Driver on Upswing

[maddog0512]

What is it about hitting a driver on the upswing that decreases spin rate?  I hit my irons consistently well for the most part but I'm putting a lot of side spin on the ball with my driver, both left and right.  Last night, I tried feeling like I was swinging more "up" into the ball and it straightened out the ball flight.  The drives didn't feel as powerful, but were going roughly the same distance.

[cipher]

There is no such thing really as side spin, just a tilted spin axis.  I believe It reduces the back spin generally when hitting up on the ball because you start hitting it a little more towards the center of the face.  When hitting down on the ball with the driver you generally will catch it higher on the face creating more spin.

[iacas]

There is no such thing really as side spin, just a tilted spin axis.  I believe It reduces the back spin generally when hitting up on the ball because you start hitting it a little more towards the center of the face.  When hitting down on the ball with the driver you generally will catch it higher on the face creating more spin.

High on the face reduces "backspin" due to vertical gear effect.

People who hit down can tend to hit the ball higher on the face, but let's not get carried away - I've seen a lot of posts recently about how hitting the ball high on the face means you're hitting down with the driver, and that's nothing more than a very loose generality. It really has more to do with people hitting popups, not a cm high on the face.

[cipher]

High on the face reduces "backspin" due to vertical gear effect.

People who hit down can tend to hit the ball higher on the face, but let's not get carried away - I've seen a lot of posts recently about how hitting the ball high on the face means you're hitting down with the driver, and that's nothing more than a very loose generality. It really has more to do with people hitting popups, not a cm high on the face.

OK makes sense.  Sorry for the miss information.

[mvmac]

What is it about hitting a driver on the upswing that decreases spin rate?

Answer #10

http://thesandtrap.com/t/64136/marios-instructor-quiz#post_798236

[maddog0512]

So hitting on the upswing reduces backspin which lessens the likelihood a ball is going to spin off right or left?  I'm not sure I fully understand.

[joekelly]

Doesn't increased backspin result in decreased side-spin?  Consider drivers (low backspin) vs 9i (high backspin) and the number of balls going off line.  And backspin is more easily found in higher loft. So to decrease your wild slices out to the cabbage patch, increase the loft of your driver.  Of course, in all cases higher clubhead speed will increase all spinning components.

[saevel25]

There is no side spin. There is only one axis of tilt to the ball, which the ball spins around.

[mvmac]

So hitting on the upswing reduces backspin which lessens the likelihood a ball is going to spin off right or left?  I'm not sure I fully understand.

Doesn't increased backspin result in decreased side-spin?  Consider drivers (low backspin) vs 9i (high backspin) and the number of balls going off line.  And backspin is more easily found in higher loft. So to decrease your wild slices out to the cabbage patch, increase the loft of your driver.  Of course, in all cases higher clubhead speed will increase all spinning components.

Wedges or shorter irons are harder to curve because the more dynamic loft the harder it is to tilt the spin axis.  All about spin loft.  Check out answers 5 and 7 http://thesandtrap.com/t/64136/marios-instructor-quiz#post_798236

Ball can only spin around one axis.  Think of it like wings on an airplane.  When the spin axis is tilted to the right, ball will curve right, tilted to the left, ball will curve left.  What cause it to tilt?  Off center hits and face/path relationships.

So let's say (in relation to the target at impact) face is 2* right, path is 5* right, ball will draw, axis tilted left.  Another shot, face aimed left 2*, path left 5*, ball will fade, axis titled right.

[Jakester23]

Wedges or shorter irons are harder to curve because the more dynamic loft the harder it is to tilt the spin axis.  All about spin loft.  Check out answers 5 and 7 [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/t/64136/marios-instructor-quiz#post_798236]http://thesandtrap.com/t/64136/marios-instructor-quiz#post_798236[/URL]  Ball can only spin around one axis.  Think of it like wings on an airplane.  When the spin axis is tilted to the right, ball will curve right, tilted to the left, ball will curve left.  What cause it to tilt?  Off center hits and face/path relationships.   So let's say (in relation to the target at impact) face is 2* right, path is 5* right, ball will draw, axis tilted left.  Another shot, face aimed left 2*, path left 5*, ball will fade, axis titled right. [URL=http://thesandtrap.com/content/type/61/id/85359/] [/URL]

So what I'm getting out of this post is the reason it's hard to curve a pw or 9 iron is the plane would look more like its taking off? If thats the case that makes a lot of sense.

[saevel25]

Well the reason it's harder to curve the ball, there is so much dynamic loft that its hard for the plane to tilt left or right. I would say it would be like flying a plane with extra heavy load on board.

[iacas]

[saevel25]

You know your seriously into golf when you use CAD to explain why lower lofted clubs are easier to curve than higher lofted ones ;)

[maddog0512]

Wedges or shorter irons are harder to curve because the more dynamic loft the harder it is to tilt the spin axis.  All about spin loft.  Check out answers 5 and 7 http://thesandtrap.com/t/64136/marios-instructor-quiz#post_798236

Ball can only spin around one axis.  Think of it like wings on an airplane.  When the spin axis is tilted to the right, ball will curve right, tilted to the left, ball will curve left.  What cause it to tilt?  Off center hits and face/path relationships.

So let's say (in relation to the target at impact) face is 2* right, path is 5* right, ball will draw, axis tilted left.  Another shot, face aimed left 2*, path left 5*, ball will fade, axis titled right.

If I'm understanding this correctly, assuming a center of the face struck ball, as well as face direction and path being the same, it doesn't make a difference whether you hit up or down on the ball with a driver.  So in reality, hitting up with the driver is more about getting maximum distance (i.e. better launch angle) rather than hitting it straighter.

[mvmac]

If I'm understanding this correctly, assuming a center of the face struck ball, as well as face direction and path being the same, it doesn't make a difference whether you hit up or down on the ball with a driver.  So in reality, hitting up with the driver is more about getting maximum distance (i.e. better launch angle) rather than hitting it straighter.

Hitting up can help you hit it more solid and straighter with a driver, your understanding is basically correct.  Most curvature problems are the result of path issues.

[maddog0512]

That's a very helpful video.  Thanks for the responses.