Important Notes
- Hitting the toe or heel, even by a fraction, can cause some severe twisting of the clubhead
- This twisting at impact can cause the ball and clubface to act like gears – hence the term “gear effect”
- This effect is stronger the bigger the clubhead (hybrids, fairway woods and driver) but still causes issues in all clubs
What is gear effect on a club?
"Gear-effect" is the term used to describe the action of the club head, during impact with the ball that causes a shot to curve in a draw or in a fade or slicing motion. HORIZONTAL BULGE: The curvature of the face of a wood from heel to toe. Bulge aids in imparting corrective spin to shots hit on the toe or heel of the wood face.
What is vertical gear effect in golf?
Vertical gear effect occurs when the ball makes contact higher or lower than the actual center of gravity. If the impact is made above the CoG, the face will rotate and increases the loft. Impact made below the CoG will de-loft the clubface.
What is gear-effect in golf?
This is what is called gear-effect. "Gear-effect" is the term used to describe the action of the club head, during impact with the ball that causes a shot to curve in a draw or in a fade or slicing motion. HORIZONTAL BULGE: The curvature of the face of a wood from heel to toe.
What is the gear effect in tennis?
In additional, surprisingly a draw spin will be imparted to the ball. This phenomenon is called the gear effect. When two gears work in unison, one gear travels in one direction and the secondary gear moves in the opposite direction. Imagine the bottom gear being the head.
Do irons have gear effect?
4:086:00Driver vs Irons - Gear Effect - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipBut not very much. Not very much that's why we do have some gearing that occurs of iron.MoreBut not very much. Not very much that's why we do have some gearing that occurs of iron.
What is vertical gear effect?
0:473:24Vertical Gear Effect - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo this gear is going this way the golf balls the other gear which is going to produce more backspinMoreSo this gear is going this way the golf balls the other gear which is going to produce more backspin on the golf ball. If you hit the ball high on the face contacts. Up here it makes the clubface tilt
Why do golf drivers have curved faces?
The curved face of your driver – a design feature called “bulge and roll” – helps your mishits through gear effect. Ever wonder how some of your worst drives still, somehow, manage to find the fairway? No insult to your golf swing, but your golf clubs have a lot to do with that.
How does spin effect a golf ball?
As a general rule, spin affects a golf ball's flight shape and shot height. More backspin will cause the ball to go higher and stop quicker on the green while more sidespin will add curvature to your shots.
What is a golf smash factor?
By hitting the ball more solidly, or what's known as upping your "smash factor." Smash factor is the ratio between the speed of the ball as it leaves the clubface and your swing speed. Generally, 1.5 is an ideal smash factor, but the average golfer's smash factor is only about 1.42, TrackMan says.
What causes a heel strike with driver?
Heel hits with the driver typically result in a slice and loss of distance. Coming over the top with an outside to inside swing path is probably the most common reason for a heel hit with the driver. The club head cuts across the target line during the outside to inside swing path.
Where is the sweet spot on a driver?
On almost every driver we test, the sweet spot that creates the highest ball speed is slightly towards the toe and slightly up from the center of the face. If you miss your shots high on the face, the ball will launch higher, spin less, and you will lose ball speed.
Why is a driver face not flat?
But if you take a close look at your driver, you'll see that its face is slightly curved, both horizontally and vertically. This curvature actually helps you hit your drives straighter, and with better trajectories, than if your driver had a flat clubface.
What does flat driver mean?
A flat lie angle means that the angle between the shaft and the ground is smaller, making the club shaft more flat as compared with the ground. If your club is too flat for your swing then it means that during your swing, the toe of the club will be lower than the heel (normally you want them level at impact).
Does low spin mean more distance?
A lower spinning golf ball is designed to add distance and decrease curvature in your shots. Since that's the case, these balls are great for beginners and high handicaps. That being said, a lot of low to mid handicaps use them as well.
Does lower loft reduce spin?
Reducing loft WILL decrease spin loft, it will also lower the launch of the ball. Cranking the loft down on its own will reduce spin loft, but the ball won't launch in the air. In order to achieve maximum distance, we need a HIGH launch and a low spin rate (and max ball speed).
How do I increase my swing speed?
5 Best Golf Swing Tips To Increase Your Swing Speed QuicklyPhysical fitness: Your overall strength and the range of motion will significantly affect your goal swing speed. ... Club fitting: ... Focus on rotation: ... Use your wrist as a Lever: ... Hit it free: ... Put some lag: ... Use speed training tools:
What happens when the impact between the ball and the clubface occurs higher on the clubface relative to the center of gravity
If impact between the ball and clubface occurs higher on the clubface relative to the center of gravity then the reverse occurs. The clubface rotates around its center of gravity in a counter- clockwise motion (as shown). The ball leaves the face at a higher launch angle , which is important.
Why is the top spin of a golf ball not top spin?
Well, it is not really top spin because the spin produced by the loft is much greater, but the top spin is added to the back spin to essentially create reduced back spin.
What happens when the clubface rotates?
The clubface rotates around its center of gravity in a counter-clockwise motion. The ball leaves the face left of the target (again a right-handed head) due to the bulge, but the gear effect provides a slice spin to the ball.
Why do irons not have face curvature?
This is the very reason why irons and certain hybrids on the market do not have face curvature – simply because the center of gravity is not far enough behind the face to create gear effect. Too much bulge and there is not enough correction.
What happens when the ball goes out of the right hand club?
