For me it's the delicate balance of clubhead speed & spin. My spin tends to go up a lot when my clubhead speed goes up because my strike tends to get lower on the club (increasing spin). 115 is my sweetspot. If I try to bomb it & hit 120 my spin goes up to near 3k and hurts me. It's that old anecdotal line of swinging easier and hitting it farther. For me swinging at 115 but solid strike translates to 15yds more carry than swinging 120 with a low strike.
For me its been finding a couple of instructional youtube-er that work for me (don't try too many different ideas) and then just practicing and playing more than I have in previous years. Some days I can swing more in to out, so I play a draw. Other days my power fade/slice controls me, so I just set up to hit that shot. Other than that ... play the same ball, tee it high and swing a little up, and to be honest ... swing easier and find the middle of the face. An 80% swing keeps me coordinated and in control of face-to-path. I can only swing 100% if I'm fully warmed up, nice wide fairway in front of me and fully "feeling it".
I have a terrible tendency to hit down on the ball, so have had to be taught to try and hit up on the driver. At 61, I’m never going to be booming 250 yard plus drives but having been fitted by my Pro and his lessons to align myself have ensured that I can usually knock it 220 on the fly. The consistent tee height made a dramatic improvement and cut out a lot of my appalling hits off the roof of the club. I also have now stuck with a ball I always use too.
So spin loft and control are closely related. As a good player, I find that a driver between 2000 and 2300 rpms allows me to control the ball better and I still get the forgiveness I need when a bad strike happens. I'm no longer trying to hit 1700 rpms. That shot falls out of the sky unless hit perfectly every time. You also have to account for shaft kick when talking about spin loft. Improperly fitted shafts can deflect towards the target a good amount and add loft to the driver (that also closes the face). If you ever do a lesson with GEARS, you can actually see that the shaft kicks forward before impact with some shafts.
Here are mine: Easier to play the game with a Power Fade than a Draw with the Driver - in the top 10 almost everyone plays a Driver Fade except Rory - thus build a Driver to hit a Power Fade - Face slightly open - 9 head turned down to 7-8 - Lower loft Driver => more direct blow on the ball = more potential ball speed - Bigger Grip (slows rotation - easier to repeat the fade) Most important part of the swing for speed is the first part of the downswing - just like with a race car where the most important part of the track is getting the fastest exit speed on the corner that leads to the longest straight - this additional speed is then compounded down the entire long straight - GEARS data shows that this is THE BIGGEST difference between Pro & AM swings - how quickly in the first foot of the downswing their hands get to speed - in many cases, ultimate hand speed isn't that different, but because the Pros get to this speed faster, the clubhead then has longer to accelerate - so concentrate on doing everything you can in the transition period to swing as fast as you can at the top - this is possibly contrary to what many believe that you build speed slowly (it's a lie) - the GEARS data has shown (video from Athletic Motion Golf guys), this is the KEY Look at old videos of Jack Nicklaus in his early prime and swing like that (he's an animal) - wide stance - get that left heel off the ground in the backswing for more back & hip rotation - slam that left foot and squat with your legs into the ground - all which stretch your upper torso muscles to gain stored power - swing as hard as you can from the top (see above) the added benefit is it retains and increases the lever angles in your wrist - don't try and play a straight ball or draw - embrace the fade, aim left, feet further left, swing as hard as you can left with a slightly held off face - have the expectation that if you are a normally semi athletic man, that you should be able to swing in the 110-114 clubhead speed range and carry the ball 275 - almost anyone who isn't in the elderly age group can absolutely do this - raise your expectations - it is possible Tee the ball enough that you can learn to hit a 7-8 degree driver 100-120 feet in the air - may seem hard at first, but it should only take you max 20 swings to figure it out (more retained / even added spine angle with head back at impact) - stop trying to hit it perfect or straight - the guys on tour that are killing it have 10-20 yard fades
This was a great conversation! I recently video taped myself and was shocked at how slow my swing is when hitting a ball, I honestly had no idea. I've been struggling to get enough spin on my longer clubs and so my ball fight has been very low these last couple of years. For the past month or so I've been training myself to take much faster practice swings before I hit my shots and I've had a dramatic improvement in both ball flight and distance.. same swing thoughts, same ball, same clubs. I think because I've had several injuries over the years(both knees, back and elbow) I have subconsciously slowed down without realizing it. I thought I was just getting old, turns out I was just being lazy! :) Cool of you guys to shout out Clay, he's a very good teacher IMO.
Thank you. You have help me understand so much about golf, like using the right golf ball to understand about tee your ball up to pick up distances. I do not have a very fast swing speed but from what I have learn from you i am working on that but also found out work with what you have and surprise you still can play great golf. Please take and raise your show time to a hour or more for listening to you guy is relaxing and you are teaching so much one thing you did for me is not buying new clubs and working with the clubs you have.
