Callaway Golf Ball Testing

This year Callaway launched three new golf balls, the SR1, SR2 and SR3.

SR stands for speed regime. Each ball is optimised for different swing speeds, the SR1 for under 90 mph, SR2 for 90-105mph and the SR3 for above 105mph.

Recently we gathered a group of golfers together and got them to hit one dozen balls with each model to see how they would work with their swing speeds.

Each golfer warmed up before hitting and then proceeded to hit a dozen balls with each model. The results were recorded using a Trackman launch monitor. We picked a dozen balls because golf balls come in packs of 12 and on average a golfer tends to play 12 shots with a driver during a round.

Here are the results for each golfer:

 Golfer A

Ball	Carry (yards)	Total (yards)	From Target (ft)	Clubhead Speed (mph)	Launch Angle	Spin Rate (rpm)	Ball Speed (mph)
SR1	236.4	266	45.95	107.1	9.3	2572	155
SR2	251.3	276.9	48.04	107.3	9.0	2796	159.5
SR3	248.5	273.5	39.42	107.1	8.9	2773	158.7

Golfer B

Ball	Carry (yards)	Total (yards)	From Target (ft)	Clubhead Speed (mph)	Launch Angle	Spin Rate (rpm)	Ball Speed (mph)
SR1	219.9	246.1	54.55	98.3	12.1	2523	142.5
SR2	225.1	250.9	43.47	98.6	9.9	2649	146.2
SR3	228.1	257.1	40.45	98.5	11.5	2272	147.4

Golfer C

Ball	Carry (yards)	Total (yards)	From Target (ft)	Clubhead Speed (mph)	Launch Angle	Spin Rate (rpm)	Ball Speed (mph)
SR1	237.2	267.3	36.45	107	9.8	2476	154.3
SR2	246.4	276.5	29.47	106.9	9.0	2443	158.9
SR3	237.7	269.3	43.36	107.3	9.3	2379	156.8

Golfer D

Ball	Carry (yards)	Total (yards)	From Target (ft)	Clubhead Speed (mph)	Launch Angle	Spin Rate (rpm)	Ball Speed (mph)
SR1	214.5	237.7	12.98	98.2	8.9	3064	142.9
SR2	220.4	240.9	34.12	98.2	9.1	3368	146.8
SR3	231	251.2	43.86	99.4	9.7	2981	150.2

Going through the results we can see that the clubhead speed average for each golfer remained very consistent. This indicates a good consistency for the swings throughout the test. Also noted for all four golfers the SR1 was the worst ball for each of them. Given that this ball works best with speeds of under 90 mph, and our test subjects were all above that, this is what we would expect. However the ball what worked out best for each of them was not what would have been expected.

For Golfers A&C both who had speeds of over 105mph the SR2 worked best for them. Golfer A had 276.9 yards with the SR2 and 273.5 yards with the SR3. Golfer C had 276.5 yards with the SR2 and 269.3 yards with the SR3.

Why did the SR2 work better for them? Both golfers have launch angles a bit on the lower side, both around 9 degrees, as a result they need a little more spin to keep the ball in the air. The SR2 provides a little more spin and gave them both better ball flights and longer distance. On average both had only a little more spin, but the mishits with the SR3 didn't fly as well as with the SR2. Also, both had also more ball speed with the SR2.

For Golfers B&D both who had speeds between 90 and 105mph the SR3 worked best for them. Golfer B had 257.1 yards with the SR3 and 250.9 yards with the SR2. Golfer D had 251.2 yards with the SR3 and 240.9 with the SR2.

Why did the SR3 work better for these players? Both players benefited from the lower spinning SR3 ball giving them more distance. Golfer B also had a higher launch with the SR3 which along with the lower spin gave him more distance. Golfer D's spin was a little on the high side, even with a low launch, as a result the lower spin of the SR3 gave him more distance.

Conclusion

 

The Callaway Speed Rated balls are an excellent golf ball giving good results to a range of players. The SR1 is best suited to golfers with lower swing speeds.The SR2 suits players looking for a little more spin and the SR3 suits players looking for a little less spin. 

This little test with a small sample of players also shows the value of using the right ball. The three balls gave our four players different results. Just a small bit of testing can gain you a little more distance with the right ball. Not a great idea to reach into the bag and grab any old ball!!

Comments and questions are greatly appreciated.

A Tour of Great American Golf Courses

To celebrate the United States of America's birthday and Independence Day, let's take a tour of some of it's great golf courses.

San Francisco GC 7th Hole

Pasatiempo 18th

Cypress Point 16th

Claremont CC 3rd

The Titleist Performance Institute

Pebble Beach 7th

Monterey Peninsula CC

Streamsong Red 16th

Streamsong Blue 7th

Crystal Downs 17th

Torrey Pines 3rd

Chicago GC 7th

The Valley Club of Montecito 15th

Bethpage Black

Piping Rock 18th

World Woods 15th

The Floridian 18th

Pebble Beach 18th

Cypress Point 15th

Sunset at Streamsong

What if I pick the wrong club?

