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Choking down on a club

Tadashi70

Tadashi70

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Can anyone tell me why choking down on a club an inch or two inches produces a shorter shot? For instance I was ready the 'how far do you carry your clubs' thread and someone mentioned choking down an inch. By choking down he got 10 yards less with his club. I am curious as to why this is so.

If you choke down on a 150 yards club does it take off 10yds or more or less?
 
Could it be that they are not hitting the center of the club face, which will produce loss of distance?
 
You're in essence shortening the shaft, decreasing the size of the arc of the swing, and producing less energy transference to the ball. Science!
 
I think it somehow slows the swing down a bit.
 
I'll bite FK. Lol

I'm not willing to say 10 or more yards for me exactly. But I know when I choke down on a club the swing radius is shorter which is going to ultimately change the speed of the club at impact.

However, when I choke down mentally I'm trying to hit it to a distance which could also mean that my swing length is changing as well.

So after all that I can honestly say....I don't know
 
Martsy said:
You're in essence shortening the shaft, decreasing the size of the arc of the swing, and producing less energy transference to the ball. Science!
Click to expand...


This. Less centripetal acceleration of the clubhead and thus less force delivered to the ball.
 
Martsy said:
You're in essence shortening the shaft, decreasing the size of the arc of the swing, and producing less energy transference to the ball. Science!
Click to expand...
^^^what he said.
 
T2GRN18 said:
I'll bite FK. Lol

I'm not willing to say 10 or more yards for me exactly. But I know when I choke down on a club the swing radius is shorter which is going to ultimately change the speed of the club at impact.

However, when I choke down mentally I'm trying to hit it to a distance which could also mean that my swing length is changing as well.

So after all that I can honestly say....I don't know
Click to expand...

This is what I'd think too lol, but I have no clue.
 
T2GRN18 said:
I'll bite FK. Lol

I'm not willing to say 10 or more yards for me exactly. But I know when I choke down on a club the swing radius is shorter which is going to ultimately change the speed of the club at impact.

However, when I choke down mentally I'm trying to hit it to a distance which could also mean that my swing length is changing as well.

So after all that I can honestly say....I don't know
Click to expand...

Not a trick question, I know it work and I know the results but I have never bothered to find out why. This was a serious question in the hopes someone could offer a solid answer.

I like the arc answer. Off center hit....hmm...some of us but the reduced energy due to smaller arc makes sense.
 
salisboss said:
This. Less centripetal acceleration of the clubhead and thus less force delivered to the ball.
Click to expand...

You win the big word of the day with centripetal, my head hurts but I do believe you are on to something
 
The explanations for why it would result in shorter shots seem convincing, but for all but the best players, I don't think it makes a huge difference.

For myself, I don't hit long irons consistently enough to say choking up an inch means X yards shorter. For a driver, it means I'm looking for accuracy over length and I should have a 3w or hybrid in my hands instead. Sort irons...well, if it was 10y difference I'd take a different club.

I can see it changing wedge shots, but again you'd need to be dialed in. Isn't this an accepted method? I mean, some grips have lines for this reason?

150y, though...choking up means I'll either thin the ball or, all things equal, hit it maybe 3-5y shorter. Which is just line noise in my wild variance. If I was a moose hitting PW / GW from 150, then I might expect a larger effect, no clue how much.
 
Martsy said:
You're in essence shortening the shaft, decreasing the size of the arc of the swing, and producing less energy transference to the ball. Science!
Click to expand...

This. You are decreasing the length of the moment arm and thus less energy is transferred to the end of the lever(clubs head)
 
A good thing to visualize is a merry go round. The horses in the center are moving slower because they have less distance to travel in order to complete a full circle than the horses on the outside.

With the golf swing, your hands are the the fulcrum that spins the merry go round and they are moving at constant speed . The longer the club you use, the further the clubhead moves to the outside of the merry go round

An object traveling in a circle behaves as if it is experiencing an outward force. This force, known as the centrifugal force, depends on the mass of the object, the speed of rotation, and the distance from the center. The more massive the object, the greater the force; the greater the speed of the object, the greater the force; and the greater the distance from the center, the greater the force.*
Click to expand...
http://phun.physics.virginia.edu/topics/centrifugal.html
 
Just reading through the first few comments I honestly thought it was a trick question. Now I see the entire post has some very valuable info for us all to grasp.

My opinion on choking down would be it's to shorten your yardage for more accuracy because in my case I would take a shorter/very relaxed swing if I was going for the shot without choking down. I have heard from Michael Breed (the golf fix) that choking down 1 inch would normally take off 5 yards. I have never got this statement dialed in but I do know it definitely drops yards.
 
Tadashi70 said:
Can anyone tell me why choking down on a club an inch or two inches produces a shorter shot? For instance I was ready the 'how far do you carry your clubs' thread and someone mentioned choking down an inch. By choking down he got 10 yards less with his club. I am curious as to why this is so.

If you choke down on a 150 yards club does it take off 10yds or more or less?
Click to expand...

Shorter shaft, slower speed. In my case, it just means I'm going to catch it thin and it go the same distance anyway :/
 
I don't know the technical mumbo-jumbo, but I personally think it in essence shortens the length of the arc which in turn decreases club-head speed a little bit. I personally use the 1-inch is approximately 10 yards off my total for said club. As I said I don't know the technical reasons why it works, but it does for me.
 
Picture the club swinging moving in a circle (like the arm of a clock) with the butt of the club at the center of the circle. Picture a spot about an inch or two away from the center of the circle. For it to rotate all the way around in a circle it only has to travel a few inches. The club head being so far away from the center has to travel several feet to rotate all the way around the circle. Not adjusting for flex, the club head travels all the way around the circle in roughly the same amount of time as a spot an inch from the center. To do it in the same time the head has to travel much faster. The farther away (longer club) it is, the faster it goes.

There are plenty of factors that determine speed, but in general a longer shaft = more speed.
 
There was a great episode of Playing Lessons with the Pros with GMac where he talked about choking down on the club for distance control. He uses this technique quite often, and he showed on the broadcast that choking down really affects the distance.


I don't think there was a formula of 1" to 10 yards. If I remember GMac's explanation, he went from standard length to middle of the grip to down on the steel with his right fingers.
 
The same reason why a longer shaft on a driver can produce a longer drive. Shorter shaft = shorter shots
 
You guys have it. The science mentioned is the key and is correct from all that I have ever studied it, and I'm not a huge science guy by any means. I'm sure there is or was an Iron Byron that tested this on the machine, but I can't find it. But you can't argue with Physics.
 
I feel smarter just reading the language on this post. I was always told, shorten the club..... Shorten the distance


Proud Member of #TeamParadise
 
I think we all agree on the physics of shorter shaft length equates to less distance, but for me there is something else that Kevin touched on below. The mindset that the club you're holding is too much to hit the distance you want to play. Choking down 1" to take 10 yards off? No clue on that one, but the simple act of choking down triggers me mentally to hit a different shot. So do I hit it 10 yards less because I choked down? Or because I subconsciously did something to my swing after choking down. Like Kevin, I don't know.
T2GRN18 said:
However, when I choke down mentally I'm trying to hit it to a distance which could also mean that my swing length is changing as well.
Click to expand...
 
Club speed is a little slower and the launch angle should be a little different. This is how basically you can hit an 8 iron that is the same length as a 9 iron (because of the choke up) in between the gaps of the two clubs. Generally I find that full swings it can take off about 5 yards when I choke up a bit.
 
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