On targetMinimal curvature
What happens at the face
Face and path are aligned
A centered strike produces very little sideways curvature. Change the face or path to tilt the spin axis.
Model, assumptions & sources
Starts at the model’s maximum-carry driver setup for 100 mph: +8° attack, 21.5° dynamic loft, square face and centered contact. This is the best point in a 0.5° grid over attack 0–8° and loft 8–25°. The Efficient driver preset offers a more typical +5° / 16.5° delivery. An actual golfer’s optimum depends on measured equipment and ball behavior.
Launch direction blends clubhead motion and the face normal. Spin uses the 3D delivery plane, with approximate driver gear effect and off-center speed loss. Flight numerically integrates gravity, drag and spin lift using air-relative velocity. Carry ends at first ground contact; bounce and roll are excluded.
The contact animation uses a 0.45 ms contact window and illustrative volume-preserving compression. Club shape and dimples are detailed geometry; deformation and predicted numbers are educational estimates, not a measured strike or a finite-element ball model. Loft is delivered loft at impact, so shaft flex is already implicit in that input.
Positive face/path = right of target. Positive attack = upward. Strike position is viewed looking at the clubface. Flight charts use yards and independent horizontal/vertical scales; the 3D flight view preserves spatial scale.