Tips

Golf Balls and Cold Temperatures

/ The Grateful Golfer / 12 Comments
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Playing Golf in Cold Temperatures!

As winter continues to pound most of Canada, the discussions of the weather is never far away. During previous posts, I offered suggestion on how to play in cold weather to help improve your game. One area that I have overlooked is the effect of cold weather on your golf equipment. Specifically, your golf ball; after some research, I realized that this oversight might very well be robbing me of chance to score low in cooler weather!

There are three aspects of cold weather that affect your golf ball that every player should understand. They are not difficult concepts and they are easily rectified. Understanding how cold weather effects compression, ball flight, and feel on the club will ensure you are always ready to shoot your lowest score.

The optimum temperature for a golf ball is 80 degrees. As a ball’s temperature drops, it won’t compress as much off the clubface. For maximum playability, store the balls at room temperature.

Compression of the golf ball is a key fundamental to hitting the long ball.

“The golf ball is compressed and flattened by the force of the impact. The lower compression of the ball results in the ball; travelling farther as the club’s energy creates energy, transferring it to the ball. The ball’s compression handles the high-speed and impact of the club, and allows flexibility so that the ball can recoil and not break apart.”

6215.WA_Titleist-zone-5-Golf-ball-philosophyUS_09During cold weather, high-compression golf balls are not as effect or efficient because they are more difficult to compress. If you are playing golf in temperatures below 60 degrees F or 15 degrees C, I recommend a lower compression ball or a high-compression ball designed for colder temperatures.

Ball flight is a challenge in cold temperatures. As an ex-aircraft technician, I understand the theory of flight. Although cold temperature helps an aircraft take-off sooner; the same cold temperature shortens the your ball flight. Without going through the science of cold temperatures, it is enough to say that the air is more dense due to the slower movement of molecules. As golfers, we say the air is thicker. This thicker are makes it harder for the ball to travel in the air because it has to push its way through more resistance. The more resistance, the more energy required for your ball to travel the same distance in cold temperatures vs warm temperatures.

The last challenge of cold temperatures is feel. Everyone one of us has hit a golf ball at one time or another and felt a stinging pain in our hands. Immediately, we exclaim “that felt like hitting a rock!” Well, we should not be surprised because the materials that make up a ball are basically plastic and rubber (simplified version). As we all know, both harden when exposed to cold temperatures. Therefore, as we hit the ball and more importantly miss hit a ball in colder temperatures, the feel of hitting a ‘rock’ is amplified. My advice is to swing slightly less aggressively and club up! It will help save your hands and improve your feel!

I found the following at TheSandTrap.com where they quoted the PGA Teaching Manual as a source. As you can see, cold temperatures make club selection more challenging:

The temperature of a golf ball affects its ability to rebound from the clubface. The following chart is the approximate influence of temperature on the ball for a shot that would normally carry 220 yards at 75 degree temperature.

  • Yards — Temp
  • 226 ——- 105
  • 224 ——- 95
  • 222 ——- 85
  • 220 ——- 75
  • 216 ——- 65
  • 214 ——- 55
  • 205 ——- 45
  • 196 ——- 35

It gives the reasoning of rubber being a poor conductor of heat.

I also asked golfers what temperature they would most like to play in and this is what they said:

It is not surprising that just about half the respondents like to play in 80 degree weather. I am sure it has as much to do with the playing temperature as well as the performance of their golf ball.

Golfing in cooler temperatures does pose challenges from most golfers. Understanding the effects temperature plays on your equipment can help mitigate mistakes before you tee up. Selecting the proper golf ball is the first step to shooting your lowest score regardless of the temperature.

Do you change golf balls depending on the temperature?

I am a grateful golfer. See you on the links!

The Time to Fix Your Golf Swing

/ The Grateful Golfer / 6 Comments

Focus on remedies, not faults! – Jack Nicklaus

Ask any player and they can tell you exactly what is wrong with their swing. They use all the current terms and can describe exactly what is causing their challenge. Some use it as a crutch to not improve and others embrace their swing faults as a source of frustration. Words like casting, blocking, closed club face on impact, decelerate through impact, flip shot, and un-cocking their wrists are common terms thrown about at the 19th hole as players describe their poor rounds.

Fixing a Swing

What is wrong with my swing!?!?

As always, the great Jack Nicklaus speaks volumes with just one sentence! The process of being a better golfer is about identifying your faults, but more importantly, focusing on the remedies that will make you a better player. If the same players above are asked how they plan to fix their faults, there is a very good chance that their silence would be deafening and awkward at the same time. If we did not know better, we would assess that they never thought to find solutions to their swing challenges and have accepted their current state of play.

I have never been one of those players to idly let my game atrophy; I have goals and dreams to always play better at my favorite sport. To make a change in my swing, it is important to first change my thoughts and then to have a plan to change my engrained poor habits. Both take time to develop and achieve; also we need the confidence that the end result of lower scores will be worth the frustration experienced while making changes.

