The biggest mistake golfers make with their driver

Welcome to GOLF’s “Firsthand with a Fitter” sequence, the place we dive into among the commonest points golfers battle with on the course, and with the assistance of True Spec Golf fitters clarify how correctly match gear can assist deal with these points and make the sport simpler.

One of the issues we hear a lot about when watching professionals on TV is how they handle driver spin off the tee and the way excessive launch and low spin contribute to the unimaginable size they can drive the ball.

But the actual query for many leisure golfers is how can I maximize my distance, and the way do I do know I’ve the correct amount of spin with out getting on a launch monitor?

First off, the one positive solution to know when you have the correct amount of spin with your driver is to work with an expert fitter on a launch monitor to seek out out simply how nicely you might be optimized based mostly in your clubhead supply and swing velocity. But, should you don’t have entry to a membership fitter and are simply assessing based mostly on what you see on the golf course, listed here are just a few easy issues to search for.

Too a lot spin

If you might be driving the ball with an excessive amount of spin, you’ll discover that the ball doesn’t fly on a parabolic trajectory and as an alternative begins to raise like an airplane taking off after affect. This further raise created by the extreme spin makes the ball rise too rapidly, stall, after which fall again to the bottom on too steep of a trajectory to get any further roll.

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Beyond how the golfer delivers the membership into the ball, an excessive amount of spin is usually a results of not having the right quantity of loft on a driver.

“We often see too many golfers come into our fitting studios with the wrong loft for their swing. In many cases, it has much less to do with actual clubhead speed and more about how they deliver the loft to achieve results.” Kris McCormack, True Spec Golf‘s VP of Tour and Education “Too many golfers assume that if they have a moderate swing speed they need to default to a higher lofted driver (10.5° – 12°) and that just isn’t the case.”

Not sufficient spin

Although it’s much less of a typical drawback for many golfers, not having sufficient spin constantly with the driver might be simply as unhealthy for quite a few causes; the primary being a scarcity of directional management, and the second being the shortcoming to realize carry distance.

The lack of directional management comes from an unstable ball flight brought on by too little spin. It’s mainly the identical ball flight physics as when a pitcher throws a knuckleball to a catcher, with the distinction being a fairway isn’t going to vary place to catch your golf ball. This lack of spin destabilizes the ball’s flight and leaves it far more vulnerable to exterior influences like wind.

Also, identical to how a ball with extra spin takes off too excessive, a ball with too little spin doesn’t obtain the right amount of raise based mostly on the launch and ball velocity, and that ball with fall out of the sky at a really suboptimal distance. When paired with a mishit increased on the face or in the direction of the toe this could result in a ball that would doubtlessly lose as much as 30% of its potential carry distance.

The chart under from Ping Golf demonstrates the perfect launch and spin traits based mostly on ball velocity and angle of assault

“In the search for more distance, some players end up going too far in the opposite direction and find themselves not spinning the ball enough with their driver.” Kris continued, “The launch conditions might be in a good place on perfectly struck shots in calm conditions, but as soon as a shot is mishit and spin drops below the ideal amount, it results in some extremely big misses. This is why it’s always our goal to find a golfer the correct spin window (spin range) so they can maximize their best shots while reducing variance on bad ones.”

So subsequent time you’re on the course and really feel such as you’re not getting essentially the most out of your driver, take the time chart your outcomes and make notes about your ball flight, and should you’re noticing both an excessive amount of or too little spin with your driver, it is likely to be time to make some changes or guide a membership becoming with an expert fitter.

Looking to work firsthand with your club-fitting professional to dial in your gear and play higher golf? Book a becoming with the business consultants at True Spec Golf. With greater than 30 places, it’s straightforward to discover a location close to you.

Golf.com Editor

Ryan Barath is GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com’s senior editor for gear. He has an intensive club-fitting and -building background with greater than 20 years of expertise working with golfers of all ability ranges, together with PGA Tour gamers. Before becoming a member of the workers, he was the lead content material strategist for Tour Experience Golf, in Toronto, Canada.