Hit drivers with several different lofts and see which club produces the best result. The ball direction launch angle depends on the loft of the club and the club direction. It is very important to note the above chart offers the optimum driver loft for maximum carry distance. However, the opposite might be true of a player who spins it more with their driver. How adjustable drivers can fix your swing flaw golf digest. The ball launch angle is quite different than the driver loft for two golfers, even if they are swinging the same club. The distance increase per degree of loft changes as clubhead speed changes, and as the various clubs change too. To acheive maximum distance, one needs the combination of maximum ball speed and optiumum launch angle for that speed. Its still true that golfers who swing less than 80 mph would likely benefit from using drivers with 11.
In fact, swings often got the most distance with driver lofts at 9 degrees or less. Find out if you could be losing distance on the golf course from using the wrong loft in your driver. The 5 best drivers for slicers how to reduce slice. Besides putters, drivers have the smallest loft angle of any club in your bag. Golfers with clubhead speeds below 85 mph should use a loft angle between 14 and 20 degrees.
Because todays drivers launch with much less spin, even players who swing fast use more loft. In this video i take a look with some surprising results. The club fitter will analyze your swing speed and angle of attack to help determine the optimal loft for your driver. According to trackman, the average pga tour player has a vertical launch angle of 11. Having a positive attack angle does not guarantee maximum distance. If your speed is between 60 and 80 mph, use 12 or more degrees of loft. Ever since a 2003 golf digest study said that most golfers needed more loft on their drivers, the quest for the correct loft has heated up.
Everyone in freshman physics learns that the optimal launch angle for a projectile the angle that makes a ball. And the distance here is still too low, only 336 feet 112 yards. In other words, it is whether you are hitting up or down on the ball. This angle is properly referred to as the dynamic loft of the clubhead.
While this is true for all clubs, the discussion properly centers around the driver. So my initial thought is that if you want to optimize your driver for distance, youll likely need a lower lofted driver. But although we can say for sure that most golfers need more loft than they now use, the exact amount depends on several different aspects of their swings. Compare the feel of drivers within the loft range that fits your club head speed at the practice facility at. This naturally creates more dynamic loft and is why a lowerloft angle. Average carry hitting 110 drives at actually 90 mph was 190 yds. For example, a driver is designed for distance, so the club face is almost straight up and down.
Impact point on the clubface if you have a negative attack angle, you may be launching the ball too high if you are hitting the ball off the top of the face. This calculator has been updated to include carry distances and total distances for drivers of different lofts and different club speeds. The relationship between driver loft and distance varies based on the golfer. I plugged in my 85 mph swingspeed, and it said i should have a 14. If possible, go to a pro shop and have a professional club fitter determine the best loft for your driver. Every club has unique characteristics, most notably where the center of gravity is. How does different driver lofts change ball flight 7. Optimize driver loft for more distance true fit clubs. Spin loft is the difference in angle between your attack angle how much up or down the clubhead is traveling at impact and dynamic loft the loft presented to. When a golf ball is launched from a club, it follows a trajectory dictated by its speed, launch angle and spin rate. With most other clubs, were concerned about distance control, while with the driver we usually just want to get as much distance as we can. The drivers loft should be chosen so that it complements the golfers attack angle. Tour experience golf custom golf fitting studio toronto, canada. Everyone who plays golf knows that the driver hits the ball the farthest of any club.
If you have a swing speed of around 105110mph, then a 10. At 115 mph club head speed, to maximize carry and roll i would try to get you averaging around 12. How to determine which loft you should get on your driver. Included are the club name, the loft angle, the lie angle, and the typical distance that can be achieved by the average golfer. But if the angle of attack stays the same, more loft will also create more spin. However, i also hit up on the ball 510 degrees, allowing that highlaunch, lowspin combo and maxing out distance. The angle of the face of the club with respect to the shaft is called loft. Driver loft does make a difference, but your angle of attack is critical hitting down on the ball is devastating to the average golfers distance moving the ball up slightly, off the middle of your left toes, helps you catch it on the upswing and assures maximum club head speed at impact. While things like launch angle, dynamic loft and impact location are. The more angle on the club face, the greater the potential loft of the club. There are three things the senior golfer needs to consider. What is the correct driver loft for the average senior golfer.
Spin loft is the difference in angle between your attack angle how much up or down the clubhead is traveling at impact and dynamic loft the loft presented to the ball at impact. Attack angle is the upward or downward movement of the clubs geometric center at the moment of maximum compression. Learning to hit the ball farther is a process that involves many different elements. The dynamic loft, in general, is not equal to the clubface loft which is typically speci. Most seniors could increase the amount of distance they achieve with a driver if they give up the 8, 9, 10 or even 11 degree driver and crank up the loft to maximize the amount of launch on the ball.
