How Often Do You Hit the Sweet Spot? (Deprecated)

[David in FL]

22 minutes ago, Marty2019 said:

How about, life is short, what are you waiting for?  Money that goes un-spent is completely wasted!  Why are you sitting around dreaming of having something when you can actually have it?  Grab life by the horns!  The time for enjoyment is NOW. 

Ha!  I appreciate the help.  

I still can't get past the fact that I'm not a good enough ball-striker to play the damn things though!  

[billchao]

46 minutes ago, Marty2019 said:

How about, life is short, what are you waiting for?  Money that goes un-spent is completely wasted!  Why are you sitting around dreaming of having something when you can actually have it?  Grab life by the horns!  The time for enjoyment is NOW. 

Well you've convinced me, but good luck trying to convince the wife 

[Pretzel]

3 hours ago, Golfingdad said:

Speaking of that ... I hit precisely one ball on the range yesterday with @Pretzel‘s 7 iron (MP-4) and I’ve already begun trying to talk myself into needing a set. :P

Those clubs you KNOW when you hit the sweet spot. Had a perfectly pure 4-iron on Friday afternoon that prompted Erik to ask me whether I needed a change of pants afterwords, but then again I probably was just getting a bit excited in the middle of the competition. If you hit a fair number of shots with them you can see if the penalty for mishits is acceptable to you based on how often and how badly you usually miss.

The sweet spot is definitely a bit different than hitting it solid. Solid is going to feel really nice, and it's going to fly well, but the sweet spot is that ball that usually goes further than you expected. It's the drive you got 15 extra yards on, or the iron shot that flew the pin to land at the back of the green. 

 

[Marty2019]

25 minutes ago, Pretzel said:

Those clubs you KNOW when you hit the sweet spot. Had a perfectly pure 4-iron on Friday afternoon that prompted Erik to ask me whether I needed a change of pants afterwords, but then again I probably was just getting a bit excited in the middle of the competition. If you hit a fair number of shots with them you can see if the penalty for mishits is acceptable to you based on how often and how badly you usually miss.

The sweet spot is definitely a bit different than hitting it solid. Solid is going to feel really nice, and it's going to fly well, but the sweet spot is that ball that usually goes further than you expected. It's the drive you got 15 extra yards on, or the iron shot that flew the pin to land at the back of the green. 

 

That doesn't seem like it's necessarily a good thing- to unexpectedly fly over your target and land on the back of the green.  It doesn't seem like something you'd want to happen.  That seems like a shot you'd want to avoid. 

Edited October 22, 2017 by Marty2019

[Golfingdad]

43 minutes ago, Marty2019 said:

That doesn't seem like it's necessarily a good thing- to unexpectedly fly over your target and land on the back of the green.  It doesn't seem like something you'd want to happen.  That seems like a shot you'd want to avoid. 

It’s the nature of the game for amateurs.  We don’t hit the sweet spot that often so there is going to be some variation in our distances based on contact.  You account for it how you see fit.  I do it by always trying for the center of the green or thereabouts, giving me the most room for error long and short (and not accidentally, left and right). I can’t remember where I read that advice though.  Oh well. :P

[Pretzel]

45 minutes ago, Marty2019 said:

That doesn't seem like it's necessarily a good thing- to unexpectedly fly over your target and land on the back of the green.  It doesn't seem like something you'd want to happen.  That seems like a shot you'd want to avoid. 

It's just a shot that you happened to hit perfectly, when you're used to the little imperfections. The difference between sweet spot and solid tends to be larger on GI irons than blades, simply because GI irons are trying to make the clubface as springy as possible while blades generally try to make the clubface as consistent as possible. For my clubs the difference between the perfect and the solid shots is only about 5 yards with my irons, so not a large enough difference usually to cause a missed green unless I tried to attack some tucked pin. For GI irons with a larger COR in the sweet spot the difference between a perfectly centered shot and an almost perfect shot will be a bit larger. It's why many pros prefer to play blades or "players" irons, since they're designed to be more consistent.

[NJpatbee]

As a higher handicap I would be guessing at shots off the sweet spot.  There usually 3-4 shots per round that I know I had a real good swing for my level.  The majority are usually within my typical range for the club and are decent.  There are about 5 - 10 bad swings (including pitches and chips) that can cost me 10-12 shots.  I normally hit my driver 210 - 220 (carry and roll) on a good swing, but every 2 or 3 rounds I just nut one 240+.  Maybe the sweet spot, maybe better mechanics, I am not sure.  

