I hit 100 golf wedge shots with a launch monitor running. 

Let's see what I found out 👇👇👇

Bookmark📚 this monster thread 🧵

For the test, I hit shots from 2 different lies indoors.

🔵Grass - simulated lie (fiberbuilt bristles) which would simulate having a perfect lie with a big cushion beneath the ball
🔴Normal range mat - tight and firm - like a hardpan lie but a bit more spongy

Shots were
▪️40 yards
▪️45 deg dynamic loft (yellow arrow)
▪️8 deg attack angle (white line)
▪️53 deg spin loft (pink shaded area)

All had very tight standard deviations

This is a visual of the average spin rates for the different vertical face strikes for the GRASS lie  

This is a visual of the average spin rates for the different vertical face strikes for the TIGHT lie 

And, for easier comparison, here they are side by side

Why does spin rate get lower as the strike goes up the face?

In these examples..

It's NOT gear effect - irons have little to no gear effect
It's NOT debris - no mud/water on the mats

The answer is.....

Something I call DYNAMIC SPIN LOFT

While a launch monitor often shows the data (attack angle, loft, spin loft) WITHOUT the club-ball collision, this collision matters.

You see, as the clubhead is in contact with the ball, it gets deflected down by the force of the ball (yellow)

Dave Tutelman calls this "Newton's Divot"- it can explain how someone can have a divot after the ball even with a slightly positive attack angle

When we strike low on the face, the club interacts with the turf late (pink star)

It's free to be deflected down more - increasing spin loft

However, when we hit higher on the face, we're essentially interacting with the turf further back

This gives more time for the club attack angle to deflect "less down", changing DYNAMIC SPIN LOFT (through the ball) 

This is why higher strikes correlated with lower spin rates 
- more deflection through impact
- thus lower dynamic spin loft
- thus lower spin

But why such a difference between lies?

Well, on the

🔵Grass lie, interaction with the ground is always farther forwards + softer. Meaning less time to deflect the attack angle, and by a lesser amount

🔴Tight lie, interaction with the turf is much earlier and more violent, meaning bigger dynamic spin loft changes

We can see this visualized here

Lie with grass cushion beneath it with predicted attack angle (green)
vs deflected (yellow) 

Then the exact same swing and strike but from a tight lie - earlier deflection

This is also why you see launch angle increase more rapidly for the tight lie

The increase in upward deflection of the clubhead "bouncing" off the turf created a more variable and higher launch angle

Not only was 
▪️Spin lower
▪️launch higher

For the tight lie, but it also had more variability to those factors.

This resulted in more distance per mph of club speed, and more variability in distance (or less distance control)

For reference, 
-20 to -10mm is low on the face but functional
-10 to 0 is fatter contact, but not awful (pro fat)

What this means for you???

More research needs to be done from varying lies, with real grass too, and at different spin lofts.

But this study shows
✅The "bounce up" effect that can occur when the club interacts with the ground too early 
✅Hard-pan, range mats or similar lies will give higher launch and lower spin, often resulting in more distance
✅Even similar launch-monitor-reported spin-lofts can produce very different launch and spin characteristics
✅It may be harder to control distance from tight, hardpan lies - even if contact is cleaner (no grass)
✅Bounce may not always be your friend - in some cases it may be the thing that creates less consistent spin/launch/distance control
✅Explains those low-nipped wedge shots that spin more when you catch the bottom groove
✅Striking more towards the bottom of the club (as long as not bladed) will give more consistent distances from varying lies

What else did you get from this data? 

If you love nerding out on golf stuff....

Get my FREE "road to scratch" webinar here - https://www.adamyounggolf.com/prm-road-to-scratch-twit/

And don't forget to give me a follow here @adamyounggolf 

Golf Wedge Shots Analysis

Club-face direction is one of the most important impact variables in #golf.

If you cant control your club-face, you can't control your ball.

This thread🧵 dives deeper.

Bookmark it for later viewing 📑

Let's go 👇👇👇👇

Present the face just 1 degree more open/closed with a driver and that can be around 12 yards off-line at 240 yards!

