Trajectory Same Height For All Clubs

[1badbadger]

This is a subject I have been intrigued about for a while...the concept of good players hitting all of their clubs almost the same height.  Check this out:

When I saw this I started doing some research on it and found some data that backed it up:

So I'm not an authority on the subject, but apparently it appears that we hit our short irons higher than our driver because of our perception of the angle of the ball above the horizon, but in reality they are the same height.  Here is a link to a article I found on the subject:

http://probablegolfinstruction.com/golf-science-newsletter-trajectory-height-same-for-all-clubs.html#Tip1

Anyone else ever heard of this?

[iacas]

Yes. Known this for years now.  Pretty sure it’s even in LSW.

Note that a lot of longer hitters actually hit their drivers 120 feet or so high, though.

[dennyjones]

I've not really give this much thought but it's interesting.   Thanks for sharing.

[nevets88]

7 hours ago, iacas said:

Yes. Known this for years now.  Pretty sure it’s even in LSW.

Note that a lot of longer hitters actually hit their drivers 120 feet or so high, though.

I saw Luke List play man he hits the ball high. You need radar tracking. Have never gotten to watch Day up close though. Thomas seemed to hit it high although not as impressive from bleachers. 

[sofingaw]

Yeah, it took a while the first time I went to a tour event in person to get used to looking at the correct height for hit balls, particularly tee shots. It seems like they go maybe 20-30 feet higher on average than what I see from myself and other amateurs. 

Of course there was some variation, but generally these guys were hitting it  pretty high.

I seem to recall Tiger, Lee Westwood, Louis O, and G-Mac at the time (2013) hitting it pretty damn high, even compared to the rest of the guys that day. 

[Zeph]

I learned it some years ago when Eric posted the first (that I saw) statistics from Trackman of the PGA Tour stats. I was surprised too that the clubs peaked at the same height, but it's difficult to judge based on where we are when hitting shots.

[Buckeyebowman]

According to Tom Wishon, shot height is not only dependent upon club loft, but also clubhead and ball velocity! The faster you can hit the ball, the higher it will fly, But the accomplished player doesn't always want this.

We've all heard of hitting shots "down"! I read, long ago, that the best players hit their long irons high, and their short irons low! I've never been able to master such, but I've seen it many times on TV!

[DrMJG]

Thanks for the information.  I am fairly sure this is not a major aspect of my play, yet.

 

[saevel25]

14 hours ago, Zeph said:

I learned it some years ago when Eric posted the first (that I saw) statistics from Trackman of the PGA Tour stats. I was surprised too that the clubs peaked at the same height, but it's difficult to judge based on where we are when hitting shots.

It might have to do that we only have true depth perception out to about 18 FT. http://scecinfo.usc.edu/geowall/stereohow.html

Outside of that, we use other objects to gain reference to how tall or far away things are. 

I can totally see that a driver going out 250 yards would look like it's not going as high as a wedge. The trees in the distance do not look that tall compared to trees right near you, even though they might be the same height. 

 

[DrMJG]

4 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

It might have to do that we only have true depth perception out to about 18 FT. http://scecinfo.usc.edu/geowall/stereohow.html

Outside of that, we use other objects to gain reference to how tall or far away things are. 

I can totally see that a driver going out 250 yards would look like it's not going as high as a wedge. The trees in the distance do not look that tall compared to trees right near you, even though they might be the same height. 

  

Thatis a good reason why I might not see that in my own shots.  Thanks for the info!

 

[colin007]

1 hour ago, Buckeyebowman said:

We've all heard of hitting shots "down"! I read, long ago, that the best players hit their long irons high, and their short irons low! I've never been able to master such, but I've seen it many times on TV!

Yeah, this....I've got the long irons going high, I just can't seem to get the short ones down.

[nevets88]

If you hit a high flop that goes behind you, is that technically negative height? 😜

Low ball hitters are cool to watch too, and easier to track.

[saevel25]

1 minute ago, nevets88 said:

If you hit a high flop that goes behind you, is that technically negative height? 😜

Low ball hitters are cool to watch too, and easier to track.

Nope... Lets say Z is the vertical axis. Y is left to right, and X is back to forward. That would have positive Z (still goes in the air). Zero Y, doesn't deviate left or right. Negative X, goes behind you. 

[dennyjones]

20 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

If you hit a high flop that goes behind you, is that technically negative height? 😜

Low ball hitters are cool to watch too, and easier to track.

 

17 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

Nope... Lets say Z is the vertical axis. Y is left to right, and X is back to forward. That would have positive Z (still goes in the air). Zero Y, doesn't deviate left or right. Negative X, goes behind you. 

And that right there folks are why puns are the worse jokes!   

[billchao]

2 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

And that right there folks are why puns are the worse jokes!   

I don't get it 😕

[dennyjones]

26 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

If you hit a high flop that goes behind you, is that technically negative height? 😜

I'm taking it, maybe wrong, that @nevets88 was joking with the negative height ... note the emoji? 

[saevel25]

3 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

I'm taking it, maybe wrong, that @nevets88 was joking with the negative height ... note the emoji? 

I got that, but it made no sense.

[nevets88]

5 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

I got that, but it made no sense.

I am no Steven Wright. 😞