[GolfLug]

If hitting the sweet spot is defined as the equatorial center of the ball hitting the dead center of the club-face then, honestly I have no idea and I cannot even take even an educated guess but I would imagine it would be very very low.

I do know my strikes favor the toe mostly. 

 

[NM Golf]

Way less than half the time. Every time I hit the sweet spot I hit it too long, I club for the slight mishit on the toe! 

[mcanadiens]

9 minutes ago, NM Golf said:

Way less than half the time. Every time I hit the sweet spot I hit it too long, I club for the slight mishit on the toe! 

Definitely. It's a real stunner when the old 7I flies 15 yards over the green.

[lastings]

This thread has really gone off the rails.   While the OP may have said sweet spot, it's obviously not what he meant.   Obviously, he was referring to center(ish) face, solid strikes.   notice in hit graph, there is no category for center-face just off the sweetspot.  all he really wants to track is how often he is putting good contact on the ball, and how that number compares to others around here.   

I'd say I put solid contact on the ball about 70% with my 8, 9, PW.   maybe 30% of the time with my 4, and 5.    6, and 7 vary between those two depending on how well I'm swinging that day.  

 

 

[Lihu]

54 minutes ago, lastings said:

This thread has really gone off the rails.   While the OP may have said sweet spot, it's obviously not what he meant.   Obviously, he was referring to center(ish) face, solid strikes.   notice in hit graph, there is no category for center-face just off the sweetspot.  all he really wants to track is how often he is putting good contact on the ball, and how that number compares to others around here.   

I'd say I put solid contact on the ball about 70% with my 8, 9, PW.   maybe 30% of the time with my 4, and 5.    6, and 7 vary between those two depending on how well I'm swinging that day.  

Sweet spot is defined pretty well:

Quote

The sweet spot is a specific area of the clubface, found within the perimeter defined by the grooves. It represents the precise area where the golf ball should be hit for optimal results. Highly skilled golfers will be able to hit the ball within the sweetspot consistently whereas average ones will struggle to.

https://www.golf-terms.com/definitions/club-parts/sweet-spot#definition

Also, it doesn't really mean a whole lot unless the swing path and face angle at impact are correct as well.

[Marty2019]

2 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Sweet spot is defined pretty well:

https://www.golf-terms.com/definitions/club-parts/sweet-spot#definition

Also, it doesn't really mean a whole lot unless the swing path and face angle at impact are correct as well.

" Highly skilled golfers will be able to hit the ball within the sweetspot consistently whereas average ones will struggle to. "

So how would one define "consistently?"  Because we have highly skilled golfers in this thread saying they hit the sweet spot less than 10% of the time.   I would define "consistently" as "more than half the time." 

 

[Lihu]

Just now, Marty2019 said:

" Highly skilled golfers will be able to hit the ball within the sweetspot consistently whereas average ones will struggle to. "

So how would one define "consistently?"  Because we have highly skilled golfers in this thread saying they hit the sweet spot less than 10% of the time.   I would define "consistently" as "more than half the time." 

Depends how you define "Highly skilled", I suppose? That might be just a semantics issue?

[Groucho Valentine]

Wait..you shank the ball 72% of the time? Wut? 

The wear pattern on my irons and hybrids tend to be darkest very slightly towards the heel. Thats not center contact per sea, but i never have the feeling that i mishit the ball. 

[lastings]

so...   Do we think we are doing a better job of answering the OP's questions by arguing over semantics, trying to understand his intent and moving forward? 

[Lihu]

9 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

Wait..you shank the ball 72% of the time? Wut? 

The wear pattern on my irons and hybrids tend to be darkest very slightly towards the heel. Thats not center contact per sea, but i never have the feeling that i mishit the ball. 

Yeah, the colors match way too close between a "perfect shot" and a "shank". 

 

7 minutes ago, lastings said:

so...   Do we think we are doing a better job of answering the OP's questions by arguing over semantics, trying to understand his intent and moving forward? 

Perhaps, it's possibly better for the OP to just ask one of the mods to change the title to something like "How often do you hit the ball solid enough to consider it a good shot?" rather than sticking with his own definition of "Hitting the sweet spot".

Edited October 23, 2017 by Lihu

[Groucho Valentine]

3 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Yeah, the colors match way too close between a "perfect shot" and a "shank". 

 

Perhaps, it's possibly better for the OP to just ask one of the mods to change the title to something like "How often do you hit the ball solid enough to consider it a good shot?" rather than sticking with his own definition of "Hitting the sweet spot".

Oh ok. I notice that now.