If the impact is made toward the toe of the club the ball will start to go out to the right (for a right handed club) due to the bulge. In additional, surprisingly a draw spin will be imparted to the ball. This phenomenon is called the gear effect.
What direction does the club head rotate?
This causes the clubhead to rotate in a clockwise motion (as pictured).
What is the second radius of golf?
Roll. The second radius is vertical roll, which the curvature is in the vertical plane from the sole of the club to the topline. The units of measurement are expressed in inches its radius. A popular dimension amongst drivers and fairways are produced with a 10 inch bulge and 10 inch roll.
What is the gear effect?
Gear effect is the term used to explain how and why hitting the ball off-center changes the ball flight. When the ball contacts the face somewhere other than the Center of Gravity (CoG), it causes the face to change its orientation and affects the spin.
What happens when you hit the ball high on the face?
When you hit the ball high on the face, it will launch higher and spin less. This is optimal for your driver…assuming you want to hit it far. When you hit the ball low on the face, it will launch lower and spin more. This is very bad for your driver.
What does it mean when you hit the ball on your toe?
If you’re consistently low on the face, you’re robbing yourself of distance. If you’re consistently hitting the ball on the toe or heel, then impact location, not face or path issues, may be to blame for your inaccuracy.
What is the gear effect in golf?
This is what is called gear-effect. "Gear-effect" is the term used to describe the action of the club head, during impact with the ball that causes a shot to curve in a draw or in a fade or slicing motion.
Why is the face of a golf club curvature?
There is a certain amount of curvature to the face of a club which causes gear-effect. Because the head of a wood shaped object is more 3-dimensional in shape, curvature is incorporated onto the face of the club to help compensate for directional problems caused by shots hit other than where the center of gravity is located.
How to feel a golf club twist?
Hit the ball near the toe and you can feel the club twist open in your hands. Impact toward the heel of the club and you get an entirely different feel, because of gear-effect. When the head rotates in response to a toe-hit, the ball slides, then rolls, sideways across the face from the toe toward the center of the face.
Do you hit the ball in line with the center of gravity?
Seldom will one strike the ball directly in line with the center of gravity in either the vertical or horizontal planes. Therefore you will experience both a certain amount of backspin and side spin, with the horizontal and vertical gear effect built into to-day’s 460 c.c. titanium driver heads helping you on your miss-hits.
Does vertical gear affect ball spin?
However, the positive effect of the vertical gear effect will increase the spin rate of the ball to help maximize trajectory and distance.
Spinning Out of Control
Since I have worked with Woody several times in the past, he had a good idea of my swing profile. I don’t usually have issues with too much spin with woods or irons, and any club that has a higher spin profile is generally a bad idea for a player like myself.
The Mysterious Gear Effect
Let’s explore the reason why I was experiencing so much inconsistency with this club when I didn’t hit it properly.
What Will This Actually Do?
Now that I have a golf club that will spin less for me, can I expect to hit straight shots every time?
What is the gear effect in golf?
You may have heard of it before, or maybe you haven’t, but in golf there’s something called the gear effect. It happens every time you hit the golf ball, whether you realize it or not, and it has a significant impact on the direction you’re hitting the golf ball.
What is the center of gravity on a golf club?
The center of gravity (or CG) is the heaviest part of the clubhead, and every club has one. In drivers it’s designed to be down and toward the back of the clubhead, to help golfers launch the ball higher.
What happens if the club's COG is further apart from the golf balls?
So if the club’s COG is further apart from the golf balls COG the more gear effect takes place, resulting in ball flights you’re not expecting. It is worth noting ‘Gear effect’ affects Driver and fairway wood shots, the affect dramatically reduces as you go in to your irons and through to wedges.
Why does the ball turn towards the centre of gravity?
When the ball makes contact with the heel and toe it will cause the club face to change the direction it was pointing and will affect the spin, the ball will turn towards the Centre of Gravity. This is because during the impact the ball and face are interlocked like two gears, this is why it’s called ‘Gear Effect’.
What happens if you strike off centre?
However, if you strike off centre the force of the ball when hitting the golf head will not run through the Centre mass of the club. This will result in the club head twisting around the Centre of mass, causing the ball to twist in a different direction.
Gear-Effect Bulge
Bulgehorizontal Gear Effect
- HORIZONTAL BULGE: The curvature of the face of a wood from heel to toe. Bulge aids in imparting corrective spin to shots hit on the toe or heel of the wood face. Bulge, which is responsible for horizontal gear-effect, is measured in inches, and the majority of drivers are built with 10 inches of bulge. To provide an example, imagine a circle 10 inches in diameter. The arc …
Effects at Impact
- The club head at impact will rotate around its vertical center of gravity (CG) axis, and not around the shaft’s axis. At impact, if the ball is aligned directly in-line with the club head’s CG, then no sideways twist will occur. However, golf is a game of misses. Hit the ball near the toe and you can feel the club twist open in your hands. Impact toward the heel of the club and you get an entirely …
Rollvertical Gear Effect
- VERTICAL ROLL: The measure of face curvature from crown to sole on wood clubs. The gear effect not only works with horizontal plane (bulge), but it also works in the vertical plane as well. Vertical gear effect occurs when the ball makes contact higher or lower than the actual center of gravity. If the impact is made above the CoG, the face will ro...
Conclusions
- HORIZONTAL BULGE simply needs to exist within a reasonable range of radii on each driver head to perform its proper function for off-center hits. However, it is possible for there to be too much bulge radius on some poorly designed driver heads which would cause toe and heel shots to go too far off line, so that the natural fade or hook sidespin cannot bring your ball back. So make su…