What do you use for impact location?

[badgergolf]

Looking for something when not using the Trackman that will give me an indication of impact location. 
what do people think is best?
Impact Stickers (what brand) ? Athletes foot spray ? Dry erase marker (on ball or club) ? 
 

look forward to hearing what people use! 

[cnosil]

4 hours ago, badgergolf said:

Looking for something when not using the Trackman that will give me an indication of impact location. 
what do people think is best?
Impact Stickers (what brand) ? Athletes foot spray ? Dry erase marker (on ball or club) ? 
 

look forward to hearing what people use! 

Ive used impact stickers (couldn;'t tell you what brand; didn't think it mattered as they just stick to the face of the club) and foot spray.      Both were equivalent from a functional perspective. 

[revkev]

My hands - I’ve used impact tape and powder but I can tell where I’m impacting the club with my hands and ears. 

[BMart519]

i use dry erase marker and colour the club face

[GrahamB1967]

Footspray.  I also use it on the range mat to see where my low point was.  For me, stickers deadened the feel of the strike and, in the end, it is the feel that gives you feedback on the course.

[BillB1965]

I actually found that a stick of sidewalk chalk works quite well.   You can swipe it across the face of your club a few times and then you're good to go.

The bonus is that if you have kids,  you're likely to have some lying around.

[GolfSpy TCB]

On 10/2/2022 at 10:05 PM, BMart519 said:

i use dry erase marker and colour the club face

This is my method as well. 

[HDTVMAN]

Foot Spray.

[joedeausen]

Let's say you don't have foot spray/powder, impact tape/stickers, or dry erase markers.  You can use your own saliva or spit.  To do this, spit on the clubface and smear it over the whole face so that there is a little sheen to it.  You probably have about 20-30 seconds to hit the ball before the saliva dries up.  The golf ball impact will leave an impression of the golf ball dimples.  To do it again, spit and repeat process.  Once you're done, wipe the face with a towel.  Benefits: No clubface markings which foot spray/powder and dry erase markers make; and low cost

Typically, I use foot spray, which is easy to clean; but use saliva when I'm out on the driving range and don't have anything else.  

This method works best with the driver and woods.  A little more difficult to see on irons and in sunny weather conditions.

[tony@CIC]

I've used foot spray in the past but switched to impact tape. The one benefit of the tape is the ability to see trends and make adjustments on the fly. For some reason I generally start my driver range session hitting it off the heal and then  make slight swing adjustments to hit the ball more in the center. Also the tape is not as messy as foot spray. I buy the impact tape on ebay and get 250 labels for $15. including shipping. 

[IONEPUTT]

I tried impact tape when I first started playing golf 21 years ago. Switched to impact wax a year later as it's easy to use, cheaper than either tape or foot spray and most of us have a can of it in the garage. Common name for this impact wax is Paste Car Wax.  Just apply a thin layer on the face of your club and let it dry for a few seconds until it turns white and you are all set to go. I can hit dozens of balls with this wax and see exactly where the balls are bding hit on the face of my clubs. Easy to clean off with your golf towel when you are finished. Much cheaper than foot spray as well. 

[badgergolf]

59 minutes ago, IONEPUTT said:

I tried impact tape when I first started playing golf 21 years ago. Switched to impact wax a year later as it's easy to use, cheaper than either tape or foot spray and most of us have a can of it in the garage. Common name for this impact wax is Paste Car Wax.  Just apply a thin layer on the face of your club and let it dry for a few seconds until it turns white and you are all set to go. I can hit dozens of balls with this wax and see exactly where the balls are bding hit on the face of my clubs. Easy to clean off with your golf towel when you are finished. Much cheaper than foot spray as well. 

Thats a new one I haven't heard of. I luckily managed to snag a bunch of free Callaway custom fit impact tape stickers from a fitter near me but once they have been used up will give this a go..only thing I could imagine would be with the iron's does the wax not clog up the grooves and need a good clean after so probably not best if on the range before a round when you can't get it properly clean with a brush and water etc

[IONEPUTT]

I have never felt a need to use anything on my irons or wedges to see impact. I can see where I hit the ball with my irons just by looking at the face of the club and see the ball dimple pattern on the face. No need for tape or wax for me at least.  As for cleaning the wax out of grooves. I'd think you could do that pretty easily with a standard club cleaning brush you use to clean out the grass pieces that fill the grooves after a shot from the rough. Should work just find. Might want to try it a few times at the range to double check before you give it a go on the course to see IF you can notice any difference in ball flight or spin just to be safe. 

I started using car wax on my woods after I took a club making class and the instructor recommended applying a coast of wax on the clubs after they were finished to protect the paint on my new driver or fairway wood. Just seemed like a good idea to cost the face of the club as well on all new woods I assembled after that. For range use I just fill a small pill bottle with the wax and put the small container in my golf bag. My latest trick is to fill a used up Chapstick tube with the car wax and put the small tube in my pocket when I go to the range or course. It's so small I don't even notice I have it my my pocket when hitting balls so it's a great way to go.

[Subdiver1]

Concur somewhat with GrahamB1967 about impact tape deadening the feel so while I it provides location of impact I just didn't like the feel.  I found that athlete's foot spray gives me good feedback across the board (no "deadening," multiple shot feedback) through several shots and the benefit of not having to scrape tape residue off the club face.  I never though about wax, chalk or DE markers and I never thought consider foot spray was "messy;" it goes on clean and wipes off easily with a damp or wet towel, but hey, whatever works for you.  At least now I have some other ideas for feedback during a range session that isn't going well with no foot spray to be found.

