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Conference 7.286::golf

Title:Welcome to the Golf Notes Conference!
Notice:FOR SALE notes in Note 69 please! Intros in note 863 or 61.
Moderator:FUNYET::ANDERSON
Created:Tue Feb 15 1994
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:2129
Total number of notes:21499

997.0. "Here's one to utilize the otherside of your brain" by BUSY::SWANEY () Mon Jul 02 1990 16:46

    
    
      I know who cares......but here goes.....
    
    some of us here are in a heated battle over this question...
    
    Can you hit a golf ball further with a Baseball bat or a driver...
    
    I'm in noway a Physics person...but I have a few factors that leave
    no clear conclusion in my mind.... My gut feeling is the driver
    I know I can hit it 300yds and that = 3 baseball fields....
    
    but  what about the 44 ounces of bat mass....????
    but on the other hand what about my 155 mph downswing with the driver..????
    
    
    I know if I took him up on the bet and we went out and each hit
    10 balls I think i'd win.... he doesn't have a flat face on the
    bat which leaves no room for error...
    
    but man ,,,,... I can imagine standing on the tee and giving that
    ball a ride with a nice easton aluminum bat.....?????
    
    
    BS
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
997.1Driver takes it !WALTA::LENEHANRelax... think golfMon Jul 02 1990 16:5111
    
    Hi BS ,
    
    	The club speed is greatest further down the shaft/bat ... I say the
    driver will win 100 out of 100 times !
    
    	Then again, I remember the "Boomer" George Scott hit a baseball
    pitched at his ankles clean out of Fenway Park ! Imagine if it
    was a golf ball ??? Yow !
    
    	Walta
997.2try to hit a baseball with a driver!PEAKS::WELLSMon Jul 02 1990 20:475
What happens if you consider hitting a baseball with a driver or a golfball
with a baseball bat???

Just something to think about,
Rick
997.3Ball Four!PINGS::OGRENMon Jul 02 1990 21:075
    I sometimes tee the ball a little "low and inside". Usually I take
    a hack at it anyway - fouling it off into the left rough. If I just
    look at 4 of these do I get to walk down the fairway?
    
    Eric
997.4'Is this a Kinetic Karnival....???"BUSY::SWANEYMon Jul 02 1990 21:458
    
    Well I see the big Physics majors don't steadly read the GOLF notes
    file...
    
     I thought I'd have all the scientific data to go along with my
    gut feeling that I can hit a golf ball further with a driver.....
    
    Bill
997.5Its hard on BatsLABC::MCCLUSKYMon Jul 02 1990 22:308
    From actual experience, you can hit the driver further.  The golf ball 
    dents the baseball bat(either wood or aluminum), which if I remember
    any of my physics, is an indication that some of the force is being
    disapated in that denting process.  With a good fungo bat, I can hit
    a golf ball much higher than I can with a driver.
    
    Big Mac  
    
997.6155 MPH Downswing is impressiveDSTEG2::SOUZAJust say "NO" to DecafTue Jul 03 1990 14:227
    
    155 MPH Downswing, Wow I'm impressed.  According to the hand out they 
    gave out in the Vantage tent, the average amateur had a club head speed
    of 85 - 100 MPH, and the average Pro was in the 100 - 115 MPH range.
    
    Steve
    
997.7I can drive 450 yds.;or can I?CIMNET::CAFETue Jul 03 1990 15:034
    I think there is alittle over exaggeration here.  155mph.?????????
    I read the same hand out.
    Maybe he should have entered that note in "golf jokes"
    
997.8Only if my MAX-FLi's had VELCRO on them...???BUSY::SWANEYTue Jul 03 1990 15:1717
    
    
    Hi,
      Im not one to exxagerate.... but it said 156mph for the downswing...
    and this is not something Im proud of... as you said the little
    booklet they gave said pro's are between 100-115 .....
    and my shot was a little slice that only went 255yds....
    
      It's a lot of pressure waiting in line  and then getting up to
    the machine and hitting a little plastic ball with a metal wood
    with millions of people watching (ok... 20 people)....
    
    
    Bill
    
    (You should of seen me at the chipping booth..It made me think I
     was the best VELCRO player in the world.....) 
997.9156 = 8000 yd drive !!!RAYBOK::COOPERMAD HACKERTue Jul 03 1990 15:338
    Read an article about Davis Love III and they had measured his
    clubhead speed (on driver) in an attempt to discover why he is
    consistently longer than most other pros. He regularly attains
    130-135 mph due to extreme extension on his backswing. The
    conclusion was more clubhead speed=more distance . The machine that
    measured this 156 mph swing may not have been calibrated .
    
