Increasng Driver Launch Angle

the_coach

Journeyman Pro
Joined
Jan 27, 2014
Messages
2,470
Location
Monterey, California
Visit site
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]
 
Last edited:

Foxholer

Blackballed
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
24,160
Visit site
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).
 

the_coach

Journeyman Pro
Joined
Jan 27, 2014
Messages
2,470
Location
Monterey, California
Visit site
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]
 
Last edited:

the_coach

Journeyman Pro
Joined
Jan 27, 2014
Messages
2,470
Location
Monterey, California
Visit site
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]
 

sev112

Tour Winner
Joined
Apr 24, 2010
Messages
2,648
Location
Wokingham
Visit site
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.
 

Region3

Ryder Cup Winner
Joined
Aug 4, 2009
Messages
11,860
Location
Leicester
Visit site
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.
 

SocketRocket

Ryder Cup Winner
Joined
Sep 12, 2011
Messages
18,151
Visit site
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.
 

Ather

Newbie
Joined
May 27, 2014
Messages
3
Visit site
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.
 
Top