D Plane Email Share

[Michael Jacobs]

MJ,
Since the D plane is at right angles to the spin axis; how long does the initial ball direction which is base on the face at a percentage between 75 to 90 last in 3D space before the ball starts to curve?

Is it a short period of time say 3 feet in front of you or is there a true distance the ball travels in relation to the face before it turns due to path?

Or is it base on how much the face and path angle are different in degrees?

More askew then the curvature happens sooner?

R/RA

RA,

Those are some awesome questions and ones that I have taken an in depth look at over the years. The reference is to the Initial Launch - Immediate and then external factors will begin right away.

Ultimately there are a lot of EXTERNAL FACTORS that come in to play - wind, drag, lift, and gravity etc....

Let's take wind out of the equation for a second and picture a spin axis tilted 20 degrees to the right. The aerodynamic forces such lift and drag will take place within the D plane so they ultimately do not make the ball deviate from it. However a gravity force will be the culprit in making the golf ball move offline as a gravity force is at a right angle to the D Plane as well:






but if you thought about it logically the more severe the spin axis of the ball is tilted the more severe and faster it is going to spin off to the side.

In all of the scientific papers and books such as the Physics of Golf Etc. call it the INITIAL TRAJECTORY so by that they are referring to the immediate direction after the collision. Hope that helps!

[RASWING]

MJ,

Yes Sir this helps.... Thanks a bunch I have been studying my POG book and the Dplane section... This makes it simple to understand..... What Ive noticed is that when my HSP is left a % and I have the face look left and I hit down on the ball with with an AOA of -3 or -4 the IL direction is a bit right of what I think I am aiming at, then I have what looks like to my eyes is a straight away ball flight that fall gently right at the end.... But with the 3 wood off the deck its all was left to left a straightaway ball flight that turns left. Draw flight.... But when i do whats a square/ square plane line I Hit a bigger draw with my woods off the deck.... Still working on it... If you dont have a trackman or flight scope its difficult to figure out in every day practice... Thanks for the help....

[RASWING]

MJ,
With the info we just mentioned, A new questioned just came up in my head since we no spin axis is imparted by path face divergance... Then is it truly relavent to worry about these balls that claim to decrease side spin since we no there isnt truly any side spin but spin axis ? So ball choice as you've said before should be a feel thing and performance in the short game and off the Driver? What do you think ? So is it OEM hype or truly useful ?

[Michael Jacobs]

MJ,
With the info we just mentioned, A new questioned just came up in my head since we no spin axis is imparted by path face divergance... Then is it truly relavent to worry about these balls that claim to decrease side spin since we no there isnt truly any side spin but spin axis ? So ball choice as you've said before should be a feel thing and performance in the short game and off the Driver? What do you think ? So is it OEM hype or truly useful ?

RA,

Great question... the best answer I can come up with for you is dimple patterns and depth could effect the amount of spin but the spin axis will be the spin axis