The actual time it takes to break old habits and create new ones is unknown. Every person is different and changes come at different speeds. “But there are some steps you can take to increase your chances of success in the endeavour, including:

  • Take small steps. Don’t try to do everything at once.
  • Only try to change one habit at a time.
  • Write down the habit you want to change, and write down specific plans for achieving that goal.
  • Repeat the behaviour you’re aiming for as often as you can. The more a behaviour is repeated, the more likely it is that it will become “instinctive.””(How Stuff Works)

Time is a major factor when making changes to your golf swing. Depending on the amount of time dedicated to being a better golfer, if used effectively, can produce quick and positive results that lead to lower scores.

Focusing on remedies, not faults is a simplistic and profound process to being a better golfer. For those wanting to improve, time is a critical factor to success. Regardless of the amount of time you have, by following the process above, you will create new habits that will result in lower golf scores in your future!

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

 

How to Swing a Golf Club

/ The Grateful Golfer / 4 Comments

Swinging a golf club is deceptively difficult, totally frustrating, produces gratifying results and is poetry in motion all at the same time. Many amateur golfers are in constant pursuit of that perfect swing to fit their game. Routinely making changes, many players never find what they are looking for; however, their journey always continues.

I talked before about the best golf swing and concluded that each player has that perfect swing inside themselves if they just trust that it will come out when it is ready. But, that is not enough sometimes!

Some players follow the lyrics from Billy Crystal’s song You Look Marvelous; “Nando, don’t be a schnook. It’s not how you feel, it’s how. You. Look!” No matter the scoring results they want that poetry in motion look. There really is not wrong answer to how to swing a golf club!

Just to prove what I mean, take a look at some of these great players:

It is interesting that some of the best players of all time had unique swings that were self-taught! Regardless of how they looked, every swing had one thing in common; it was repeatable! And could they repeat their swing. This is an interesting point for players to take away:

How to hit a golf club consistently and effectively, with success, comes in many forms. Only you know the right form for you!

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

Really Look to Learn in Golf

/ The Grateful Golfer / 2 Comments

How many golf videos do you watch in the off-season? Do you watch the golf videos or do you ‘watch’ the golf video! I look at plenty that show great shots into the green, shots off the tee, and putts made from miles away! But to learn something, it is important to really look at the video!

Watch Jason Day’s swing in slow motion:

Now for an amateur:

What did you see? Did you notice anything that would help your game? There are so many moving parts in Day’s perfect rhythm that it is difficult to dissect anything that might be helpful for you game. The amateur’s swing is less smooth, but something helpful could still be found if you really look!

To break down any swing, I have a system. It is a 5 part process that works well for me and I use it whether I am watching Jason Day’s swing or any amateur. I believe I can learn something from every swing. Here is what I do:

  1. First, determine what I want to improve. As an example, I want to generate more power during contact. I would look at Day’s swing (several times) to find a single point of interest. In this case it would be Day’s hips.
  2. Then, I would only focus on that particular part of his swing. I already know that I am having trouble with my hips not sliding forward in my swing; so I would narrow my focus to Jason Day’s left hip.
  3. Next, I try to breakdown Day’s left hip motion into different segments. Breaking down each swing into segments helps find something I can hopefully duplicate. In Jason Day’s swing, I would break down his left hip into: stance, backswing, top of the swing, down swing, contact, and follow through. I might seem like a lot to focus on, but the process gets easier from here.
  4. I pick out two segments of my biggest challenge. In comparison to my swing, I would focus on Day’s left hip position at the top of his swing and during contact. These two positions, if I could duplicate, would greatly enhance my power off the tee!
  5. Lastly, I practice and practice and practice. I start with movements without a club. When I feel comfortable, I start using a club to develop a feel for my new changes. After I am comfortable, it is time to hit golf balls!

This 5 step process works very well for me! I allows me to focus on small changes of my swing with big results. I can use this process while watching any player at any. It takes practice, but after a few tries, you might be surprised on how quickly you notice small aspects of anyone’s swing that will help your game.

Regardless of who you are watching, if you really look, you will learn something.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

 

Golf Tip – Shaft Bump Drill

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Pete Robbins from White Dragon Golf passed on this great drill by Jim McLean. It ties in with yesterday’s post on making solid contact. As Jim McLean indicates, he is not the inventor of the drill, but explains how your hips sliding forward at the beginning of your golf swing leads to solid contact.

The Shaft Bump Drill is simple, easy to duplicate and gives immediate feedback. Check it out:

Shaft Bump Drill demonstrated by Jim McLean

Unfortunately, I will not be able to hit the range or links for a few months, but if anyone has used this drill, we would all appreciate your thoughts.

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!