    Mad Hacker
997.10it's a rough game out there...BUSY::SWANEYTue Jul 03 1990 20:3727
    
    
    A friend that was with me also got his swing tested and he had 130
    mph downswing and he is a 6 hdcp. he is also a smaller go about
    5'8.... It' like a game your trying to hit the big one.. I dont'
    many people in that line took an easy smooth swing... his went 
    about 210 with a wicked slice....
    
    the point I trying to make is that I think anyone can try to swing
    as fast as they can and reach 150 but ....weres the ball going to
    go....out of bounds.....the pros can easly generate more downswing
    speed but they control their speed because that affects there 
    control to keep the ball in the middle......
    
    next time your around a pro-shop just swing as fast as you can
    you'll probally generate some big numbers but that wont add to much
    to your game.....
    
      If I go to the tee and swing 155 mph and get lucky I might have
    a chance to play that ball which might have gone 300yds... but in
    most cases it's in the woods...
      so for myself I must think of tempo,smooth and relaxed and hit
    it down the middle 250-265yds ....but when I do that I then think at
    the next tee......" If I swing a little faster it'll go a little
    further...and Im back in the woods again...."
    
    Bill
997.11that machine was *way* out of kilterDEMSUP::BLAISDELLSign up for Challenge Cup 90Wed Jul 04 1990 15:2012
    
       The machine was incorrect, off, whatever.  The key spot to measure
     clubhead speed, is at point of contact.  You, me, and the average
     schmoe will never approach the clubhead speed a touring pro can 
     generate at point of impact.  You have to remember that it is their
     job, which they practice at and put long hours in.  Strength (without
     technique) and fast swings really have nothing to do with it. The
     great golf swing is an art not a science, that is why you see so many
     different types of swings on the tour bring essentially the same 
     results.  
    
    -rick
997.12it's easy to confues FPS and MPH on the printout sheetLTDRVR::RASPUZZIMichael Raspuzzi - LAT.VMS EngineeringWed Jul 04 1990 17:5012
150 MPH ... ?  Hmmm...  I saw someone with the print out and his said
156 FPS
    ^^^

Some people were confusing the FPS with MPH.  I don't remember exactly, but
I pointed out to him that the 156 was FPS (feet per second) and politely
showed him that it translated to 90 MPH.

The printout is easy to get confused but if you have that says 150 MPH, more
power to ya.

Mike
997.13A pinch of humility, tooAKOV11::FEENEYnon golfers live half a lifeFri Jul 06 1990 12:354
    I'd say the golf swing is by technique which involves using science and
    art with a whole bunch of desire.
    
    Phil
997.14Dent uses 90'sDICKNS::F_MCGOWANZoot who?Fri Jul 06 1990 18:316
    There was a mildly interesting bit of trivia from the Senior Open: In
    talking about how far Jim Dent (great name for a big hitter!) drives
    the ball, one of the commentators noted that he hits 90 compression
    balls, even though they might not go as far as 100's, because he likes
    the softer feel on the club face at impact.
    
997.15how cold does it get in your neck of the woods>>BUSY::SWANEYFri Jul 06 1990 19:0515
    
    
      I remember reading somewhere that Temperture is a big factor in
    the compression of the ball.... ?? Something about our climate (N.E)
    being very Warm only about 6 weeks of the year were the south and
    West  .. like the Carolina's ,Florida's and Texas have high heat
    6-10 months a year...I remember them saying something like it would
    be almost useless to hit a 100 compression ball up here in Mass
    in the month of April.....?????
    
    I don't why I just read it somewhere...anybody have anything to
    go with theory...???
    
    
    BS
997.16I like 90s and LPGA at R-FSIOUXI::BREENFri Jul 06 1990 21:0118
    It has been my experience that using 100 compression balls in early
    spring makes contact with the ball difficult for some golfers (me).  It
    was only reading about 90(red) vs 100 that alerted me to that problem.
    
    I generally like the 90s because of the feel.  The distance lost is
    gained in the control.  I have had some luck with the Golden Ram laser
    ball (90s).
    
    One quick one re Jim Dent, re pros - how about a note on LPGA AT RAD-F
    first week of August.
    
    I had a thought watching some of the senior field who were playing
    par-plus at Nashawtuc - how would LPGA fare on the course with same
    tees,greens,rough etc.  Without having played Nashawtuc or
    Rad-Ferncroft I can't compare both but 7 under usually wins latter.
    
    Hope that isn't a sensitive subject - and yes its a long way from
    baseball vs golfball
997.17More ball junk !!!RAYBOK::COOPERMAD HACKERFri Jul 06 1990 22:438
    Even out here in sunny California it gets cold enough in the winter
    to make a 100 compression ball feel like a rock when you hit it. They
    still perform, just feel incredibly hard. Nick Faldo said in an
    interview that he prefers to use 90 compression balls to get better
    feel also. There really isn't much loss of distance between the two,
    got to be less than 10 yards.
    
    Mad Hacker
997.18Geography and Handy Hint in OneLABC::MCCLUSKYMon Jul 09 1990 15:298
    In some parts of California, not here at the beach in Southern 
    California.  I used to play in Northern California and in the
    winter we would put a hand warmer in pocket or the bag and keep
    a ball next to it, alternating balls at each tee.  Result was 
    that the 100 compression ball did not feel like a rock.  Try it
    you'll like it.
    
    Big Mac