Trajectory: Piercing or high?

I was just wondering what which type of trajectory you would prefer and why. What would be some pros and cons for each as well.

I will start by saying, with my irons I play both depending on the shot, lomng distances with little trouble will allow me to play a piercing shot, will a heavily bunkered, or harzardous area will make me play a higher shot.

In addition I find the higher spinning balls, on a piercing shot still reach increadble heights, and manage to stop quickly after the initial bounce on greens.

I have a high ball flight, so that is more natural for me. I can can control my trajectory fairly well, but unless it is windy or I am trying to keep the ball down for some "other" reason... I will hit a high ball.

As for preference... don't really care too much, but I do wish I could hit a 3-wood stinger like Tiger does... but I simply cannot flight my 3-wood low with a great degree of control.

windy conditions, piercing into the wind. Very wet conditions, piercing. Standard conditions, high is almost always better.

I think every shot tiger hits is a stinger, hah, but it would be nice to do that.

I play a more "piercing" shot (mid). When I began playing and for the next seven years I was in Eastern NC. We had a lot wide open flat terrain that gets windy as heck. I played a good bit down on the coast, also where you'd maintain a stiff wind throughout your round.


I notice that I don't seem to get beat around by the wind as much as some of the high ball hitters that I play with.


It is cool watching someone who can hover a ball high over a pin....that's just not my normal. The guy I played with yesterday hits a high ball and is a much more consistant golfer than me. That being said, he was coming up short quite often later in the round. I was hitting the right distances. The wind had picked up but neither of us made significant adjustments.

I don't play with too many golfers who actually change the trajectories during a round. I'm sure there are accomplished low hndcp players that do...just not in my groups. Most of us have "our" style and thats what we play.

I do know guys who own a couple of drivers that yield different trajectories and they'll game different ones based on their feel for the conditions.....usually a pre-round range decision.

I know what you mean about different balls. I really like the two in my sig line due to the elevated spin rates, great bite and higher trajectories (offsets my lower one).

Piercing.....negates the wind, and it's more my natural flight with my trap draw.....if I launch it up high, it's a fluke....or I'm trying to hit a high cut around trees

I have always had a very high trajectory. I used to hate this because I felt I was losing distance big time. I drive the ball a good distance and usually in fairway, but my ball would almost always be within a foot of the ballmark it left on impact. I thought that was causing me to lose 15-20+ yards of roll. However, I have come to like my high trajectory because that also means my ball is not rolling into trouble. Plus, I am able to cut doglegs or shorten holes by often going over trees, which none of my regular playing partners can consistently do because they can not hit the ball as high as me, and still get the distance. That high flight is also good for approaches, as my ball will not run off green very often and when I miss green the ball is less likely to roll into trouble.

The only other problem I've had with the high trajectory is wind, and that's something I've worked on the last few years and can now control the ball flight pretty well. I recently switched to the new Bridgestone e7+ ball, which is designed to be a lower trajectory and it seems to be as advertised. I can still hit it fairly high if I try, but it's much easier to keep down than cheaper balls I have previously used (flight kind of reminds me of Bridgestone B330 or Titleist Pro-V1x).

my natural trajectory is a high one, which i'm fine with except on windy days. this morning i got out and tried to play nine holes, and it was gusting anywhere between 10 and 20 mph, and i found myself wishing for a lower trajectory because that wind would throw my shot off upwards of 30 yards.

Speaking of approach, my chipping is just garbage. That is the one major thing that needs imrpovement. My shots are never very high, and never stop rolling. When I try a high flop it either works somewhat well, and is launched very high, or I skull it and completely miss the green. However even on a good contact, and the flop is sent high, I still seem to come up quite short. *sigh*

I try to enjoy myself on the course, so I will try unusual or difficult shots just to see if I can do them. Let me tell you, some of them work while others leave you in another course entirely, lol.

