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Knowing how to spin the golf ball is only half the battle. In order to see the ball grab and even stand to attention, there’s a lot that has to come together. One of the influencing factors is moisture so, with that in mind, I was keen to identify if water (on the ball and/or clubface) altered the consistency of a 60-yard wedge shot.
Watching golf on TV, one of the things tour players do that you don’t is hit that 50-80 yarder that seems to skip, skip and spin right next to the hole. Without getting too technical, they are hitting low-launching, high-spinning wedge shots, but I know I’m not alone in wondering how on earth they do it so consistently.
Now, fresh wedges hot off the tour van certainly help, as does the endless supply of the best golf balls. This article isn’t going to tell you to upgrade your equipment yearly, more how you can control certain factors so you too can hit that saucy spinner.
(Image credit: Kenny Smith)
The test
This test was carried out using a Titleist Vokey 58-degree wedge along with a Pro V1 golf ball. The aim was to see the difference in consistency (spin, height and flight) when the environment of the shots was manipulated. The different environments were:
- Dry face and dry ball
- Dry face and wet ball
- Wet face and wet ball
- Wet face and dry ball
The dry face and ball combination obviously simulates a perfect golfing day and course conditions.
The dry face and wet ball is likely to happen when the ground is wet but it’s not raining, meaning you are able to dry the clubface before hitting your shot.
The wet face and ball simulates wet ground conditions and poor weather. Alternatively, it could represent a player who doesn’t dry their wedge after a practice swing on wet turf.
A wet face and dry ball is the rarest scenario but it can still be created when preferred lies are in operation. Sometimes a player will lift, clean and place their ball (dry) but forget to dry their wedge.
(Image credit: Kevin Murray)
The results
The data returned some interesting results. Perhaps predictably, the dry ball and face combination produced the most spin (8,079 rpm), an average of 2,360 rpm more than the wet face and wet ball. And if you look at the second row on the report below, you will see the consistency of this number. There is a much larger fluctuation in spin with the wet face and ball, which results in greater inconsistency in launch and carry.
The trend with this report is that when the clubface is dry, spin numbers are better. For…
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