Driver loft size...difference between 8.5* - 11.5*

[cigarsmoke23]

currently using a 11.5* driver...but was thinking about going down to 8.5 or 9. to help keep my ball flight down. My concern: do you find it substantially harder to get the ball up the air?

[cody west]

i've owned an 8.5*, 9*, 9.5* and 10.5*. iv hit everything up to an 11*. the 11* got up in the air so fast and actually had a weird ball flight, it was more of a take off then drop strait down. what ss and shaft are you going to get with it because more flex will let you go lower degree and high ss will let you go lower. just remember the ball travels farther in the air than it does on the ground and as long as your not hitting the ball past a 45* launch angle your not losing distance

[Crey23]

i've owned an 8.5*, 9*, 9.5* and 10.5*. iv hit everything up to an 11*. the 11* got up in the air so fast and actually had a weird ball flight, it was more of a take off then drop strait down. what ss and shaft are you going to get with it because more flex will let you go lower degree and high ss will let you go lower. just remember the ball travels farther in the air than it does on the ground and as long as your not hitting the ball past a 45* launch angle your not losing distance

Here you go again with 45*...jajajajaj Actually Cody is wright on the shaft selection. Believe it or not your shaft has more to do with launch angle than loft. Thisngs to consider when going to lower lofts is that the lower the loft the more side spin you tend to get from the driver. I went form 10.5* to 9.5*, and didn't really feel much change, but going from 11.5* to 8.5* you may. Also consider that at 8.5* you may loose considerable distance if the shaft is low trajectory.

I'd say look more into shaft effects, where the kick point is (low - mid - high), whether you have your shaft tipped or not...and then reconsider loft. You may also look for a ball that helps you reduce launch angles. If' I am not mistaken the Bridgestone e5 a designed to lower the trajectory of the ball...it's a cheaper option to try.

[cody west]

Here you go again with 45*...jajajajaj Actually Cody is wright on the shaft selection. Believe it or not your shaft has more to do with launch angle than loft. Thisngs to consider when going to lower lofts is that the lower the loft the more side spin you tend to get from the driver. I went form 10.5* to 9.5*, and didn't really feel much change, but going from 11.5* to 8.5* you may. Also consider that at 8.5* you may loose considerable distance if the shaft is low trajectory.

the 45* is true i promise the numbers work, i did math problems with different launch angles at the same speed and 45* was always the farthest, and the farther away from 45* you go on either side the less hang time you have but the distance will vary inversely. so 60* launch angle will have the same hang time as a 30* launch angle but the 30* launch angle will go substantially farther than the 60*. i dont know if that help clear up why i say that? the closer you get the farther it will go. if you do the math problem it works and there is a huge difference in 8.5 and 11.5. 8.5 is unbelievably hard to hit at least it was for me they dont get up fast and they spin a lot.

the other thing to remember is what type of course you play on. like wetness levels

[James_Black]

the 45* is true i promise the numbers work, i did math problems with different launch angles at the same speed and 45* was always the farthest, and the farther away from 45* you go on either side the less hang time you have but the distance will vary inversely. so 60* launch angle will have the same hang time as a 30* launch angle but the 30* launch angle will go substantially farther than the 60*. i dont know if that help clear up why i say that? the closer you get the farther it will go. if you do the math problem it works and there is a huge difference in 8.5 and 11.5. 8.5 is unbelievably hard to hit at least it was for me they dont get up fast and they spin a lot.

45 degrees?

That launch angle is usually 10 to 15 degrees (slower swingers can get more distance with a higher launch angle). Ideal spin varies, but generally a spin rate of 2,000 to 3,000 revolutions per minute is desirable, again a little higher with a slower swing speed because the increased spin helps the ball stay in the air.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_109467575/ Taken from golf digest. Honestly 45 degreens isn't possible, 45 degree launch angle is like hitting a 9i into the air.

[cody west]

45 degrees?

im saying that as long as your going up it going to go farther. basically higher should go farther

im not syaing you want a driver going 45* but you want it to go higher if possible

[James_Black]

im saying that as long as your going up it going to go farther. basically higher should go farther

,

anything more than 20* is going to lose distance. The ball will go up to steeply and come down too steeply. I can see your point, a lot of people have drivers with too low of a launch angle but they only need a slight adjustment.

