Golf club heads or other ball striking devices having distributed impact response

A ball striking device comprising:

• a face having a ball striking surface, the face being defined by a plurality of face edges, the face comprising a face plate forming at least a portion of the ball striking surface, a rear plate, and a porous stiffening structure engaged with a rear surface of the face plate and sandwiched between the face plate and the rear plate, the porous stiffening structure providing increased stiffness to the face;
• a body connected to the face and extending rearward from the face edges to define an enclosed volume, the body having a heel side, a toe side, a crown, and a sole;
• and
• a crown channel portion extending laterally at least partially across the crown, from a first end more proximate the heel side to a second end more proximate the toe side, the crown channel portion being defined by boundary edges, with the crown channel portion being recessed from the crown between the boundary edges of the crown channel portion;
• wherein the crown channel portion is configured such that at least some energy from an impact on the ball striking surface is transferred from the face to the crown channel portion and is absorbed by the crown channel portion, causing the crown channel portion to deform and to exert a response force on the face, and
• wherein the cellular stiffening structure has a greater thickness measured in a front-to-rear direction than the rear plate and the face plate.

A ball striking device comprising:

• a face having a ball striking surface, the face being defined by a plurality of face edges, the face comprising a face plate forming at least a portion of the ball striking surface, a rear plate, and a porous stiffening structure engaged with a rear surface of the face plate and sandwiched between the face plate and the rear plate, the porous stiffening structure providing increased stiffness to the face;
• a body connected to the face and extending rearward from the face edges to define an enclosed volume, the body having a heel side, a toe side, a crown, and a sole;
• and
• a sole channel portion extending laterally at least partially across the sole, from a first end more proximate the heel side to a second end more proximate the toe side, the sole channel portion being defined by boundary edges, with the sole channel portion being recessed from the sole between the boundary edges of the sole channel portion;
• wherein the sole channel portion is configured such that at least some energy from an impact on the ball striking surface is transferred from the face to the sole channel portion and is absorbed by the sole channel portion, causing the sole channel portion to deform and to exert a response force on the face, and
• wherein the cellular stiffening structure has a greater thickness measured in a front-to-rear direction than the rear plate and the face plate.

A ball striking device comprising:

• a face having a ball striking surface, the face being defined by a plurality of face edges, the face comprising a face plate forming at least a portion of the ball striking surface and a porous stiffening structure engaged with a rear surface of the face plate, the porous stiffening structure providing increased stiffness to the face;
• a body connected to the face and extending rearward from the face edges to define an enclosed volume, the body having a heel side, a toe side, a crown, and a sole;
• and
• a crown channel portion extending laterally at least partially across the crown, from a first end more proximate the heel side to a second end more proximate the toe side, the crown channel portion being defined by boundary edges, with the crown channel portion being recessed from the crown between the boundary edges of the crown channel portion;
• wherein the crown channel portion is configured such that at least some energy from an impact on the ball striking surface is transferred from the face to the crown channel portion and is absorbed by the crown channel portion, causing the crown channel portion to deform and to exert a response force on the face, and
• wherein the crown channel portion is substantially symmetrical and centered approximately on a geometric center line of the body, wherein the body further comprises a second crown channel portion located proximate the toe side of the body and defined by second boundary edges and a third crown channel portion located proximate the heel side of the body and defined by third boundary edges, with the second and third crown channel portions being recessed from the crown between the second and third boundary edges, respectively, and wherein the boundary edges of the crown channel portion and the second and third boundary edges of the second and third crown channel portions do not intersect, such that the crown channel portion is disconnected from the second and third crown channel portions.