75. The physics of the game tells us that club-head speed is essential for distance but too heavier a club-head simply slows things down

How many golfers I wonder think that a heavy-headed driver would give them extra distance? I remember years ago, players would invest in rolls of lead tape and proceed to stick it on the back of their drivers believing an extra 25 yards distance was guaranteed. They would always come back in exhausted, disappointed and their arms about 2 inches longer than when they went out. The physics of the game tells us that club-head speed is essential for distance but too heavier a club-head simply slows things down.

I have a “weighted” driver that in the past I used for practice swinging in order to build up strength. It weighs in at about 22 ounces, which does not seem a lot until you compare it to a standard driver which has an overall weight of around 12 to 13 ounces. On the occasions I have hit a ball with it, I struggled to get it much past 175 yards.

I was recently reading an excellent book which covers the physics of hitting a golf ball and pulled out some facts that I thought you might find interesting. Long hitters get their length by swinging the club-head faster than their shorter hitting peer’s. In order to carry a shot 280 yards with a club-head weighing 7 ounces, he would have to have a swing speed of 130 mph to enable the ball leave impact at the required 175 mph. An average hitting top player with a swing speed of 100 mph and a 7 ounce club-head would see his ball set off at 135 mph. The same swing speed with a club-head weighing 14 ounces, or twice the normal weight, would only send the ball packing at 149 mph. A club with a 16 pound head swung at 100 mph would only dispatch the ball at 165 mph. Finally, a club-head weighing 10,000 tons travelling at the same 100 mph would only send the ball on its way at 166 mph. I would not like to fall out with the person who could swing a 14-ounce club head at 100 mile per hour let alone the 16-pound version.  The average person quite simply could not do it without their arms coming detached at the shoulders.

The top player from the point of momentary rest at the top of the back-swing accelerating to a 100 mph at the moment of impact is about 100 times faster than a high performance sports car can achieve. The time span is about one-fifth of a second. Who said golf was a sedate pastime?

Statistics sourced from “The search for the perfect swing” by Alastair Cochran and John Stobbs.