Alpha Golf

This article is meant to be a guide for golf club wedges. The wedge is designed to have the following performance characteristics: high and short trajectory, maximum backspin, and easy penetration into sand or grass. These characteristics make wedges useful for high-accuracy “utility” shots like chipping onto the green, escaping a sand trap, or getting around obstacles in the rough.

To achieve these performance characteristics, golf club wedge designers focus on the following design characteristics:

Loft angle - this is simply the angle at which it hits the ball off the ground. Wedges have loft angles in the range of 45 to 64 degrees. Pitching wedges (PW) range from 45-50 degrees, Gap wedges (GW) range from 50 - 54 degrees, Sand wedges (SW) range from 54 to 58, and Lob wedges range from 58 - 64 degrees.

More loft obviously means higher ball flight and shorter distance. This chart shows how many yards each wedge will travel for a good golfer:

Bounce angle - The angle formed by the leading edge of the clubhead and the ground. This allows the bottom of the club to “bounce” through the ball as it hits the sand or grass turf. A low bounce angle creates a sharper contact and a shallow divot (better for firmer turf). A high bounce angle creates a deeper divot to pass cleanly under the ball (especially in soft turf). Sand wedges have the most bounce to get you of the sand trap and reduce “dig”.

Sand wedges thus usually have 10 all the way up to 16 degrees of bounce. Gap wedges range from 8 to 10 degrees. Pitching wedges range from 6 to 8. And lob wedges range from 2 to 6.

Camber - The heel-toe camber is the curved portion of the sole between the leading and trailing edges of the wedge. (see the picture above). More camber means more rounding of the sole. And more rounding means less bounce than clubs with little camber.

Sole Width - A wider sole means more bounce. A more narrow sole means less bounce. Sole width, along with bounce angle and camber, determine the entire amount of bounce that these wedges produce. In general, beginner players should seek as much overall bounce as possible to reduce the risk of “digging in”

The club head and face itself are also important factors in wedge performance. Wedge clubheads are usually made of softer material, like copper or beryllium alloy, to increase feel and touch (you’re near the green and want extremely high-accuracy after all!). Carbon steel is among the softest metals. But the tradeoff with carbon steel is that it rusts. So wedge manufacturers use chrome-plating which has its own tradeoff of taking away some of the softness of carbon steel.
Scoring or sandblasting of the face gives wedge shots a large amount of spin, which is needed to prevent rolling upon landing. Other tactics for the face are CNC-milling, reverse-milling, U-shaped grooves, and face inserts that use a different material all together. All these manufacturing techniques strive to make the face super-conducive to spinning.

Most golfers have a sand and pitching wedge in their bags. More and more are also including a lob and gap wedge. How many wedges are in your bag?

Your putter is the most used club in your bag. Each hole requires your putter at least once (and for most of us twice, if not more!). Let’s take a closer look at the variations and classifications available.

Based on shaft length:

If your aim is to produce quality puts then it’s important to get the right putter length for your height. The minimum length limit is set at 18 inches but the maximum length is your decision.

Standard length- This 33 to 36 inch putter lets your arms hang down and gives you that famous pendulum swing to get the ball rolling towards the cup.

Belly length- This 41-46 inch putter offers three points of contact. It allows you to anchor the putter against your body. Although this putter requires a little more practise, it is easier on the wrist.

Long putters - Ranging between 48 and 52 inches, the long putter is also called the broom-handle for obvious reasons! Normally used by experts, this putter requires a completely different kind of grip. It can be rested near the chin, chest or at the belly button.

Based on design:

Blade - this traditional design features a small head and a flat look and is suitable for most greens. These are ideal for golfers who have a straight putting stroke.

Peripheral weighted - this putter is not face balanced and thus is ideal for golfers with an in to out stroke. It offers more head than the standard blade putter and is used by both amateurs and experts alike.

Mallets - Bigger sized and heavier, the mallets are face balanced and offers a soft hit although the head is large. It helps reduce backspin and would be great for a straight through.

Based on putter faces:

Your putter face material would largely depend on the speed of the greens and the ball that you have selected.

Metal faced - Apart from traditional steel other materials like bronze, copper, brass, aluminium, titanium and zinc are also used. A metal face putter gives you noise feedback so you can actually hear the ‘connection’!

Insert faced - This variety of metal putters has a non-metal insert to ensure a smoother roll and a softer feel. It offers a wide area for pure strikes as weight is added to the toe and the heel.

Groove faced - Missed putts result when the ball skids, slides, hops or spins upon impact. This can be avoided when grooves are placed on the putter face. The ball is gripped by the groves and is lifted so it is ready to roll.

Other classifications:

Putters can also be classified on the bases of shafts and hosels. There are three main varieties- Heel shafted, centre shafted and offset. Further, your choice of putters can be based on the kind of grip that you desire. However, the primary consideration should be your level of comfort. So try a lot of putters, and choose the one that feels the best.

