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How adjusting your driver loft changes your ball flight

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One of the most confusing things I see after a Demo Day is a shiny new adjustable driver in someone’s bag — set on the standard setting.

Many golfers do indeed fit into a standard setting, but the majority of golfers I teach on a daily basis do not. If you were just fit for a driver at your Demo Day, why would you not adjust it as the fitter recommended? You’re losing distance! The good news is that you can add yards with the turn of a wrench.

Two-time Golf Digest “Top 100 Clubfitter” Scott Felix, who works out of Spring Creek Ranch in Collierville, Tenn., has this to say:

[quote_box_center]“The adjustability of these clubs has made it possible to fit every swing that you make, but not moving your new driver into the correct settings after your fitting wastes 100 percent of your time and money!”[/quote_box_center]

With that said, I would like to show you how your launch monitor numbers can change when you adjust the loft of your driver. Also keep in mind that there are a slew of other adjustments made possible with modern drivers, such as lie angle settings, and “sliding” or moveable weights that can tune center of gravity location. They can make even more of an impact on your launch conditions. 

At 8.5 degrees

  • Swing Speed: 108.5 mph
  • Ball Speed: 155.3 mph
  • Smash: 1.43
  • Spin Rate: 2282 rpm
  • Launch Angle: 11.7 degrees
  • Carry: 250.6 yards
  • Total: 278.5 yards
  • Landing Angle: 34.3 degrees
  • Height: 83.1 feet

At 9.5 degrees

  • Swing Speed: 104.1 mph
  • Ball Speed: 153.9 mph
  • Smash: 1.48
  • Spin Rate: 2509 rpm
  • Launch Angle: 15.5 degrees
  • Carry: 253.6 yards
  • Total: 275.6 yards
  • Landing Angle: 40.4 degrees
  • Height: 108.5 feet

At 11 degrees

  • Swing Speed: 105 mph
  • Ball Speed: 152.5 mph
  • Smash: 1.45
  • Spin Rate: 3415 rpm
  • Launch Angle: 17.3 degrees
  • Carry: 249.3 yards
  • Total: 260.6 yards
  • Landing Angle: 49.5 degrees
  • Height: 147.3.1 feet

In all three swings, the ball speed is roughly 153-155 mph, which shows that regardless of the loft, ball speeds won’t change much when using the same club head. The ball speed may change, however, when a player manipulates his swing due to the “look” of different lofts, which can cause them to hit shots in different areas of the face. 

Generally, as loft goes up, so does the spin rate, as you can see in the data. 

  • My shot with the driver adjusted to 8.5 degrees of loft had 2282 rpm of spin.
  • With the driver adjusted to 9.5 degrees of loft, my shot had 2509 rpm of spin.
  • With the driver adjusted to 11 degrees of loft, my shot had 3415 rpm of spin. 

More loft will not always lead to more spin, due to things such as impact points, spin lofts, face-to-path relationships, and the ball you play — but it is a good general rule of thumb. Many golfers are obsessed with lowering their spin, but remember that low spin is not great for everyone. Golfers must have enough spin to support their ball speed. For this reason, golfers can have issues with both too much or too little spin.

Below is a chart from Trackman that can help golfers maximize their total distance based on their swing speed and angle of attack. If you’re looking to maximize carry distance, you can view those charts here

3 4

With the angle of attack being constant, the more loft you pre-set statically at address, the more loft you will have on the club at impact. More loft is great for golfers who produce slower ball speeds and less spin, as they need more loft to launch the ball higher so it stays in the air longer. More loft is also good for players who have too much “handle drag” into impact, necessitating the added static loft at address to offset this tendency through impact.

For the high-spin player, lowering the loft will reduce your spin. But be careful, as it also makes something called the “D-plane” easier to tilt, causing more aggressive offline shots. The key is to find the happy medium.

Related: Understanding the D-Plane.

