Every shot you hit on a golf course – draw, fade, slice, hook, pull, push – is essentially a function of two factors. Club face angle and club path.
Before launch monitor technology, skilled players knew they could shape shots by opening and closing the face and adjusting their swing direction. But they couldn’t quantify it. It was feel and trial and error. Now we know exactly how much each factor contributes – and understanding that relationship puts every shot shape within reach.
Here is the simple version. The club face determines where the ball starts. On mid-iron shots face accounts for 75% of the starting direction. Club path is only 25% responsible. On driver shots face angles contributes even more. The club face determines how the ball curves. When face and path point in the same direction the spin axis is vertical and the ball flies straight – the hardest shot in golf. When they diverge the spin axis tilts and the ball curves. The more it tilts the more it curves. For every 5 degrees of spin axis tilt a ball curves approximately 3.5 yards sideways per 100 yards of carry.
Face sends it. Path bends it. Once that clicks everything else follows – pulls, pushes, draws, fades, all 13 major ball flights. Different shot shapes are just different combinations of the same two ingredients.
Knowing the recipe is one thing. Executing it in a less than a second is another. But at least when the ball goes the wrong way you’ll know exactly why.
Chapters:
0:00 – The Variety of Shots You Need on the Golf Course
0:26 – Every Shot Shape Follows Two Rules
0:41 – Impact – Where Everything About Your Shot Is Determined
0:56 – Club Face Direction and Starting Direction Explained
1:24 – Club Path and How It Creates Curve
1:53 – Spin Axis – Why Sidespin Is a Mistaken Notion
2:00 – The Airplane Wing Illustration
2:24 – What Happens When Face Is Open Relative to Path
2:31 – Real Numbers – How Much a Ball Curves Per Degree of Tilt
2:42 – Manipulating Face and Path for Different Shot Shapes
3:00 – The Pull and the Push Explained
3:18 – The Draw and the Fade Explained
3:32 – On-Course Situations Where Shot Shaping Helps
3:46 – Golf Is Physics and Geometry
3:51 – Key Takeaways
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