Andrew Rice Golf

Here are a few very interesting facts that I have learned with the help of TrackMan. TrackMan is a radar unit that measures both club delivery and the full trajectory of any golf shot – essentially it measures almost everything pertaining to a golf club striking a ball. This might shed some light on, or dispel, a few of golf’s oldest myths:

For PGA Tour golfers (please note that these are averages):

• All clubs, on average are struck with a descending blow from a PW (-5.0 degrees) to a driver (-1.3 degrees).
• Every club in the bag hits the ball at the same height – 30 yards.
• The average clubhead speed with the Driver is 112 mph; ball speed is 165 mph and carry distance is 269 yards.
• The average clubhead speed with an 8-iron is 87 mph; ball speed is 115 mph and carry distance is 160 yards.
• Clubhead speed increased by 2 mph from club to club.
• In conditions that eliminated any roll, an average PGA Tour player would hit a driver and a 5-wood 500 yards; a driver and a 7- iron 441 yards; and a driver and a PW 405 yards.
• The Carry distance difference between each iron is 12 yards (8-iron 160 yards and 7-iron 172 yards).

For LPGA Tour golfers (please note these are averages):

• All clubs are on average struck with a descending blow other than the driver which is 3.0 degrees upward.
• Every club in the bag hits the ball the same height – 25 yards.
• The average clubhead speed with the driver is 94 mph; ball speed is 139 mph and carry distance is 220 yards.
• The average clubhead speed with an 8-iron is 74 mph; ball speed is 100 mph and carry distance is 130 yards.
• Clubhead speed increased by 2 mph from club to club.
• In conditions that eliminated any roll, an average LPGA Tour player would hit a driver and a 5-wood 405 yards; a driver and a 7- iron 361 yards; and a driver and a PW 327 yards.
• The carry distance difference between each iron is 11 yards (8-iron 130 yards and 7-iron 141 yards).

General information:

• Shot accuracy is primarily determined by a combination of face angle, swing path and point of contact.
• The ball launches PRIMARILY in the direction of the club face - approximately 80-85% on full shots.
• For putting, shot accuracy is also determined primarily by the face angle - the softer the hit (as in chipping and putting) the greater the effect of clubface. In putting the face accounts for 95+% of where the ball goes.
• Face angle (largely) determines the launch direction while shot curvature/shape is mostly determined by the club path relative to the face angle – the opposite of what has been taught for years. Think of it this way: when a ball is struck with a descending blow, i.e. ball first, divot second, the attack angle is down, yet the ball goes up. The ball goes up due to the angle/loft of the face!
• The initial ball direction falls between the club face angle and club path – remember that it greatly favors the face angle.
• The further apart the club face and club path diverge from each other (basically – point in different directions) the more the ball’s spin axis tilts and the more curvature exists on the shot.
• By the way – THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SIDE SPIN – it is merely back spin on an axis and the more the axis tilts, the more the ball flight curves.
• The only way to hit the outside of the ball is to have the face closed relative to the target line and to hit the inside of the ball the face must be open relative to the target line. Path plays very little role in what part of the ball we hit.
• The highest recorded clubhead speed on the PGA Tour in 2009 was Bubba Watson at 128 mph while the World Long Drive Champion, Jamie Sadlowski used a clubhead speed of 145 mph (418 yards!) to win. The average male golfer swings a driver somewhere between 82 and 90 mph.

Jamie Sadlowski

• A carry distance of 100 yards for ladies is equivalent to a carry distance of 130 yards for men; 200 yards for ladies is equivalent to 250 yards for men.
• A par four of 350 yards for ladies is equivalent to a par four of 430 yards for the men.
• The most important factor in increasing carry distance is clubhead speed. For every 1 mph you can add to your swing speed you stand to gain almost 3 yards.
• An increase of 1” in the length of a club can increase the clubhead speed by as much as 4 mph.
• The quality of the hit is very important as it relays clubhead speed into ball speed. Smash factor is calculated by dividing the ball speed by the clubhead speed. The maximum smash factor is just above 1.5 (e.g. 100 mph clubhead speed divided into 152 mph ball speed) and indicates an ideal strike on the ball. A smash factor of 1.5 is most often only attainable with a driver.
• The ball spends 1/2000th of a second on the clubface. That means it would take a scratch handicap golfer almost 28 rounds of even par golf to have the ball be on the clubface for one second!

Something to keep in mind is that no golfer should discard accuracy in search of distance as there should always be a balance between the two. It is, however, possible for just about any golfer to significantly increase their distance with only a marginal decrease in accuracy as a result of a sound, long-term plan coupled with commitment and discipline.

Interesting stuff – any thoughts or questions?

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