Ball flight is an important concept to understand on the road to becoming a better golfer. Understanding the mechanics of ball flight will enable you to make corrections and improvements to your swing. It’s hard to make changes to your technique if you don’t know much about the principles of ball flight. Understanding what influences the golf ball will better help you to control it, thus giving you lower scores.
Factors that influence ball flight
There are a number of factors which affect ball flight. These include:
- Target line
- Club face angle
- Swing path
- Angle of attack
- The point on the clubface the ball is contacted
- Clubhead speed
Becoming aware of and being able to control these aspects will allow you to take control of your ball flight. These factors influence the path the ball starts on, and what happens to the ball as it travels through the air.
Target line
Before you even hit a ball, you need to establish the target line. This is the line that you want the ball to finish on – essentially, the line along which you are aiming. This imaginary line runs through your ball and towards the target you are aiming for. Depending on your plan for the shot, the target line might run straight down the middle of the fairway or it might be off to one side.
The direction of the target line may very well be slightly different to the direction of your swing path or your clubface angle. The majority of players will swing across the target line somewhat, rather than straight down the line.
Swing path
The swing path is just what it sounds like – the path your club travels in your swing. The swing path in relation to club face angle goes a long way towards determining the flight of the ball. When the club is moving away from the body at impact, this is known as an inside-out swing, while an outside-in swing sees the club moving closer to the body at impact.
Club face angle
Swing path is an important factor of ball flight – but it’s not the only influence. You also need to take into consideration the angle of the club face at impact. Experts believe that around 80% of ball flight direction is determined by the direction and angle of the clubface at impact – making it by far the most important factor in determining the flight of the ball.
The direction the clubface is pointing at impact will have a big influence on exactly where the ball goes, as it starts the ball moving in a certain line. The ball flight will be initiated at an angle dependent on where the face of the club is pointing. A square clubface (where the face of the club points along the swing path) will send the ball in a straight direction. An open clubface (where the face points to the right of the swing path) will send the ball to the right. A closed clubface (where the face points to the left of the swing path) will send the ball left.
Swing path and clubface direction put together determine how much spin is applied to the ball, which determines how much the ball will curve. Clockwise spin will be applied to the ball with an open clubface angle relative to the swing path line (this is known as a fade). Anticlockwise spin can be achieved with a closed clubface angle relative to the swing path (known as a draw). Of course, if you open or close the clubface too much at impact, those draws and fades will quickly turn into less than desirable hooks and slices, so try not to open or close the clubface too dramatically.
Find out more about how to draw and fade your shots here.
Controlling both swing path and club face angle means you will be able to consistently send the ball in the direction you want.
Angle of attack
The angle of attack refers to the angle the clubhead moves in relation to the ground – essentially the upward or downward motion of the club as it approaches the ball. You can hit either downwards or upwards through impact, which will directly influence the amount of spin you apply to the ball.
Contact
A clubface may seem small, but there are many places the ball can make contact on it – the heel, the toe, the centre, above or below the sweet spot, or the sweet spot itself. Each of these contact positions will change the path the ball then travels on.
Clubhead speed
The speed at which you move the club also has an impact on the flight of the ball. A slower speed will obviously mean the balls travels a smaller distance, while a faster swing will produce more distance.
Use your ball flight to correct your errors
If you’re a beginner to ball flight, it can be hard to determine exactly how to set up the shot to get the ball flight that you want. So, learn about ball flight in reverse. Rather than trying to set up the shot to attain a particular ball flight, instead, hit your shot, take careful note of the flight of your ball and use it to correct technique mistakes. In doing this you will gradually learn what aspects of your swing produce certain aspects of ball flight, and can use that information to make more intentional technique choices.
Take note of:
- The direction your ball started. For example, if the ball started towards the target, the face of the club must have been pointing down the target line at impact.
- Did the ball curve in flight, and if so, which way? For example, if the ball curved right, an out-to-in swing path must have been used and the clubface must have been open relative to the swing path.
This information will give you useful cues to work on. In the example above, you probably need to work on a more out-to-in swing path to get the result you want.
Learning to control the factors that influence ball flight will allow you to make on-the-spot corrections to your game, and thus improve your chances of hitting a low score. In this way you can get that extra advantage over your opponents – and feel a lot more confident about hitting good shots.
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