Imagine yourself 160 yards out from the flag, which is a normal 7 iron for you. You reach for the seven iron but then a couple of different thoughts enter your head, wind seems to be helping, air is a bit warmer, you're feeling a bit stronger then normal and you think is 8 enough?

Or the opposite happens, you think the wind is against, it's a bit cooler, it looks uphill, you're not feeling very confident in your swing and you think a 6 is required?

So let's investigate, is 7 always the right club? Will 8 be always too little? Is 6 always too much? What's the worst that could happen with an 8 or a 6?

A couple of evenings ago I headed out with 60 balls, a 6,7 and 8 iron and Drive Golf Performance's Trackman to see how a spread of shots with the three clubs would work.

I used my own Miura MB001 irons and Titleist Pro V1 golf balls.

 

Lofts on the 6,7 and 8 irons are 30,34 and 38 degrees.

There was little wind and temperatures were around 20 degrees Celsius. Perfect evening for hitting some balls. 

After warming up I hit 20 7 irons, 20 6 irons and 20 8 irons and recorded the data.

 

Above is a photo of the results. One thing to note in the trajectory, irons tend to have the same peak height just the higher clubs reach it earlier in the flight, sometimes giving the impression they fly higher.

Here are the results

Club	Speed	Ball Speed	Carry	Total	Side	Longest	Shortest
7	83.3	109.3	150.4	160	12.4r	166.6	153.5
6	86.1	116.2	158.8	168.6	5.8r	174.8	163.9
8	82.8	105.9	143.7	151.8	6.0l	158.2	142.3

 Speed and Ball Speed are in MPH, Carry, Total, longest and shortest are in Yards and side is in feet.

So an average 7 iron will go 160 yards so that should be the club to pick but the 7 irons ranged from 153.5 to 166.6 yards (or 20 feet short to 20 feet long of pin high) and only 5 out of the 20 were between 159 and 161 yards, i.e when saying how far you hit a club it's a range and not a number.

What would happen if I hit the six iron?

On average it would have went 8.6 yards or 26 feet too far. Most greens are 30 yards deep, so with a hole located anywhere from the front to 20 yards deep then playing the six iron would still mean I'm on the green and putting. The worst 6 iron went 163.9 yards leaving potentially a good chance for birdie, the best 6 iron went 174.8 yards still leaving the ball on the green on an average size green with the hole in the middle.

What would happen if I hit the eight iron?

On average it would have come up 8.2 yards or approximately 25 feet short. Again on an average green where the hole is anywhere from 10 yards in to the back this would have the ball on the green and putting. The worst 8 iron went 142.3 yards which would have the ball on an average size green with the hole located just beyond the middle. The best 8 iron went 158.2 yards leaving it quite close to pin high and a great chance for birdie.

How does this help you select the right club?

First thing to note is you'll hit club a range of distances rather then just a number. Could be a spread of anywhere from 10-15 yards depending on loft gaps and swing speed. Find your average distance and use this as your ideal distance. If you use your best distance as your ideal distance then it wouldn't be out of the ordinary to come up 40 feet short, whereas using the average will have you at worst 20 feet short or 20 feet long.

The worst result with a different club (long with the longer club and short with the shorter club) shouldn't be that bad and the best result (short with the longer club and long with the shorter club) will be very good.

Also when in between clubs or undecided go for the longer club with the hole at the front of the green and the shorter club with the hole at the back of the green. The reasons being if you pick the shorter club with the flag towards the front there's a reasonable chance you'll come up short of the green leaving a chip with not a huge amount of green to work with, but if you go past the flag with the longer club it will still be on the green and putting. Also shorter is better then being over the back with the flag at the back.

Any questions, please ask.

 

 

Swinging at 80%, Feel versus Real

One of my earlier blog posts from March 2013 talked about swinging the driver at 80% and does it really happen.

http://0to300golf.blogspot.ie/2013/03/swinging-driver-at-80-effort.html

In this month's Golf Digest, Hank Haney talks about copying a Tour Player's swing. This is definitely a great idea, watching a Tour Player swing can definitely rub off on you and make you better by a form of 'osmosis'. How ever one thing to be wary of is how tour players describe their swing. They are describing feelings as opposed to what's really going on.


http://www.golfdigest.com/golf-instruction/2014-05/hank-haney-copying-pros-swings


Here is how Ernie is quoted in the article.

'THE BIG NUMBER: 80%

Ernie Els says he hits most of his full shots with 80-percent effort to promote solid ball-striking. Last year, that translated into an average of 290 yards off the tee—just more than the tour average of 287. He might not be as long as you d think, but Ernie hit plenty of greens from where those mid-length drives left him. He was 35th on tour from 175 to 200 yards and 23rd from 200 to 225. From 200-plus yards, he knocked it on half the time.'


Let's look at Ernie's swing speed numbers and see if he is swinging at 80%?

Taken from http://www.pgatour.com/stats/stat.02401.html

Ernie Els has an average of 112.89 mph club head speed with a low of 110.65mph and a high of 116.90mph. This puts Ernie with the 104th highest average club head speed on the PGA Tour (as of May 2nd 2014). The highest recorded speed this year has been Brooks Koepka with a speed of 127.91 mph. The highest average is Bubba Watson at 124.11mph.

