# Increasng Driver Launch Angle



## One Planer (May 22, 2014)

A quick question for the forum experts.

As a general rule of thumb, I set up to every club in a similar fashion, with the weight distributed 50/50 between my feet (Except for chipping and short pitches).

Generally, this is fine up to my fairway wood, however I have found with the driver I don't have a very high launch angle and flight which I believe is costing me carry and overall distance.

My question:

If I were to set-up to my driver with my weight 40/60 favouring my _right_ side, would this this help with launch?

I'm _assuming_ that with my weight a little more to the right, the tilt of my shoulders will also change (Right a little more lower than left against usual set-up) to help with launch?

Does what I'm suggesting (Weight 40/60) sound correct or should I be looking to keep it at 50/50?

Thoughts as always appreciated :thup:


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## chris661 (May 22, 2014)

Move the ball forward?


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## One Planer (May 22, 2014)

chris661 said:



			Move the ball forward?
		
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Tried that Chris, hit a booming high fade.


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## chris661 (May 22, 2014)

Went high though didn't it  Adjust your aim next


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## One Planer (May 22, 2014)

chris661 said:



			Went high though didn't it  Adjust your aim next 

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High yes! Into the cabbage, yes :angry:

If I keep the ball position as I do now, I get either a slight push or a nice push draw. The downside is the ball launches quite flat which, I think, is costing me distance.

I'm getting plenty of run on the ball as, well, the fairways are bone hard. When they are soft distance will drop for sure.


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## chris661 (May 22, 2014)

I had the same problem and as flippant as my answer was that was what the pro I was with at the time told me to do. My problem stemmed from playing on links courses and purposely cheating the wind.


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## tsped83 (May 22, 2014)

Always been told/taught/observed the ball position to be just off the front foot for driver. Gives you more time to square the club face and you're hitting on the up, which I know is a must for driver.

Might the resultant high fade be a consequence of something else in your swing? Besides, if it's repeatable is a high fade such a bad thing?


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## One Planer (May 22, 2014)

tsped83 said:



			Always been told/taught/observed the ball position to be just off the front foot for driver. Gives you more time to square the club face and you're hitting on the up, which I know is a must for driver.

Might the resultant high fade be a consequence of something else in your swing? Besides, if it's repeatable is a high fade such a bad thing?
		
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My ball position isn't drastically far back from the norm', probably a ball width at most. 

I try and keep the ball position constant for most full shots and keep the ball under the logo of my shirt and adjust the width of stance.


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## duncan mackie (May 22, 2014)

I know this is going to sound very radical but........why not get a much more lofted driver?

Obviously this will have to be a model with the fancy CG to ensure you don't increase unwanted spin elements 

I presume you have it teed up high enough to enable a positive angle of attack, and are striking the centre of the club face (ie about 1/3 from the top in the middle) etc etc etc

or you could just continue with what, from your description, seems to be working fine for you in practice


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## One Planer (May 22, 2014)

duncan mackie said:



*I know this is going to sound very radical but........why not get a much more lofted driver?
*
Obviously this will have to be a model with the fancy CG to ensure you don't increase unwanted spin elements 

I presume you have it teed up high enough to enable a positive angle of attack, and are striking the centre of the club face (ie about 1/3 from the top in the middle) etc etc etc

or you could just continue with what, from your description, seems to be working fine for you in practice
		
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If I can't get a 10.5Â° 910 D2 to launch a little higher, I need serious help


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## chris661 (May 22, 2014)

Gareth said:



			If I can't get a 10.5Â° 910 D2 to launch a little higher, I need serious help 

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Evidently, thats why you are asking on here  Have you tried adjusting the loft?


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## One Planer (May 22, 2014)

chris661 said:



			Evidently, thats why you are asking on here  Have you tried adjusting the loft?
		
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To be honest Chris, no, I haven't.

10.5Â° should be more than sufficient in my eyes to give a good launch (?). 

I'm convinced it's something I'm dong at address, hence my query.


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## chris661 (May 22, 2014)

Gareth said:



			To be honest Chris, no, I haven't.

10.5Â° should be more than sufficient in my eyes to give a good launch (?). 

I'm convinced it's something I'm dong at address, hence my query.
		
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If you are hitting down on it it won't be though. Try it it made a huge difference to me


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## One Planer (May 22, 2014)

chris661 said:



*If you are hitting down on it it won't be though*. Try it it made a huge difference to me
		
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Exactly, hence the OP about setting up a little differently favouring my right at address then moving normally into my downswing.

I may give it a nudge with a little more loft mind you. No point in having an adjustable driver if you're not going to adjust it :smirk:


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## chris661 (May 22, 2014)

Gareth said:



			Exactly, hence the OP about setting up a little differently favouring my right at address then moving normally into my downswing.

