Compression versus Spin Rate
 

To Whom it may concern.......

Assuming good TGM Alignments, Flying Wedges.

Does Clubhead Speed (MPH) have a greater affect on the compression of the golf ball or the spin rate when hitting pitch shots???

Sorting through the Duffer's Bible.

B-Ray

Vertical Hinging and Clubhead Speed
 

So RWH are you saying the faster my pitching motion is with vertical hinging the more spin I'm going to get????

Sorting Through the Duffer's Bible.

B-Ray

You can create more spin from a "soft impact" shot than full compression with ANY hinge.

There's actually more spin with full compression than a "soft impact", but it doesn't nearly hold the green as well because the greater momentum of the ball going forwards offsets the increased amount of spin.

Hence we have what Mr Manzella calls "The Tour Pitch".

butterfly with sore feet
 

One of my buddies, to whom I've referred before, won the GA Amateur, won an Australian Tour event, the Georgia Open (15 under), the Atlanta Open, and played very well in the Buick Southern Open. I think, he was also an All-American at the University of Georgia. He came to take a lesson a few months ago, then he went and broke the course record (64 or 65, I think) at Wade Hampton, in Cashiers, NC. I can't say the lesson had anything to do with the record, because it's hard to make perfect any better. He's amazing. He's a financial advisor now and plays very infrequently.

The reason I give you his credentials is to validate the conversation about "soft impact". Louis could perform the shot off of hardpan or asphalt. It was truly a butterfly with sore feet when landing. (Compression leakage at it's finest.) He was explaining to me how to hit the shot. He said he didn't want the ball to compress, but he wanted it to roll up the face. He used vertical hinging, and would regulate the power in two ways. Firstly in 2-M-2 #1, he would vary his acceleration rate. He could go to top and carry the ball no more than 5 yards. It looked like the swing took five seconds. He felt like it was a "single speed" swing, but I think he was feeling constant lag pressure. The club was accelerating, but looked oppressively slow. And secondly in 2-M-2 #3, he would vary the length of the stroke.

I've SEEN this done
 

Our club champ from last year can put juice on a ball like you've never seen with soft pitch shots. It's really amazing. He was showing me a few weeks ago and he used the words: "I like to feel the ball rolling up the clubface". He was a PGA teaching pro years ago but went back to the real world and amatuer status some time ago. He also has our course record of 64, for what it's worth.

I like to think of taking a shaving off the ball.

Throwaway through impact on certain pitch/chip shots will help create more "bite" because there is less compression as leo pointed out and there is added loft through impact (which will impart more spin) due to the throwaway.

This is why you will see so many pro's with bent left wrists through the ball on their chips/pitches because they need it on their harder/faster greens

I've been working on this shot for a while. I have a
buddy who spins the heck out of the ball. He is smooth
but I can't seem to figure out.

Can you explain it even more. Thanks

A good method to learn how to spin it like a pro is pratic in a bunker. Get the wedge to slide under the ball taking little sand. You should be able to get 15 yd bunker shots to spin/roll backwards on the green.

Even with range balls?

Sounds like good practice though.

Range Balls
 

Yep, even with range balls. We have abunker at our course, and when hit correctly, the range ball will spin back a little to a lot depending on how well you hit them.
G2M

Annika Sorenstam
 

If I remember correctly, when Annika was playing with the
men in the PGA, the commentators said that Annika could not
hold the greens as well as the men because she could not
swing as hard as the men to compress the ball and get the
same backspin. Seem like she could have used the soft method
and just rolled the ball up the face of the wedge to get
the results that men had?

The reason why the throwaway pitch works I think (not sure if this has been explained) is because you can use a fuller swing (more swingspeed)...for more spin.....

....and the compression loss from the throwaway makes it so the ball lands soft on the green. (higher trajectory...less forward momentum when the ball lands)

more spin + higher loft

I like to think of it almost as taking a shaving off the ball.

Comdpa
 

Well, whilst singapore slinger trip here over in indonesia, we went over to a very hard panned driving range.

He showed me how to hit a flip and the ball went straight up and down,10 yards half swings!I never could imagine that you could hit shots like that on a hard pan...Its almost like a very narrow U stroke pattern with a flip release. Never seen it in my life.I dont think i have confidence to do that. I'll stick to learning the chip and pitch first . Nonetheless, its a very very useful stroke to have in the bag.

The Singapore Flip
 

That's our Justin!

Feel free to post links to your very impresssive site!

And he hits it a Mile too...
 

Whisper: thats my secret new friend too.

My friends are wondering where I get that extra 20 yards back from 2 months rest (coaxing my herniated disc), Justin's coaching of the impact alignments and understanding 2NO, Looking , demonstrating and performing in his singapore range. Balls are free!! we had a long long discussion about the golf swing, eventually I realised i have to take it slow to master , improving a small step at a time . For the time being, im telling them its my new driver.

Suprisingly, the best improvement i got is "Putting" learning Paw and Putt.... i got one 24 putts last weekend !! because I was a very bad putter.

I don't really enjoy lending him my equipments though because of the crazy ball and plastic turf burnt mark he makes... Have a tuff time scrubbing it off . Those damn 130mph+ swings -.- from a tiny man .... I did manage to peak at 110mph though after the lesson. from 102 mph max

too many things in my incubator now.. a little hatching at a time. chirp chirp chirp


The lesson ended with a female ametuer golfer from India... replacing me and Im from Indonesia... and the father of that Michelle Wie wannabe said ." wow Justin, so you are a international coach eh?" .. I shooked hands and shyed away hopin that he will not ask about my handicap .:clown:

I think I also heard from the range owner that the recent singapore amatuer winner also came to Justin for some lesson. How cool is that..!!

Man I'm all happy and high now from TGM. Salute ! :oops: I typed too much...

A 'throw away' pitch can certainly be useful, but you can generate massive spin and very high trajectory with a full, agressive motion, given a proper setup

A very open stance and a very open clubface (clubface very nearly to target) - the key is a ball position that 'matches' the amount of open you are (stance and clubface combination)

Relative to your stance line, there should be NO throw away and a forward leaning, hands ahead, DOWNward impact with a flat left wrist.

This will produce a ton of backspin, and a fair bit of side spin so plan accordingly. Off hardpan you can get 'silly spin' even with a square setup - get those hands ahead and hit down ;)

Ya you got er. That's another way to get a similar shot off, no doubt.

Ed, do you feel that the same results could be acheived using a no throw-away procedure?

I used to throw it away all over the place until I found TGM, now I'm not sure I want to go back in any circumstance.