As you can see in the chart, a lower angle will mean better distances. Maximizing driver distance using a trackman or flightscope. Getting the right loft on your driver is crucial to maximise distance. More loft means numerically highera 12degree driver has more loft than a 9degree. Optimum driver loft calculator instruction and playing. The low loft of a golf driver is very surprising from the perspective of physics. Below is an image of a driver approaching the ball with a descending angle. Alternatively, the average amateur golfer will have a swing speed somewhere between 60 and 100 mph depending on. So lets delve a little deeper into driver loft and how it affects the distance of your tee shots. The holy grail combination for maximum distance is high launch, low spin. There is an overall change of 5 degrees from negative to positive attack angle that changes the dynamic launch of the driver. Carry distance varies by a large degree by where you golfie. The combination of the driver head and shaft is crucial.
The ball will travel at a lower angle with less backspin and will be able to cover a greater distance as opposed to a higher loft. Loft is the angle of the face of the club relative to the ground. What loft should you be using in your driver to increase distance off the tee. To maximize distance with your driver, hitting up on the ball positive attack angle is a must. The best way to get to a more ideal launch angle of 12 degrees or even higher is increasing the loft. Explained simply when talking about the driver, a smaller difference between aoa and dynamic loft often seen with better players creates less spin on the ball and more distance fowler, and a larger the angle between the two often seen with less skilled players creates more spin and. Optimize driver loft for more distance dlance golfd. The summary chart below compares the characteristics of a typical set of 14 golf clubs. Now, to get that face square at impact, you need to open that 10 degree driver a couple degrees, thus adding loft. As a basic rule, all golfers should get properly fitted for their driver, and a launch monitor is the only way to do this correctly. An appropriate loft choice will maximize your distance.
Around the head, aerodynamic speed slots help to improve the speed of the head itself, so despite launching the ball fairly upwards, it still produces the distance you would expect from a driver. Use less than 10 degrees of loft if you swing faster than 100 mph. Driver lofts have increased significantly in recent years. The best driver loft for distance so that is how things look for professionals on tour but for you the best driver loft for distance is totally dependent on your own individual game. How much distance are you losing with your driver adam. For many of you that might actually decrease your distance. Attack angle is a critical component when it comes to maximizing distance with the driver. If you know your club speed, you can determine what loft driver optimizes distance for your swing. Rule of thumb is for every degree of change from level, add or subtract one degree of loft. The swing change, not the static driver loft angle is what dramatically changed the carry distance here. I need to get the ball up in the air quickly increase launch angle to get the most distance out of my drives.
By twisting it changing the face angle, however, you are taking what was a 10 degree driver with a square face and making it a 10 degree driver that is, for example, 2 degrees closed. According to the flightscope function called optimizer im giving up abt. Try a variety of clubs to find the best loft for your swing. The loft, u, used in the theoretical model of the impact and in fig. Back in the day, better players tended to favor very lowlofted drivers, often in the 7. They hit low, flat drives that rely on roll to achieve the overall distance they. If you are a beginner golfer we would typically recommend a driver with a high loft angle of between 1214 if you are looking to add extra distance as the. Most often, when numbers are associated with drivers it refers to the loft of the driver. If it is between 95 and 104 mph, a 10 or 11degree loft will be appropriate.
The greater the loft of the club, however, the less will be. Golf driver loft distance, degrees, and best club selection. If you have a negative attack angle, you may be launching the ball too high if you are hitting the ball off the top of the face. In fact, swings often got the most distance with driver lofts at 9 degrees. If it is between 105 and 115 mph, a loft between 7 and 9 degrees should be considered. For example, most golfers assume that getting a lower loft on their driver will increase distance. For speeds of mph and above, try a loft between 4 and 7 degrees. Examples for a golfer with an 80mph driver clubhead speed and 65mph 5 iron speed, a 1 change in the driver means about a 2 yd carry difference and in the 5iron, that 1 loft change is about a 1 yd difference in carry. By optimizing the loft on your driver, you will maximize both the carry distance and the rollout of your drives. Driver loft and effective launch angle can vary per golfer, even given the same club loft. Your angle of attack greatly affects your driver loft. Our goal with this article is too educate you on some of the most important factors involved the 4 key elements of a great driver setup for example and some of the common problems you can immediately fix to improve distance. Driver distance secrets what manufacturers wont tell you duration.