I may give it a nudge with a little more loft mind you. No point in having an adjustable driver if you're not going to adjust it :smirk:
		
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And hence my reply about moving the ball forward more


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## duncan mackie (May 22, 2014)

Gareth said:



			If I can't get a 10.5Â° 910 D2 to launch a little higher, I need serious help 

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we will have to disagree (and we don't need to agree on that!)

whilst in isolation it's easy to reference weight balance at address, swing plane and shoulder tilt the only absolute reality is that you will inherently compensate for all/any of these almost straight away - so pointless.

without solid data about your launch conditions you could have any (well most) combinations of AoA and actual loft at impact it's almost a pointless discussion.


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## Liverpoolphil (May 22, 2014)

Gareth said:



			If I can't get a 10.5Â° 910 D2 to launch a little higher, I need serious help 

Click to expand...


I struggled to get high launch with a 12 degree driver - I would certainly try a higher lofted driver and see how you go


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## One Planer (May 22, 2014)

I'm very surprised that in the expert section of all places it's recommended an equipment change over technique. 

I'll adjust my 910 for the next few rounds to see if I gain a noticeable difference.


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## Liverpoolphil (May 22, 2014)

Equipment changes can also help when there are struggles.

I have changed my driver and now drive far better 

Last year I had a habit of pushing putts so got a spider and now I don't push them.


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## duncan mackie (May 22, 2014)

Gareth said:



			I'm very surprised that in the expert section of all places it's recommended an equipment change over technique.
		
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I would recommend getting on a trackman to establish exactly what my current launch conditions were first...


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## the_coach (May 22, 2014)

To really understand & the quickest way that also gives you dead proof of what's happening at impact with what you need to produce to get the +AoA you need, & exactly how thats achieved, you will have to get on Trackman (GC2, Flightscope whichever is available in the area) with a PGA pro who uses these to teach, not just fit.


For an upward AoA, there are a few things that are crucial, listed them on the other threads about this along with some good drills, that if done correctly & persevered with _will change_ a driver AoA to +. But it takes time to do to consistently well especially it the previous AoA was -7 or more.

Things that are crucial in the static set up before motion, are, ball position has to be off the left heel, ball has to be teed up so the equator of the ball is level with the top of the drivers crown, has to be a spine tilt leaning away from target, *shoulders have to be square (or slightly closed) to ball/target line. *_(very easy because of the 'forward' ball position & the spine tilt to set up with open shoulders which will give you a swing path that you cannot get the path to ball you need & cannot get the club shallowing out in order to have the upwards AoA you think you've set up for, as the open shoulders will kill it stone impossible from the get go)_

Whether the weight is 50:50 or 40:60 will have little bearing to the outcome, you can easily create upwards AoA with either. Have to be careful if 40:60 though that the weight isn't left on the right side coming into impact, it might seem this would give you an upwards AoA but it won't, & it certainly won't give you solid contact.

The shallow swing path that you need for a level/upwards AoA has to be from inside to out, or in to in at worst, this is not negotiable, has to be a given. The swing direction (which way the club head is traveling from halfways down to halfways through has to be to the right of the ball target line, again non-negotiable.
To get these conditions the swing motion at transition has to start from the lead side lower body, again non-negotiable.

If you at all even minutely start the downswing from the top, hands, arms, shoulders, upper body leading you get an outside to inside path, swing direction swinging a ways left through impact (magnified more left with the forwards ball position, depends where the face angle is looking through impact as to exactly how the ball flies but it will start a ways left some .. 
_But the answer isn't moving the ball back any at all as that only steepens a steeper approach, gotta leave the ball up & work to change path & swing direction & face angle through impact, again non-negotiable for that upwards or level AoA._ 

You have to have the correct path, correct swing direction through the bottom half of the swing arc of the club head, with the face angle either square to ball/target line or better a little ways open. You have to realize you are shallowing out the swing so the lowest point of the swings arc is around 3" before the club head arrives to ball.

Worth while if anyone truly serious about trying to do all this for real as a start is to dig out the drills I wrote in the other threads about this. (I'm also taking of course that going to PGA pro who teaches with LM is a given)

Here's a drill & another explanation of what I've written about. As with all drills you gotta start off slow to get to start to do it properly & as with all drills getting someone to do things they're not used to doing it's not at all easy to get at first, so you have to work at it to get any benefits. Worth doing though.

[video=youtube_share;xZoMV_ap4s4]http://youtu.be/xZoMV_ap4s4[/video]


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## Foxholer (May 22, 2014)

It's not your weight distribution at set-up that's important, though it may influence it. It's position at impact!