This is what 1 degree looks like.....

One of these pics is square and one is 1 deg more open.
Can you tell which one??

To hit a tour-average shot with an iron, you have to present the face within a 3.4 deg window.

Want to know what that looks like? Check this out - it's that little pink sliver.

And they have to do that while swinging it over 90mph 

A 3.4 deg window means 1.7 deg either side.

This is what 1.7 deg open vs 1.7 deg closed looks like  

These "face windows" might be shifted more left or right, depending on a player's club-path.

YOU DO NOT NEED A SQUARE FACE AT IMPACT!!!

In these images, we see where a fader (left) vs drawer (right) might have to present the face to hit a functional shot.

Also, if your PATH is not square, you will have to present the face differently for various clubs.

What does this mean/look like?????

Here's an example of a player with a left path.

Here's how they would have to present a
W = Wedge
7 = 7 iron
D = Driver

To hit an on-target shot

Most golfers obsess over the leading edge position - trying to make it perpendicular to the target (left).

What most don't realize is that, if the club comes into impact with a different lie angle, this also affects the 3D face plane.

The average pro golfer starts with the club face about 4 degrees closed at address.

Starting position differs from impact position — pros vary widely in both.

And a "perfectly square" start isn't necessary.

The best way to improve club-face control? 👇

I've had a ton of success with less-technical and more SKILL-BASED approaches, using the science of motor learning

Want to learn more about these? Join me for my upcoming 8-week winter course. More info here- https://www.adamyounggolf.com/8-week-course/

Mastering Club-Face Direction in Golf

Do you want to increase your #golf striking consistency?

Read this thread 🧵

Bookmark it for later viewing 📚

Picture this: 

The 2nd groove is the lowest you can contact and still create a functional shot 

And imagine that the highest we can contact before the shot becomes non-functionally fat would be hitting the 5th groove 

We could say that this creates an area (green) where the club can swing and successfully hit a good golf shot.

Better/more consistent players tend to hang around the middle of that area.

Usually between the 3-4th groove up.

You can see how this is corroborated by Tiger Woods' iron wear mark

If you tend to hang around the lower end of that acceptable range,

If you accidentally swing a little HIGHER - you'll hit your best shots.

But.....

Accidentally swing a bit LOWER and you'll lay the sod over it.

These players claim "I hit good shots, but too many fats"

And if you're the type of player who hangs around the upper-end of that acceptable range

Your lowest swings will actually be your most flushed-shots

But....

Raise up a tiny bit and it's blade-city

these players claim "I hit some great shots, but too many bladed/topped ones."

The irony is, these poorer players MIGHT have the same level of delivery-consistency as the better players.

They're just "living on the edge"

Thin pattern = black
Good = blue
fat pattern = red

All delivery areas are same size, just biased differently.

What to do?

If we want to be truly consistent at this game, we need to

1. balance any biases
2. reduce the ranges (high/low) which we swing the club
3. use techniques that open up bigger acceptable ranges

Want to learn how to do these things?

I show you how to do all of these in my 8-week winter course

STARTING NOV 3rd!!!!

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Mastering Golf Striking Consistency

One of the craziest and most difficult parts of #golf is.... 

TINY changes create success/failure - not big ones (like you believe).

In this 🧵thread, I'll give a couple of examples, and solutions.

Bookmark it for later reading 📑

Let's go👇

A slight shift in your club-face can send your ball way off course. Just 3-degrees of added face opening/closing can veer your shot over 35 yards off target.

1= square face
2= 3 deg open

Or you hit a good shot (1)

Then, on your next swing you drop JUST 1/4 inch deeper (or 2 grooves).

And hit the ground almost 2.5 inches behind the ball!!

Yes, that's all it takes

Here's an even crazier fact...

Even if you swung like a golf robot, you would still have a dispersion to your shots!

The robots used for testing equipment still hit shots left/right because the golf balls are not perfectly balanced. 

