Ball Flight and Golf Swing Principles

Ball Flight and Golf Swing Principles Assignment

Ryan Hastings

Fundamentals of Golf

BPGM 113

Due: Friday, February 8th, 2012

Submitted: Friday, February 8th, 2012

Bob Beauchemin

1. Ball Flight Laws:

a) Clubhead Speed: the velocity that the clubhead travels and affects the distance and trajectory of the shot. It is important to remember to swing through the ball not at it. The most amount of speed delivered by the clubhead will result in the maximum distance, all other things being equal. Most people think fast bursts of speed will help generate more distance, when in reality this usually results in tension in the arms and the inability to swing through the ball. A good drill to help swing through the ball would be if you turned your driver upside down and swing with the grip end down. The key is to be able to hear the sound the club makes as you swing, and the goal is to make sure you hear the highest pitch of the “whoosh” when the clubhead (grip) reaches your front foot.

b) Centeredness of Contact: the spot where the ball hit on the club, the more centered the ball on the clubface the further the ball will travel. When you hit the ball off-center the clubface actually wraps around the ball for that split second and dramatically affects distance. A drill used to help ensure the centeredness of contact you simply put two tees a few inches off the toe and heel of the clubface creating a “gate”. The goal is to swing through the gate without hitting the tees. Start with simple practice swings first and then move onto hitting balls and then eventually moving the tees closer and closer together. If you clip the inside tee it means that the clubhead has moved closer to you during the swing, often caused by excessive tension in the arms. The goal is to let the arms extend through the shot. If you are clipping the outside tee, this means the clubhead has moved away from you during the swing, using because of the right arm and shoulder moving too far...