Understanding The New Ball Flight Laws
If you haven’t heard, the old ball flight laws are WRONG!
The old laws state that the club path is responsible for the initial direction of the ball, and that the club face is responsible for the curvature. This is not only incorrect, but the absolute opposite of what current launch data has shown.
Track Man, the most advanced and accurate launch monitoring system in the world, has accumulated data that proves the CLUB FACE is 70-80% responsible for the initial direction of the ball, and that the CLUB PATH is directly responsible for the curvature of the ball.
PGA instructor John Dunigan does an excellent job of showing the basic principles of the new ball flight laws in the video below. While watching this video, understand that for the sake of simplicity, Dunigan explains the laws as if the club face is 100% responsible for the initial direction of the ball, but it is actually only 70-80% responsible, meaning that the club path will still affect the initial direction slightly.
On Brian Manzella’s web site, he posted a picture showing how to hit a draw using what we now understand about the ball flight laws. Click the picture to go to Manzella’s page and see what was discussed about this picture..
You can see that Sam’s club path is moving inside-out, but because the club face is closed to the path, the ball is going to start just slightly right of where the club face is aimed, and then curve to the left. The club face is affecting the line the ball starts out on, and the inside out swing path is creating the side spin that will make the ball curve.
More Info On What Track Man Has Discovered
For those of you who want to read more about what Track Man discovered in their data, you can view their January 2009 newsletter by clicking HERE. On page 3, you will find the article, “The Secret Of The Straight Shot.” I highly recommend subscribing to the Track Man newsletter, which you can do by clicking HERE.
I hope you learned something from all this and it helps you to understand your own ball flight better.
Practice hard and enjoy!
- Parker