Gear Effect Pop Quiz, Where Did This Ball Go?

[iacas]

@iacas I get that. Would be a bit disappointed if this was an extreme toe strike and hook into left rough - the clubhead image seemed a bit obvious. Maybe not - doh.

The clubhead can and does twist quite a bit, yeah. Odd but it happens. Ditto for heel hits (though a bit less as it's closer to the shaft/axis).

[bste]

First thought: big draw left rough - then: no, that isn't me, baby draw center fairway.

looking at where the ball is starting and if it is a baby draw, in the fairway.

Waffle much ( talking to myself )

[billchao]

That face is really open though. I would think his grip would be firm enough to stop a toe hit from twisting the club that far.

Matt, check out the video Erik posted. The clubhead twisting open has nothing to do with the player's grip, it's twisting about the shaft. I believe the shaft itself is twisting, too.

[Golfingdad]

I haven't cheated and looked at the other answers but I voted left rough. You can see that the ball started way straighter than where the face is pointed right now, which tells me one thing: Holy toe strike engaging gear effect Batman!!

[vangator]

It would be funny if the video showed the head flying off. :-)

[parlor]

I voted right rough. Guess I have more to learn about this stuff.

[Pretzel]

The golf ball doesn't appear to be heading way right, since you can see the tee it started on, but the clubface is twisted open. My guess is he toed it and the shot is a snap hook left.

[nevets88]

Here's his 3W swing. Not the swing in the photo. Nice swing.

[SavvySwede]

Here's his 3W swing. Not the swing in the photo. Nice swing.

What is this? A swing for ants!?

[nevets88]

Here's just past impact for the 3W. Looks like he hit the center of the face? Or maybe toe-ish? Now I wanna see his iron swing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nevets88

Here's his 3W swing. Not the swing in the photo. Nice swing.

What is this? A swing for ants!?

Two words: Zoom in. And a 2MB gif limit.

[jamo]

I'm in the "toed it" camp, though there's not really enough there to tell if it finished in the left rough or fairway (plus we don't know the size of the fairway, if it's a dogleg, etc.). I ended up voting for left rough.

[14ledo81]

[quote name="14ledo81" url="/t/83179/pop-quiz-where-did-this-ball-go#post_1167619"]That face is really open though. I would think his grip would be firm enough to stop a toe hit from twisting the club that far.

Matt, check out the video Erik posted. The clubhead twisting open has nothing to do with the player's grip, it's twisting about the shaft. I believe the shaft itself is twisting, too.[/quote] That explains it.

[mvmac]

From his instructor, I think the player normally hits it 300-325.

Many of you guys were correct, he toed it and that's why the face was "twisted" so far right after impact. The bulge/curvature of the driver face helped the ball start right to compensate for the "draw spin" (left tilt of the spin axis) due to the gear effect. The off center hit twisted the club one way and "twisted" the ball the other way, like two gears meshing.

More on gear effect with your driver (also gear effect with irons but irons don't have bulge and roll), generally....

• When you hit the ball high on the face, it will launch higher and spin less. Goes high because of where the curvature of the face is pointing and spins less because of where the ball contacts the face in relation to the COG (center of gravity) of the club. Reason OEM's try to get the COG of drivers as low as possible.
• When you hit the ball low on the face, it will launch lower and spin more.
• When you hit the ball on the toe, the ball will start right and draw/hook to the left. Could go straight if you swing left enough.
• When you hit the ball on the heel, the ball will start left but fade/slice to the right.
• Draw drivers like the PING G30 SF Tec have more weight towards the heel, which moves the COG of the driver a little more towards the heel. So a center hit effectively plays like a slight toe strike. Helps players draw the ball or fade it less.

[EverythingGolf]

Left, toe hit gear effect.

[Brian96]

Nice thread, enjoyed it and learned a little. Thanks

[dave s]

What I think is happening:

He's hitting a high draw out over the tree line trying to reach the green of a short, dogleg right par 4 hole.  I think I see a bunker straight away guarding the left side of the green.

In summary:  He's hitting a high, soft big right to left bender.

dave

[mvmac]

What I think is happening:

He's hitting a high draw out over the tree line trying to reach the green of a short, dogleg right par 4 hole.  I think I see a bunker straight away guarding the left side of the green.

In summary:  He's hitting a high, soft big right to left bender.

dave

In case you didn't see it, more info in this post.

http://thesandtrap.com/t/83179/pop-quiz-where-did-this-ball-go/18#post_1167824

[chspeed]

Great thread! Let's keep it going. Without Googling this and seeing the whole swing, what's going to happen here?