I saw this several days ago, and had the same thought, until I realised that it is probably a lot more likely than you would first think: These people were golf pro's, putting together footage for one of their sponsers. As such, you've got to assume that they are at least reasonably competent with a golf club, no? Now (unless I'm totally off-beam here) any given club causes the ball, when struck, to repeatedly travel the same distance and trajectory, assuming that the impact / swing remains constant ... which is a large part of being a pro golfer. Golf balls also tend to travel in very straight lines (usually) when hit by pro's ... The machine throwing the clays is being used in a 'DTL' mode, which effectively throws them straight away from you in a uniform fashion, at the same speed and trajectory. A bit of simple matching between the known trajectory of the DTL machine and an appropriate club will put clay and ball in close proximity most of the time, with the golf ball travelling at a far higher velocity. Clays slow down relatively quickly and 'coast', at which time the golf ball is probably even still accelerating. Hit enough balls, and some WILL hit the clays ... a bit like a hole-in-one, which is frequently achieved by less than talented golfers, no? :-) Fun to watch, all the same though ... and great bragging rights to the successful golfer too :-) I know someone who can do the same trick with remarkable consistency using a .22 rifle! :-)
'I wouldn't have thought it possible'
ReplyDeleteI saw this several days ago, and had the same thought, until I realised that it is probably a lot more likely than you would first think:
These people were golf pro's, putting together footage for one of their sponsers. As such, you've got to assume that they are at least reasonably competent with a golf club, no?
Now (unless I'm totally off-beam here) any given club causes the ball, when struck, to repeatedly travel the same distance and trajectory, assuming that the impact / swing remains constant ... which is a large part of being a pro golfer. Golf balls also tend to travel in very straight lines (usually) when hit by pro's ...
The machine throwing the clays is being used in a 'DTL' mode, which effectively throws them straight away from you in a uniform fashion, at the same speed and trajectory.
A bit of simple matching between the known trajectory of the DTL machine and an appropriate club will put clay and ball in close proximity most of the time, with the golf ball travelling at a far higher velocity.
Clays slow down relatively quickly and 'coast', at which time the golf ball is probably even still accelerating.
Hit enough balls, and some WILL hit the clays ... a bit like a hole-in-one, which is frequently achieved by less than talented golfers, no? :-)
Fun to watch, all the same though ... and great bragging rights to the successful golfer too :-)
I know someone who can do the same trick with remarkable consistency using a .22 rifle! :-)