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Does the smash factor mean how center of the club you hit the ball?

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Nice_Golfer

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Dear Members,

I am trying to figure this out – does the smash factor metric mean how center of the club you hit the ball? Because a 1.5 smash factor would mean really solid energy transfer and that is only possible for a centered hit.

Am I correct?

Thanks in advance!
 
Nice_Golfer said:
Dear Members,

I am trying to figure this out – does the smash factor metric mean how center of the club you hit the ball? Because a 1.5 smash factor would mean really solid energy transfer and that is only possible for a centered hit.

Am I correct?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

My understanding is its basically the efficiency of your strike. Lower clubs have lower smash factors than 1.5 (just as an fyi). The 1.5 number is for drivers.
 
Nice_Golfer said:
Dear Members,

I am trying to figure this out – does the smash factor metric mean how center of the club you hit the ball? Because a 1.5 smash factor would mean really solid energy transfer and that is only possible for a centered hit.

Am I correct?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Smash factor is ball speed divided by club head speed, essentially translates to how well you transfer energy to the ball. Obviously if you miss the center that transfer is not going to be as good.
 
Lions81 said:
My understanding is its basically the efficiency of your strike. Lower clubs have lower smash factors than 1.5 (just as an fyi). The 1.5 number is for drivers.
Click to expand...

+1
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Thanks a lot guys for the reply.
So I got that smash factor means ball speed by club speed. But my question does a smash factor of maximum (1.5) mean that the ball was indeed hit in the center of the club, or can non-center hits (but whit solid speeds) also result in a 1.5 smash factor?

Thanks again
 
Nice_Golfer said:
Thanks a lot guys for the reply.
So I got that smash factor means ball speed by club speed. But my question does a smash factor of maximum (1.5) mean that the ball was indeed hit in the center of the club, or can non-center hits (but whit solid speeds) also result in a 1.5 smash factor?

Thanks again
Click to expand...

It can, but doesn't guarantee that. Lower on the face can in fact increase ball speed which can relay high efficiency (smash factor). Not always, but can.
THen you have to factor in Spin Loft. Which is the angle between loft and AOA.
Higher spin loft can present lower smash factor.
 
Nice_Golfer said:
Thanks a lot guys for the reply.
So I got that smash factor means ball speed by club speed. But my question does a smash factor of maximum (1.5) mean that the ball was indeed hit in the center of the club, or can non-center hits (but whit solid speeds) also result in a 1.5 smash factor?

Thanks again
Click to expand...

If you mean club speed here, I don’t think that’s as relevant.

You could probably have a ball that was hit not quite center but with less loft delivered go faster than a centered ball with the same club as well.

With forgiveness where it is in some of today’s equipment I think you can get close to 1.5 without a pure center strike. That, and COR isn’t exactly what they test, so you could theoretically have a legally “hot” face.
 
mpeterson said:
If you mean club speed here, I don’t think that’s as relevant.

You could probably have a ball that was hit not quite center but with less loft delivered go faster than a centered ball with the same club as well.

With forgiveness where it is in some of today’s equipment I think you can get close to 1.5 without a pure center strike. That, and COR isn’t exactly what they test, so you could theoretically have a legally “hot” face.
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Smash factor is a ratio. It's ball speed/clubhead speed. Increasing clubhead speed can only guarantee an increase in the denominator so it by definition cannot increase that ratio by itself. In fact efficient contact is more likely at lower clubhead speeds where the golfer can control the clubhead so decreasing clubhead speed is more likely to increase smash factor than increasing clubhead speed.
 
DataDude said:
Smash factor is a ratio. It's ball speed/clubhead speed. Increasing clubhead speed can only guarantee an increase in the denominator so it by definition cannot increase that ratio by itself. In fact efficient contact is more likely at lower clubhead speeds where the golfer can control the clubhead so decreasing clubhead speed is more likely to increase smash factor than increasing clubhead speed.
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I’m trying to think if material properties of equipment would have the collision be more elastic at higher or lower speeds, but probably within the range of golf swing speeds that’s not likely.

That said it’s been too long since I took materials, so I’ll punt on that one.
 
mpeterson said:
I’m trying to think if material properties of equipment would have the collision be more elastic at higher or lower speeds, but probably within the range of golf swing speeds that’s not likely.

That said it’s been too long since I took materials, so I’ll punt on that one.
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You could change smash factor with different balls at given clubhead speeds, but I don't think swing speed is high enough to change the properties of the metal of the club that much. Let's say someone has a 110 MPH swing and they were hitting a really low compression ball verses a higher compression ball. I think they could overcompress the low compression ball and lose some of the speed coming off the clubface. Thus with the same swing speed they could pick up ball speed with a different harder ball because it would not absorb as much of the energy compressing on the clubface. This could also go the opposite direction for lower swing speed players using a really high compression ball that they were not compressing at all.
 
Dear Guys, Thanks a lot for all your replies! they are really illuminating. I am feeling a little happy that maybe with my question I contributed to the development of a nice discussion on this excellent forum, which can help other golfers as well.

Please tell that if smash factor doesn't necessarily mean a center hit, then is using an impact tape the best way to find out if you hit the center of the club?

Thanks in advance!
 
Nice_Golfer said:
Dear Guys, Thanks a lot for all your replies! they are really illuminating. I am feeling a little happy that maybe with my question I contributed to the development of a nice discussion on this excellent forum, which can help other golfers as well.

Please tell that if smash factor doesn't necessarily mean a center hit, then is using an impact tape the best way to find out if you hit the center of the club?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

It's A way. The best way is whatever works best for you. Impact tape can get costly so a lot of teaching pros recommend using footspray powder. It will show you impact location just as well, is quick and easy to apply, and is cheap. You could also use a dry erase marker and put a dot on the back of the ball. I'm sure there are numerous other cheap/easy ways to do it.

strikedrill2.jpg


driver-face.jpg


A cheap drill to work on hitting the center of the face is by framing the club head at address with two tees. One at an angle at the heel of the club and one straight up just outside of the toe. Similar to this:

TEE-GATE.jpg
 
Here's my up-vote for foot powder!
Easy to apply, shows the impact well, and easy to wipe off.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
 
Thanks again everyone! Foot spray for me it is. And yes, the impact tapes definitely do get expensive.
 
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