Golf Clubs Box Grooves
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Is Golf Becoming Too Groovy?
The United States Golf Association recently announced revisions to the Rules of Golf, placing new restrictions on the cross sectional area and edge sharpness of golf club grooves.
The revisions are designed to restore the challenge of playing shots to the green from the rough by reducing backspin on those shots. The initial focus of the new rules will be competitions involving highly skilled professional golfers and will have little impact on the play of most golfers.
The rules control the cross sectional area of grooves on all clubs, with the exception of drivers and putters, and limit groove edge sharpness on clubs with lofts equal to or greater than 25 degrees (generally a standard 5-iron and above).
The rules apply to clubs manufactured after Jan. 1, 2010, the same year that the USGA will enforce the new regulations through a condition of competition for the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open and each of their qualifying events.
All USGA amateur championships will apply the new regulations through the condition of competition, after Jan. 1, 2014.
Since this is somewhat of a major breaking news item in the golf equipment industry, let me try to explain some of the ins and outs of this new rule decision.
This came about because the USGA became concerned that players who hit the ball very far but in the rough were not being penalized enough for their errant drives.
Rather than hit a fwy wood off the tee to have a longer shot into the green from the fairway, long hitters have been going with the driver because they would rather have a shorter iron into the green from the rough than a little longer club in from the fwy.
And as we all know, a skilled player has a much better chance of hitting a 9-iron (for example) closer to the hole than say a 6 or 7 iron.
The USGA became convinced that the reason the long hitters could hit the ball on the green from the rough was because of U shaped grooves. They felt the slightly larger groove area combined with the slightly "sharper" top edges of a U shaped scoreline allowed these players to spin the ball more from the rough and thus be able to stop the ball on the green more effectively.
The new rule reduces the groove area and slightly lessens the edge sharpness. The USGA believes this will prevent the long hitters from being able to spin the ball as well on shots from the rough so they will not be able to make as many pars or birdies when they hit the ball into the rough off the tee.
If the long hitters cannot spin the ball as much, the USGA feels this will increase the penalty of hitting the ball into the rough. Their hope is the shorter, more accurate hitters will gain back an advantage over the long hitters, and that the long hitters will be forced to hit less club off the tee to keep the ball in the fairway more often.
I believe the rule is not going to do what the USGA wants because the main reason the long hitters can hit the ball solidly and with reasonable spin from the rough is not the shape of the grooves as much as it is the long hitters' much higher swing speed.
First, there is no question whatsoever that the higher the swing speed, the greater the backspin will be for any loft angle. Second, there is no question that the higher the swing speed, the more solid the ball can be hit from taller grass. Third, there is no question it is easier to hit a higher loft iron solidly from the rough than it is a lower loft iron.
The new groove rule will not change one thing in these three facts.
The number one influence the clubhead has on spin is the roughness of the flat sections of the face in between the grooves.
No question whatsoever about that. Remember in the mid 90s when some of the wedges with the rougher blasting surface on the face were all the rage? They did spin the ball more because the rougher blast surface of the flat sections of the face created more friction between the face and ball.
Wedges that chew up the cover of a ball are ones that have sharp scoreline edges. This pretty much can only happen when U or box shape grooves are CNC machined (engraved) on the face and no steps are taken after the cutting of the grooves to soften the edges.
Casting the grooves into a head typically can never leave the edges of the grooves sharp because there are several "renditions" of the head and lines in the production process from master to die to wax to ceramic shell to cast head. Each of those steps causes the edges of the lines to soften ever so slightly more so the end result of the finished head rarely has line edges which can be sharp enough to shave the cover off the ball.
In the USGA's recent 300 page study on grooves, they confirmed that from the fairway with no grass between the face and the ball, V grooves spun the ball the same as U grooves. it was only in the rough when grass got between the face and ball that U grooves spun the ball more, and this was only for Urethane cover golf balls, the type most played by a tour player.
Surlyn cover balls, which comprise over 75% of the total ball market in the world, showed NO DIFFERENCE for spin with V or U grooves from the rough or fairway.
If the USGA want to make the rough more difficult for the top pros they should stop worrying about grooves and think about lengthening the rough. The rough condition will always reduce the spin from a wedge when compared to a dry condition but from deep (4 to 6 inch) heavy rough it doesn’t matter what ball you play or configuration of grooves you have on your wedge.
About the Author
A former GCA Clubmaker of the Year, David Doyle crafts custom golf clubs from his two locations in Basingstoke and Bournemouth. A master craftsman and Class A clubfitter, David is regarded as one of the top clubmakers in Europe. His website is http://www.madetomeasuregolf.co.uk.
the Groove Rule
To golfers?everything they used has its standard rule . Let’s see the groove rule.
According to the USGA, there are two key components to “the groove rule:”
The volume of grooves is reduced.
Groove edge sharpness is reduced for clubs with lofts greater than or equal to 25 degrees (about a 5-iron or above).(there are golf clubs for sale)
Writing at golfdigest.com, Jaime Diaz had an excellent description of how grooves on a club face can affect the ball.
“Grooves on irons exist to create backspin that assists in control,” he wrote. “Until 1984 uniform tooling and rules that regulated spacing produced a relatively narrow groove that was cut in a ‘V’ shape from top to bottom. That year, Ping founder Karsten Solheim, under what he contended were the same parameters, created grooves that were more U-shaped and wider. It was soon found that Ping’s grooves — which came to be known as square grooves — imparted more spin than conventional irons, particularly from the rough.
“The reason is the same one that applies to rain tires. The bigger grooves in the tire displace more water, allowing the rubber to make more contact with the asphalt and thus have better traction. In the same way, grooves with more volume and less space between them take in more grass and moisture, leaving less debris between the steel surface and the cover of the ball, allowing more backspin and control.”
a joke:I Imagine Things
The drunk was floundering down the alley carrying a box with holes on the side. He bumped into a friend who asked, "What do you have in there, pal?" "A mongoose." "What for?" "Well, you know how drunk I can get. When I get drunk I see snakes, and I'm scared to death of snakes. That's why I got this mongoose, for protection." "But," the friend said, "you idiot! Those are imaginary snakes." "That's okay," saidthe drunk, showing his friend the interior of the box, "So is the mongoose."
About the Author
happy day!
