How does tape on the clubface affect a driver demo?

[wadesworld]

I was told by the GolfTec guy at GolfSmith that launch angle is affected by your swing path, not the loft of the club.

[JimMurphy99]

Great to see the lengths that some have gone to get a somewhat definitive answer!  I still think it makes a difference but maybe not as much as I had expected previously...

[flintcreek6412]

In my experience tape does seem to make a difference. I've hit clubs with either masking tape or painters tape that seemed to hit worse than no tape. Seemed to exaggerate spin. One of the dealers near me has rolls of clear tape just for clubs. The tape has a very slick smooth surface. Talk about hitting a ball long and straight. Instant slice cure. Take tape off and immediate negative influence. Put it back on and all was good. That got me to research it a bit and I found that putting anything on the face is illegal. Then I read about people putting vasoline or Chapstick on the face to reduce spin and thus the rule. It was at that point that I really decided to work on my swing to fix the slice because I really liked the results of the smooth tape on the face. From my experience and the fact that there is actually a rule against it I'm guessing it makes a difference. Dealers want to say its in your head to make sales but I don't buy it. Now I won't buy a club unless I can hit my ball on a course without tape and have been very happy with purchases since. I do find the launch monitor experiment above interesting though.

[Rip24]

I was told by the GolfTec guy at GolfSmith that launch angle is affected by your swing path, not the loft of the club.

This is misleading, both are factors. The initial launch angle of the ball always falls between the dynamic loft and attack angle at impact. TrackMan data has shown for drivers, that dynamic loft normally accounts for about 85% of the launch angle, while attack angle accounts for the remaining 15%.