Horizontal Hinging -- The Ideal Application of Linear Force

[Yoda]

Jim Cook wrote:

Yoda said: "Then, repeat it from memory: 1-L #4 -- The Hinge Assembly controls the Clubface alignment. " So in the office I yelled at the top of my lungs: The Hinge Assembly controls the Clubface alignment. The Hinge Assembly controls the Clubface alignment. The Hinge Assembly controls the Clubface alignment. The Hinge Assembly controls the Clubface alignment. The Hinge Assembly controls the Clubface alignment. It was funny watching all the heads pop up from the cubicles. Like groundhogs.... does that mean there will be 6 more weeks of winter? But the Hinge Assembly does not control the Clubface alignment. With the hinge pin verticle to the horizontal plane, the hinge blade horizontal plane the little club face stays verticle to the horizontal plane. The face of the little club is open to the intended target line, then square to the line and finally closed to the line. Is this "open, square then closed" what you mean by "The hinge assembly controls the clubface alignment? Does the hinge pin represent my shoulder/arm joint? And the bolt at the hinge arm/plate represent my fixed rist?

I missed that first part, Jim. What did you say? Oh! I hear you now!

1-L #4 -- The Hinge Assembly controls the Clubface alignment!

You are right!

But then you say, it does not control the Clubface alignment, and Yodais confused. The Clubface's circular, horizontal ('closing' only) motionis the direct and inevitable result of the identical motion of thehorizontal blade rotating about its vertical pin. If this is notcontrolling the Clubface alignment throughout the motion, then what is?

And surely you did not mean that the Clubface should stay 'square' to the Line,did you? Because if so, that would be Steering, the No. 1 Snare in theGame -- attempting to hold the Clubface square to the Line of Flight. And welearned in Lesson One that you cannot make the blade of a hinge move in astraight line. It only moves in a circle!

Remember, in G.O.L.F. we are dealing with a Force moving in a circle --the Clubhead Orbit (2-N-0). And because you measure the circumference of acircle in terms of angles from its center, we call that force Angular Force.Force moving in a straight line -- like a pool stick through a cue ball-- is Linear Force. The problem we have in golf is to produce thesame effect as a Linear Force -- a point of contact between Ball andClubface that remains welded until separation -- while our Clubheadforce is moving in a circle. And the way you do that is through this HorizontalMotion of the Clubface through Impact.

At Impact a Line of Compression (2-C-0) is constructed through the Ball-- like a bullet hole through a baseball. This is a Linear Force.Now, if we can keep that point of contact -- the Compression Point, fromslipping on the Face, then we will have 'sustained' the Line of Compression.This maintains the Linear Force in relation to the Ball, eventhough the Ball has now joined the Orbiting Clubface in its circular,centrifugal journey.

The is the goal of every Golfing Machine: To sustain the Linear Line ofCompression as the Orbiting Clubhead is Arcing through Impact. And itall begins here with an understanding of the horizontal motion the Clubfacemust make through Impact. Then we must train our Flat Left Wrist to reproduceits motion on demand.

So, the Horizontal Hinge Assembly is producing a pure 'opening and closing'-- ONLY! -- Motion of the Clubface. THERE IS NO LAYBACK! If Impactoccurred with the Clubface in the 'slightly Open' alignment, and if separation(of Ball and Clubface) occurred with the Clubface Square to the target line,then the result would be a perfectly Straight Shot and Maximum Compression.

The 'Closing Only' Motion produces the Ideal Application of Linear Force(2-C-1) because the Angled Clubshaft and the Closing Clubface are rotatingabout the same center. Thus, there is no glancing force (except forbackspin). This 'Closing Only' Motion of the hinge blade produces the exactsame motion in the Clubface. And because the Clubface does not Lay Back, thetrue loft of the Club is maintained throughout the Impact Interval.Further, since there is no 'tilting under' of the Clubface, the Ball andFace stay welded, and the Compression Point -- the 'point of contact'between Club and Ball -- is maintained until they separate.

Hinges whose blades duplicate the remaining two planes of motion -- verticaland angled -- do Lay Back, and this causes the Clubface to made anidentical 'Layback' motion through Impact. With Vertical Hinging -- the'Layback Only' Cut Shot (2-C-2) -- as in Horizontal Hinging with its 'ClosingOnly' Motion -- the Point (and Line) of Compression is sustained. However, theLayback of the Clubface effectively increases the Clubface Loft and thereforeproduces higher, softer Shots than the Ideal Application of the HorizontalHinge. This characteristic Ball Flight may be exactly what the player intendsto produce -- out of a greenside bunker, for example. On the other hand, it isdoubtful the player would deliberately employ this technique off the tee of along Par Four!

The Lob Shot (2-C-3) is the Low Point application of 'Layback Only.'This results in a 'tilting under' of the Clubface through the Ball and a totalloss of the Compression Point. This loss of the original contact point istermed 'Compression Leakage,' and in this application produces the LobShot, the high no-spin floater. This is the Shot Mr. Mickelson oftenuses greenside, but again, has probably never used off the tee.

The Angled Hinge also results in Compression Leakage. Here, we havesimultaneous 'Layback' and 'Close' and thus an 'uncentered' motion and Slicingtendency. There are compensations for this deficiency, but the Angled Hingeapplication of Linear Force remains inferior to the pure 2-C-1 IdealApplication of the Horizontal Hinge.

So, the Hinge Assembly does indeed control the Clubface alignment, andtomorrow we will re-orient the hinge pin to see exactly how that occurs.
I'll be back tomorrow to complete our 'mechanical' stuff. Then we'll get on toeducating our Flat and Vertical Left Wrist to duplicate the ThreePlanes of Motion on the face of one Inclined Plane.