Golf club head or other ball striking device having impact-influencing body features

A golf club head comprising:

• a face having a striking surface configured for striking a ball, an upper edge, a lower edge, a heel edge, and a toe edge;
• a body connected to the face and extending rearwardly from the face, the body having a crown, a sole, a heel, and a toe;
• a channel extending across a portion of the sole in a heel to toe direction,
• wherein the body and the face are integrally joined at a joint to form an interior cavity and the upper edge, the lower edge, the heel edge, and the toe edge of the face are defined by the joint;
• wherein the face has multiple thickness regions having a center region positioned near a center of the face, a heel region positioned on the heel, a toe region positioned on the toe, an upper region positioned between the center region and the upper edge of the face, and a lower region positioned between the center region and the lower edge of the face;
• wherein the center region has a rectangular shape with rounded corners;
• wherein the channel is recessed from adjacent surfaces of the sole and has a depth of recession from the adjacent surfaces of the sole, wherein the channel comprises a center portion extending across a center of the sole, a heel portion extending from a heel end of the center portion toward the heel, and a toe portion extending from a toe end of the center portion toward the toe;
• and
• wherein the center portion of the channel has an asymmetric cross-sectional shape where a front wall of the center portion of the channel has a first length and a rear wall of the center portion of the channel has a second length wherein the first length is greater than the second length.

A golf club head comprising:

• a face having a striking surface configured for striking a ball, an upper edge, a lower edge, a heel edge, and a toe edge;
• a body connected to the face and extending rearwardly from the face, the body having a crown, a sole, a heel, and a toe;
• a channel extending across a portion of the sole in a heel to toe direction,
• wherein the body and the face are integrally joined at a joint to form an interior cavity and the upper edge, the lower edge, the heel edge, and the toe edge of the face are defined by the joint;
• wherein the face has multiple thickness regions having a center region positioned near a center of the face, a heel region positioned on the heel, a toe region positioned on the toe, an upper region positioned between the center region and the upper edge of the face, and a lower region positioned between the center region and the lower edge of the face;
• wherein the channel is recessed from adjacent surfaces of the sole and has a depth of recession from the adjacent surfaces of the sole, wherein the channel comprises a center portion extending across a center of the sole, a heel portion extending from a heel end of the center portion toward the heel, and a toe portion extending from a toe end of the center portion toward the toe;
• and
• wherein a ratio of a thickness of the toe region of the face to a thickness of the toe portion of the channel is within a range between 2.5:1 and 2.9:1.