In the test above, each ball carries a similar distance, but the behavior of the shots once they land are drastically different, which is due to landing angle. The flatter the landing angle, the more the ball will run out when hitting the ground.

  • The 8.5-degree loft produced a landing angle of 34.3 degrees.
  • The 9.5-degree loft produced a landing angle of 40.4 degrees.
  • The 11-degree loft produced a landing angle of 49.5 degrees.

As you can see, landing angle has a great influence on “roll out.” With all things equal, the slower the club head speed, the flatter the ball will need to land in order to produce max distance.

Personally, my best fitting was with the lower-lofted driver for the ideal compromise between my mechanics and the actions of my club head. I also tend to hit “up” on the ball more than most, so the lower loft flattens my ball flight and helps me to create the correct launch conditions. However, if my mechanics improved through impact and I didn’t hit up as much, then I WOULD need to re-fit the static loft on my club. Thankfully, most players’ mechanics don’t make drastic changes, so having a static-lofted driver that is in the “middle” of your trends will offer you three clubs in one (provided your impact mechanics remain constant).

I love drivers with adjustability because they give players the freedom to choose a driver setting that’s right for their swing and playing conditions. Adjustability is a weapon. Just don’t forget to use it!

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Tom F. Stickney II, is a specialist in Biomechanics for Golf, Physiology, and 3d Motion Analysis. He has a degree in Exercise and Fitness and has been a Director of Instruction for almost 30 years at resorts and clubs such as- The Four Seasons Punta Mita, BIGHORN Golf Club, The Club at Cordillera, The Promontory Club, and the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. His past and present instructional awards include the following: Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher, Golf Digest Top 50 International Instructor, Golf Tips Top 25 Instructor, Best in State (Florida, Colorado, and California,) Top 20 Teachers Under 40, Best Young Teachers and many more. Tom is a Trackman University Master/Partner, a distinction held by less than 25 people in the world. Tom is TPI Certified- Level 1, Golf Level 2, Level 2- Power, and Level 2- Fitness and believes that you cannot reach your maximum potential as a player with out some focus on your physiology. You can reach him at [email protected] and he welcomes any questions you may have.

30 Comments

30 Comments

  1. tank

    May 5, 2015 at 10:57 am

    THIS ARTICLE IS JUNK!! your welcome

  2. Speedy

    May 5, 2015 at 1:20 am

    A 10 degree loft with a neutral face gets the job done for most. Adjustable drivers, by and for mad scientists.

  3. Mad-Mex

    May 3, 2015 at 6:45 pm

    Why is Trac-Man data looked at as 100% accurate? I would love to see an article where they show Trac-Man data AND ACTUAL on range measured data,,,,,,,,

    Come on Golfwrx !!! let see it!!! Buck the system and do it!!! take the TOP 3 or 5 drivers, same golf ball, 3 different handicap players and go for it!! measure it with the Trac-Man AND old fashioned tape and display the differences in theory flight and actual flight,,,,,,,,,,,,,

  4. RI_Redneck

    Apr 28, 2015 at 8:36 pm

    Am I the only one that is surprised by the amount of rollout figured into the charts? 50 yds with the 105 SS seems a tad high IMHO.

    BT

    • Double Mocha Man

      Apr 29, 2015 at 12:31 am

      We’re talking the Mojave Desert here during a drought.

    • Regis

      Apr 30, 2015 at 8:03 pm

      No it struck me as odd as well. At least on the courses we play here in the Northeast, those roll out numbers would be unusual unless you hit a knuckleball

  5. CS

    Apr 28, 2015 at 3:55 pm

    That’s great info if you have a launch monitor. I don’t have access to one. How do you suggest analyzing the proper loft for a player who can only go hit balls at the range? With my driver, I can’t determine which drives are further for me within 10 yards. I’ve always been a big believer that the right shaft and settings on my driver will make a big difference, but I’ve never understood how to analyze the results from a driving range.

