In the previous segment of this blog, we discussed hitting the ball on the sweet spot in order to optimize your smash factor or efficiency. When she started playing golf seriously, six years ago, she used a driver with 9 degrees of loft and. In comparison, a pitching wedge is designed for loft, so the club face is more parallel to. Optimize driver loft for more distance true fit clubs. And notice how the the attack angle has turned positive along the way its now 3. Alternatively, the average amateur golfer will have a swing speed somewhere between 60 and 100 mph depending on. Increasing your drive swing speed will increase the distance of your drives. This calculator has been updated to include carry distances and total distances for drivers of different lofts and. The keys to maximizing driver distance are high launch and low spin, and now you have a more indepth picture of how this is achieved. In part two of this threepart series, were showing data specific to midrange swing speeds 90105mph. But as stated, it depends on the golfer and the golf ball. Not unusual really, this is a helpful indicator in. The main variable in our testing was the loft and type of driver head.
Driver head with 11 degree swung at 100 miles per hour, nomally sends the ball away at 9degree or 10 degree above the horizontal, with a back spin of 60 revolutions per second. A golfer whose technique adds loft at impact, so creating even more dynamic loft, wont necessarily benefit from a higherlofted driver. Many golfers believe they can add yards to their drive by making their driver golf club longer and lighter. A golf clubs loft refers to the club faces angle relative to the clubs shaft, according to pga pro mark blakemore. The amount of loft you choose to use on your driver is important because that number is going to influence the launch angle you achieve on your shots. Driver example golfer a has a club speed of 100 mph and a smash factor of 1. Dustin johnsons driver is a reminder that optimal launch. A good players stroke with a typical seveniron, which has a loft of 39degree, sends the ball away at about 26degree, with a backspin speed of about revs per second. Increased launch angle also means youll get more carry on your drives for more distance. The additional loft makes the club much more forgiving and far more accurate. 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. For the testing, everybody hit the titleist 910 driver in the head d2 or d3 with the loft, face setting, and shaft of their choice. Golf driver loft distance, degrees, and best club selection. Too often, an amateur golfer will choose the loft of his or her new driver based on.
As technology has shifted, driver lofts have increased significantly, with many tour pros using 10. For many of you that might actually decrease your distance. Launch angle is determined by the clubs loft angle and the angle of attack at impact. It is very important to note the above chart offers the optimum driver loft for maximum carry distance. Driver loft is the angle in degrees between a plane that touches the center of the striking face and a vertical plane that is perpendicular to the sole line. Find the right driver shaft length for your game golficity. Optimize your launch angle by getting tested on a launch monitor golf swing speed distance calculator. Get into your setup with the shaft at 45 degrees, then have a friend point the grip of. Tour experience golf custom golf fitting studio toronto, canada. Hopefully by seeing my results you will think twice about just assuming an offtheshelf driver is the right one for you. You can use clubhubs angle of attack parameter to achieve your optimum launch angle and greatest distance. At the same time, balls dont tend to roll as far when theyre hit with a high trajectory. Keep in mind that the above numbers are achievable, but only in a best shot type scenario. If possible, go to a pro shop and have a professional club fitter determine the best loft for your driver.
What is the correct driver loft for the average senior golfer. While things like launch angle, dynamic loft and impact location are important and play a role in deciding the best loft for you, were going to try. In this segment, we are going to talk about the optimum launch angle for your club speed. Everyone in freshman physics learns that the optimal launch angle for a projectile the angle that makes a ball. Add weight to your driver golf club for more distance pga. The higherlofted driver is typically a better choice for an amateur player. My wife, angie, is a good athlete who played pro basketball with the wnbas charlotte sting. Optimal driver numbers on trackman andrew rice golf. We had 10 players from around the shop ranging in swing speed from 78. Comparatively, if a golfer hits down on the ball five degrees and presents 15 degrees of dynamic loft so 20 degrees apart in total, they wont get the lowspin numbers they desire. As weve done in the past, for 2018, were again segmenting our data to provide more meaningful information to the individual golfer.
Its a frequently asked question and one that will vary from person to person and depend on a number of factors that could get very technical and indepth. The club fitter will analyze your swing speed and angle of attack to help determine the optimal loft for your driver. Early in the same year the average driver loft on tour was around 8 degrees. Trajectory optimizer launch monitor, golf ball tracking. This is how far pga and lpga tour players hit it with. In general, this will be a spot that is slightly towards the toe and just above the center of the clubface. What is the correct driver loft for the average senior. Find out if you could be losing distance on the golf course from using the wrong loft in your driver. If you know your club speed, you can determine what loft driver optimizes distance for your swing. Hit drivers with several different lofts and see which club produces the best result. Optimum driver loft calculator instruction and playing.
