Driver loft - and changes?

[evemccc]

So I think I understand the theory of why a 9 degree loft driver is harder to hit straighter / more pro / goes further, but how do different driver lofts play out in practice?

(I have 10.5 loft currently) Altering the loft to 11.5 or so produces more backspin and therefore less side spin, but would it be noticeably more forgiving (or wayward shots would be less penalising, as it spins less)?

What is your experience with playing around with driver loft, and why did you do this?

What lofts do the average High, Mid and Low handicapper hit with?
Thanks

 

[clubchamp98]

Depends on your angle of attack( AOA.)
Mine is down by 4* so my 10.5 driver is 6.5 *.At impact.
I do hit the ball very low even with the extra spin this creates.
This varies a lot with am golfers And swing path is key imo.
If your path is good you can have any loft you want and this is how to control height.
I have played with more loft but just lost length as the extra spin takes over.
Less loft I could not get the ball airbourne enough to carry properly
Launch angle is 9* and that’s ok for about 250 yds ,I have never been a big hitter.
I have tried to change my AOA but lost my accuracy so went back ( old dog new tricks)

 

[Ethan]

So I think I understand the theory of why a 9 degree loft driver is harder to hit straighter / more pro / goes further, but how do different driver lofts play out in practice?

(I have 10.5 loft currently) Altering the loft to 11.5 or so produces more backspin and therefore less side spin, but would it be noticeably more forgiving (or wayward shots would be less penalising, as it spins less)?

What is your experience with playing around with driver loft, and why did you do this?

What lofts do the average High, Mid and Low handicapper hit with?
Thanks

The intent is to find the optimal flight. That depends a bit on swing speed, faster swings can tolerate lower launch usually, so the loft of the club and your angle of attack are both important. As noted above if you have a negative angle of attack, i.e. you hit down on the ball a bit, that will launch lower, and is likely to be shorter but tends to be straighter. Some pros who prioritise finding the fairway, do this. If you want max distance, then like Rory and DJ, you need to hit up on the ball a bit, and you can get away with lower loft.

There is a critical minimal set of launch conditions that you need to achieve, otherwise the ball will go nowhere.

 

[jim8flog]

I play a 10.5 but have a high kick point shaft to reduce the height.

I played 8.5 degree back in the days when drivers were around 360cc and as yuu already know anything with a lot of side spin rarely found the fairway.
For quite a while I had 12 degree with a very high kick point shaft and loved the thing but that was when I was a very big hitter sadly age has taken it's toll so I aim for something which is a good compromise. With 10.5 I can hit high or low and work the ball left or right with out too much exageration of the side spin.

 

[slowhand]

What do people consider an optimal launch angle for a driver? I know a lot depends on indivudalu swings, but there must be a ballpark figure to use a a starting point when practising. For example, my current launch angle with my driver (10.5*) is around 15*, so I hit up by 3.5*. Would I benefit from either flattening my swing out a bit a the bottom, or less loft, or am I spot on (I'm quite a short hitter) ?

 

[hovis]

What do people consider an optimal launch angle for a driver? I know a lot depends on indivudalu swings, but there must be a ballpark figure to use a a starting point when practising. For example, my current launch angle with my driver (10.5*) is around 15*, so I hit up by 3.5*. Would I benefit from either flattening my swing out a bit a the bottom, or less loft, or am I spot on (I'm quite a short hitter) ?

16 degrees according to my last fitting

 

[Orikoru]

I lofted up from 10.5 to 11.5 - I had been hitting a few drives slightly thin and low, and also fading them a little too much, and lofting up seemed to fix both. (Adding loft closes the face slightly.) I haven't really checked whether I've lost a load of distance with it - but I'm hitting more fairways, plus I figure now that it's getting colder with no roll on the fairways the extra loft might be helpful.

 

[PJ87]

It's all about angle of attack

Me and my regular PP both have cobra drivers

His us lofted to 12 degrees

Mine is down to 9.5

I hit higher than him .. he hits a slight fade I hit a slight draw

We normally within 30 yards of each other distance wise and pretty straight

 

[hovis]

It's all about angle of attack

Me and my regular PP both have cobra drivers

His us lofted to 12 degrees

Mine is down to 9.5

I hit higher than him .. he hits a slight fade I hit a slight draw

We normally within 30 yards of each other distance wise and pretty straight

Aoa is only part of launch conditions. Rory hits 1 degree down on his driver and look how high he hits it. It's all about dynamic loft really.

Dynamic loft + aoa = launch angle.
That's not factoring in strike location either

 

[PJ87]

Aoa is only part of launch conditions. Rory hits 1 degree down on his driver and look how high he hits it. It's all about dynamic loft really.

Dynamic loft + aoa = launch angle.
That's not factoring in strike location either

Sorry yes dynamic loft major part we reckon we deliver within 1 degree of each other

 

[slowhand]

I don't know my AoA or dynamic loft, only my launch angle, based on TopTracer data

 

[hovis]

I don't know my AoA or dynamic loft, only my launch angle, based on TopTracer data

It could be potentially costly to try and determine and diagnose your launch angle as many factors could be at play. Hence the benefits of lessons and fittings.

 

[slowhand]

It would be potentially costly to try and determine and diagnose you launch angle as many factors could be at play. Hence the benefits of lessons and fittings.

Yeah, I was only interested as it's the only bit of launch info you can see from TopTracer

 

[azazel]

I used to play about with loft but eventually decided that my game could do without yet another variable to compete with grip, stance, alignment, swing, weather etc so, since I was fitted for my current driver around 18 months ago, I haven't touched it. Driving's better than it's ever been.

 

[garyinderry]

Aoa is only part of launch conditions. Rory hits 1 degree down on his driver and look how high he hits it. It's all about dynamic loft really.

Dynamic loft + aoa = launch angle.
That's not factoring in strike location either

Rory from your golf travel might hit it 1 down.

Rory McIlroy certainly doesn't.

 

[hovis]

Rory from your golf travel might hit it 1 down.

Rory McIlroy certainly doesn't.

Being interviewed on sky rory said he usually hits 3 degrees up but he's noticed his driving improves when he gets his number in the negative. On the event in question (think it was sawgrass) he was 0 to 1.5 down and was 1st in driving accuracy

Tour average is also 1.4 down (men's tour)

 

[Canary_Yellow]

The LPGA tour data is really more relevant for us club level amateurs, and they average 3 degrees up with driver I think.

Unless you have incredible speed, a downward angle of attack is not going to be optimal from a distance perspective.

 

[Canary_Yellow]

Being interviewed on sky rory said he usually hits 3 degrees up but he's noticed his driving improves when he gets his number in the negative. On the event in question (think it was sawgrass) he was 0 to 1.5 down and was 1st in driving accuracy

Tour average is also 1.4 down (men's tour)

My understanding is a positive angle of attack increases the level of curve on the ball, so that makes sense.

 

[hovis]

The LPGA tour data is really more relevant for us club level amateurs, and they average 3 degrees up with driver I think.

Unless you have incredible speed, a downward angle of attack is not going to be optimal from a distance perspective.

Luckily for me I have??

 

[clubchamp98]

Can’t compare most ams to pros.
But my only advice to you would be.
If you only get fit for one club it would be driver, you can’t play good golf from the trees.