Swing speed vs spin?

[MasterP]

I was at the golf store today testing out some drivers and they had a launch monitor setup. So I went through about 6 or 7 different drivers to find a couple that I liked to narrow down the plethora of choices some. What I noticed from watching the launch monitor is that as my backspin on the ball went down the carry went up. I averaged in the 108-112 range for club head speed, but carry could differ by 30yds depending on the spin. Is there a sweet spot for spin for specific swing speeds?

Some of the drivers were spinning 4000rpms+ and I lost a lot of carry on those. It seems like the best drivers were in the 2500rpm range and gave me 270+ carry. I'm not sure I believe that number since I rarely carry over 250, but I guess my current driver could be pretty high spin.

BTW, the G15 is a sweet club. Long and forgiving, based on the launch monitor at least.

[andef]

i think that 2500 rpms is the best spin rate for most players which some as low as 2000 and others at 3000. my best head shaft combo was 2800 rpms in the 104-106 range but it's different for every player.

[jpalermo]

what was your launch angle?

[MasterP]

I can't recall what the launch angle was, somewhere around 10-12 maybe?

[grantc79]

What you are probably not considering and what is probably the culprit is your angle of attack.

The angle of attack on a driver should be pretty much level meaning you aren't hitting down on it and you aren't hitting up on it either. By hitting more down on it, you are adding a lot of spin to the drive and also you are obviously going to launch it much lower.

If you hit a flat angle of attack or if you hit slightly up on it you increase your launch angle and lower your spin dramatically. This is the main reason why guys on the PGA tour hit the ball so far. It isn't swing speed (though that helps) as much as it is how they hit the ball.

The idea angle of attack on a wedge is about 10 down, a 7 iron is about 5 down, and a driver about 1 up.

I have seen people gain 30-50 yards of distance on drives by fixing their angle of attack.

[bong_crosby]

BTW, the G15 is a sweet club. Long and forgiving, based on the launch monitor at least.

Agree. I went my local range demo day last Saturday. The G15 was the most impressive club I demoed and I hit a lot of different clubs - TM, Callaway, Cleveland, Ping, and Mizuno.

[MasterP]

What you are probably not considering and what is probably the culprit is your angle of attack.

The monitor showed me whether I was hitting up or down on the ball, I couldn't find exact angles for that stat though, just a line representation. Most of the time I hit slightly down, my best shots were level though. I found myself really liking hitting on the monitor and getting instant numbers, easy to fix your swing when you know exactly what you did.