Quote:
Originally Posted by bill reed  hi brian
i was reading a thing about groves and the diffrent effect V and U groves have on the ball and they said it does alter the spin rate and type of shot you can expect with diffrent wedges. it also add that the ball has to be hit crisply to add spin, if i remember it was comparing ping wedges with two other makes that used V groves and it added that the U groves (ping's) did give more backspin on the same sort of shot as the V grove.
i do think groves alone dont give you that pull back spin on the greens but a well hit shot does but the type of groves do help too.
love to hear what you think of what i have said.
bill |
Hi there Bill, I hope you are well and the back is improving.
Most of the spin on groves (Pun) is created by the manufacturers as a selling point, it cannot be backed with scientific tests though. As I was saying grooves are only effective in evacuating wetness from the face of a club. The roughness of the face will have a small effect on spin generated, this could be achieved with the very shallowest of groves, their U or V shape would make no difference
Here is some empirical data taken in real tests between clubs with groves and clubs with smooth faces: S = Smooth - G = Grooved
5 iron (Average yards)
S = 155 carry G = 154 carry - S = 31 run G = 27 run :-Total S = 186 G = 181
7 iron:
S = 138 carry G = 137 carry - S = 19 run G = 17 run :- Total S = 157 G = 154
9 iron:
S = 111 carry G = 109 carry - S = 16 run G = 15 run :- Total S = 127 G = 124.
In another test making 50 pitches of 40 yards to the green with rough and smooth wedges resulted in an average 36.7 feet with Smooth and 37.9 with Grooved.