The aspect of the golf swing misunderstood by even the professional golfers is the how the ball flies and how spin is imparted onto the ball. The PGA created a list of ball flight laws developed decades ago that is adopted by majority of golfers, amateurs and professionals alike. However, as technology progressed and research developed, the laws changed. Although physicists and researchers agree on the new math based model of ball flight curvature, majority of the golfing community including the PGA has yet to adopt the new information. By understanding basic ball flight laws, any player can learn how to control the curve of the ball to make predictable shots that will result in lower scores.
Ball flight laws are described with two different components, the club face and the swing path. Traditional laws state that the face of the club controls the spin imparted on the ball whereas the path controls the direction in which the ball launches. For example, assuming the golfer is aiming directly at the target, if the face is open to the target line and the path of the club traces a line that is left of the target line, the ball would start to the left of the target line and curve right. If the club face is pointing left of the target line and the club path traces a line that goes out to the right, the ball would start right and turn left. During one of Golf Channel’s tutorials by Nick Faldo, he demonstrates how to hit a ball that has the biggest curve to the right. Faldo instructed to aim the foot line at the area where the ball should start and aim the face of the club to where the ball should land. Although these statements are true to a certain extent, they do not accurately represent the actual model.
Traditional theories actually have the ball flight model completely backwards. Thanks in part to high speed cameras with the capability to record the golf ball’s impact with the club head in slow motion, golfers can now understand that the direction in which the club face points is the direction that the ball launches. The spin imparted onto the ball is the club path relative to the face angle. If the angle of the face is pointed to the right at 5 degrees, and the path of the club is 10 degrees to the right, the ball would launch 5 degrees to the right and curve left. If the face angle is facing directly at the target line and the path of the club into the ball travels 5 degrees to the left, the ball will start straight at the target and will turn right. Whenever the face of the club and the path are perfectly square, the ball will have no curvature. For example, if the face points 5 degrees right of the target line and the path is 5 degrees right of the target as well, the ball will launch 5 degrees to the right and will have no curve. Therefore, if the path of the club is is angled more to the right than the face, the ball will curve left and vice versa.
Although traditional laws do work, it is more difficult to predict the start point of the ball. As a golfer, whether a four man scramble player or a PGA Tour players, understanding the way the ball flies is crucial for lower scores. Though some players can get by on pure athleticism and can manipulate the club to interact the with ball in the manner they please, this is not the most consistent way to play the game nor the easiest.