Here’s a picture from a Trackman presentation I thought would make for a very interesting discussion. You can click on the image to see its full size. Basically, this chart shows the results from a case study comparing different golfers and Horizontal Launch Angle. It discusses the Face Angles and Club Paths contribution to Horizontal Launch Angle.
Here’s how to read the chart. The bottom numbers represent ball speed (in MPH) and the numbers on the side represent the percentage of contribution in the Horizontal Launch. The blue line would represent 100% contribution from Club Path to Horizontal Launch and the red line would represent 100% contribution from Club Face Angle.
There’s been a general consensus that the ball starts at about 85% of Face Angle. You can see that this is not necessarily accurate. Their are many factors that go into the full answer. Each dot in this chart is a hit. There were a multitude of golfers used and you can see they were from a wide range of skill levels and swing speeds. I’m am not aware if the slower swing speeds are different clubs or just the same club with a slower speed. The other thing we don’t know is where on the face these shots were hit and the divergence of the face on path on these shots.
In any event, I think this will give you some food for thought. Aside from swing speed and loft, friction is the other main component for Horizontal Launch Angle. This friction is one of the main reasons why lofted clubs will tend to be a little closer to 65% of the face angle direction relative to the 85% we hear about driver face angle direction. Just remember, the face angles contribution can vary and only with measurements from an accurate machine can we truly understand what happened at impact.
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