Reverse-K is the aim - overall weight mainly on the front foot, but spine angle/torso backwards. Simply having the weight on the lead foot is likely to smother it - not a bad thing for links golf/into the wind but not great for optimising Launch for calm conditions!

So make sure that 'hip slide' happens without 'spinning out'!

High tee; bottom out the swing 3 or 4 inches behind the ball - so hitting on the up; weight mainly on lead foot, spine angle/torso leaning the upper body back. I can get 18* Launch with a driver set to 8.5* (and Draw, so probably really 8* at impact).


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## the_coach (May 22, 2014)

Not my favorite golf instructor by a long ways,.... but worth watching to see the numbers at the start & how they change simply by thinking about swing path etc in a different way & how that affects the outcome. 
Here you can see how an 18 handicap player, with being polite not the best swing motion, can start to change a pretty disastrous swing path, angle of descent, swing direction & face angle etc. & begin to work through changes to path, AoA etc to begin to produce a much better shot outcome. (putting an empty ball box in front of the ball on a tee is among a number of drills that are somewhere on the forum that I posted a little ways back, should anyone want to dig them out.)

[video=youtube_share;Wb9vKjXJCGs]http://youtu.be/Wb9vKjXJCGs[/video]


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## the_coach (May 22, 2014)

A ways back when I wrote on a post about the importance of swinging with the intent that the lowest point of the swing arc is some 3" before the club head arrives at impact so that you get that upwards AoA so higher launch angle & with a centered strike a good ways less spin rate so you get optimum distance for your club head speed. 

I mentioned about a drill where you have the ball off your left heel & at the correct height as you should but you actually bring the club head back to where that low point is some 3" behind the ball, & for the drill you start takeaway from this back 3" off the ball, so start from the club's low point. 

It helps ingrain where you're going to swing back too before impact, so you get the +AoA. Also it helps you keep the proper square shoulders easier for the reasons you see on this old vid here (poor sound, vision & awful music but still worth taking a look at), couldn't find it when I first wrote about the drill. 
This vid also helps explain the reasons behind a number of bad impact positions & why. Although this is titled as a cure for a slice, which it is, it's also a good ways relevant to why the upper body, sternum, head has to stay behind the strike, but the lower body still has to start the downswing in order to get a shallower attack & the club's lowest point of the arc some 3" prior to impact to get that +AoA plus a solid strike, the holy grail.

You can even take this start position out to the course & play with it, there are a few LPGA tour pro's that use it, a few PGA pro's too. (An older, sadly now departed Pro notably used an address position where the club head with most clubs was a good ways further back at address, if for slightly different reasons due to his overall different swing technique, Moe Norman)

[video=youtube_share;lnopJFvTa3Q]http://youtu.be/lnopJFvTa3Q[/video]


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## sev112 (May 22, 2014)

Borrow an 8deg driver from someone and use it on the range for a while
Then go back to your 10.5 and you will be fine
Just takes time to get used to the swing change where you pick the ball up

A pro got me to tee the ball up Circa 6 inches outside my left foot and got me hitting it with my driver
It was all about not spinning hips around too much, trying to keep them in the hitting area a bit longer to allow the club head to catch up,moment through, release  and pick up the ball on the way through.
Again, only a little drill to exaggerate the change in swing for half a dozen times, then to a more normal set up and bobs your uncle.


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## garyinderry (May 22, 2014)

[video=youtube;rcHUF_-hWcA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcHUF_-hWcA[/video]


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## Region3 (May 23, 2014)

A bit pushed for time so apologies if someone's already said this, but...

Your right hand has to reach further than the left when you grip the club because the right is lower. Check that you aren't reaching out with the right (opening your shoulders). Instead, you want to feel your right shoulder get lower to give you the extra reach, which will also tilt you slightly away from target. Keep that angle through impact and you can't help but hit up on the ball provided you keep your head behind the ball.


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## Snelly (May 23, 2014)

Gareth - you think too much about the game mate!!


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## One Planer (May 23, 2014)

Snelly said:



			Gareth - you think too much about the game mate!! 

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You're dead right pal. Probably to the detriment of my game.


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## SocketRocket (May 26, 2014)

Gareth.

60% weight on back foot at address is good.
Ball inside left heel.
Use a high tee.
Spine tilt a little to the right to assist with an upward strike.
Ball off left ear at impact.
Flat left wrist and cupped right at impact.
Swing at 80%, no faster and think of applying pressure to the ball.


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## Ather (May 27, 2014)

It all depends on your angle of attack. Does not matter what you do but you have to pick the ball up the T and putting too much weight on one side or the other won't help so much. It's a matter of more practice in my experience.


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