  6. MarkNado

    Apr 28, 2015 at 1:33 pm

    Speaking about my swing only
    A high ball is a far ball
    ss about 115 mph

  7. Mike

    Apr 28, 2015 at 11:59 am

    Right out of the gates this is a flawed experiment. You’re using similar ball speeds to try and normalize your data but given the fact that the club head speeds have changed, it means that the strikes are much different. Whether the ball is struck off the heel vs. toe vs. center will make a huge difference in spin and launch angle.

    I think you need to have very similar club head speed and ball speed to make this experiment more accurate otherwise you’re comparing apples and oranges.

  8. Dave S

    Apr 28, 2015 at 10:34 am

    I have an R1 which I’ve tinkered with and have used with various settings at different times. However I keep coming back to the same issue – one that I think plagues most mid-high handicaps – the lack of a consistently repeatable swing. One week one setting will be better, then the next week, another. I guess the best way to do it is to get fit when you’re swinging your best and then just leave it alone when your not (i.e. stop tinkering), but there’s no guarantee that you’ll be having a good driving day when you’re fit… in fact, statistics say you probably won’t. First world problems I guess.

  9. Matt

    Apr 28, 2015 at 8:41 am

    I would have isolated smash factors with in 0.01 of each other. At least this way you know the strikes were similar. Clearly the first and last were influenced greatly by not having as good as strike as the middle one.

    0.03 on 108 mph is 3.24 mph ball speed. That is a big chunk of power missing.

    Decent test, needs to try to isolate more variables out.

  10. Russ

    Apr 28, 2015 at 3:07 am

    Not sure I understand why clubhead speed varied with different lofts. Would make more sense if CS remained constant and BS varied. Can anyone explain?

    • Skip

      Apr 28, 2015 at 11:22 am

      I’m interested in this one too. Judging from the numbers, he swung it faster while hitting the 8.5 but not as solid (hence lower smash), resulting in only slightly higher ball-speed. Why would a different loft make you swing faster?

      • DK

        May 23, 2015 at 2:18 pm

        Players swing differently based on perception of loft. Your brain gets in the way if you see something that’s out of your comfort zone and a compensation is made.

        Launch angle, spin rate, smash factor will vary significantly based on where the ball impacts the club face. Thin = lower launch & higher spin. Higher on club face = higher launch & lower spin.

        Loft also affects potential smash factor. It goes down as loft increases.

  11. Joe Golfer

    Apr 28, 2015 at 1:47 am

    Very good article. I’ve seen that same Trackman chart in both this Tom Stickney article and also in a Tom Wishon article. Both do a great job of conveying information.
    One thing I’ve noticed is that Trackman must account for “roll out” using a very smooth surface fairway, such as what the pros play on. I play on public courses, and usually the fairway is something akin to Kentucky Bluegrass, not Bent or Bermuda or whatever the pros play.
    I’ve walked a couple of pro tournaments, and the fairways feel like a soft living room carpet, so it is no wonder that Trackman is showing 50 yards of “roll out”. It doesn’t feel like there are any blades of grass unless one gets off the fairway.
    For many of us, that simply isn’t applicable, as the ball catches up in the public course fairway’s blades of grass and slows down far more quickly than Trackman stats would indicate. In those cases, it may be wise to measure your own actual drives on your home course with a GPS or whatever rather than a Trackman simulator. A slightly higher loft for further carry may be better for some, since the ball isn’t going to roll out 50 yards as far as Trackman states. So besides what Trackman lists, one should also consider what sort of fairway one is playing.

  12. Marty Neighbour

    Apr 27, 2015 at 5:37 pm

    I recall an article by Tom Wishon that stated

    “I believe that it is simply not possible to change the loft through a hosel device which operates on the principle of changing the angle of the shaft into the clubhead. ”

    http://wishongolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/adjustable-hosel-drivers.pdf

    • Kyle

      Apr 27, 2015 at 7:43 pm

      That guy also says a lot of things that are off.

