The Very-Many-Questions-Not-Worth-Their-Own-Thread Thread 36

[aimeeandbeatles]

Question: What determines if a thread in OT becomes a serial thread or not? There's some really long ones that haven't been split up (e.g. Today I Learned, Daily Graphs) so I'm wonder why.

 

[Kyriakos]

The informative ones aren't serialised

 

[Arakhor]

I think it's mostly just custom. I don't know why TIL wasn't serialised, for instance.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I would've liked to see some of the titles for the TIL thread. Oh well.

 

[Synobun]

You could always petition. After all, you are the one responsible for Random Thoughts.

I think. Right? I think you were...

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I think I accidentally sniped it from whoever was supposed to be the actual poster. Oops.

 

[MaryKB]

How do you tell what's generating sound on your computer? I hear something coming from my speakers that sounds like typing, but I've got no idea what's causing it.

 

[Synobun]

Right click on the sound icon in your system tray and open Volume Mixer. It'll show you anything on your PC that's currently making noise as well as allow you to set independent volume settings for open apps.

 

[Gori the Grey]

Can someone who golfs help me understand why tee shots sometimes involve the club creating a significant divot?

I would think that as soon as the club hit earth, it would 1) take a considerable bit of the momentum, which is ultimately responsible for driving the ball as far as you can (your basic purpose), off the swing and 2) make the swing less accurate, since who knows exactly how the bunching-up dirt is going to skew the club head one direction or another.

And yet the pros routinely chew up that little patch of dirt as they make the shot. So my two assumptions about what would happen must somehow be incorrect.

I hear something coming from my speakers that sounds like typing, but I've got no idea what's causing it.

It's not coming from your speakers! The typist is inside your house! Quick, run! Get out of there!

You could always petition. After all, you are the one responsible for Random Thoughts.

I think. Right? I think you were...

No, Lohr founded Random Thoughts. Which I still think should be "Random Remarks" or "Random Ruminations," too keep the alliteration of the other two threads.

 

[Synobun]

Oopsies!

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Consider that the momentum delivered to the ball is related to the speed of the club head. Now, if your swing is smooth and the speed of your hands is a constant, what happens to the speed of the club head after it hits the ground?

It slows down, as you said, which flexes the shaft of the club. Now, when it breaks free of the ground that flex in the shaft will accelerate the club head so that it can 'catch up.' If the timing is such that the club head comes free and accelerates, and strikes the ball while it is catching up it is actually going faster than the uninterrupted swing.

Notice that the divot is behind the ball placement.

 

[Gori the Grey]

It slows down, as you said, which flexes the shaft of the club. Now, when it breaks free of the ground that flex in the shaft will accelerate the club head so that it can 'catch up.' If the timing is such that the club head comes free and accelerates, and strikes the ball while it is catching up it is actually going faster than the uninterrupted swing.

Wow! Though again, that seems to me that it would come at the risk of introducing unpredictability in the exact angle at which the head hits the ball, which is important to the accuracy of one's tee shot (which seems no less important than the distance of it).

 

[Timsup2nothin]

No applause, please.

Okay, a little applause.

Okay, go ahead, as much as you want.

 

[Gori the Grey]

*Quiet golf-spectator applause*

 

[Farm Boy]

The head of a golf club also has a hell of a lot of momentum. The layer of dirt that is mostly intertwined grass isn't very solid even though it will hold together with itself in patches. A good shot with a nice divot? You probably aren't going to feel the club hit the ground hardly at all. If you do, since you missed and sunk into firmer ground, it usually does take some oomph off the shot. If you strike too high and hit the ball with the flat lower edge of the club you can really juice the hell out of it, but it probably isn't going very high, at the speed you wanted, or the proper lift. Always called those worm burners.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

*Quiet golf-spectator applause*

You can go ahead and whoop it up, I'm not a golfer. I answered even though you directed your question at golfers since I would guess that 99% of golfers couldn't answer questions about the actual physics of a golf swing...which are amazingly complex.

As to the uncertainty of the angle...that's part of the challenge. You want the divot to flex the club more, for maximum whip, but you can't take such a bite that it reduces hand speed. It also has to not exert more twisting force than your grip can control, for the reasons stated. The club head shape has to create net drag in direct line with the shaft, with the drag at the toe balancing with the drag at the heel. If your swing digs at the toe, or the heel, it will twist the head.

 

[rah]

Can someone who golfs help me understand why tee shots sometimes involve the club creating a significant divot?

I would think that as soon as the club hit earth, it would 1) take a considerable bit of the momentum, which is ultimately responsible for driving the ball as far as you can (your basic purpose), off the swing and 2) make the swing less accurate, since who knows exactly how the bunching-up dirt is going to skew the club head one direction or another.

And yet the pros routinely chew up that little patch of dirt as they make the shot. So my two assumptions about what would happen must somehow be incorrect.

On true tee shots with drivers (off a tee) there will not usually be a big divot. Since they use a tee for their driver, It's easier to get the sweet spot of the driver on the ball without taking a divot.
On other shots, not off tees, the divot is a result of getting underneath the ball to move the ball up the club face to provide back spin on the ball so it will bite more when hitting the green. It also allows better contact with the center of the club face for better accuracy and power,

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Question: What determines if a thread in OT becomes a serial thread or not? There's some really long ones that haven't been split up (e.g. Today I Learned, Daily Graphs) so I'm wonder why.

When the weather thread hit 1000 posts, I just made a statement that as the OP who rarely starts threads (and most of those I've started don't tend to get very long), I'd appreciate if it could just continue and not be serialized.

It's not coming from your speakers! The typist is inside your house! Quick, run! Get out of there!

@MaryKB, does your cat have an alibi for when you hear these sounds?

You can go ahead and whoop it up, I'm not a golfer.

We have a smiley for that:

 

[MaryKB]

I muted my speakers, and I still heard it. I'm starting to think I've got a little mousey.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I muted my speakers, and I still heard it. I'm starting to think I've got a little mousey.

The solution, then, might be getting a trackball.