abhoelall, in order to hit the ball higher the obvious thing to
do outside of changing the golf swing would be to increase
the loft, not decrease it. This may be the accepted wisdom
of "usual" golf advice, but is it necessarily correct?
Let me explain.
When set correctly in preparation to strike the golf ball,
the leading edge of all irons sits off the ground; the
extent to which it does depends on the club, with the
leading edge of the more lofted clubs sitting more off the
ground than those with less loft.
The amount by which the leading edge is off the ground is
the sole angle of the golf club, commonly known as
"bounce", so the sand wedge, for example, will have more
bounce than, say, a six iron. As a comparison, the former
may have 12 degrees of bounce against 5 degrees with the
latter.
Wedges - particularly sand wedges - tend to be a law unto
themselves and are, therefore, outside the scope of this
article which focuses on the rest of the irons.
There may be a number of reasons for failing to get the
ball airborne - de-lofting the club at impact for example -
but one of the main causes is hitting the ball "thin".
Everyone has at some point in their golfing life thinned a
shot so badly that it skids along the ground, sending an
unpleasant wave of stinging vibration up the shaft and into
the hands; but does anyone ever really consider what a thin
shot is? It may seem obvious but I shall say it anyway, and
that is that a thinned shot occurs when the golfer strikes
the ball with the leading edge of the club.
Interestingly enough, many golfers that are prone to
thinning their shots will instinctively de-loft the club to
avoid the "leading-edge strike", only to find that they
still fail to get the desired ball-flight for reasons that
are self-evident.
The "stinging" shot described above is, of course, an
obvious example of hitting the ball thin, but what about
the times when the vibration is not there, the golfer has
not de-lofted the club but the flight of the ball is still
lower than expected? This is still likely to be a
consequence of "not getting all of the ball" which is what
a marginally thinned shot is.
The ultimate aim is to strike the ball with the
"sweet-spot" of the club because by doing so the golfer
will achieve the optimum ball-flight, direction and
distance assuming all other things - such as swing path,
for example - are equal. The location of the sweet-spot may
vary slightly from one set of irons to another but as a
general rule is situated marginally towards the heel of the
club and a little below halfway up the face; the sweet spot
is never on the leading edge!
Taking all of the above into account, it may help to form a
picture in our minds of the position of the leading edge of
the club relative to the ball at the precise moment of
impact of a slightly thinned shot. Having done so, mentally
"freeze" the club in that position (with the leading edge
just touching the bottom of the ball) and then, whilst it
is there, bend the leading edge downwards so that it and
the ball are no longer in contact. Having now moved the
leading edge "out of the way", re-start the golf club to
complete the strike and you should "see" that it is now the
club-face that hits the ball.
It follows, therefore, that for someone who is prone to
thinning the ball and as a consequence fails to get it
airborne, moving the leading edge "out of the way" by
bending it downwards could help them to get the club face
on the ball, thereby taking advantage of the available loft.
As with many things connected with golf club specification,
however, the inter-relationship which exists between all
aspects of the club means that moving the leading edge "out
of the way" will impact on something else and in this case
it is the loft. Bending the leading edge downwards -
thereby reducing the distance between it and the ground
(the sole angle or bounce) - will reduce the loft. Looking
at it another way, reducing the loft of the club could help
the "perpetual thinner" by getting the leading edge "out of
the way" at the moment of impact. In any event, the effect
on the loft is not great, given that a one degree reduction
in bounce roughly equates to the same reduction in loft.
Putting this into context, a seven iron, say, has a loft of
around thirty-five degrees with about six degrees of
bounce. Reducing the bounce by one degree (and I would not
recommend much more - two degrees at a push, perhaps) will
result in a new loft angle of thirty-four degrees.
In the right circumstances the trade-off is more than worth
it because the better quality of strike can be such that
the golfer's game can improve beyond recognition without
the need to change the golf swing.
----------------------------------------------------
Steve's expertise in golf club technology has, over the
years, brought him into contact with golfers of all
abilities - from beginners to tour pros - and he wants to
share this experience with his readers. Some of the ideas
he has gathered are radical, outside the box, or just plain
controversial. He has put together a complimentary report
containing innovative golf swing concepts which you can
access at: http://www.golfadvicedetective.com
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