Question 35

Thanks, David

Dear David,

The reason Moe Norman places the golf club behind the golf ball is to have the club at the bottom of the arc. When Moe is using a wedge it's set only a few inches behind the ball because he is playing the ball directly off his sternum. For a driver, teed high and forward of his left shoulder, you will see his club head at least a foot behind the ball when he addresses it.

You can place your hands even with your sternum and have the club behind the ball. Or you can create the bottom of the arc directly at the golf ball by having your left shoulder, arm, and shaft straight in one line directly to the ball. The reason that you either want the club behind the ball, even with the sternum, or want to create the bottom of the arc at the ball is so that on your backswing you won't have to lift up, pull your arms in, or push the club to the outside.

On my short game video you see how setting the bottom of the arc directly at the ball also assures crisp, solid ball contact. That simple measuring technique can and should be used on all shots. This golf swing produces the ball trajectory that is best suited for the conditions.

I have taken the ball trajectory one step further by designing golf clubs that allow you to create the center of gravity that is most advantageous to your swing speed and your angle of attack to the golf ball so that you can control the launch angle and spin rate of the golf ball. No other golf manufacturer has a club that allows you to change the center of gravity on their club face. What we can do for you with our golf club is find the correct center of gravity for your swing and speed.

A recent client from Oklahoma hit five balls with his $2,000 set of golf clubs. Then he alternated between each club using my club for another group of five balls. He was shocked to find that his shot dispersal was only one third as much with my irons which also gave him a more boring trajectory than his high tech, highly advertised, high cost irons. That is a live example of a $60 golf club out-performing a $200 golf club. The $60 club was three times more accurate with the same golf swing! That's dramatic, and an example of why my irons won three state golf tournament last year. With traditional golf clubs that have low centers of gravity, heel-toe weighting, and soft low kick point golf shafts you will have a higher trajectory. For controlling ball trajectory with those clubs and for specialty shots you must know where your hands are at impact. The farther your hands are in front of the ball at impact, the lower the ball flight because you have shut the face down. If your hands are even with the golf ball at impact you will see a true representation of the shaft flex and C.G. of the golf club. When your hands are behind the golf ball at impact you will see a much higher ball flight.

Typical high tech metal woods have a low C.G. and little, or no vertical face roll so that if you hit the golf ball low on the club face you will still hit high golf shots. Only by hitting the ball high on the club face with your hands in front of the golf ball can you hope to hit it low. I believe that to be incorrect and is a major reason why the design for IMA metals will dramatically improve ball flight control.

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