Cheers gents.

[pineneedlespro]

I use simple clear inexpensive packaging tape--it picks up the golf ball dimples on the face of about any club.

And if you want to see how well you are compressing the golf ball use gray duct tape.

Every time I go to a practice range I tape the driver anyway because range balls will scuff the drive face!

[pineneedlespro]

6 hours ago, pineneedlespro said:

I use simple clear inexpensive packaging tape--it picks up the golf ball dimples on the face of about any club.

And if you want to see how well you are compressing the golf ball use gray duct tape.

Every time I go to a practice range I tape the driver anyway because range balls will scuff the drive face!

Most times impact location is on the face of golf club to see how many center hits.

At times will use tape on the sole hitting off a home made lie board.

[IONEPUTT]

On 10/13/2022 at 6:55 AM, tony@CIC said:

I've used foot spray in the past but switched to impact tape. The one benefit of the tape is the ability to see trends and make adjustments on the fly. For some reason I generally start my driver range session hitting it off the heal and then  make slight swing adjustments to hit the ball more in the center. Also the tape is not as messy as foot spray. I buy the impact tape on ebay and get 250 labels for $15. including shipping. 

That impact tape image looks a lot like what I got with a driver I had before I did a spine and FLO alignment on the shaft. After the alignment the impact pattern was about 1/4 of the size as it was before the alignment work was done. I'd be willing to bet that half of what you are seeing is due to the shaft, and half is you. Only way to know is to have the shaft either SST Pured or spine and FLO aligned and try the club again. 

[tony@CIC]

16 hours ago, IONEPUTT said:

That impact tape image looks a lot like what I got with a driver I had before I did a spine and FLO alignment on the shaft. After the alignment the impact pattern was about 1/4 of the size as it was before the alignment work was done. I'd be willing to bet that half of what you are seeing is due to the shaft, and half is you. Only way to know is to have the shaft either SST Pured or spine and FLO aligned and try the club again. 

Here's an interesting video on Pured and FLO processes. It'd be interesting to get @McGolf our Forum member club fitter and builder take on this as well. 

 

 

[IONEPUTT]

I just wasted 20 minutes of my life watching a video by a guy that maked at least 3 errors in the video. And he himself admits that his method of releasing the shaft when he did the photos of how the shaft bends after it is release caused the shaft to move to one side every time. This alone is a good reason why he got his false test results. I developed a way to release the shaft when I do a FLO alignment test that does NOT cause the shaft to move to one side and it's very simple to do, just something this guy was not smart enough to come up with but I did years ago.  And never in this 20 minute video does he show the results of Sprine and FLO alignment of a shaft with a golf club. I have done this a numpber of times and I can tell you for a fact that sprine and Flo alignment DOES make a difference. 

If you watch the video you might also notice that he mentions SPINNING.  Not Sprine. He doesn't even know the correct word to use for the process. 

He is also wrong when he states that the shaft only oscillates once during the golf swing. This is totally wrong. Fact is the shaft bends first as the golfer starts the back swing. Then it bends again at the top of the back swing and the downswing begins. And it bends once more just before the club head contacts the ball. So again this guy is wrong in his thinking. Pleas feel free to believe this guy or you can have a shaft Sprine and  FLO aligned and see the difference with your own eyes.  I have done real world tests that show just how much difference a properly sprine and FLO aligned shaft can have on the performance of a golf club. As an example, I had a driver that hit every ball with a big fat slice as it came from the factory, And after I did a sprine and FLO alignment on the factory shaft and re-installed it in the head the ball flight was perfectly straight every time. That driver went from a slice machine to a fairway finder with the factory shaft just by doing the sprine and FLO alignment work. I'll let you decide if that is worth it or not. I know my answer to that question. 

I also dis-agree with this guy about sprine finding to be a waste of time. I've been doing it for 20 years and it does work, If this guy doe not know how to do the job correctly that is his problem, not FACT. I fugured out how to do a proper sprine alignment years ago, too bad he didn't do the same before he posted this video filled with false claims. 

[GolfSpy_BNG]

!

 

[McGolf]

Im glad to know he watching me.  balancing the shaft is a chicken or the egg type is discussion. There is always two camps, there are always two opinions and always two results. 

Im the one that says removing the inconsistencies. Because it does. His analogy of the 3 tires is a bit flawed. He is talking about deformities(flats) or hard spots etc. on the shaft which cause the inconsistencies and yes are always there but can be over come.

Using the car tire story, I would say this is closer to the example: when you get tires on your car there are inconsistencies from rims or tires being a bit our of round or heavy to one side etc. the application of a weight puts them into round for a better ride. 

spinning imo is used in conjunction with FLO to get the better set up like the car tire. 

The statement is made that spinning, floing puring it is not necessary however if you get a bad shaft send it back. How would you know if you didn't test it? Hence the reason we do. 

The real question is does it work????? Which is the question he is trying answer. There is as much evidence to support either opinion. golfers will say " I got it done and it didnt do a thing." or "I had it done and it worked great!" did you have a bad / good golf day?"  Result are "mostly" emotional and made on the first outing when golfers talk to the subject.  In golf there are few if any absolutes. This is among them.

 

Edited October 20, 2022 by McGolf

[McGolf]

to keep the topic on track. I use the sticker. 

I used the sticker when trying to find length. All I need is the impact location.

I dont use those numbers as real but as representative. After finding the proper length the "real golf balls" come out. 

[EMacK1961]

I use regular old foot spray