Groove sharpening tools

sdandrea1

Do these things actually work on stainless steel iron faces? By work, I mean, do they sharpen the edges or just clean the grooves? Your experience? Recommended brands/models?

LBlack14

Don't they make a club non conforming? If you actually give a shit

darpar

The one I have (seldom use) WILL sharpen the grooves to the point it'll chew up golf balls pretty quickly.

DC300

They work, it squares the edges up and gives you more cover ripping ability for a while, then it does off a bit. I tried one on an old set of wedges, it basically gave them the new zip back for about 10 rounds ( understanding that I use my SW literally every time I chip too) so it was nice to get that back, but it wound up screwing with my head because the ball checked too fast a lot of times.

candukid

I use a Dremel sanding disk held in my hand. Exact width of groove. Cleans them up nicely.

kelco9

Sorry for not replying sooner -- I was out getting beaten up by a golf course, leading once again to the question, "Why do I play this stupid game."

Groove sharpeners don't make any difference unless you consider their groove cleaning function. But there are cheaper ways out there to clean your grooves.

As odd as this sounds, grooves do not put spin on the ball, so whether they are sharp, dull, or non-existent does not matter. Ralph Maltby, Tom Wishon, Cochran and Stobbs, and SMT guy (sorry, can't remember his name) have all stated this. (If you go to GolfWrx there are long discussion about this.) I'm sure there are others, but these are the only ones that I have read myself. Theodore Jorgensen doesn't discuss this specifically in his book The Physics of Golf, but his explanation of spin only refers to the compression of the ball and friction against the club face and makes no reference to grooves. Ralph Maltby actually proved this theory by designing and playing a grooveless set of irons.

The function of grooves, according to these sources, is to channel water and dirt/grass away so they do not interfere with the contact between the ball and the club face. Reduced contact would reduce friction and, therefore, spin. The USGA proved this by doing testing with clubs with and without grooves in both wet and dry conditions. Spin rates with grooveless clubs were the same as those with grooves under dry conditions, but were considerably lower in wet conditions.

So, as I asked Tom Wishon, why do grooves "wear out" resulting in reduced spin, as is shown in videos produced by some wedge manufacturers. His explanation is that (I'm paraphrasing) the face of club is not perfectly flat, but rather has very small ridges that do increase friction/spin. Over time, the force of hitting the ball flattens these small ridges, which reduces the friction.

I have yet to find an answer to the question why the USGA changed the groove rule if this is the case, but I haven't got an answer to that one.

mikeintopeka

kelco9 - If I recall correctly, the USGA primarily changed the rule for exactly what you alluded to....the effect the grooves had on spin coming out of the rough.

kelco9

Interestingly, when I was doing more reading into this, in one of Tom Wishon's blogs he says: Second to the roughness of the flat area between grooves is the sharpness of the top scoreline edge as well as the number of scorelines on the face. Unfortunately, the USGA/R&A have a rule which limits how sharp the edges of scorelines can be. And clever that they are, this limit for groove edge sharpness has been changed to be very, well, UN sharp. Much more rounded in other words." The new rules make this upper edge even more rounded. \

This post would suggest that the sharpness of the upper groove does have some effect. I haven't asked him to clarify this, nor do I plan to, but I thought I would post this to acknowledge that grooves may have some impact. Perhaps the point is that the grooves play less of a role than most of us think. Steve Almo might be able to clarify this if he was around, considering that he just designed some wedges.

ZWExton

kelco9 My understanding based on what Tom had said in various communications was that in full swings, grooves have no impact on spin beyond moisture transfer (like a tire tread as you explained.) A wedge from a dry fairway lie with perfect grooves or no grooves at all, hit with a full swing, should spin the same. There's so much speed that the loft of the club is generating more spin than the grooves ever could.

However, I believe it's been said that on partial shots (think 60yd pitch) grooves can make a difference because the club head is not moving that quickly. Lower trajectory partial shots especially, since the effective loft is lower, are impacted by clean sharp grooves supposedly. That's where you need the "teeth."

sdandrea1

Interesting facts and opinions, guys. Thanks! I think the wire brush I use to clean the Eye 2 irons is all I need. I'm not sure I could wear the grooves on those anvils anyway.