    • Nolanski

      Apr 27, 2015 at 10:01 pm

      The most important point in Tom Wishons article you linked is about squaring the clubface up at address vs. soling the club at address. Visualize that and you should be able to get Tom’s point. He’s one of the most experienced club makers/designers in the world.

    • jf

      Apr 27, 2015 at 10:15 pm

      Agreed

    • Chuck

      Apr 27, 2015 at 11:07 pm

      Marty: Tom Wishon did indeed write that, and he was right. If you read everything Tom wrote, you’d understand it; and you’d also understand that effective loft is indeed changed by modern hosel-adjustment systems, and that in fact Wishon’s valuable design theory is not at odds with Tom Stickney’s valuable (and equally valid) advice in this column. Don’t think that “nothing” is changed via hosel adjustments. Certainly Tom Wishon wouldn’t say that. He was simply pointing out that when a driver head is a solid cast geometric thing, you don’t change loft alone by moving the shaft angle (via the hosel). But Wishon would never say that “nothing” is changed. And by the way, you can skip the entire issue of hosel adjustment entirely, and pretend that Stickney is writing about drivers (of different lofts) that aren’t adjustable at all. It’s not like we haven’t had choices in driver lofts for 20 years+, going back to way before adjustable hosel designs.

      I am going to print these tables for my own equipment library. I might not live or die by them personally (my eye prefers a little lower trajectory, and I’ve been aware for several years of the issue with angle of descent); but they will be a big help when time on a good monitor is so valuable for someone like me.

    • Regis

      Apr 30, 2015 at 8:10 pm

      I’ve read the article several times and it always comes up. But for me , personally, on the courses I play, changing the loft adjustment with certain models (eg: Taylor Made) can produce a dramatic effect. Not saying Tom’s reasoning is wrong, but for me the adjustments work

    • DK

      May 23, 2015 at 2:25 pm

      Always remember that Tom Wishon SELLS golf clubs with fixed hosels. When he calls into question clubs by major manufacturers, he’s promoting his own product. I find it difficult to determine true intentions when there’s a financial motive to be found… That’s not a vote for major OEMs, just that Wishon is also an equipment salesman.

  13. Ian

    Apr 27, 2015 at 4:26 pm

    Looking at total distance vs swingspeed, isn’t the 9.5 the best? The 8.5 was swung 4.4 mph faster with little yardage gain relative to the swingspeed difference.

  14. Steven

    Apr 27, 2015 at 4:22 pm

    Great article. Now I just need some time with a launch monitor.

  15. Seth

    Apr 27, 2015 at 4:16 pm

    Does adjusting lift affect “offset?” When I lower the loft in my SLDR the face appears more closed at setup and I hit lower draws/hooks. When I ‘loft up’ my ball balloons. I have my SLDR AT all standard/neutral setting and it seems to work best for my inside out path. Also, do you know the “higher” and “lower” settings mean in the SLDR hosel?

    • Jake W

      Apr 27, 2015 at 4:27 pm

      Seth, I think you’ve got it backwards. Lowering the loft via the hosel on the SLDR opens the face. Making the loft higher closes the face.

    • Ryan

      Apr 27, 2015 at 5:15 pm

      The SLDR is adjustable 1.5 degrees in either direction. There fore higher means most loft/most closed. The Lower setting is most open/ most fade. Each notch is .5 degrees.

    • SJ

      Apr 28, 2015 at 8:47 am

      might want to double check that you don’t have a LH sleeve on a RH club or vise versa.

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Instruction

Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

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Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

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How a towel can fix your golf swing

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This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

Setup

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

Conclusion

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

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Instruction

Clement: Why your practice swing never sucks

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You hear that one all the time; I wish I could put my practice swing on the ball! We explain the huge importance of what to focus on to allow the ball to be perfectly in the way of your practice swing. Enjoy!

 

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