A huge reason for this problem is that the golfer MUST realize that you are looking at the plane from above.

Your eyes make you want to have as vertical a move as possible because our mind tells us the back of the ball is the place to hit.

Once you can really visualize that you are looking at a tilted roof (the plane) from above, a lot of TGM will become easier to absorb.

Shot shaping then becomes a matter of moving the machine around for the shot you want. Perhaps one of those times it is good to have "your mind in the gutter" :)

That's where the 3D models from Matthew would be gold ! I tried once to make something 3D for the practice station but it was very painful.

Oh my gosh, someday the pictures from OB and Daryl will be priceless. If there was only a Smithsonian museum for TGM of the Lynn Blake variety...

Thanks for sharing guys.

Kevin

Thanks Kevin. Im trying to stick to Homer and Lynn's geometry when / where I dont I reserve the right to be wrong. Another reason we're in the lab. Lets make some mistakes , come to some conclusions and see where we get.

Mr Left,

Very interesting discussion in spite of the handicap you have introduced.

There's something intriguing about Daryl's analysis about how straight the right forearm is, depending of the club.

It has implications for impact alignment. The pivot need to be more turned through with a driver than a wedge or so it seems. The position of accumulator #1 and #4 at impact will be different for the two clubs. Basically there will be more left with a driver since the right elbow will have more bend...

Not sure where this ends, but it has consequences to how low point is produced ...

Everything else equal means that hands will be relatively more forward when the right elbow is straigher, thus more forward with a wedge than with a driver....

Of course to analyse these differences properly, the left shoulder can't be regarded as the swing center ;)

Hah , thanks B.

Yes the model , as ive called it (so I dont have to keep writing the geometry of the circle over and over)... is very limited when compared to the multi levered human body. There's much to consider there for sure , absolutely and how the human must interact with various clubs , lever lengths etc :

MOI, Hook Face, Straight Away Position, Aiming Point Procedure, Release Point, etc etc etc .

But before we get into all of this stuff let alone where the centre is , where low point is lets try to understand a more simplified model . Once understood we can tack on additional mechanics , levers , face manipulations , release manipulations , move the left shoulder as centre of the arm swing forward , out and down and then Up and In along its own path etc with implications to low point as the dirt sees it anyways.

Or so I hope .. I dunno if we'll get there or not. TBD.

The geometry of the model is very basic , more basic than the machine of 1-L which can double hinge etc. I have a feeling Homer examined the 2D geometry of the circle and then saw the need for the machine. If so Homer's been right where we are right now.... seeing the limitations of the basic model vs a human multi levered system.

However, IMO theres much to be seen in just the simple circle laying flat to an inclined plane. Its already showing:

-how the 2D circle given plane shifts can create 3 dimensional clubhead paths ... best viewed from the down the line. With no change to the plane line base line. 1-L-18.

-angled hinging.

-what the correct clubhead path should look like to the golfer given different plane angles.

-what steering looks like to the golfer.

-what the face should look like in startup to the golfer (assuming angled hinging). You need the machine of 1-L to see vertical and horizontal.

How many golfers can say they know this geometry? Its not a golf thing or a Homer invention its just the geometry of it . It just is, IMO.

Anyone want to figure out how many 1-Ls we've knocked off?

Before we hit a few shots with our model we need to see a few more things in regard to the relationship between plane angle (and lie angle) and Hinge Action.

Namely


Here's a truly awful drawing trying to show this. Using the model which can only portray Angle Hinging . The circle not drawn but it could be. With a centre shafted clubhead .... which keeps the shaft and sweetspot on the same plane for simplicity . The arc drawn is from the players view of the clubhead orbit , the Arc of Approach ... not to scale . The face stays square to the arc , angled hinging. Also defined as... the face stays perpendicular to the inclined plane.

Attachment 2937


What does this mean to the human on the tee? As he or she moves to more upright lie angles (shorter clubs) the hinge action takes on the characteristics of Vertical Hinging . The clubface starts to layback more and close less . There's less clubhead travel associated with Vertical Hinging too assuming some #3 angle ( this is the human again not the model). There is more loft associated with more upright clubs. Less out to 3 dimensional impact. etc etc The ball responds accordingly. The axis the ball spins around (and it can only spin around one axis) tends to tilt less. Less "curve spin" if you will, more "back spin" . Less compression. Less ball speed speed .

Nice post. Forgive me for trying to steer this to what I think of as "The Circle" and its Low-Point Geometry. Your post is very insightful regarding how Hinging changes as the Plane Angle changes but I think you're getting ahead of the Basic idea of the Geometry of the Circle. It's a very simple but profound subject regarding Golf Club design and an Orbiting clubhead and why we humans are so successful at hitting a ball with a club.

When I think of the Geometry of the Circle , what seems to me, its basic form, outlined below.

Imagine an Orbit on a Horizontal Plane.

It represents an On-Plane Force (Stick without a club-head) moving around and around while striking a ball anywhere on the orbit without having any different ball response. When a Flat Striker is introduce, the response will be the same for direction. Then, when we angle (incline) the Striker, we'll see the same response for direction because the ball will rebound at right angles to the "Force" but in addition, it will rebound at right angles to the Inclined Striker (Loft). The Loft creates a Vertical Plane to the "Horizon" (considering a Horizontal Orbit).

When the Orbit is inclined (Inclined Plane), the Plane of the Loft becomes a tilted Vertical Plane (Tilted to the Horizon) but the ball response remains the same while struck at any "Point" on the orbit. The ball shoots off on a trajectory above the circle relating to how much the Orbit is Inclined and gravity pulls it downward from its Plane. When the Lofted Striker is re-oriented so that the Loft Plane is Vertical to the Horizon,it Will only be Vertical to the Horizon at one point on the Orbit. This creates what we call "Lie Angle". Although the Ball response remains the same, we have a "Point" on the Orbit, when aligned to a target, will produce the desired straight shot (given an elastic collision). HK called this, where all of these Alignments converge, "Low Point". The Striker Alignment is tangent to the circle (Horizontal, direction) and only at the bottom would it align to the Target. And, we have a Stick (Force) with a Lofted Striker, at Right Angles to the Tangent. Rightly so, we now have "Low Point" Geometry and it is at the Bottom of the Inclined Orbit.

So, Geometry of the Circle, is about the Orbit, of an aligned inclined striker Force, and where on the orbit, it produces the ball response we want. So, a Low Point Impact is what will achieve our goal. Playing the Ball before Low Point Geometry is very attainable because the inclined striker and plane angle can be changed to reproduce the Straight Away Alignments of Low Point.

After understanding the "Circle", we apply tools such as Hook-Face to accommodate Ball Location Changes. Hook Face is another subject. It dramatically changes Alignment and the way the Clubface closes. We should explore this along with Plane Angles and Ball Location. These are changes that accommodate Ball placement changes on the Circle.

Hinge Action is method we use to control the Ball's "inelastic" collision. The Ball can respond to an angular force as though it were struck with a linear force. Hinging adjusts to the Circle as well as Hook Face.

Hook-Face is the way we re-align the equipment, the Right Forearm Angle of Approach and Hinging is the way we re-Align the Machine.

Great post . Lets discuss hook face , straigth away position , aiming point , MOI etc etc . Its more physics than geometry though isnt it? dont know.

Yes the circle model like all models is not perfect . Although the Victoria's Secret brochure just showed up in the mail.... now those models are perfect. So theres an exception to every rule, which in itself is a rule which might have an exception.

But how do you know Im Control, Zigfreid?