Happy Golfing

Coefficient of Restitution (COR) is a physics term for the value representing the ratio of velocities before and after an impact. An object with a COR of 1 collides elastically, bouncing perfectly with no energy loss. While an object with a COR of 0 is said to collide inelastically, effectively “sticking” to the object it collides with. Mathematically, COR is the square root of the ratio of the height of one bounce to that of the preceding bounce.

Golfers paid more attention to physics geeks like me after the USGA started measuring and regulating clubs for COR in 1984. The thinking was that a clubface with a “trampoline” or “spring-like” effect would send balls flying 400+ yards off the tee. So they limited COR to 0.83. (BTW, this rule coincidentally came into play when manufacturers discovered that titanium drivers were much more ideal than steel drivers in creating enormous ball speeds)

Maximizing COR

There are 2 keys to maximizing the COR of a driver:

1) High grade titanium face - SP700 and 15-3-3 titanium are the best choices for elastic collisions

2) Super Thin face - a thin face provides a “spring-like effect” where the face momentarily depresses at initial contact and then “springs” back into shape at launch.

If the face is too thin, the driver can crack at high swing speeds. If the face is too thick, you lose the spring-like effect where the face won’t depress. The right tradeoff of thickness for the particular type of titanium being used is what keeps us golf designers busy in the labs!

Moment of Inertia (MOI) has been a popular buzzword in golf recently. I’ll spare you the boring formulas and theories that I learned from my studies in physics. And instead apply MOI to golf driver design, and explain its important.

MOI is the inertia or resistance of a rigid rotating body with respect to its rotation. In other words, it’s the measure of difficulty in changing the angular motion about the axis of rotation. High MOI means more resistance to club twisting, so we want to maximize this resistance as much as possible.

During a driver swing, the clubhead will twist if it doesn’t hit the ball on the axis of the center of gravity. The less a club twists before impact, the more stable it is. And, therefore, the straighter and farther the ball goes. So a high MOI promotes forgiveness in off-center strikes.

The USGA imposes a limit in MOI in drivers of 5900 (g*cm^2). In a letter to manufacturers last year, the USGA said “further increases in MOI could reduce the challenge of the game by reducing the skill required to hit the ball straight. In addition, that could also result in an increase in average driving distance by reducing the likelihood that swinging faster will produce a poor result.”

So there you have it - MOI is so important that making it too high will give some golfers an unfair competitive advantage in distance and accuracy. But that doesn’t stop golf club designers like Alpha from getting as close to the USGA MOI limit as possible (without exceeding 5900).

So how do we maximize MOI? Without giving too many design secrets away, clubheads with maximum MOI have the following characteristics:

1) 460CC - the larger clubhead naturally puts the center of gravity deep inside the head, away from the face. The separation of mass and COG raises the MOI metric

2) Perimeter weighting - More weight can be pushed out farther from the center of gravity of the clubhead and towards the outer shell. Square drivers are an example of this. But drivers with traditional geometries can also push weight out.

3) Large club face with variable weighting - more distance and weighting on the heel and toe again separates mass from the COG axis of rotation, reducing torque and twisting.

The “hybrid golf club” gets its name from combining the feel and accuracy of irons with the power and distance of fairway woods.  They’re exploding in popularity among recreational golfers since they’re a lot easier to hit than long irons.  Yet, more than 50% of pros also have a hybrid in their bag as reported by the Darrell Survey.

How are they designed?

Hybrid heads are made from hollow steel or titanium.  The center of gravity is positioned towards the back and near the bottom of the club head.  The lower COG increases the launch angle, making the effective loft higher than that of a similar iron.

The shafts are usually steel.  And their length and lie (shaft angle) are closer to an iron.  The stiffer and shorter shafts make them easier to hit than fairway woods. 

How does a hybrid perform?

Since the head and face of a hybrid is modeled after a wood, you’ll get the same sort of impact as a wood - namely a huge impact with high coefficient of restitution (COR).  Combine this “tramopline effect” with a high launch angle, and the hybrid gives you a lot of backspin. 

So you’ll get an airborne shot with a high spin rate.  This is a recipe for a ball that drops sharply with little roll.   

How do I swing a hybrid?The swing mechanics are like those you’d use for mid-to-long irons.  So play the ball slightly forward in your stance, and use your normal grip, stance and posture.  Make a sweeping-type swing, hitting down and through the ball.

If you decide to tee off with a hybrid, tee it up a little higher than you would with an iron.  And as always, let the club do the work!

When do I use a hybrid? 

I think there are 3 situations when a hybrid is the ideal ”rescue club”:

1) The dreaded long iron shot - when you need distance, but need the accuracy to get on the green.  Most amateurs are inconsistent with long irons.  This is what the hybrid was designed for. 

2) In the rough - remember your swing is just like an iron.  But because of the added weight of the head, you’ll have a slower clubhead speed.  This means you can cut through tall grass with more momentum at contact than an iron.  And you sure as hell don’t want to swing a fairway wood when you’re in the rough.

3) A hazard in front of a green - you want enough carry in the ball but little roll upon landing.  A fairway wood or long iron will get you the distance to get over the hazard, but will roll away.  Your hybrid, on the other hand, will stick where it lands.

Happy (hybrid) golfing!