think Tiger (as well as everyone else in the field) was trying to keep the ball low so that there's less of a chance for a mud ball from the middle of the fairway.

[iacas]

I personally believe that the more you reduce spin on a driver the less you have control over the golf ball... it makes it hard to work the ball. The biggest difference I see is on miss-hits. If the ball starts right, most of the time it is going to stay right having no chance to work back to the fairway. If you don't believe me, put a little grease on a driver and hit a ball. The ball goes straight and will not curve.

Reducing backspin doesn't necessarily reduce sidespin. The grease (or chapstick) will affect both, but reducing backspin doesn't necessarily reduce sidespin.

[Leftygolfer]

Isn't it true that if you increase back spin, side spin would be reduced. (9 iron slices less than a 4) Does anyone remember the display of golf tiger had to shoot a 65 and win the memorial? I don't buy that you would hit it straighter with more side spin so it corrects a push with some hook spin. I don't know many people that can successfully control the golf ball playing like that. That is getting mighty close to the dreaded duck hook.

[iacas]

Isn't it true that if you increase back spin, side spin would be reduced.

Short answer: not really.

You can't compare a 4I to a 9I - that's got almost nothing in common with changing the loft of the same club half a degree. Those have different length shafts, different flexes, different angles of attack, different lie angles, etc. The long answer is rather complex, so i won't get into it here. But here's a simplified snippet of that whole discussion to address your 4I/9I thing: Imagine a 4I and a 9I hit with the same amount of sidespin as measured in RPM. The 4I will be traveling through the air in a horizontal direction at, I dunno, let's say 125 MPH. The 9I will be traveling in a horizontal direction at significantly less - let's say 85 MPH. Why? Because the 4I is hit on a lower trajectory due to loft (and at a higher ball speed due to the longer shaft). So clearly the 4I is going to slice (or hook) more. Backspin isn't even a part of the equation - you can remove the vertical vector entirely.