If you fall in the 70 mph or under range, its best to select a driver with a loft of around 1819 degrees similar to a 5wood. The titleist driver was chosen for the testing because. We kept the shaft length and flex almost exactly the same. The lpga tours 94mph average driver swing speed is closer to the speed many golfers swing the club. For example, a driver is designed for distance, so the club face is almost straight up and down. What is the correct driver loft for the average senior golfer video by dean butler i get asked quite a lot about the loft of a driver, whats correct for the senior golfer. This calculator is designed to give the approximate distance that you can expect from each club in your bag, based on the input values given. Golf club yardage and specification chart ralph maltby. And its basically you cant just say thats the loft that you should be actually using unless youve got the perfect swing. But what if you could increase your driving distance with 30 yds off the tee without swinging faster. Dynamic loft and how to practice dan august 1, 2014 coaching, deliberate practice, drills, state of my swing, swing aspects yesterday i visited swing coach bruce for the first time since before australia and denver, or about 6 weeks. This will give you your average club head speed in miles per hour. For example, most golfers assume that getting a lower loft on their driver will increase distance.
David toms was the most efficient driver on the pgatour in 2012 and at 100 mph he would have averaged 278. Read this before you buy your next driver practical golf. The static loft of my 8 iron is 36 degrees, subtract 6. Every club has unique characteristics, most notably where the center of gravity is. Understanding that dynamic loft is 85 percent of your balls launch angle and angle of attack is 15 percent of your balls launch angle, we now see that the dynamic loft of this shot hit was a touch too low. However, you can always shorten your shaft from your fitter if you feel you are short on accuracy.
Ball speed mph attack angle deg dynamic loft deg spin rate rpm launch angle deg carry yards club speed. If it is between 105 and 115 mph, a loft between 7 and 9 degrees should be considered. 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. We answer the question what is the best loft for a driver and include our driver loft distance chart and other key information to help you. Typically what we look for in dynamic loft with irons is a number that is a little less the static loft of the club attack angle. 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.
If it is between 95 and 104 mph, a 10 or 11degree loft will be appropriate. Measure golf club length in 2 proven methods nifty golf. The driver is the longest club in the bag, often making it the most inconsistent, and the biggest challenge to a struggling golfer. A golfer would hope to achieve a smash factor near 1. Weve broken down our driver test results into three different swing speed categories. This calculator has been updated to include carry distances and total distances for drivers of different lofts and different club speeds. The distance difference between clubs is created equally by the increments in club length and loft angle. 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. At one time in the golf equipment industry, there existed a series of loft angles that were considered to be standard. The combination of the driver head and shaft is crucial. There is very little difference between a 45 inch long driver standard and a 47 inch driver in terms of club head speed. Once you can establish a 45degree shaft angle at address, the secret is to recreate it at impact. I plugged in my 85 mph swingspeed, and it said i should have a 14.
Golfers with clubhead speeds below 85 mph should use a loft angle between 14 and 20 degrees. Choose a loft to try based on your assessed clubhead speed. Dynamic loft, angle of attack and your launch angle golfwrx. The program will plot the flight of the ball in real time after the users input of the initial launch conditions of the golf ball. That means for a 100 mph club speed the ball speed would be 150 mph. The low loft of a golf driver is very surprising from the perspective of physics. The loft on your driver is a key factor that helps determine the success of your tee shots on longer holes. For instance, if your average drive distance is 202 yards, your average club head speed is 202 divided by 2. Drivers are typically lofted between 8 and 11 degrees, so drivers with lofts of 9. Loft deg spin rate rpm launch angle deg carry yards club speed mph 75 80 85 90 95 166 178 187 176 187 197 199 211 223 215 228 239 243 244 256 total yards driver fitting chart. The leastlofted golf club, other than a putter, is the driver.
The more angle on the club face, the greater the potential loft of the club. While this is only approximate, it has been tested by a large cross section of golfers and acclaimed as accurate. Flightscopes trajectory optimizer is a golf ball flight trajectory program. For example the numbers below are from some 8irons i hit.
Maximizing driver distance using a trackman or flightscope. Generally speaking, a higherlofted club is going to launch the ball higher into the air than a lowerlofted club, all other things being equal. Best driver for 90 mph swing speed in 2020 golf sidekick. Analyzing the posture and wristtofloor measurement, 3235 can be a good length. All else being equal, the more lofted your driver, the higher and straighter your shots will fly. Below you can see how the optimal launch angle, spin rate and landing angle would look like, based on a given. The higher the loft of the club, the lower the smash factor is expected to be. What youll find is that higher club head speeds require lower loft drivers for maximum distance. How to determine which loft you should get on your driver. By the 2008 deutsche bank championship it was all the way up to 9.
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