May
09
2007

Hitting The Sweet Spot

Posted by Double Eagle in Ball Striking Tips

Stack and Tilt Golf Swing Videos by Medicus Golf

The golf swing is a complex beast. There are so many mistakes that can be made that drain power that it’s mind boggling: casting, late weight transfer, poor swing plane, getting “stuck” on the downswing. The list goes on. But one of the most fixable things that we may not be doing and don’t even realize it, is hitting the ball consistently in the sweet spot of the club.

I’ve heard it said that Bobby Jones used to wear out a spot on his irons that was about the size of a dime. That’s from hitting the ball consistently in the same spot, over and over and over. Today’s clubs are very forgiving, but missing the sweet spot by even 1/4″ can start to rob you of distance.

Try an experiment: next time you’re at your favorite golf shop, see if they carry impact tape. It’s usually sold as little stickers that are affixed to the club face. Impact with the ball causes a dark spot, making it plainly visible exactly where you’re hitting the ball on the club face. If you prefer not to spend the money on specialized impact tape, a layer of masking or duct tape will also work.

When you go to the range, choose a few clubs and hit some balls to see if you’re hitting the sweet spot (check after each shot). If you are, then good for you. If not, then I suggest you start working on it. You may find that you actually hit the ball straighter.

With a swing that would normally produce a straight shot, generally shots hit toward the toe of the club will tend to hook, and shots hit near the heel will tend to slice (or shank if you’re hitting it all the way up by the hosel).

Start trying to home in on the sweet spot in your practice. It won’t be long before you get a heightened awareness of what the ball is doing off the club face and you’ll be able to tell whether you’re hitting the ball out near the toe or thin or near the hosel from feel and from watching your ball flight.

If you’ve spent years hitting the ball off center, then you’re in for a treat when you home in and hit that first pure shot. Keep in mind that if you have a poor swing, then hitting the sweet spot might only be the tip of the iceberg, but you’ll still see some immediate improvement if you’ve been hitting off-center.

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There are currently 4 responses to “Hitting The Sweet Spot”

  1. 1

    HappyRock said:

    This is some good advice. I have never tried the tape, but I would be a very enlightening exercise I am sure.

    I know that I don’t often hit the sweet spot. Why, because when I do, I know. Drives have that sound, and they just go. I think it was probably a two years until I noticed what a shot felt like that hit the sweet spot of the driver. I notice it the most on putts, when I blow a shot way past the hole, because I hit the sweet spot.

    I have really old clubs, so I am sure the sweet spot is smaller, but that just makes me better, right!

    Where is the sweet spot usually on driver, and irons?

    -The Happy Rock

    Posted on May 9th, 2007 at 11:34 am

  2. 2

    Double Eagle said:

    Typically, with irons it’s going to be close to the center of the club face, a couple of grooves up from the sole.

    Drivers are a little different story and have been evolving over time. The sweet spot on many modern drivers is slightly above center. While a center hit may feel great, shots struck slightly above center will have a higher launch angle and a lower spin rate. These two ingredients help to maximize distance with today’s drivers.

    Putters are the tough one. Depending on the quality of your putter, the line(s) on the top of the face may not actually align with the sweet spot. To find the sweet spot on a putter, grip it lightly between your thumb and forefinger (letting it hang down). Tap the club face with a coin until you find the spot that feels the most solid and also doesn’t cause the putter to twist in your fingers, but rather sends the blade straight back.

    Posted on May 9th, 2007 at 12:47 pm

  3. 3

    Dave said:

    I’ve done the tape thing a few times. It’s fun to see where you’re making contact. It’s somewhat useful for improving your game, too, especially if there’s a pattern for the miss-hits.

    It’s interesting to see how much the ball deforms when you hit it–the ball mark is at least the size of a nickel. Having a mental image of the ball compressing on the club face and sticking to it for the initial part of its flight is helpful to me. I can picture it sticking to the club face and launching off into the sunset. This is opposed to the he-man mental image where I have to hit it hard to make it go far (not a recommended approach).

    Posted on May 9th, 2007 at 1:58 pm

  4. 4

    Double Eagle said:

    I like that mental image, Dave.

    A lot of interesting science goes into how the ball deforms at contact. My understanding is that after the ball deforms and rockets off the club face, it actually wobbles for a bit before fully regaining it’s shape. I’m guessing a lot of R&D goes into optimizing things like that.

    Posted on May 10th, 2007 at 8:00 am

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