How can you hit 5.5* down and not take a (significant) divot?
- Thread starter GeoffDickson
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Todd Dugan
New
AA measures the direction that the clubhead is moving, during collision, relative to the ground/horizon. It does not measure where the sweet spot is at any point, nor where the clubhead is moving at any other time but during collision.
Don't confuse AA with where the hula hoop is. Look, imagine you've got the ball teed up high and you hit up 5* with a driver, making a clean center impact. No divot, right? Now imagine that that ball had been sitting on the ground. Get it?
Don't confuse AA with where the hula hoop is. Look, imagine you've got the ball teed up high and you hit up 5* with a driver, making a clean center impact. No divot, right? Now imagine that that ball had been sitting on the ground. Get it?
Michael Finney
New
sounds like a good question to ask fredrik tuxen - the inventor of trackman....anyone know if there is an opportunity where you can ask premier golf researchers questions like this and get a direct answer?
No. I don't get what you're saying with respect to irons. I know I can get a positive or negative attack angle with a ball teed up. What about a ball that's on the ground? If my attack angle is -5* at impact my club is going down a fair amount and should produce a divot in my mind because of the degree of the attack angle. Thus, when a shot is hit with a -5* AoA and causes no divot I can't comprehend that shot because of the size of the negative attack angle. The more negative the attack angle the more the club will want to go into the ground and produce a divot with my logic.
Kevin Shields
Super Moderator
If you have an attack angle of -5 with severely forward hands that are already going up which would not even have the club touching the ground until way after the ball anyway, that club can barely scrape the ground producing little to no divot. When you "get ahead of a shot" some people stick it in the ground, and some make a very skinny, shallow divot that starts 3 inches after the ball. Both shots can have a severely negative attack angle. Depends on what kind of player you are talking about. Certainly a highly negative Attack angle would normal produce a decent divot IMO.
I don't know if there will ever be that opportunity! Keep us posted if one happens to develop. I'll be away the beginning of next week on Long Island but will check back with you when I return.
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Todd Dugan
New
What if you impact only part of the ball on the very bottom of the clubface? Then, even though the clubhead is still descending after impact with the -5* AA, the club may only graze the top of the ground.
But assuming center impact, then sure, there's going to be a divot. But, a more active release will reduce the sweet spot radius, causing the clubhead to start coming up sooner, reducing the length of the divot, if nothing else.
Do you mean a thin shot when only hitting "part" of the ball? I generally hit down to ensure center impact. I've never been a good picker of the ball with my irons.
Kevin Shields
Super Moderator
If the club and hands are both going down at impact, surely you'll squeeze the turf more
Then you'll be compressing it like Tiger!
Kevin -
I have a hard time feeling my hands go up and my clubhead go down at the same time. When my hands go up it feels like the clubhead goes up even though I know for that one milisecond it doesn't.
Has anyone else run into this feeling?
Matt Bryda
New
You could be still dragging.
Kevin Shields
Super Moderator
Sounds like the rate of the release is still off. Like Matt said, you could be real late and then they both go up at the same time, which sorta explains why you only feel you zing your irons when you trap them. Hands go up, back, down, forward and then up. If they just drag toward low point or toward the ball and then go up, impact can feel very flippy.
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Frans@France
New
For those that are interested a direct quote from Tuxen : For a -5Deg Attack angle the club head moves less than 2mm downwards during impact.
and quote2 : at 120mph clubhead speed, club and ball have contact over less then 21mm!
and quote2 : at 120mph clubhead speed, club and ball have contact over less then 21mm!
No wonder the game is so hard. We're dealing with milimeters and clubheads going 75 mph+ (120 mph is very, very fast with a driver).
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