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Golf club grooves and distance

SuperStroke
Asden105

Asden105

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It's too far!
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I notice that when my golf clubs have dirt in the grooves not only do I not have good backspin but a lack of proper full distance. Since backspin creates ball flight and the grooves are responsible for at least 35 percent of the backspin I assume they are correlated. I normally hit my 7 iron 165 with clean grooves. When thry are dirty I hit it 135.

Anyone else notice this?

I'm also assuming this is why modern drivers dont have grooves, because with driver we want less spin so the ball rolls more when it hits the ground.
 
It's typically the opposite which is why "flier lies" can cause the ball to go 10-20 yards further than expected. The thick lie gets between the ball and the club face/grooves and reduces spin which for many means more/uncertain distance.

I guess if ones clubhead speed was such that they couldn't afford to lose any spin it would be possible for the distance to drop with dirty grooves or out of certain lies.
 
Yep total opposite. Ball will generally go farther when you lose a little spin, hence flier lies. Now if you have a really slow swing speed then you would lose distance but I think you said you swing with good speed.
 
Can't say I've ever noticed a 30 yard difference with dirty grooves on a club, might be some other factor in play. I usually keep mine clean, so I've never noticed anything like that. As the others said, it's usually the opposite.

I remember several years ago there was a big uproar about Tiger testing new clubs. He simply said he had to figure out distances again. His old clubs were worn down and he was hitting everything too far.
 
Should go further if anything. It launches higher because the ball travels a bit up the face due to less friction, and then comes off with less spin, both are recipes for more distance
 
You'll notice Pro's have their caddy clean each club after it's been hit. Keep the grooves clean by wetting one end of a towel and wipe it before you put it back in the bag.
 
Or the old school way of getting to a back pin in the days of balata wound balls of taking a divot on your practice swing and not cleaning before you hit.
 
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