How do you maximize your SMASH factor?

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I was hitting some balls with the flight scope and my clubhead speed was averaging around 100 mph. My smashfactor was between 1.48 and 1.51 and I was carrying the ball around the 250 mark and rolling usually around the 270 yard mark. One of my buddies was hitting it with the same club head speed but only getting about 230-235 total distance.
My attack angle was in the +3 range and path in to out around 4to 5 and consistently hit the center of the club. His path was -4 or so and was swinging out to in 4 to 6, he also had a tendency to hit the heel of the club. When he was doing the above he drove the ball somewhere between 200 if it was a week cut and 230 if he squared the face and pulled it. We were able to improve his attack angle to the positive side... usually around 1.5-2 and his path to 2-3 to the right. Also by having him back up and line the ball more off the toe of the club he began to hit the center more often. BUT..... the most we could get out of his drives were in the 230-235 I mentioned earlier. What gives?
 
I'm NO expert but what sticks out to me is that you "consistently hit the center of the club" and he "hit the heel of the club". Also, were both drivers fitted for each of your swings?
 
John Graham would probably say the issue is FlightScope itself. After seeing some of the FlightScope numbers posted after a European Tour event I can't say FlightScope is accurate at all.



3JACK
 
Regardless of what flightscope was saying i was watching it with my own eyes and the difference was there for sure.
 

Jim Kobylinski

Super Moderator
a hot face and hitting it perfectly in the sweetspot even a 1/4" off the sweet spot loses significant ball speed which equates to a much lower smash factor
 

tfro

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Jim, you and I have discussed/argued this topic in the past I think. But, do you have or have you seen any actual data to suggest how the COR varies across the face? My gut as an engineer doesn't agree with you given today's available technology. But I have not been able to find any actual data one way or the other, and I've spent some time looking.

Also, regarding smash factor, Trackman has an interesting article about the accuracy of this calculated value. http://trackman.dk/getmedia/59d6f204-5336-48b3-807d-dbbb4aa39332/TMNewsMay2008.aspx
 
Jim, you and I have discussed/argued this topic in the past I think. But, do you have or have you seen any actual data to suggest how the COR varies across the face? My gut as an engineer doesn't agree with you given today's available technology. But I have not been able to find any actual data one way or the other, and I've spent some time looking.

Also, regarding smash factor, Trackman has an interesting article about the accuracy of this calculated value. http://trackman.dk/getmedia/59d6f204-5336-48b3-807d-dbbb4aa39332/TMNewsMay2008.aspx


do correct if I am wrong.......but are you saying the cor is uniform across the face? thus making the "sweetspot" a myth?
 

tfro

New
Ok, curiousty got the better of me, and I had to unblock you to see.

No. I don't think the COR is uniform across the face. I think that due to the limits placed on COR, one could design a modern driver to have an area of maximum COR instead of a single point (which was true with persimon heads). Now that area may not be big (1/4 - 1/2" diameter, maybe?).

Why do I think this? You take a driver and design it so that the COR exceeds the limit at some spot (but the area around that spot is legal). You now add mass to that area to make it a bit 'dead' and it becomes legal at that spot, and now you have a range of 'maxed out' COR. Now, some specific spot will be hottest by some very small amount, presumably less than what we can detect with ball speeds.

This wouldn't be possible with wood driver heads. And would probably not be worth the effort with a steel head given the mechanical properties of steel (weight, required face thickness).

Honestly, I could be totally wrong. But I've seen the face of a callaway driver on the inside that suggested that things like this are being implemented. I wish I had the face with me, or had a picture. If there is data to prove it right or wrong, I'd love to see it.
 
Why do I think this? You take a driver and design it so that the COR exceeds the limit at some spot (but the area around that spot is legal). You now add mass to that area to make it a bit 'dead' and it becomes legal at that spot, and now you have a range of 'maxed out' COR. .


thus making it play uniform no?

kinda like cobra's 9 hot points in the face?


this is interesting.............
 

tfro

New
Yes, I think so and yes. It's clear there has been a lot of research on this topic if you search thesis topics. I just don't have access to the right journals to find the data I want to see.
 
Yes, I think so and yes. It's clear there has been a lot of research on this topic if you search thesis topics. I just don't have access to the right journals to find the data I want to see.


thanks......I am not a "thesis" kinda guy. I just rather get it straight from a guy like you who deals with like stuff for a living.
 

Jim Kobylinski

Super Moderator
Jim, you and I have discussed/argued this topic in the past I think. But, do you have or have you seen any actual data to suggest how the COR varies across the face? My gut as an engineer doesn't agree with you given today's available technology. But I have not been able to find any actual data one way or the other, and I've spent some time looking.

Also, regarding smash factor, Trackman has an interesting article about the accuracy of this calculated value. http://trackman.dk/getmedia/59d6f204-5336-48b3-807d-dbbb4aa39332/TMNewsMay2008.aspx

Refresh me on our arguements (debates lol).

When i mean "hot face" i mean COR values do vary from driver to driver a lot of times which is why the tour level golfers will go through head after head until they find the one giving them them the best ball speeds.

I have read some articles discussing the drop in ball speed when missing the sweet spot but nothing that i can remember the link to. But rest assured that you will be losing ball speed if you don't hit it in the center. Even if it is only 5mph that equates to almost 10-15 yards of carry and if you are swinging at 100mph that goes from 1.50 to 1.45 smash factor
 

tfro

New
Refresh me on our arguements (debates lol).

When i mean "hot face" i mean COR values do vary from driver to driver a lot of times which is why the tour level golfers will go through head after head until they find the one giving them them the best ball speeds.

I have read some articles discussing the drop in ball speed when missing the sweet spot but nothing that i can remember the link to. But rest assured that you will be losing ball speed if you don't hit it in the center. Even if it is only 5mph that equates to almost 10-15 yards of carry and if you are swinging at 100mph that goes from 1.50 to 1.45 smash factor

I believe you said that there is one exact spot that has the highest ball speed/COR, and I was saying that it should be an area.

My point I guess is that I don't think there is one exact spot that is the best, but an area, purely from a COR point of view.

When you add the effects of a curved face and changing speed of the face as you move to the toe, it gets more complicated. In theory, a lower COR area could have the highest ball speed.

With the amount of Trackman users here, maybe someone knows if the Trackman setups that use multiple arrays can measure exactly where the ball contacts the face?
 
With the amount of Trackman users here, maybe someone knows if the Trackman setups that use multiple arrays can measure exactly where the ball contacts the face?

Might be better on an iron byron, set up to the different parameters...
 
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