So, what can we do about this? 👇👇👇

1. Play a strategy that allows for a shot dispersion.

Pick a target that has a good buffer left/right and long/short.

In a lot of cases, this would be close to the middle of the green

Target 2 would hit more greens and score lower than target 1

2. Use techniques that offer a bigger margin for error

EXAMPLE - with forward shaft lean (right), the club can hit the 3rd groove on the face while swinging HIGHER from the ground (see the green arc).

This can reduce fat shots

3. Watch your bias

Player 1s average is around the center. They have a 5.4ft standard deviation

Player 2s average is shifted toe-biased. They have a 20.5ft standard deviation

Same consistency of inputs - different consistency of outputs

3. Fix stuff quicker and more precisely

Understand that you, as a golfer, are always going to be changing from day to day.

The real key to success is to identify those changes and quickly re-calibrate 

If you want to learn
✅Exactly what to do to hit great shots
✅Techniques that give bigger margins for error
✅How to master your course strategy
✅How to balance your technique

Join me NOVEMBER 3rd for my new Live 8-week winter course.
Learn more here- https://www.adamyounggolf.com/8-week-course/

Mastering Golf: The Impact of Tiny Changes

Golf isn't about how pretty your swing looks.

It's about controling 4 things
🟢distance
🟢direction
🟢trajectory
all while maximizing your distance off the tee.

A great way of thinking about the game is 👇👇👇

Imagine a box, roughly 20 yards wide and 15 yards deep.

Your goal is to
1. place that box in a location that's safe, and maximizes chances of hitting the green
2. hit a shot into that box, in a way that it will stay in that box (trajectory component). 

Now, you can analyze
1. did I hit my box?
2. if yes, did it hit/stay on the green?

If the answer to 1 was yes, then your technique was good. If no, find out what needs to improve there.

If the answer to 2 is yes, your strategy was also sound. If no, you have to look to why 👇

For example, if could be that you 
🔴didnt place your box in a good location.
🔴Or you mis-judged the wind.

There are more things that can cause it to still be a poor shot. See 👇

I've compiled the main elements of your game that you should be tracking

I've put them into a simple sheet that you can print and take with you to the course

It will be invaluable in helping you determine what you need to work on

And it's FREE, here 👉 https://www.adamyounggolf.com/track-2/

Mastering Golf: Control and Strategy

Here are 5 ways you can improve your golf game.

Which ones are you working on? Which ones do you need to put more time/effort into?

Let's read 👇👇👇👇

1. Swing speed

This is not just about hitting the ball far. Added swing speed allows you to get
✅less club into greens - easier to strike
✅higher, softer landing shots - getting closer to pins
✅straighter approaches
✅pleasure from goading your playing partners

2. Skill

Skill is the ability to change something precisely through intent. E.g. the ability to hit more toe/heel in 5mm increments (high skill)

Low skilled players may not even be able to change the strike at all

Differential + variability practice drills speed up skill acq.

3. Concepts

🟢Do you understand why your ball does what it does?
🟢Can you identify, when you hit a bad shot, EXACTLY what has changed from an impact perspective?
🟢What tools do you have to change this?

Having poor concepts leads to a lot of tail-chasing.

4. Practice

Whether you practice 1 hour every 2 weeks (like me), or do 3 hours a day, your practice needs to
🟢Have variety
🟢Some level of structure
🟢Improve what costs YOU the most shots
🟢Have measurable outcomes 


5. Course management

Even a tour-average shot can put you in danger if you pick sucky targets.

Good strategy and target selection can pick up a LOT of marginal gains - stacking into some big gains over the course of a round.

6. Technique

Think of this as the method employed.

While there is not one singular ideal technique, there are certain movements that can make the game easier or harder.

You want to learn movements that give you bigger margins for error.

Want to dive deeper into these topics?

Go to my profile and check out my improvement programs (more info in my bio) 

5 Ways to Level Up Your Golf Game

What is Calibration training in #golf?

