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Critical Wedge info + Workability in irons
We just released a completely FREE wedge masterclass so you can improve your 50-100 yard shots. Mark Blackburn talk through all the technique and data you need to understand. It's epic. Big thanks to the folks at Rapsodo who helped make this video with Mark happen!
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💬 Here's my thoughts on one of them:
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🧪 Shot Shaping & Club Kinetics: The Experiment
This info is from a podcast with Dr Sasho MacKenzie (co-founder of The Stack). You can listen on Spotify here.
Sasho and Ping collaborated on a study to examine how different 7-iron models—specifically the Ping Blueprint (small head) and the G710 (larger, game-improvement head)—affect shot shaping and club kinetics.
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The idea was simple: do smaller club heads really make it easier to shape shots, as many believe?
- Test Group: 15 low-handicap golfers
- Conditions: Players were to hit draws and fades with both the Blueprint and G710 irons, under tightly controlled conditions (no grip, stance, or ball position changes allowed).
- Objective: To see how club design impacts workability and how players adjust their kinetics (forces applied to the club) to achieve desired shot shapes.
Key Findings: The Truth About Workability
- Workability Myth Busted: Both irons had similar levels of workability—meaning players could shape shots equally well with either club. The difference? The Blueprint tended to promote a draw, while the G710 was more fade-biased.
- Kinetics in Action: When trying to hit draws, golfers exhibited more out-of-plane force (a force that facilitates face closing) with both irons. Yet, despite their efforts, the G710 consistently produced more open face angles, making it harder to hit draws compared to the Blueprint.
- Takeaway for Golfers: If you’re a higher handicapper using a G710, know that it’s designed to help with consistency and forgiveness, but it might challenge your ability to hit a draw.
What This Means for Club Selection
Tour Players vs. Amateurs:
- Tour Pros: Prefer smaller heads for their perceived workability, though this study suggests it’s more about personal preference than a true performance difference.
- Amateurs: Larger-headed clubs like the G710 provide forgiveness and help maintain ball speed on off-center hits, making them a better fit for those still developing consistent ball-striking skills.
The Deep Dive: Kinetics & Face Closing
Sasho discussed an advanced concept that’s crucial for understanding why some clubs are easier to close through impact than others. Here’s the idea:
- Out-of-Plane Moment of Force: A fancy term for how the club’s center of mass interacts with the forces applied by the golfer’s hands during the downswing. Get this right, and you’ve got a face-closing machine. Get it wrong, and you’re fighting to square the face at impact.
- Next time you’re testing clubs, think about how they feel when trying to hit different shapes. If one club always seems to leave the face open, it might be a sign that its center of mass isn’t working in your favor.
If you enjoyed this make sure to check out the full episode!
I'm better at shot shaping than Mark Crossfield 😂
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Till next time,
-Cordie
✍️ Written By: Cordie Walker.
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We deliver practical strategies to shoot lower scores📉 Weekly newsletter that delivers the latest tactics you don't want to miss ⛳️
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