Good Golf For Life.com     "Learn It, Play It, Love It"

Lyle Slovick

Instructor, Level I Affiliate Member

United States Golf Teachers Federation

Good Golf For Life.com    ©2007

The Physics of Golf

The clubface and ball are joined together on the clubface for 5/10,000 of a second before the ball separates.  Golf is a crazy game when you think about it.  If the club is only 1 degree from square at impact with a driver, the ball will go 20 yards off line.  But remember that your brain is a super computer which can direct precise body movements that allow us to hit a golf ball right at the target, so do not think about it TOO much.  The old adage "Analysis leads to paralysis" should be kept in mind when we examine the physics of the game.  What I want to do here is simply introduce you to some basic elements.  For example, what causes the ball to fly a certain way?  There are 9 distinct ball flights that you should keep in mind when you swing a club, and by seeing where the ball goes you can tell what you did with the club to put it in such a place.

The other thing to consider is the way swing speed and loft of the club affects distance.   You don't need to be as strong as Tiger Woods to hit the ball a long way, but there is no getting around the fact that higher swing speeds make the ball go farther.  What you may not know is that a higher lofted driver may actually propel the ball farther than a lower lofted one.  This is because more loft adds carry to the ball and depending on the backspin generated, a 15 degree wood can be more beneficial than a 10 degree one.  It's all a matter of trying different clubs and shaft combinations at practice ranges, many of which offer equipment to be tested free of charge.  "Test drive" a lot of different combinations to see what works best for you.  We all are fascinated by distance, but I feel it is more fun to be able to control the ball and hit various types of shots - high and low, left and right.

For those of you really interested in more scholarly examinations of the golf club and ball relationship, check out the following:

The Search for the Perfect Golf Swing by Stobbs and Cochran (1969)

"The only book of its kind in the world. Search for the Perfect Swing provides ground-breaking information and insights that will help golfers understand the inner workings of the game, improve their swing and lower their scores." — Dave Pelz, short game guru and head of Pelz Short Game Schools

Other technical books include:

The Physics of Golf by Theodore P. Jorgensen (1994)

Newton on the Tee: A Good Walk Through the Science of Golf by John Zumerchik (2002)

The Golfing Machine by Homer Kelly (1969)

Frank Thomas, the inventor of the graphite shaft, and for 26 years the technical director at the USGA, addresses a number of topics, including coefficient of restitution (a much talked about term in the past couple years), on his website Frankly.com