compressing the golf ball

[Sacman]

I played with a guy today that made the golf ball sizzle off his club seemingly on every shot. I tend to hit the ball fine but I know that I'm not compressing the ball. When I do I get an extra 10-15 yards. Does anyone have any suggestions for compressing the ball? Is it just hitting the ball more square on the club face?

[MambaGolfer]

It's all about getting your weight forward at impact and having a flat left wrist, which leads to good shaft lean and natural compression. Check out this thread: http://thesandtrap.com/t/61376/5sk-video-thread keys 2 & 3 specifically.

[logman]

compression is just hitting the golfball in the middle of the club. It's just a piece of metal hitting the ball. You compress the ball by hitting it.

Folks say you have to hit down on it to compress it but if you think of hitting up on your driver then you can't compress it with a driver?I think it's one of those golfing fallacies that emerged from thinking when you hit down on the ball you squeezed it against the ground..

[David in FL]

The golf ball doesn't compress..... It deforms.

[Zeph]

Forward shaft lean at impact and striking the ball in the sweet spot is what creates a good shot, at least with the irons. Higher handicaps struggle with both, but the main issue will always be getting the forward shaft lean. As far as "compression" goes, it's just a term that has stuck in the golfing world. When hitting a ball, you both compress and deform the ball, but the rate is higher for deforming than compressing. This happens regardless of how well you hit the ball, but the better the hit, the more you deform and compress, as is seen on the distance and quality of strike. That's, however, not important, it's just semantics. The forward shaft lean and a good impact position is the holy grail everyone is looking for. There are many factors that determine the quality of the strike, so it's difficult to give advice to a player without seeing the swing. Weight forward is an important part of it, as well as swing plane, sequencing, steady head and hand/arm action. I recommend you start a "My Swing" thread in the member swings forum and take it from there. 5SK got videos on many parts of the swing, all of which will help achieving the forward shaft lean and flat left wrist.

[joekelly]

Can't' we say that increased 'deformation and compression' is a function of clubhead speed and position of clubface upon the ball at impact?  Even if my shaft is leaning forward and my hand flat, if the speed is 65 mph, the ball ain't goin' far coz the speed is too slow.  The ball may go straight and somewhat up into the air, but for distance.... forget it.  We need 100 mph on the clubhead striking the ball to make the ball 'sizzle' off the tee/ground.

[jclark]

Hmmmm...A club face squarely hitting a ball at 65 mph might have the ball travel farther than a 100mph toe shot.... It's all about compressing the ball on a downward angle in the sweet spot with control

[joekelly]

That's right, jclark.  The rub is rather like being a concert piano player: merely pushing down the proper key at the proper time. Easy to talk about, and  when enjoying a small scotch whisky while sitting on the bar stool, easy to pretend that i can do it.

[Valleygolfer]

I like to rub my balls with bacon fat to get that "sizzle".... That doesn't sound right...

I would say if you want that sizzle you need to work on lag and increasing your club head speed. There are tons of threads here about it.

[GavinVearing]

Excellent comments by Zeph and Joekelly . In my opinion it is a combination of clubhead speed, solid contact and as Zeph mentions forward shaft lean is critical. Try hitting golf balls off a line. (Use baby powder to draw a line on the ground or hit balls out of a faiway bunker or put a tee or something in the ground next to the ball.) Have a look at where your divot is. Is it forward of the line or behind the line? According to Bobby Clampett in the book The Impact Zone, he found the deepest point of the divot or the bottom of the swing is 4 inches forward of the golf ball. With a 0 - 9 handicap the bottom of the swing was 1 1/2 inches forward of the ball, 10- 19 handicap was 2 inches behind the ball while a 32 handicapper the bottom of the swing was 4 inches behind the ball. I have done the exercise with students and it is very accurate. Obviously you are not going to get any compression if the bottom of your swing is behind the ball. There may be several other factors leading to your lack of compression but without seeing your swing it is hard to pinpoint exctly what you need to do. Try the exercise above and see if that helps.

[jamo]

compression is just hitting the golfball in the middle of the club. It's just a piece of metal hitting the ball. You compress the ball by hitting it. Folks say you have to hit down on it to compress it but if you think of hitting up on your driver then you can't compress it with a driver?I think it's one of those golfing fallacies that emerged from thinking when you hit down on the ball you squeezed it against the ground..

You are correct, the golf ball is not squeezed against the ground. But the difference is the fact that with the driver, the golf ball is tee'd up. You can swing up on a tee'd golf ball because there's room beneath the ball for the club to move upward. That room simply isn't there when the golf ball is on the ground. The only way to swing up on a golf ball is for the low point of the swing to be before the golf ball, right? If the club reaches the low point before the golf ball, you have a few options: (a) hit the turf before the ball, which will kill any speed you had and cause the club to dig, or (b) manage to just clip the turf before the ball, but when the club head does start going up, the sweet spot of the club moves above the equator of the golf ball, and you'll thin the crap out of the ball, or (c) get lucky as **** time, after time, after time, after time. Good luck with that one.

[logman]

Originally Posted by jamo

You are correct, the golf ball is not squeezed against the ground.

But the difference is the fact that with the driver, the golf ball is tee'd up. You can swing up on a tee'd golf ball because there's room beneath the ball for the club to move upward. That room simply isn't there when the golf ball is on the ground.

The only way to swing up on a golf ball is for the low point of the swing to be before the golf ball, right? If the club reaches the low point before the golf ball, you have a few options: (a) hit the turf before the ball, which will kill any speed you had and cause the club to dig, or (b) manage to just clip the turf before the ball, but when the club head does start going up, the sweet spot of the club moves above the equator of the golf ball, and you'll thin the crap out of the ball, or (c) get lucky as **** time, after time, after time, after time. Good luck with that one.

But Jamo I think what tends to happen in these discussions is the linking of several "at contact" ideas.

OK so, "compression" ........is just hitting the nut in the middle of the stick. It doesn't matter if I hit down on my iron or I tee my ball up on 1 foot tee peg and hit it to the moon. If I'm swinging the club at "x" MPH then that it.

OK so, Stiking a 5 iron off the turf is better with a slightly descending AoA. BUT I would say its immaterial and another thread as to whether you come into impact with lag, no lag, flat wrist, bent elbow or one handed........It's a slightly downward AoA at impact that's important.

[Zeph]

What is the point of this discussion? I can't even make out what you are trying to say.