That strategy can work for or against you. Yes, it's good to practice some of those very difficult shots, but it's also good to practice hitting safe shots to get you out of trouble or prevent trouble. The first reason being - if you do not practice these type of shots, they are often much harder to execute than you might have guess, thus creating more trouble shots. The second reason is a mental/course management thing - the brain kind of gets into the mindset of 'go for it' in these cases and when you want to play safe, that mindset can work against you leading to indecision, which usually leads to bad.

For the issue with chipping, practice working on bump and run shots - learn to use that roll to your advantage.

While practicing I will, on occasion try one of these shots, however, it just isnt the same. A range is too open, and it is way too hard to visualize a course situation, and keep track of the ball. This year I will hopefully be able to play 30 or so rounds and manage to work on all of these. Especially shot shaping ability, including better trajectory management.

I prefer a more piercing trajectory because it isnt effected as much by the wind.

Why in your signature does it say sasquatch

'clone' is it a fake club?

There is no single answer.

First off, in calm conditions your swing speed dictates what trajectory angle is best for you...typically, slower swing speeds need higher trajectory, and faster swings can get away with lower trajectory...but normally, the rule of thumb is "More air time = more carry". The fairways/ground offers more resistance (stopping power) than air. Watch the guys on the LDA circuit.....hangtime is a critical statistic for increased distance. Sure theres a point where it becomes counter productive. Lets say you hae a swing speed of 100 mph (SF of 1.463)....your carry distances would be as follows for different trajectories: TRAJECTORY CARRY (carry) 9.3* 229.4 10.5 233.2 11.3 232.4 Bear in mind, trajectory is not the same as dynamic loft. But it does get the point across that eventually, too high a loft (depending on ball speed) can reach a point of counter-productivity. Also bear in mind that as angle goes up, velocity slightly decreases due to the added spin being imparted. Another variable to consider on desired flight path is weather conditions...as a few pointed out, wind does effect flight...however, not always negatively...with wind at your back, the higher the ball flight, the more the wind will carry it...conversely, if hitting into the wind or perpendicular to it, a lower light with less spin is advantageous. Since water/wet conditions offer more resistance, added ball flght is again, advantageous.....whereras the ball carries further in hot and humid conditions than cool and dry. Again, the normal rule of thumb is "loft is your friend".

I believe he has the SV2 from Integra.....which is a clone:

Great answer. And out of curiosity why can faster swingers get away with a lower flight, is it just becuase they will get a similar carry, or is there something else to it?

I hit a mid trajectory ball, but constantly find myself knocking the ball down and trying to hit low shots because I seem to be more comfortable that way. In situations where I need to bring it down a little softer, I tend to rely on added spin and/or a fade to get the job done as opposed to trying to add height to the shot.

Good question.

As I mentioned, the longer the ball is in the air....gathering air time, usually means more distance over all distance. With gravity's force drawing the ball towards the ground, the player needs to use whatever tools (physical or mechanical) to delay the ball hitting the ground and coming to a stop. The image below is a chart showing the carries of two balls hit with the same club, same ball, same angle of impact, same launch angle (9.3*). One hit at 95 mph had a carry of 210.6 yards, while the other hit at 125 mph travelled over 300 yards. If I may elaborate a bit more on finding the proper loft for your swing, lets assume you have a swing speed of 95mph. Now bear in mind (before others jump all over me and say these numbers are distorted...lol) ... that these figures are very basic, for demonstration only. I am not taking into account exotic clubs, balls, shafts, nor am I utilizing high tees, different angle of impact etc... I am keeping everything basic and all variables consistent...except for dynamic loft to give an idea what the differences of loft (and the spin changes it imparts). The chart below shows the player hitting the ball at 95mph using four different lofted drivers. The results would be: 9* = 199 yards 10.5* = 210.6 yards 12* = 216.6 yards 14* = 216.6 yards As you saw, he reached his maximum carry using a 12* loft...and it held the same at 14* loft...which means if he were to use anything higher, he would begin to see a decrease in carry. As a clubfitter, I would have set this player up with the 12* because the angle of decent would be less steep than with the 14*, with less backspin which would deliver more roll than the 14*. Make sense?