So Ernie's average is 96.5% of his maximum. If his average speed was 80%, his maximum would be 141.11 mph. Well above the highest speed recorded. We can surmise that at some stage in a round or tournament a player will try and hit the ball as far as they can, so the maximum speed recorded over a season will be very close to their absolute max.

So, is what Ernie is saying wrong? Not really, he is describing a feeling, so his normal drive feels like 80% of his maximum to him. But the figures show it's not.

How does this help your golf? When taking tips from other players be aware that they are describing how it feels to them. This can be different to how it feels to you and different to what's really happening.

So, you just need to find out what Feel will give you a Real result. Trackman is a great tool for this, it measures what is actually going on and when you hit the right numbers that's the feeling you take to the course. No need to be thinking about numbers at all, just feelings!!

Any questions or comments are welcome.

3 Ways to Improve your Golf Equipment and Golf Scores for under €5

It's not uncommon to hear that golf is an expensive game. This is true at times, however there are many ways to lower your scores and improve your game and equipment for little or no money. Here are three of the best ways to lower your scores for under €5. Best of all they require no practice!!!

 

1. Brush (Under €5)

A brush or nailbrush is a great piece of equipment. Golf grips can get shiny and slippy from dust, sunscreen etc. As a grip is the only piece of golf equipment that you have contact with it's important to keep them clean, so you maintain a good hold on the club.  A good scrub with a brush and hot soapy water is a great way to get the grime out of grips and making them feel fresh again. If they still feel a little slippy after a wash a little rub with some sandpaper before washing can refresh them a little bit more.

 

Second use for a brush is to clean the grooves of the clubface. The grooves on the clubface are there to give dirt, grass and water somewhere to go when the golf ball and clubface impact. If grass, water or dirt get between the ball and clubface they can reduce friction between the ball and clubface reducing spin and causing a 'flyer' where the ball travels much further then expected.

A nice clean clubface like the one above will create the correct friction between the club and ball giving consistent spin rates and golf shots that are easier to judge.

A little note on friction, if there is a material like sand on the face of a wedge maybe you should not wipe it off if you're looking for a bit more spin on a shot. Sand increases friction between ball and clubface giving more spin. After a bunker shot it might be an idea to leave the sand on the face of the wedge, as the next shot you play with the club might require a little more stop.

2. Foot Spray (€5)

 

 

How can foot spray help your golf? It's great for finding the impact point on the clubface!! Other things like impact tape can alter the flight of the ball whereas foot spray has little effect on the flight.

 

Just spray some powder on the face, hit a few balls and see where the impact is. Impact point on the face has a big bearing on the flight of the ball due to gear effect. A simple explanation of gear effect is when the ball is hit off center the clubhead twists and imparts spin on the ball. When it is hit off the heel it starts further left and moves left to right, off the toe it starts further right and moves right to left, high on the club it launches higher and spins less and off the bottom it launches lower and spins more.

There is also a loss of ball speed and distance with off center hits.

If you notice a pattern in your mishits for example in the above picture the top photo has a pattern of heel hits then simply moving the ball/clubface alignment can lead to more centered strikes. For the above case lining the ball more towards the toe at address can lead to centered strikes. 

Length of the club can also be a factor, longer clubs can lead to heel strike patterns and shorter clubs can lead to toe strike patterns. Lengths of clubs can be adjusted easily.  

So, knowing your impact point on the face coupled with a simple adjustment or two can lead to longer and straighter shots.

3. Sharpie Pen (€2 and under)

A Sharpie Pen is a great way to find if the lie angle of the club is correct for you.

Use to sharpie pen to draw a straight line on one half of the ball. Place the ball on tee with the line vertically positioned so the line will contact the club face at impact.

It's not necessary but you can put some face tape on an iron. The face tape just makes it a bit easier to see the impact but normally you can see the impact on the club face. Then hit a shot with the iron.

Straight line, correct lie angle

Line from toe to heel, lie angle too upright

Line from heel to toe, lie angle too flat

 There are three possible results. If the line is straight like the first photo then the dynamic lie angle is correct. Ball should fly according to what the swing does. If the top of the line goes from toe to heel, second photo, the dynamic lie angle is too upright and the ball should fly more right to left then the swing would suggest. If the top of the line goes from heel to toe, third photo, the dynamic lie angle is too flat and the ball will fly left to right more then the swing suggests.

 

The above photo illustrates how lie angle affects where the face is pointing. Correct lie angle, face points straight, too upright to the left and too flat to the right.

If the lie angle of the clubs is out they can be changed easily with a loft and lie machine. We have one here at Drive Golf Performance in Riverstown and a set can be altered for €30.

Summary

3 easy ways for under €5 to improve your golf are, brush to clean grips and grooves, foot spray to identify impact point on the face and sharpie pen to identify correct lie angle in your irons.

Golf improvement doesn't necessarily require big investment or a change in swing. Try these out to see if they help your game. Comments or questions are always welcome.