HELP is it hand for budding golfers put off the sport by their complete inability to hit the ball in anything close to a straight line. A golf caddie from St Andrews, the home of the game, is developing a tee that he says will almost guarantee your ball will fly straight and true, no matter how awkwardly it鈥檚 hit.
鈥淚n theory, hitting the ball in a straight line should be the simplest thing to do,鈥� says inventor Duncan Bayne. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 nowhere near as easy as it looks. It puts loads of people off taking up the sport.鈥� So he鈥檚 come up with what he calls the 鈥淔aithful Tee鈥�, a gadget inspired by the physics of the 鈥減lant鈥� shot in snooker.
In a plant shot (called a combination shot in pool) two balls are in contact with one another. When one ball is hit towards the other, the second shoots forward in the direction of the line joining their centres. Whatever angle the rear ball is struck at, the forward ball always moves along the same line. 鈥淚鈥檝e simply applied this idea to golf,鈥� says Bayne.
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His tee (see Graphic) has the golfer hit a cone-shaped striker behind a two-pronged platform supporting the ball. This transmits the energy from the club through the centre of the ball, lifting it along the direction the tee is facing, however it鈥檚 struck.
But don鈥檛 think the new tee will let you take on Tiger Woods. 鈥淭his is of course against the rules of golf,鈥� says Bayne. 鈥淚t鈥檚 only for practice.鈥