Ball Flight Laws - D Plane - And MAGIC!!
A number of months ago I wrote an article what have been called the New Ball Flight Laws. The most important element of these is that, for all shots, the direction the golf ball starts after impact is very close to where the club face is pointed at impact.
Last October at our annual AGCP Clubfitting conference, there was a lot of discussion by David Nels of Flightscope about something called the "D Plane." What I learned about the D Plane over the past month (I am a slow learner?) has changed my understanding of golf ball flight, and perhaps may help yours.
The term "D Plane" was coined by Theodore Jorgensen in his book "The Physics of Golf." In this book he says "The D plane for a golf swing contains the path along which the club head is moving at impact, the normal to the club face, and the initial path of the ball at impact." John Graham, in a D Plane video he has just produced, says that the D plane "describes the collision of the golf ball and the club face."
As a club fitter, understanding what happens to the golf ball for different combinations of club path and club face direction at impact, and how shaft weight and club weight can influence ball flight, is important. And the concept of D plane can actually allow you to explain the Ball Flight Laws.
There are a lot of great resources available on the web to help golfers understand the D plane and how it helps to describe ball flight. Here are some of the ones I think are the most valuable.
John Graham Golf and D Plane John Graham has done many blog posts and videos related to helping to understand the D plane, and he also has produced an excellent video (for cost of $10) that shows how the D plane is constructed for different path and club face conditions.
Brian Manzella "The Essential D Plane" Video This YouTube video shows explicitly what the D plane means in terms of ball flight. It is a must view.
Jeff Mann "Ball Flight Laws" Document This 21-page document is in my view the most complete writeup on the New Ball Flight Laws and the D Plane and why D Plane is important.
THANKS FOR BEING PATIENT - NOW FOR THE REALLY GOOD "SO WHAT" STUFF!!
Until I read and understood the D plane information I noted above, I always thought that - for your drives, fairway woods, and irons - if you made an on-plane swing and your club face was pointed at the target at impact you would hit the golf ball straight. Well guess what - this is NOT TRUE unless you hit the golf ball at the Low Point of your golf swing! And understanding what the D plane is and how it affects ball flight explains this. Here is what you have to do to hit a Straight Golf Shot with your irons or your driver (with some assumptions):
Irons - If you are hitting an iron or hitting down on your driver (where you hit before the low point in your swing), and want to hit a straight shot at the target, you actually should line up a little left of the target (for a right-handed player), swing on plane for that alignment, and point the club face at the target at address;
Driver - If you are hitting "up" with your driver (with a positive angle of attack), and want to hit a straight shot at the target, you actually should line up a little right of the target (for a right-handed player), swing on plane for that alignment, and point the club face at the target at address.
This is not new information, but it is based on sound physics and it works. A golf friend recently tried it and is amazed with the results he achieved. A few days ago, with no warmup before my round, I tried it - straight drives (compared to usual slice or fade), solid irons and fairway woods.
You may want to watch the Manzella video and make use of some of the other resources to help you understand the D plane - it may improve your game!
