We've launched the new forums! Read more here

What is "forgiveness" in a Driver?

SuperStroke
jlukes said:
I have a lot of friends that I golf with that don't really understand what makes a club forgiving. Most of the time when they hear that a driver is forgiving, they assume that the driver will make their slice/hook smaller.

However, when I think of forgiveness, I think of distance loss when not hitting the sweet spot.

What is forgiveness?
Click to expand...


Forgiveness for me is:

Irons: The ability for the irons to reduce twisting from hits on the toe, getting the ball up on thin shots (weighting, offset), reducing distance loss on off center hits, larger sole to help with fat shots, and a larger sweet spot by toe and heal weighting to normalize distance.

Driver: Larger sweet spot by increased head size, assistance with getting the ball air born via either spin, CoG, or loft, and reduced gear affect on toe and heal shots to straiten out the ball flight.

Putters: Reduction in twisting for off center hits.

Balls: More spin or Less spin, more compression or less compression. Depends on the needs of the player.
 
For me forgiveness in a driver is how large the sweet spot is the bigger the sweet spot the more forgiving so off center hit will not be punished as bad
 
Erky said:
I am not sure about others, but my experience with modern drivers is that high on the face is hotter than a firecracker.
Click to expand...

I usually get a higher than normal shot that has very little roll-out. Crazy game


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
For me it is a combo of distance loss and minimal slice/hook on mis hits.
 
jlukes said:
I have a lot of friends that I golf with that don't really understand what makes a club forgiving. Most of the time when they hear that a driver is forgiving, they assume that the driver will make their slice/hook smaller.

However, when I think of forgiveness, I think of distance loss when not hitting the sweet spot.

What is forgiveness?
Click to expand...

I think you hit the nail on head, for the most part. With a square club face at impact the majority of forgiveness would be distance related depending on the ball's impact point across the club face.

Because the face of the driver is convex and rolling then "slight" variations of face angle and point of impact across the face will offer different types of forgiveness. For instance, an impact toward the heel with a slightly open club face would still see a ball that moves in the direction of a push or slice; however, on a driver with forgiveness the toe would work to close itself at impact to minimize the face angle imperfection. This will not cure a slice or a hook because they are normally swing path related but it will let someone who delivers the club on a proper path to get away with more variations.

But YES, manufacturers are delivering/marketing distance and the forgiveness is designed to provide just that...
 
This post from ChristopherKee gives many good examples of the different types of forgiveness I was talking about:

"Forgiveness for me is:

Irons: The ability for the irons to reduce twisting from hits on the toe (1. Dampening), getting the ball up on thin shots (weighting, offset) (2. Correction), reducing distance loss on off center hits(3. Sweetspot), larger sole to help with fat shots (2. Correction), and a larger sweet spot by toe and heal weighting to normalize distance(3. Sweetspot).

Driver: Larger sweet spot by increased head size(3. Sweetspot), assistance with getting the ball air born via either spin, CoG, or loft(2. Correction), and reduced gear affect on toe and heal shots to straiten out the ball flight (2. Correction).

Putters: Reduction in twisting for off center hits (1. Dampening)

Balls: More spin or Less spin, more compression or less compression. Depends on the needs of the player."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top