Excellent video! My compliments to all four participants on a great job. I might have organized the material SLIGHTLY differently. Tee height is a way to achieve a positive angle of attack, so it's not a separate topic from that point of view. But it also does something else for distance that you guys didn't mention. "Strike efficiency" is, strictly speaking, smash factor -- and that's the point you worked. But if you hit it higher on the face, even if it costs you a bit of smash factor (and it probably won't be a measurable loss) is also a way to increase distance. High-face striking is the only way you can simultaneously increase launch angle AND decrease spin, and that turns out to be a very powerful effect on distance. And notice that tee height will help in this regard. Oh, and Tony, thanks for the citation on smash factor.
Thanks for a valuable podcast by bringing no-BS into the golf scene. You mention that the Trackman overestimate the smash factor. Since this is a calculated number, which number is wrong then? The ball speed or the clubhead speed??
As Chris mentions about tee height, I’m surprised I don’t see castle tees being sold nearly as much as regular tees. You figure out the right height with a castle tee? No muss, no fuss.
Thanks as always love to hear your thoughts and insights. On the tee height issue... Totally agree with getting a height that is consistent being key...using the tees with marks helps this and should work if the tee box is flat... But what about tee boxes where you end up with the ball effectively either above or l below your feet would you adjust for this? Personally I think I do, but it's very much a manual thing and I do it by 'feel' hence I don't use tee marks I just tee up by 'feel'
Unfortunately, most of us don’t own or have easy access to a launch monitor to do what Tony did to choose a ball. What are our options in choosing a ball.
Living in the Pacific Northwest it is crucial to use the ball that works for the season. In the summer a higher compression ball works well but not as well in the winter. We are able to play all year long so this is critical for the all season player.
I hit up on driver, around +4, tee quite high, then try and keep the body/legs/head as stable as possible in order to try and hit the centre of the face as often as possible. I'm consistently longer than most guys at my club
So lately I've been gaming the BRIDGENELL TISIRIXAYLORWAY TPV1ERC V15x. What a ball! They eliminated the side stamp alignment aid because the name goes all the way around the ball. Just line up any part of the name with your aim point and the ball is guaranteed to go into the hole...eventually. Sorry...just in one of those moods.
Great video some great tips to help my golf. Keep them coming. I had a 910d2 with a Whiteboard X Flex 70gsm Tour shaft and found it easy to hit centre of the face 100mph swing speed average 220 yards max out at 250yds. I bought a SIM Max with a Red Ventus regular shaft as recommended by my pro and whilst gaining 20-30 yards I hit the top of the driver loads more often would a heavier shaft help?
I don't know what else to do. I have almost fixed my slice by putting the ball almost in line with my front foot off the drives, but I feel no matter how hard I swing, I can't carry 230. I think my swing speed is around 90mph - 100mph. If I swing out of my shoes, there is no doubt it slices, but if I control my swing it usually goes in the fairway or findable but like 215 to 230. I'm using a cobra speed demo driver from 2005-2006 maybe haha. I guess that could be an issue.
Not sure I agree with pick the ball that helps where you suck. I picked my ball based on what I do best (short irons/wedges/putter). Those shots make my score. I can’t overpower a course so my 160 in game has to be sharp if I want to break 80.
One tip I've been given to find centre of club is to place 2 tees either side of club head just outside of toe and just outside heel and swing club and between the them without hitting them
So... if when I hit driver, the ball disappears quickly and becomes small in the air vs. My buddy who we can track through-out the flight and roll out... I’m only 5yards longer at best, maybe I have the charateristics to go longer but I’m letting him back in somewhere!?
Just went to a simulator for the first time during this pandemic. Everyone wearing masks and a maximum of 2 people/bay. My driver's launch angle ranged from 16- 20. My driver is set at 9.5. I know I'm hitting too much on the UP, but I know there are ways to have a lower launch angle. My spin rate is averaging at 2300 rpm. Any ideas to increase distance while decreasing launch angle?
Speaking of golf balls...... Have you guys ever seen the Srixon Z-Star XVs have an issue..... When I'm 1/2 way done a round I get this buldge ring around the entire ball. So strange. All new balls out of the box.???????
buy impact tape and learn to hit the center of the face with an easy swing and then increase the speed until you cant constantly hit the center of the face and that's the speed you should be swinging
Brison hitting over TREES has a lot of spin to get the ball up everyone wants low spin to get roll out thats not good on course they have to water the grass to grow
sounds like this what you are saying is a way to fool the computer to say you hitting the ball farther...i live action on the course to get more distance is learning hit ball high low an perfect in wet conditions the ball want roll so you hit high ball to out drive everyone you playing with an ect....
