Impact Stickers

I never used to think much about impact stickers but recently while playing in a group....one of the players had one on his driver.  I looked at the scatter pattern he had created with interest.  He offered me one so I thought why not.  What I found out, that I didn't know, was almost all my hits, while concentrated were concentrated from the edge of the center out to the toe.  Many of those hits gave me the consistent distance I'd been used to so it was quite a surprise I wasn't hitting the center of the club.

In an earlier post.... center hits give you the equivalent of an extra 8 - 10 mph swing. 
According to the impact label maker Longshot..... "Missing the Sweet Spot by one half inch equals a 7% loss of distance and missing the Sweet Spot by one full inch equals a 15% loss of distance".  If your off center drives are going 240 yards....hitting the Sweet Spot can increase your distance with the same swing by 16 to 36 yards! 

I used these Calloway stickers to help me center my drives as you can see by the notes I've taken from two trials.  As you can also see I have more work to do but it's getting better.  That's why I ordered a whole roll from Longshot.😀

RULES: Preferred Lies/Winter Rules

Here in California the weather has been very wet and the courses are soaked.  Playing the other day a question arose of how to lift, clean and then properly place the ball near the green.  My playing companion was just off the edge of the green and he wanted to use the one club-length that would put his ball on the green.  We had elected to play a local rule giving 1 club-length relief.  Under these conditions a ball lying on a closely-mown area through the green may be lifted without penalty and cleaned.  Before lifting the ball, the player must mark it's position.  We told him he couldn't move the ball to a spot that would put him on the green.  Here's the rule:  Having lifted the ball, he/she must place it on a spot within our one club-length distance of and not nearer the hole than where it originally lay, that is not in a hazard and not on a putting green.

Under rule 20-3d if the ball when placed comes to rest on the spot which it is placed and it subsequently moves, there is no penalty and ball must be played as it lies.

Additionally...If the player fails to mark the position of the ball before lifting it, moves the ball-marker prior to putting the ball back into play or moves the ball in any other manner, such as rolling it with a club, he incurs a penalty of one stroke.