Replies to a Reader's Questions

[pnomm]

Q. I've got a golf muse who is trying to get me to work the ball...I'm making some progress, I think. I can start a ball straight and have it go right, start it straight and keep it straight, start it straight and have it go left...now i'm suppose to be able to get it to start left and then tail off even more left? or straight on the path left or tail off right as it goes left????? I'm not sure I'm getting this....I'd really like to surprise this guy with some progress but I need a little help getting there.

 

A. Pretty simply it is relative to where you are aiming. If you start the ball straight and fade it more right, aim left and hit the same shot (effectively starting it left and moving it right). If you are consistently starting the ball straight (as you mention) then keep on doing that same thing.

 

Q. I'm not sure I do understand. What you said below is for a correction? What I would REALLY like to know I guess is, how is it that the 9 laws of ball flight are made...I'm guessing it has to do with first the face of the club at impact and then the spin imparted on it...which is something that bewilders me. There can only be 3 types of spin? Backspin, left and right? Those would be arrived at by the steepness of your club face coming into the ball and the square-ness of the face at impact?

 

A. The initial direction of the ball (left, straight, or right) is determined by the direction the club is traveling at impact. For example, when the ball begins left of the intended line it is because the club-head was traveling that direction when it hit the ball (commonly called a pull). From here, the ball will react based on the angle of the club face, and will generally go where the face is aimed. For example, a hook is caused by the clubface being aimed left of the direction the club is swinging (closed, shut, however you want to describe it). A “pull hook” starts left and goes further left. A “push hook” starts right and hooks back left (club-head swinging right, face closed). The spin of the ball in a golf shot will either be left, right, or straight. It will always have backspin (other than a putt or a topped shot).

 

So if you break down the 9 ball flights, each one is initiated by the path of the club into the ball (Left, right, or straight). From each of these 3 initial directions, the ball can curve left, go straight, or curve right. Three initial ball directions with three variables from there equal 9 ball flight laws.

 

Q. I read an article after Byron Nelson died about how straight he could hit a ball. Dependably so. I've always focused on hitting straight shots. If I go some place other than straight it's an accident. I can understand that knowing these ball flight laws are and aid to resolving problems. As a teacher, is it important to you that your students not only understand these laws but are willingly able to produce those shots?

 

A. What is important to me is that my students understand the laws so that they can self-diagnose. By watching what the ball does we can learn a lot about our games. It is also important that they attempt to hit these shots. One thing Byron Nelson always said is that he was born with gifted hands. The reason he could hit it so straight is because he could feel the club and allow it to work properly. I can guarantee when he needed to that he could work it any direction he wanted. It’s like understanding balance. If you we to step out on the front of a rowboat and try to balance you would first rock a little left and right, and then finally find the center. Same thing in golf. If you can learn to slice it or hook it, you can also learn to hit it straight.

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