Join us for behind-the-scenes stories, smart strategies, and highly effective ways for you to play better golf
Critical Wedge info + Workability in irons
We just released a completely FREE wedge masterclass so you can improve your 50-100 yard shots. Mark Blackburn talk through all the technique and data you need to understand. It's epic. Big thanks to the folks at Rapsodo who helped make this video with Mark happen!
|
|
💬 Here's my thoughts on one of them:
|
🧪 Shot Shaping & Club Kinetics: The Experiment
This info is from a podcast with Dr Sasho MacKenzie (co-founder of The Stack). You can listen on Spotify here.
Sasho and Ping collaborated on a study to examine how different 7-iron models—specifically the Ping Blueprint (small head) and the G710 (larger, game-improvement head)—affect shot shaping and club kinetics.
 |
The idea was simple: do smaller club heads really make it easier to shape shots, as many believe?
- Test Group: 15 low-handicap golfers
- Conditions: Players were to hit draws and fades with both the Blueprint and G710 irons, under tightly controlled conditions (no grip, stance, or ball position changes allowed).
- Objective: To see how club design impacts workability and how players adjust their kinetics (forces applied to the club) to achieve desired shot shapes.
Key Findings: The Truth About Workability
- Workability Myth Busted: Both irons had similar levels of workability—meaning players could shape shots equally well with either club. The difference? The Blueprint tended to promote a draw, while the G710 was more fade-biased.
- Kinetics in Action: When trying to hit draws, golfers exhibited more out-of-plane force (a force that facilitates face closing) with both irons. Yet, despite their efforts, the G710 consistently produced more open face angles, making it harder to hit draws compared to the Blueprint.
- Takeaway for Golfers: If you’re a higher handicapper using a G710, know that it’s designed to help with consistency and forgiveness, but it might challenge your ability to hit a draw.
What This Means for Club Selection
Tour Players vs. Amateurs:
- Tour Pros: Prefer smaller heads for their perceived workability, though this study suggests it’s more about personal preference than a true performance difference.
- Amateurs: Larger-headed clubs like the G710 provide forgiveness and help maintain ball speed on off-center hits, making them a better fit for those still developing consistent ball-striking skills.
The Deep Dive: Kinetics & Face Closing
Sasho discussed an advanced concept that’s crucial for understanding why some clubs are easier to close through impact than others. Here’s the idea:
- Out-of-Plane Moment of Force: A fancy term for how the club’s center of mass interacts with the forces applied by the golfer’s hands during the downswing. Get this right, and you’ve got a face-closing machine. Get it wrong, and you’re fighting to square the face at impact.
- Next time you’re testing clubs, think about how they feel when trying to hit different shapes. If one club always seems to leave the face open, it might be a sign that its center of mass isn’t working in your favor.
If you enjoyed this make sure to check out the full episode!
I'm better at shot shaping than Mark Crossfield 😂
|
Till next time,
-Cordie
✍️ Written By: Cordie Walker.
📈 Want to learn more from some of our favorite training?
- 🤫 Practice Secrets: → An easy-to-follow program designed to help you understand better practice and how to get better faster.
- 🏆 Ultimate instructor training bundle: → We've compiled all our best content so if you want to learn from the best instructors in the game we'll bring that right to you.
🎟 Want to advertise in our weekly emails? → Book here
Disclosure: Some things in this newsletter may be a sponsored post or Golf Science Lab may be getting a small commission if you sign up / fill out their form or Golf Science Lab might own a percent of the business. In particular, but not always, those sponsored or commissioned or owned posts or might have an * in it the subject headline.
GolfWell: Your Guide to Better Golf
Join us for behind-the-scenes stories, smart strategies, and highly effective ways for you to play better golf
All right, here’s a controversial myth that we talked about in this weeks video. Curious what you think about this one... “Always go through your full pre-shot routine when practicing. That’s how you simulate the course.” Sounds logical, right? If you want to play like you're on the course, you should practice like you're on the course. But Dr. Luke Benoit says: myth. Why This Doesn’t Hold Up You’ll get way fewer reps. If you do a 30-second routine before every swing, you might hit 50 balls...
We're back with part two of our lesson with Dr. Luke Benoit. He has some really controversial thoughts on shot shape and alignment, which he goes into detail about today. I'll be curious to hear where a lot of you land on this. Agree or disagree?! SPONSORED CONTENT Train Like You Actually Want to Get Better If you actually care about improving (like, really improving), you need good.Tour players and coaches trust the WhyGolf Pressure Plate to improve ball striking by training a proper...
You're hyped up for a tournament. Been practicing and working on your game. And then you shoot what feels like your worst round ever. Nothing goes right and you're wondering what all this work was for. What do you do? Today I answer that question with the help of Dr Luke Benoit. Should I change my swing? We find out today! If you're not subscribed on Youtube today is your day. You won't want to miss next week where Luke shows us how to transfer the new swing thought to the course and his...