The Spin Behind The Golf Ball

Golf ball spins are crucial performance factors of a ideal golf ball flight trajectory. In any ball game, the effects of spin will affect the outcome dramatically and hence many golfers seek to master the spin behind the golf ball.

You may have just started this sport or may be looking to enhance your performance by adding a little more control into your short game. Where you starting from does not matter because i will highlight to you how the golf ball spins can affect your golf performance.

Golf ball can spin in a variety of directions. In general, you can spin sideways, forward or backward. For golf, it is natural that many golfers look into back spin and side spin more than forward spin. Forward spin is being over looked due to a variety of reasons.

We watch in amazement as how golfers like Tiger Woods put in amazing back spin to control the golf ball to their liking. Let us first understand why these spins are crucial in allowing Tiger Woods to work the golf balls like nobody's business.

Golf spin generates lift through a difference in pressure by scooping air forward in the direction of the ball flight.

So what is back spin? Back spin is the rotation of the golf ball backwards after it is being hit by the club face. When a back spin is applied, the air is scooped towards the back of the golf ball creating a higher pressure below and a lower pressure above. This is what will generate lift and cause the ball to stay in the air for a longer time. This allows golfers to control the approach shots and gain additional distance off club face.

What about side spin? Side spin is normally generated because of off center hits on the golf ball. This will result in a slice or a hook and a dispersion off the intended direction. To enhance your performance, side spin needs to be minimized to get a straighter trajectory towards your target. The only reason why you will want to generate side spin is on purpose. Good golfers will put side spin to "work" the golf ball when they want to.

The reason why forward spin is normally overlooked is because it is of the technique and the lower golf ball flight it produces. To produce a forward spin, the grooves of the club face needs to hit the golf ball slightly above the equator. And the result would be a high pressure above the ball which would tunnel the golf ball downwards. End result is a loss of distance which might not be ideal for many situations.

Hence, by applying the correct type of spin, you can generate distance control and tweak your shots to improve your game flow and game play. It can only be more interesting the more you play golf.

3 Secrets of A Consistent Golf Stroke

The information you are about to receive is not theory or conjecture but science. It is simply the laws of force and motion that govern our entire lives and day to day living. Once you understand these simply laws your golf game will forever change...for the better!

Secret #1: A Flat Left Wrist

Because the golf stroke involves a golf club, a left arm, and a wrist in between, it is called a "lever system". The left wrist acts as a "hinge pin" much like the old time "flail" used to beat wheat. This "hinge pin" can rotate, cock or uncock but NEVER Bends!

Golfers however routinely bend the left wrist causing the clubhead to reach the ball before the hands do. This causes a "quitting" motion, adds loft to the clubface, points the face to the left of target, makes the clubhead swing upward disrupting the downward motion that ALL good golf shots MUST have. Good players DELOFT the clubface at Impact. Poor players ADD loft to the clubface costing them distance, direction, and trajectory.

A 5 iron, for example, has approximately 8 degrees for "forward lean" when soled properly. At Impact with good players the "lean" is approximately 15 degrees. This turns the 5 iron into a 4 iron. Poor players reach Impact with a "backward" leaning clubshaft thereby ADDING loft and turning the 5 iron into a 6-7 iron!

Secret #2: A Staright Plane Line

You only have two choices when it comes to the swing plane, you are either on or you're off. There is no middle ground!

What exactly is the swing plane? The plane is the angle of the clubshaft as it sets at address - period! It is NOT Hogans plane of glass as many would have you to believe. There are only three planes available;

1. Horizontal - a wall
2. Vertical - the floor
3. Inclined somewhere in between

As golfers you and I use the Inclined Plane to swing the club back up and end, down out and forward, up back and in making the Golf Stroke three dimensional.

The clubshaft, actually the sweetspot of the club, may travel to any other plane angle during the swing as long as it DOES NOT cross the base of the plane. Here is a simple way you can know if you are on plane or not. Whichever end of the club is nearest to the ground MUST also point at the base of the plane from horizon to horizon. If neither end is nearer then the clubshaft MUST be horizontal to the ground and parallel to the base of plane.

Secret #3: A Lagging Clubhead

Lag by definition means "trailing". When the clubhead passes the hands coming into Impact there is no "lag". Without "lag" the golf ball cannot be compressed, we cannot hit downward, and we have a tremendous power loss. Clubhead lag promotes a steady and even acceleration giving us a dependable way to control distance.

Look at any picture of your favorite player at Impact. The left arm and clubshaft are in ONE LINE! Never two lines. This means that the player is utilizing "lag". When a ball is struck with "lag" it explodes off the clubface! Without this "lag" the sound turns into one of mush, a soft Impact instead of a driving Impact.

*If you follow this outline, learn these three "Secrets" you will be hitting the ball with more compression than you ever thought possible.

For example, a Driver striking a golf ball with a 2 degree "backward" leaning clubshaft at 100 mph with 9.5 degrees of loft produces a launch angle of 6.4 degrees and a carry distance of 230 yards.

By changing Impact to a 2 degree forward leaning clubshaft the player produces a launch angle of 10.4 degrees and a carry of 251 yards. A 21 YARD INCREASE WITHOUT buying a new Driver and simply having clubhead lag! The most important thing is..practice!