Impact Physics

How about just barely hitting the ball with the top-line of a wedge, when the ball is sitting up in the rough?

Or getting under the teed ball with a driver, ‘decorating’ the crown?

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Taken today at Montreux G&CC in Reno, which hosts the PGA Tour event. First time playing the course. First photo taken of the new telephone pole shaft I built and put in the Pena persimmon. 12 of 14 fairways. 14 gir… 72.

Ultimately, always striving to hold shaft flex all the way to the ball.

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What’s your ballflight with the Pole? Can you hit a high draw with it?

I can hit a high draw with it… but I prefer a lower trajectory flight in general with my driver for several reasons. If I am working the ball left to right, the last thing I want the ball ever doing is ballooning up. A low power fade can run out nicely.
Drawing the ball, if I over cook the draw, the first thing I want is for the ball to get on the ground as quickly as possible so it can catch some of the left rough and keep me out of bigger trouble. If I need to draw the ball high over trees around a corner, then I just play a 2 wood off the tee. I haven’t “poled” my 2 wood yet, but likely will soon. I’ll have to experiment with it a bit, as I might go with just a bit of more flex in it for this very reason… to play it right to left easier. A low left to right shot from the fairway or the tee I am going with a 1 iron. So I might go just a bit less “pole” in the 2 wood so I can turn it easier… but I don’t really want to be able to hook it either. A fine line I think.

I might be losing a bit of distance with “the pole” but it’s hard to say because I drove the par five 545 yard 2nd hole in two shots with a driver and a two wood. I was playing with a member and he couldn’t believe I reached it with a pair of persimmon strikes. It’ uphill also… but no doubt the altitude played a factor. Nevertheless, he said he never sees anyone around the club hitting it in two even with modern gear.

My feeling is that if I hold shaft flex, then the stored energy in the shaft is still intact and I also get the green light to swing harder at it without fearing the ball going left. I am definitely hitting the ball straighter… and scoring better.
To play mountain golf up in Tahoe with the elevation change, play two narrow tree lined courses, one a current PGA Tour stop, with the other being slightly tougher yet and never looking at a yardage, it’s encouraging to get around with a pair of 72’s. Viewing one of the courses for the first time and the other I hadn’t played in over 20 years… really adds to the challenge.
I’m back on the Incline Village course later today, so it will be more fun to have seen the course before and I will have a much better feel for how to play the holes, distance control, and the greens.

Nothing like a 3 day golf vacation!

Yep, but the hat needs to be retired. :laughing:

I agree…
I rarely wore a hat when I was on tour. Never been much of a hat guy. I didn’t like sweat pouring down my forehead or a visor that kept blowing off in the wind. The full brim hats would not travel well… too bulky. I suppose the Tam O Shanter cap or “Hogan” cap is probably the best option. The Fedora does a better job of keeping the sun off my head and ears. My skin doesn’t handle a sun beating like it used to.

I’ve read studies that proclaim sunscreens are worse for your skin than moderate sun exposure. All sorts of weird chemicals soaking into your skin.

Maybe someone here can shed some light on this subject opening a new topic thread.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01cU3BT1AHg[/youtube]

This question has been on my mind for years and I hope Lag could help me with it. the two pictures below are iron swings paused when the clubshaft is parallel to the ground. As you can see Tiger woods has his hands at the golf ball when the clubshaft reaches parallel as does other great ball strikers such as Hogan, Player, Trevino…etc… I have looked at extensive footage of Snead and some other good ball strikers and it appears that their hands don’t reach the golf ball when the clubshaft is parallel, but I believe most of that is due to ball position.
So I know there is a long list of vapor trails that causes this to happen but I was wondering what are the main components of this action. My first thoughts were maybe you can achieve this position only if you superslott but there are non superslotters who achieve this same result. This maybe a stupid question or just impossible to list all the vapor trails but I would greatly appreciate help in this matter.

tiger.jpgUntitled.jpg

To some degree, it depends upon the kind of shot a player is hitting… trajectory intention and so forth.

I would not get too hung up on the exact specifics of what is happening at exactly each parallel of the shaft.
Those snap shot positions are good for general referencing of the swing… we use P1, P2, P3, and P4 here for communication… but I would not worry about the exact position of every body part when these occur because this is just one place on the overall path of the golf club.

Remember that the golf swing is a moving dynamic motion… not a series of snapshots.

Also that Tiger photo is from slightly in front of him which would make it appear that his hands are further forward.

look at where their hands are in relation to their body, specifically the right leg. looks identical to me

The position of their arms IS identical. The Tiger Woods picture is not straight on, so his hands appear further forward in relation to the ball.

Nothing new here is there.

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