This thread explores 👇

When training, it can often be good to isolate a variable

In the following example, I isolate face strike (vertically and horizontally)

Isolating a variable can be simply
🟢increasing focus on it
🟢getting more feedback about it
🟢getting rid of other variables



Here was my 1st shot. It was good, but a little high on the face.

Calibration uses a golden rule - take the fault and feel the opposite.

So I tried to hit the next one a little more to the heel and lower on the face.

This was the result. About as flush as it gets.

Now, the hard part, trying to repeat.

I'll be honest, I let my brain relax a little too much, and got pulled back to my normal pattern (more toe side).

It was a good height, so for my next shot, the intention was to try and exaggerate the heel-strike. 

I tried to try and hit what "feels like" 10mm out of the heel to shift the pattern.

This had the desired effect and the result was the best one yet.

So, now I know that I have to "feel" a slight heel strike in order to get center. Let's repeat 

This time, the shot was actually out of the heel.

Not by much, but any time it approaches 5mm I try to adjust.

Rather than try to hit the toe, I'm just going to reduce the attempt to hit the heel for the next one.

Now the patttern jumped the other side of center.

Again, not a bad strike, but I took too much off. I went from
✴️intending to hit 10mm heel
to
✴️intending to hit 0 (sweet spot)

I should go somewhere in between those two feels

So this process involves
✅heightened awareness of a single variable (in this case, strike)
✅constant adjustments until desired range is achieved

The big problem for most ams is they let a variable get WAY out of whack before doing this process - and by then it's too late

HOW TO SELECT A VARIABLE?
To decide which variable to improve, ask yourself

"What costs me the most shots on the course"

If you don't know, use my stats tracker (here - https://www.adamyounggolf.com/track-2/ ) 

Now, this process is a lot easier when you have developed FEELS for making the strike
🟢higher on the face
🟢lower on the face
🟢more toe
🟢more heel

This is where a different type or training - differential practice - comes in. 

I have a ton of differential practice golf drills in my strike plan program here 

Use code TWIT10 for 10% off today - https://www.adamyounggolf.com/the-strike-plan/ 

When calibrating, it's important to remember that the shot outcome is not the main goal here.

That might only be a distraction.

Now, as you start to calibrate your desired variable, it may be that your outcomes get better, but the focus should always be on YOUR VARIABLE

If you want more advanced golf topics, follow me @adamyounggolf 

It won't be your usual "swing tips" style advice, but I often go through processes and philosophies for improving your #golf that actually work

Let me know if there are other topics you want covered.

Calibration Training in Golf

If you suffer with fat shots in #golf, you will want to read this 👇 (or bookmark for later)

Fat shots are basically where your club contacts the ground before the ball.

It's not the DEPTH of the divot that's the issue - it's the LOCATION


Fat shots create
❌inconsistent spins
❌lost/inconsistent distance
❌fewer greens in reg/higher scores
❌unhappy golfers

So, how do we fix them? Well, we have 2 options
✅Raise arc depth
✅Shift low point forwards

Let's explore.....

I'll leave arc depth control for another post (make sure to follow me @adamyounggolf to see my posts).

But, a brief outline would be, all else being equal, a swing that is DEEPER (2) also hits the ground more BEHIND the ball.

So, an option would be to raise arc depth (1)

However, a deep divot is not a problem IF IT'S IN THE RIGHT PLACE.

The below video shows a deep arc depth, but because the low point is forwards enough it still results in great ball-turf contact.

So, what is low-point? And what factors influence low-point location? 👇

Low point refers to the lowest point of the club travel, assuming no ball/ground contact.

With irons it should generally be in front of the ball for crisp contact.

The deeper you go into the ground, the more it should be in front.

Low point is not the same as ground contact, although they relate.

You can have a low point in front of the ball and strike the ground in different locations.

