Pulling back the trackball
By Golden Tee Fan • Category: Using the track ball •Only just recently did I learn of a big mistake I was making that was surely costing me several hit greens. I had no idea that the machine reads only your initial pullback of the trackball, and not any adjustments you try to make after it unless you reset your approach. I have always been in the habit of pulling the ball back once, and then pulling it back several more times until I have the angle I want. Little did I know that it only reads the first pullback and what I was doing had no effect at all! That one realization alone should greatly improve my game, or yours for that matter.Going along with that lesson was the habit of overcompensating for trackballs that don’t come straight back. For instance, if a trackball gets dirty, a pullback you think is straight may actually tail off to the left or right at the end. I figured the machine read that last movement before the ball quit spinning and that I had to compensate for that. But, it really only reads the pullback until your golfer’s swing is fully cocked, ignoring what happens afterward (so you don’t need much of a pullback at all — only until you’ve created a full backswing). How about that! This will look like a stupid post to the pros, but if you’re like me, I bet you didn’t know these facts either!
Golden Tee Fan is a Golden Tee addict from Peoria, IL, thirsty for tips and tricks!
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You write… “Only just recently did I learn of a big mistake I was making that was surely costing me several hit greens. I had no idea that the machine reads only your initial pullback of the trackball, and not any adjustments you try to make after it unless you reset your approach. I have always been in the habit of pulling the ball back once, and then pulling it back several more times until I have the angle I want. Little did I know that it only reads the first pullback and what I was doing had no effect at all! ”
I have my own machine, so I get to practice everything. So I tested this theory. I can honestly tell you that the information that you posted is incorrect.
Now, I didn’t practice this to perfection, but my hypothesis is that the computer takes an average of how far back you pull the club in one direction, then how far you pull it in another direction.
I started (on the practice course) by shooting a full C-2 and watched the curve. Then I tried pulling back on the C until the club was at belt high and finished pulling back on the B, the forward shot was at 2. The ball only curved approx. half as much as the full C-2.
I then tested the theory a little further before writing you. Try this one, it’s cool. Pull back on the C until the club is at the bottom of the short sleeved shirt arm, then switch an finish pulling back on the A. Shoot at the 2 and the ball will go straight. Thus, this is the reason I believe that it’s averaging the pull back.
I don’t see where any other this is usefull in shot shaping, but I figured that since you’ve put so much work into your website that you wouldn’t want to be giving out wrong information.
That last line in your article is funny, in that I’ve now played over 4000 games and just tonight learned how the trackball worked. Boy, did I ever waste a lot of games and money.