Author: Jack Moorehouse Added: August 18, 2009
Copyright (c) 2009 Jack Moorehouse Where's the sweet spot on my new driver? That's a frequently asked question in many golf instruction sessions. Usually, the golfers asking the question have just bought new oversized drivers and want to maximize distance. With more and more golfers buying oversized drivers, you can bet the question will be asked a lot more. It should be. Why—because the answer promises to greatly improve both your drives and your golf handicap in one fell swoop. Hitting the ball on the sweet spot means longer, straighter drives. Longer, straighter drives create easier second shots. Who wouldn't rather be hitting 150 to the green than 200? Most golfers know this, which is why so many want to know where the sweet spot is on their new oversized drivers. These new drivers not only help cut down on mis-hits, they also minimize the damage caused when you do mis-hit—the sweet spot not withstanding. But to capitalize on the benefits of hitting the ball on the sweet spot, you first must determine where it is on the clubface. Numerous Benefits To professionals, the new oversized drivers offer the stable feeling at impact these players seek. The new drivers enable them to hit nice high draws. But the new drivers also offer characteristics that benefit even average players, like those golfers taking my golf lessons. The sweet spot on a clubface is the area where the ball is launched at the ideal angle with ideal spin. According to some tests, that spot is just above the clubface's centerline. Hitting the ball there improves your launch angle and spin rate. What's at work with these new drivers is something called "vertical gear effect." Two key things happen with vertical gear effect. A ball hit slightly above the club's center of gravity is launched at a higher and better angle because there's more loft higher on the clubface. Second, vertical gear effect reduces backspin, which means that shots are less likely to balloon. What's more, the expansion of the hot spot on these new oversized drivers is not heel to toe, but top to bottom. That's important. Since the center of gravity is lower on these new drivers that means there's more room above the center of gravity than there used to be with older, smaller drivers. That's why the spot has grown taller. Determining The Sweet Spot Now that you know about the benefits of hitting the ball on the sweet spot, your next question is probably, how do you determine where the sweet spot is on your new oversized driver. That's easy. There are devices that help you determine how close you are to hitting the sweet spot on the clubface when you hit drives. One device is impact paint, like Sur-Swing. It's neon green paint. After coating the surface of your clubface with it, you hit some balls. The paint shows where the impact point is on the clubface. That gives you a clear idea of how close you are to hitting the sweet spot on your clubface. Don't worry. The paint comes off. Another device is impact tape or impact stickers, available at most golf specialty stores. As with the paint, you cover the clubface with the tape or a sticker, and then hit some balls. The tape or sticker reveals the impression point on the clubface. That in turn tells you how close you are to hitting the sweet spot on the clubface. Golfballs.com Aim For Contact Just Above Center Keep in mind that you're not trying to hit the ball in the center of the clubface. Instead you want to make contact just above it. Also keep in mind that the goal is for the impact mark to look clear and distinct—whether you use paint, tape, or stickers. If the impact mark is blurred, it's likely your impact wasn't solid. The key to hitting longer, straighter drives is making solid impact. That means hitting the ball on the clubface's sweet spot— the area on the clubface where the ball is launched at the ideal angle and with the ideal spin. When you do that, you take advantage of what club manufacturers call vertical gear effect. Translated, vertical gear effect means that the sweet spot on these new oversize drivers has grown from top to bottom, not heal to toe. In other words, if you want to hit longer, straighter drives with these new oversized drivers, the kind of shots that help you cut strokes from your golf handicap, think higher not lower on your clubface.
--- Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.
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