Below shows the same low point but varying ground contacts based on diffreent arc depths

4 main things influence low point (relative to ball)

🟢ball position
🟢weight shift
🟢swing direction
🟢release

Ball position is easiest to understand. When we move the ball back in the stance, the low point shifts more forwards (relative to ball), all else being equal (AEBE)

Regarding weight shift, AEBE, a greater shift towards the target will tend to shift the low point forwards

✴️Left had a low point of 2 inches BEHIND the ball
✴️right had a low point of 6 inches IN FRONT

Swing direction is harder to understand, but this video helps visualize it.

The more left (out to in) we swing, the more forwards the low point is, and vice versa.

You can think of release point as "where does the club line up with the lead forearm"

In the left example (early release), the low point shifts farther back

In the right example (later release), the low point shifts farther forwards

If you want to learn more about these concepts, and learn to
✅strike irons pure ball-turf
✅hit longer drives
✅find the sweet spot more often

Check out The Strike Plan here - and use code TWIT10 for 10% off - https://www.adamyounggolf.com/the-strike-plan/

Fixing Fat Shots in Golf: Tips and Tricks

Imagine a golfer hitting shots on the range.

They target the flag, and hit
✴️1/3rd shots on target
✴️1/3rd shots ~ 10 yards long
✴️1/3rd shots ~ 10 yards short

let's say the difference, for them, was caused by subtle ground contact changes

Now imagine this player playing the following 3 holes.

They hit shots and, out of their normal shot pattern, ONE of their possibilities comes out - but they can't control which one.

On day 1, they hit;
🟣the long outcome first
🟣perfect outcome second
🟣short outcome third

This player would come out of those holes 0.5 shots under par 

(Based on the assumption of tour-level putting and a 50% up and down rate, and using a 50% make rate for the close shot)

Or, you could say they would be 1 under par after playing 6 holes like this.

Day 2, they play the same holes, same pins. However, this time they get the
🟣short outcome first
🟣long outcome second
🟣perfect outcome third

This player, with basically the same quality of shots (just done in a different order), now comes out of those holes 1.5 shots over par

Or 3 shots over par if they did this twice.

That's a 2 shot swing over just 3 holes!

This can account for some of the day to day variance we see in scores. 

Players can essentially strike the ball the same (in terms of probabilities of outcomes), yet produce different wildly different scores.

What can we do to mitigate this?👇👇👇

✅think about shot patterns, not individual shots
✅Understand that we're not in full control of which outcome comes out - thus choose better targets that allow for this
✅collect stats on our own shot patterns so we undertsnad OUR game better 

On of the biggest things we can do is

✅Work on strike quality so that your front-back dispersion reduces

The better you strike it, the tighter your shot pattern will be.

🔥Learn exactly how to do this with The Strike Plan - https://www.adamyounggolf.com/the-strike-plan/

Why Your Golf Scores Are Inconsistent

What does the ultimate #golf post-round routine look like?

This thread explores 👇👇👇

Bookmark for later viewing

The first question I ask myself is
"where could I have done better technically"?

For this, I keep information about impact stats that cost me. E.g. If a shot is missed;
↕️long/short, the usual culprit is a poor strike
↔️left/right can be attributed to clubface/alignment errors

We're not just looking for errors, but we're looking to see if there is a pattern.

⚫If you miss a lot directionally, is it more left than right?
⚫Do you hit toe more than heel?
⚫Fat more than thin?

With better, more aware players, I'm also looking to gather data as to whether a fault was
⚫normal - just happened
⚫over-correction - player applied a "fix" but over-did it

The other thing I am tracking is mental errors.

We can hit a flush shot that doesn't turn out well. This may be due to
⚫improper target selection
⚫poor club selection
⚫mis-judge of conditions

Or a number of other things I have in my tracking sheet (see later)

After I have sucked all the knowledge out of my poor shots, I then switch to the good shots

I then spend time 
✅mentally visualizing and repeating those good shots
✅trying to recreate the process/feelings I had before/during/after the shot
✅tagging them with a physical trigger

From this process, I get to
✅improve confidence
✅learn from mistakes
✅know what to practice to get better, faster

I strongly suggest donwloading my free stats tracker to help with this process, here - https://www.adamyounggolf.com/track-2/  