Launch Monitor driver fitting: do they optimise carry, not total distance?

I was fitted for a driver some years ago.  The weapon of choice turned out to be a 10.5 deg Ping G5 with a Graffaloy prolaunch blue 65 regular shaft.  About 2 years ago, I went back to the same fitter for another fitting.  I was told to save my money because none of the new drivers were any better for me than the club I had.

The fitter has the latest and greatest launch monitor set up, is the largest pro shop in the region, and you pay for your fittings, so you get a properly trained person who gives the fitting full attention.  This fitter has been recommended to me by more than one club manufacturer.

My swing speed measures at 95 mph with the driver, so the G5 fitting seemed perfectly reasonable.

Early in 2011, after unsuccessfully trying even more drivers including the R11, Cobra and Titleist, I decided to do some research on line and found articles describing launch angle and spin rate.  I took more notice of the ball flight I was getting with the G5 and noticed that I was not getting any roll.  I mean almost none on flat ground unless it was bone dry.  Basically my drives would climb and drop, stopping where they landed.  From the articles, it seemed clear to me that I was launching with too much backspin.

I looked into how to improve this situation, and the recipe seemed to be a lower lofted driver hitting more on the up swing.  I also looked on the Graffaloy web site where they talk about kick points.  The Proloaunch Blue has a lower kick point which aims to help you launch the ball higher.  Graffalloy also offer shafts with higher kick points, that give a lower trajectory.

I decided to go to the opposite extreme to see what happened and went onto ebay and bought a second hand Ping G10 with 9 degrees of loft, a prolaunch red shaft in stiff.  In other words this was an "anti fitting", a lower loft, a stiffer shaft and a higher kickpoint to the spec from the fitting.

I was expecting to find it very hard to hit this club.  What actually happened was that I immediately gained 15- 20 yards because I was getting some roll.  The trajectory looks really nice, it is not a low growler.  I did not seem to be losing any carry either, certainly into the wind.  Against my regular golf buddies, I moved from being the short hitter (with the fitted G5) to a solid average hitter (with the "anti fitted" G10).

I emailed Graffaloy but got no answer.  I emailed another ultra high tech fitter and he gave me a super reply, but it basically came down to the idea that trajectory was a "matter of preference".

I was shocked by this, because I thought it was pretty obvious that most ordinary golfers would take the view that the trajectory that they prefer is the one that goes the furthest!!!!  Surely the whole promise of launch monitors is that they optimise the trajectory?  I now think, based on this experience, that if they optimise anything, they optimse carry.

I find it hard to believe that my ebay G10 is the best it could possibly be, but I am worried that any future launch monitor fitting will simply optimising for carry, not total distance (carry plus roll), so really don't want to go and buy anything else on the basis of a launch montor.  I would buy yet another driver if I could get another 10 yards, but no longer feel confident in fittings.

If there are any experts out there, I would welcome your views.

I'm no expert, but it's simple. Trajectory is absolutely a matter of preference. There is no one trajectory that will go the farthest under all conditions. The fitting process tries to give you a shaft that doesn't flex too much to keep control, and launches the ball high. There needs to be low spin to get rollout and get a penetrating flight, but at the same time there needs to be enough backspin to create lift and keep the ball in the air. Too little spin, the ball won't take off and requires more and more ball speed to stay in the air the lower the RPMs. Too much, and you'll get "ballooning", where the ball climbs too steeply; it actually curves upwards rather than being launched high. This slows the ball down and makes it drop out of the sky, and enough backspin can make the ball plug or back up at times. Neither of these things are good, so the best the fitter can do is find a shaft and head that will keep the trajectory

There is no one trajectory that goes the farthest, it's a matter of conditions. Your ball, the wind, the firmness of the ground, and elevation changes all make a huge difference. The best distance comes from high launch to maximize carry, but low backspin to prevent energy loss on first bounce and get more rollout. It's hard to do both at the same time, however. Most good players can control their trajectory based on the course conditions.

If you hit it high with lots of carry, you'll go over everything and won't be affected much by the ground conditions. However, a long carry means more spin and a sharper descent, therefore less roll. You'll laugh at trees, though, and it looks impressive as hell. Plus with a tailwind, you can seriously bomb it.

If you hit it low, wind will affect you less, and you'll get more yards on the ground. If you have baked, dry fairways and a downhill tee shot, you'll get lots and lots of roll, which is still distance regardless. However, tall trees might be a bit harder to carry over, you'll have a hard time getting a really long carry over water or bunkers, and rough will kill your distance. Watch links golf sometime, where the players hit most of their shots low in the wind. On other courses with less wind, many players will bomb their drives higher to carry hazards.

All things considered, I prefer a lower flight. I hit it long anyway, and a rolling ball will not penetrate as far into trouble as will a flying one. I also feel like I have better control. But I play on softer fairways on Long Island, so I'm not getting the best distance I could at times. If you play on soft fairways, you can also get a mud ball easily from the high shots plugging. Tiger discussed his preference for low trajectory at Bethpage one year, due to muddy conditions at an Open, for this reason. He hit his "stinger" in order to keep it clean, though he can hit it high on other courses if he wishes.

I use a Prolaunch Red 65, stiff flex in both 3w and driver. I had the problem with ballooning with my old driver, so I took less loft and a stiffer, lower spinning shaft to max out my drives. What the fitter may have done is given you a softer playing shaft since it requires less wallop to launch, and will be consistently the same distance.

2 things to max your distance: your ball, if you use a softer one, probably made the blue spin too much. If you use a distance ball or prov1x sort of deal, it'll hardly spin off the driver and you'll get more roll. Second, many people claim a draw will add more roll to the shot. If you hit a fade, normally the flight is higher and spinnier, though this is partially a myth. (I believe you just get better power from a draw swing, myself.)

thanks, that was a very helpful reply

thanks for the reply.  I think, now that I have been through all of this, I think that fitters should make it clearer that you are making a choice.  Perhaps I ought to have known more, but I was definitely thinking at the time that I was simply getting the single best driver.

In the previous reply to this post, Lucius mentions that Tiger prefers a lower flight.  Not that I am preferring it for anything like the same reasons, but I now much prefer the lower flight too.  I get better distance from the roll almost all of the time and less loss of distance into the wind.  I do notice I don't get quite as big a boost from a tail wind, because the ball is lower, but that is OK for me, because the ball is going longer anyway.