Lately I can't hit my driver. Everything goes low about 100 yards to the left. Today I went to Golfsmith and tested a few drivers and they have the.
When you look at tour pros' driver shots, they hit it unbelievably higher and longer.
How can you hit it like pros?
There are basically 3 factors which determine driving distance.
1. Clubhead speed
2. Launch Angle
3. Spin
Today, I like to talk about launch angle and spin.
Launch Angle
To hit it longer and higher, you need to increase your launch angle. To do that, you should pick that driver that has enough loft for your swing speed.
![Straightest hitting driver Straightest hitting driver](/uploads/1/2/6/3/126318489/613557961.jpg)
Some players think they should buy the driver with less loft, but less lofted drivers don't always give you more distance.
So get the driver that has enough loft on it. If you are like average players, I don't recommend anything less than 9 degrees. Get the driver that has 10 or 11 degrees of loft.
The higher you tee it up, the more you can increase your launch angle.
So to hit it higher, tee the ball higher with more than 1/2 or the ball visible above the driver head. If you tee it up higher than that, you should hover your clubhead above the ground to catch the ball on the sweet spot.
Also, to increase your launch angle, hit the ball at the lowest point or just after the lowest point of your swing.
Back Spin
You can launch it higher but not get any distance if the ball has lots of backspin on it.
You need to have the correct combination of the backspin and launch angle.
To hit it higher and longer, you need to have less backspin and higher launch angle.
There are 3 factors that increase spin.
1. Cutting across the ball or coming over the top
2. Slice or open face at impact
3. Hitting below the sweet spot on the driver face
2. Slice or open face at impact
3. Hitting below the sweet spot on the driver face
If you cut across the ball or have an open face at impact, you ball will go higher but don't give you much distance off the tee.
To cure this problem, see the page about fixing the slice.
To reduce spin you can 1) hit the ball on the upswing, 2) hit the ball on the sweet spot or just above the sweet spot and 3) hit a draw.
If you hit the ball just above the sweet spot of your driver, you will get less spin. But if you do it too much, you will pop it up.
It's true that if you hit a draw, you can limit the backspin. However, hitting a draw will lower the launch angle at the same time.
To compensate for that, you need to tee it up higher and hit it on the upswing.
Want to find out how far you could/should hit your driver? Read on.
I recently wrote a blog post on the three components of distance, which were;
- Ball speed
- Launch angle
- Spin rate
You can read that blog post HERE.
So this begs the question; if everything is optimized, how far could I hit the ball with my driver?
Speed Limits
While launch angle, spin rate and strike can be fully optimized for everyone (via technique and club-fitting), we are ultimately at the mercy of how much speed we can produce.
Someone with 90mph of clubhead speed is never going to carry the ball 300 yards under normal conditions.
With that in mind, just how far could you be hitting the ball if everything is close to optimal based on your swing speed? See the table below.
Please note, the above table is based on rough carry distance at sea level. Depending on ground conditions, a different launch and spin may produce different total distances.
These are also optimal carry yardages.
Are You Optimal?
No.
Well, it is very likely that you are not. The only people I have seen hit optimal launching drives are myself and a handful of others – this is because I have worked intelligently at improving my launch conditions.
These numbers were taken using Trackman
The vast majority of golfers, professionals included, are hitting sub-optimal shots (regarding maximizing distance). While a pro can get away with this due to having such a high swing speed, the average amateur needs every bit of help they can get.
Here we see McIlroy and Garcia – similar swing speeds
We see that Garcia is losing quite a bit of distance with his low launch and high spin rate. McIlroy, however, is getting much closer to optimal. These photos were taken from 2013 – I believe McIlroy is even closer to optimal now.
Get Measured
Go and find a teacher with a launch monitor, such as Trackman.
These devices measure the club and ball interaction and can help you identify how close to optimal you are, and (more importantly) where you are losing your distance.
For example, Trackman can tell you your swing speed as well as how you are launching the ball and what factors are contributing to those launch conditions. This allows you to quickly rectify them (under the supervision of a qualified coach).
How Do I Become Optimal?
Why not check out The Strike Plan. Through the techniques and drills, you will understand how to;
- increase your launch and ball speed
- reduce your spin
in order to get you closer to optimal. On top of that, your accuracy and consistency will improve due to less lateral gear effect caused by off-center hits.
CLICK HERE to find out more about The Strike Plan
Raise The Bar
You could also go the route of improving your swing speed.
One of the best ways I have found to increase swing speed effectively is training with the Superspeed golf training system. By using over-weighted and under-weighted clubs, you can pick up a good amount of swing speed (via neuromuscular conditioning) to help get you into the next category.
Combined with improved technique, this can be a powerful combination. Click the above image, or click HERE to find out more about their system.
Distance Summary
So, now you know, based on your swing speed you have the potential to hit X yards carry. If you want to hit farther, we have to get closer to these optimal numbers and/or increase our swing speed.
Again, if you want to become more optimal for distance (as well as improve your iron play), check out The Strike Plan by clicking the image below.