Hitting Over Water

You thoughts…..
I was told the other day, that when hitting the golf ball over water – a significant body of water where the shot will spend 90% of the time over the water to land on a green say 170 yards away – that you should use a club more than you would normally use over land since the air above the body of water is more dense and the ball does not fly as far. Has this been your experience and something you would do…. If so how much water does there need to be for it to be a factor... Twice while flying the ball over water I came up shorter than I thought I ought to have.

Thanks,
James

Never heard of any science behind that theory.

My guess is that most people hate hitting over water, tense up, try to hit it harder to make sure they get over and hence hit it shorter................. plop.

I doubt whether the amount of time an average golf shot is in the air (about 6 seconds) is enough to have the density of air over, say, 150 yards of water have any impact.

I may, however, be wrong. I ain't no scientist!

What water? If you dont think about you wont hit it there

I'm very skeptical of the air density theory. I think Neil18 has it right. In addition, I've often read the comment by pros that one of the marks of amateur golfers is not taking enough club and leaving the ball short of the green. Well, if the green is guarded by a pond, that means...splash.

Where I play, there's a 167 yard par 3 with a pond in front of the green, and a 145 yard par 3 with no pond. On both holes, it's much more common to see people (myself and others) leaving it short than going long. But of course, on the hole without the pond nobody really thinks much about it if the ball is short.

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Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller

As posted above "what water." Don't forget the mental aspects of the game. All you need to be concerned about is where you want the ball to land, and focus on that area.

As for the humidity above a pond affecting the ball, who really knows. Again the mental factor comes into play. If after inspecting the lie of the ball, and you "think" you need an extra club to get over the water, then you "need" to use an extra club. GJS

Air density does make a difference. I find I am nearly a full club shorter...even on 150 yards I would normally use an 8, I use a 7.

I find on hot mornings where the dew is turning to steam, it is like a sauna bath. You begin to sweat like crazy and you are still on your first cup of coffee. This air is much denser and causes the ball to have to fight harder ...the ball even makes a different sound as it goes through it, louder rotation "whirs".

Then as the day goes on, the dew burns off, you stop sweating, and magically you get your normal club length back. I just spent 2 weeks in Myrtle Beach and this happened every day like clockwork.

As for the lake/pond theory, I would believe it. If there is no wind and it is hot, there has to be the same thing going on above it...how high above it? That part I do not know. I bet that if you hit a high enough shot, it may not affect it as much as a low shot. Then, the wind...if there is a steady wind, I would bet that clears the air better so you may be able to ignore the affects.

This is all just a guess about the lake-affect, but I KNOW the dew/steam does make a difference.

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I'm a golfaholic, no question about that. Counseling wouldn't help me. They'd have to put me in prison, and then I'd talk the warden into building a hole or two and teach him how to play. ~Lee Trevino

Now here is a bit of reverse water thinking to consider!

When hitting over a lake to a green think of the water as the fairway and the green as a lake, the ball will always want to hit the water long ago someone suggested to me to think of greens as a lake and hit your ball into it.

Also:

If you want to hit a 7 iron as far as Tiger, use it to lay up a ball in front of a water hazard

Exactly as posted above, what water.

I think water is what strikes the most fear into golfers when they first start playing. The thing you need to do is just focus on the green and forget anything else around it because you know that's where your ball will end up.

I doubt that any human being is cognitively capable of actually forgetting the water is there, nor do I think it's a good idea to play golf by striving to deny or ignore what's right before your eyes. The trick, of course, is to make your normal swing and carry the water. This poses no problem for good players. For the rest of us, it tests our claims to know how far we carry a given club. I think we know a lot less than we think we do.

When I take a 6i and say "I can carry that pond with a 6i" and I splash it, is it because I'm nervous or the air is denser? Maybe, but I think it's also because my "knowledge" of how far I carry with a 6i is based on somewhat vague perceptions at a driving range and remembering my best, not my average, shots on the course. Those who have GPS gadgets probably have more realistic numbers.

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Todd
Philadelphia, PA
USA

The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing. ~Phyllis Diller

There is one hole on one particular golf course that I play. The yardage, and I am pretty sure of the correct yardage, indicates that I hit a 5-iron. The first time I played this hole, I hit a 4-iron for safety's sake and landed right in the heart of the green.

The second time I played it, I was convinced I should hit the 5-iron, distance predicated my club selection. I hit the 5-iron and landed right on top of the wood pilings lining the front edge of the green and BOUNCED up and landed on the green....VERY LUCKY. I concluded that the 5-iron on this hole is too short.

After thinking this over, I decided that my standard yardage for my 5-iron INCLUDES the distance the ball rolls!!!. So when I hit the 5-iron I did NOT allow extra distance that the 5-iron normally rolls and that is why I hit it short.

In this case, the correct club is the 4-iron since I have to carry the whole distance and cannot count on any roll distance once it hits the ground which is the normal case.

What do you think???

Chessbum....

Chessbum, I agree with your theory. When hitting a long iron or fairway wood one should consider the roll when calculating distance hit. Likely shorter irons would be easier to predict since there is less roll involved.

Tigress