Face-to-path, explained
Face-to-path compares where the clubface points with where the club travels. Here is how the makers' own manuals define it, and where they differ.
What's new
- Foresight's 2023 Ball & Club Data Doc defines face to path as "the face angle relative to the club path" and calls it a main component of side angle and curvature. The FSX manual (v2.4) and the 2013 GC2-era original use the same wording. Source ↗
- Uneekor's QED manual (p25) puts it as "the angle difference between Face Angle and Club Path", with both measured against the target line. One quirk: the same manual's appendix (p31) repeats the smash factor definition under Face to Path. Use the p25 wording. Source ↗
- It needs face data as well as path. Foresight's GC3 manual and Bushnell's Launch Pro i manual list club face to path as 4-dot data, which they say is not offered on those units. Source ↗
- Not every manual defines it. Ernest Sports' Tour Plus 2 manual (p19) lists both "Face Path" and "Face to Path" without definitions, and FlightScope's X3C manual (2024) shows Face to Path on a sample screen without one. Source ↗
- Garmin's R50 manual doesn't print metric definitions: it says to tap and hold a metric on the unit to see one (p10). Our document library holds no Trackman metric glossary yet, so we don't quote one. Source ↗
Who it's for
UK owners and shoppers: check the manual lists face to path before relying on it for curvature. Read next: our R50 vs GC3S, GC3 vs GC3S and data-reading guides. UK shoppers: is from us. We sell this.
Our take
Face-to-path is the number most golfers go looking for once they see their ball curve, so it's worth knowing what sits behind it. Foresight and Uneekor describe the same idea: compare where the face points with where the club is travelling. The detail that matters for a buyer is whether your unit measures the face at all. On the GC3 and Launch Pro i it isn't offered, which is worth knowing before you buy if shot shape is your focus. This is the first in a series, one metric at a time, each linked to the maker's own document.
Sources
- Foresight Sports: 2023 Ball & Club Data Doc (© 2023), face to path p9 · 1 Jan 1970
- Foresight Sports: Understanding Ball Launch And Club Data (© 2013, GC2-era original), p10 · 1 Jan 1970
- Foresight Sports: FSX User Manual v2.4, glossary p23 · 1 Jan 1970
- Uneekor: QED User Manual, pp25 and 31 · 1 Jan 1970
- Foresight Sports: GC3S Manual (1625), glossary p11 (covers GC3 and GC3S) · 1 Jan 1970
- Bushnell Golf: Launch Pro i Manual, glossary p9 · 1 Jan 1970
- Ernest Sports: Tour Plus 2 User Manual, data provided p19 · 1 Jan 1970
- FlightScope: X3C User Manual (© 2024), p1 · 1 Jan 1970
- Garmin: Approach R50 Owner's Manual, p10 · 1 Jan 1970
Want it explained? SIM:ON has read this story. Ask what it means for your setup, or let it pick what to tell you.
Disclosure: OpenGolfer sells Foresight Sports. News and our view are written separately; sources are linked above.
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