[Photo: Pete Fontaine]
Q: I play a course with firm fairways, so I’m considering going to a lower-lofted driver to maximise roll. Your thoughts?
A: It’s difficult to tell without seeing your swing. If you have an upward angle of attack with your driver and enough spin, it could work. However, there are things to consider.
Going from a 10 or 11-degree driver to an 8 or 9-degree might produce more roll, but grass offers more resistance than air, so what are you really gaining? It’s also not going to help much on a rainy day or if you’re dewsweeping. Conditions aside, it’s important to realise that less loft equals more distance only if you generate enough clubhead speed to launch the ball at a high enough angle and with enough spin to keep it airborne. Not many everyday players possess those skills. Fact is, most golfers would benefit from more loft, not less.
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According to equipment R&D experts, although a stronger loft will usually result in greater ball speed, depending upon the player, it also might result in a launch condition that is too low to maximise distance. This doesn’t just apply to drivers. It’s why you often will see a weaker player hit a 5-iron longer than a 4-iron, or a 5-wood longer than a 3-wood. That player isn’t producing enough speed to get more distance from the lower loft.
Ken Morton Jnr, director of retail and marketing for Morton Golf in Sacramento, California, agrees that lowering loft can produce the opposite of the desired effect. “We find that to be the case with more of our driver fittings than not,” he says. “Most golfers are using lofts too low for them in woods. There is a law of diminishing returns with launch angle in irons as well.”
Players with slower swing speeds or an inadequate launch angle or spin rate with their shots will almost always hit the ball shorter with a stronger-lofted club as it often results in a “knuckle ball”. What does that mean? The ball does not have enough trajectory or spin and is, therefore, falling out of the air too quickly.
One more consideration. I was recently watching a colleague being fitted for a driver. He has a high swing speed and launch, and a fade tendency that turns into a slice on poor swings. The fitter commented that the flatter face of an 8-degree driver was making the slice worse, so, despite the player’s speed and launch, he tried a 9.5-degree. The result was straighter shots with no loss of distance.
The takeaway here is that a few extra metres of roll might bring another problem.
