The ball flight is the ultimate feedback for a golf swing. The start line, the curve, and the height of the shot are all a result of things like the club’s speed, the club’s path, the face angle and it’s loft, and the attack angle that the club attacks the ball both up and down. More often than not, when one factor is adjusted, other factors change because the D-Plane is in 3 dimensions.
This chart can give you a way to measure your shots and give you an idea to create a different ball flight. There are no wrong ball flights because they all work but the better players have shot making skills and can create shots that have the same curve at different heights or shots at the same height with different curves.
When we evaluate the ball flight, we can look at a few different factors – the start line, the curve, and the height. The start line can be seen as where the clubface is pointing at impact, so if the ball starts to the right, that’s where the clubface was pointed. The ball will curve away from this start line in either direction by way of the club’s path at impact. Once a golfer is able to see the relationship between the face and the path, they can understand their curve. Flightscope is the industry leader in ball flight technology and can help give numbers and an electronic visual of the last shot.
When thinking about how to apply the Ball Flight Laws, there are many variables that you can adjust before looking into a swing change. One thing that isn’t discussed alot is the target line - one of golf’s true fundamentals – because everybody has a straight line from their ball to their target. The ball may not fly down this line for long or even not until it hits the ground, so the player must manipulate their swing in respect to their target line in order to hit the shot at the target. Each golfer’s swing works down and out, hits the ball, and then works up and in and the players who control their swing can control their ball.
