I maybe should have asked : "In which direction does the Line of Compression point at Impact, assuming total compression as in Horizontal Hinging". But I didnt.
The answer is not what most golfers would be inclined to think. Dave Pelz for instance or Johnny Miller too perhaps given a comment I heard him make in regard to Dustin Johnson's swing and the need to hold the clubface square to the target for "five inches" at the bottom of the arc. "Five inches"?
"How bout 4.5 or 2.75", said Lynn when I told about this comment.
For Homer's thoughts on the importance of the Line of Compression see 2-0
"........The Principle of Golf is the "Line of Compression". The Mechanics of Golf is the production and manipulation of the "Line of Compression". The Secret of Golf is sustaining the "Line of Compression". Precision is recognizing and reconciling minute differentiations."
Got to get me some of that Line of Compression!!!
Holding the clubface square to the target throughout the impact interval,type 1 Steering, would see the ball slide on the face. For total compression the point of contact between ball and clubface needs to remain intact "as if welded together". But the clubhead and therefore this point of contact are traveling Down and Out (assuming there is no type 2 or 3 Steering). And so the ball must be captured , cradled by a closing clubface. No more , no less amount of closing than that of Horizontal or the ball will slide , wobble. Angled is in the process of closing too after all. Though you can compensate for its associated ball slide by closing the face.
So given Horizontal Hinging and assuming the Line of Compression and the Clubface are pointed straight at the Target at the moment of Separation, at the moment of Impact the Line of Compression, the "bullet hole through the baseball" ......... points Down and to the right. Hogan's "inside aft" of the ball. The face is pointed right as well, briefly.
I personally imagine it to be a long spike or nail driven through a golf ball. It points down into the ground and to the right, my clubhead is the hammer. One visualization as the cure for the three types of Steering.
I personally imagine it to be a long spike or nail driven through a golf ball. It points down into the ground and to the right, my clubhead is the hammer. One visualization as the cure for the three types of Steering.
As you say at first contact.
But at separation the club face and the ball has rotated a few degrees. And hopefully both of them point in the direction where you want to start the ball. So then it will be down and forward.
The down part will lead to compression leak. Too steep impact can literally be a slice even though the ball takes a draw pattern. If we could dismiss the physical side of things (or biokinetics or whatever) - a flat path through the ball would be best. I believe shallow through the ball is a good thing if it is produced the right way.
But at separation the club face and the ball has rotated a few degrees. And hopefully both of them point in the direction where you want to start the ball. So then it will be down and forward.
The down part will lead to compression leak. Too steep impact can literally be a slice even though the ball takes a draw pattern. If we could dismiss the physical side of things (or biokinetics or whatever) - a flat path through the ball would be best. I believe shallow through the ball is a good thing if it is produced the right way.
Do you mean "Slice" in a backspin way? Given loft? I see your point about dismissing biokinetics, flat compression etc. Maybe if we had a giant piston driven golfing machine or a spring loaded golf ball cannon or or or..... But the golf club itself makes it a different bit of business.
Yes, to the right and down at the moment of Impact only. At separation both the clubface and the Line of Compression have rotated towards the target in the ideal. But, the point being that this is not what most people attempt to do. Its counter intuitive. "Golf's problem" as Lynn refers to it. Their intention is to hit the back of the ball with a clubface that stays square to the target and if they succeed they get what that impact geometry naturally produces ..........a cut shot in Homers terms. See 2-C-2. Type one Steering. Vertical Hinging. Very useful when you need it.
If they also manage to somehow succeed in leveling out the Angle of Attack , removing the Down and also the Out they have added the other two forms of Steering and in the process lost two of the Three Dimensions of Three Dimensional Impact. (Down and Out). This will produce what Homer termed the Lob Shot , maximum compression leakage. 2-C-3. A great shot to have in the arsenal but not something you want off the tee normally, what Homer referred to as the "Duffers nothing ball".
This counter intuitive impact geometry is a product of the tools we use to strike the ball. The golf club with its hooked face and lie angle swung in a circular manner. It requires Horizontal Hinge Action to capture the ball so it doesnt slide off the face, or a slightly closed clubface for Angled Hinging as a compensation.
We can generate a lot of speed with a golf club hence its usefulness but once gripped and employed we are subject to the associated geometry. And subject to what Homer named "the three all encompassing Primary Concepts upon which all detail can easily be attached as they surface------they are the Hinge Action (2-G) of an Angular Motion (2-K) operating on an Inclined Plane (2-F).
If on the other hand if we had chosen a pool cue to strike the golf ball in a pool like manner.............then we'd have a different set of rules governing the impact geometry. It'd be way easier, more intuitive ..... but the ball wouldnt go as far.
Anyone notice K.J. Choi putting side saddle at the Open, Snead style? Never thought Id see that again. You could argue that its a useful form of type one Steering. Although its still Vertical Hinging which will produce Lay back with no closing and all that implies to the balls reaction. Now if he didnt lock his upper hand against his chest but pushed the hole club forward .........it'd be an inconsistent motion to make maybe but then he'd have no layback and no closing and no Out or Down. He'd have stepped around Homers three guiding Primary Concepts. It'd be awkward though. As an aside when I watched him on the practice green at St Andrews he was really struggling with it.
Similar but not the same. One is a line on the ground the other is a bullet h .......ah whatever.
Hey D do you have 2-C-1 #3 blown up and mounted on the wall in your basement? Did you ever notice how at Impact the line representing CF, RD, LOC etc is not quite on top of the Angle of Approach Line or at right angles to the face? What up with that? It's close but not quite . The RD etc is supposed to be at right angles to the face no? Im 6th edition , maybe they cleaned that up in the 7th.
Yes , thats the one, thanks. You see how the "center lines in the first drawing at Impact are not at 90 degrees to each other but then they are at Separation.
This isnt exactly the same as in my 6th but its very similar.
Diagrams are from the 7th Edition page 17. It's the same in the 6th edition except that the 6th edition has an arrowhead on one of the center lines at impact.
Linear Mode
