Ball Flight Laws

In the PGA Teaching Manual, Dr Gary Wiren, a PGA teaching professional, provided a clear and concise description for the laws of ball flight. Most good golf professionals base their teaching strategy from these laws to better serve their students needs.

I would like to school you on the nine laws of ball flight. We will look at the direction and shape of the shot to describe what your club does as you move through impact. Addressing the outcome of the shot will allow you to find strengths or flaws in your golf swing.

Law 1. The ball flies in a straight line towards the target. Both the clubface and swing path are lined up on the target line at the point of contact. Ideal!

Law 2. The ball flies in a straight line left of the target. Better known as a “pull,” this results from the swing path moving slightly across the ball (out-to-in), and the face of the club is lined up to that path. This is a common fault in high- to mid-handicap players and results in a steep approach angle.

Law 3. The ball flies in a straight line right of the target. This shot is known as a “push,” and it is a common fault among better players. The swing path moves inside to outside the target line, and the face angle is aligned to that path, which results in a very shallow approach angle.

Law 4. The ball starts off straight at the target and then curves left. This is your basic “hook,” and it is produced when the swing path moves through the hitting area fairly straight, but the clubface is angled to the left of the club path.

Law 5. The ball starts off straight at the target and then curves to the right. This is your basic “slice,” and it is caused by the swing path moving through the hitting area fairly straight, but the face angle is to the right of the swing path.

Law 6. The ball starts off left of the target line and then curves to the right. This is a “pull slice,” and it is the worst type of slice. When hitting this shot the swing path moves across the ball (out-to-in) and the face angle is always lined up far to the right of the path of the club head. The approach angle is very steep.

Law 7. The ball starts off to the left of the target line and then curves more to the left. This is a “pull hook,” and it is caused by the swing path moving across the ball (out-to-in), and the face angle is aligned left of the swing path.

Law 8. The ball starts off to the right of the target line and then curves back to the left. This shot starts out far to the right of the target line and then curves to the left until finishing far to left of the target line. When hitting this shot the swing path moves extremely inside to outside, but the face angle is positioned far left of the swing path when the ball is struck.

Law 9. The ball flies to the right of the target line and then curves right. This “push slice” results from the path being strongly inside to outside, and it is very uncontrollable because the face angle is aligned far too right of the path.

Studying your ball flight is a good way to identify what needs to be corrected. All too often a method is applied without being called for,and results in a head full of unproductive swing thoughts.

—Gerald McCullagh

Comments

[john ryan]

Gerald,

you should add a podium to your teaching tools.

JR

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1642784330]

Bob,

I did not write the ball flight laws, but after 40 years of teaching I have observed that a hook goes left and a slice goes right! (chuckle).

Thankyou very much for your comment.

Gerald

[Bob A]

I'm sorry, but you're not correct in these ball flight laws (some happen to be correct but for the wrong reason).

Take your law #5 for instance...

The PGA teaching manual is wrong. The ball starts mostly in the direction of the face angle, NOT the clubhead path. New Trackman data, and data from slow motion film taken as long ago as the late 60s proves this (see the book "Search for a Perfect Swing". About 87% of the initial direction of the ball is caused by the face angle (this amount varies based on the club used).

I'll give a simple analogy. You have a podium with a slanted top. You drop a ball straight down on it. Which direction does it deflect? Towards the angle of the slanted top. It doesn't pop straight up then spin. Exactly the same forces are at work with the ball and clubhead.

It's really unfortunate that so many PGA pros buys into this concept and end up teaching the wrong thing, and even more unfortunate that the PGA doesn't have engineers and physicists going over their material before it's published. This is a pretty simple concept in the world of physics. Learning the wrong ball flight laws leads to incorrect adjustment to ones swing.