[trumpetgolf]

the 45* is true i promise the numbers work, i did math problems with different launch angles at the same speed and 45* was always the farthest, and the farther away from 45* you go on either side the less hang time you have but the distance will vary inversely. so 60* launch angle will have the same hang time as a 30* launch angle but the 30* launch angle will go substantially farther than the 60*. i dont know if that help clear up why i say that? the closer you get the farther it will go.

I'm sorry, what math problem are you doing? Yes, using simple parabolic motion 45* will result in the longest carry but it doesn't come close to encompassing all necessary variables. (I think it's kinematics vs analytical dynamics?) Furthermore, I'm pretty sure you meant that 30* will carry as far as the 60* with substantially less hangtime.

[cody west]

,

ya im jsut trying to get the point across that the ball needs to get in the air. i dont think anyone is going to go out and put an 8i head on a driver shaft because i said 45* is best but some people are like 8.5 will roll and in reality the ball travels farther in the air than it does on the ground. thats why im saying this, not because i actually think a driver should hit the ball that high

[trumpetgolf]

ya im jsut trying to get the point across that the ball needs to get in the air. i dont think anyone is going to go out and put an 8i head on a driver shaft because i said 45* is best but some people are like 8.5 will roll and in reality the ball travels farther in the air than it does on the ground. thats why im saying this, not because i actually think a driver should hit the ball that high

Except that you said that 45* would go the farthest and that 30* would go farther than 60* which is only true with distance after carry...rather adamently...

The 8.5 or 11.5 on the clubhead isn't the issue. It's using equipment that fits your swing and gives you good launch angle and spin numbers.

[cody west]

Except that you said that 45* would go the farthest and that 30* would go farther than 60* which is only true with distance after carry...rather adamently...

so your saying he should hit an 8.5* clubhead

[trumpetgolf]

No, I'm saying that he should use whatever club gives him the best results, 8.5 or 11.5 clubhead, regular or stiff shaft, standard or midsize grip, or any other changes you can make. I think that switching from 8.5 to 11.5 is a big switch and will affect more things than just launch angle. I would never make that dramatic of a change in loft for clubs trying to serve the same purpose without having at least tried a few in the new loft. That being said, if he has trouble because he hits it too high, he should probably experiment with different lofts or shafts.

[cody west]

No, I'm saying that he should use whatever club gives him the best results, 8.5 or 11.5 clubhead, regular or stiff shaft, standard or midsize grip, or any other changes you can make. I think that switching from 8.5 to 11.5 is a big switch and will affect more things than just launch angle. I would never make that dramatic of a change in loft for clubs trying to serve the same purpose without having at least tried a few in the new loft. That being said, if he has trouble because he hits it too high, he should probably experiment with different lofts or shafts.

if you read what i posted earlier i said that shaft is actually the most important in changing launch angle and unless hes swinging as fast as some tour pros he going to have extreme amounts of trouble hitting the 8.5. you take what i said about 45* way to literally considering it was an example of how higher loft is going to go farther. if he can hit an 8.5 more power to him but just incase he is like 90% of people who cant keep a swing at about 110 mph in control he probably shouldnt hit an 8.5. if your opinion is that he should get an 8.5 thats awesome, im just trying to help this guy jsut like you are. id honestly like to hear what degree he goes with

[trumpetgolf]

higher loft is going to go farther.

False.

I also am interested in seeing what combination works for him.

[James_Black]

False.

why is it false?

A higher lofted driver will be more forgiving on mis-hits because it'll give less side-spin. And back to the topic..... Try a different shaft. My 5 wood fly's like a 3 wood because I've got a heavy low-launching shaft. Try keep as much loft as possible on your clubs and you'll be more accurate. Don't do a phil and pretend you can hit a 7.5* driver accurately....

[cody west]

False.

what are you basing this on. in reality most average golfers hit their 3 wood farther than their driver because they cant get their driver in the air enough, at least thats what golf digest said. the problem with most people is they play for to much roll. i would really like to see where you are getting this idea that hitting the ball low goes farther than a ball with a good ball flight, and we both know 8.5 wont give the average golfer a good ball flight. there was actually an article i remember reading last year about how some companies were putting down lower degrees then the drivers actually were so people could satisfy their ego and still hit the ball in the air without knowing it. why would companies do this if higher lofts (obviously within reason) didn't give you more distance?

[Shanks A Million]

the 45* is true i promise the numbers work, i did math problems with different launch angles at the same speed and 45* was always the farthest, and the farther away from 45* you go on either side the less hang time you have but the distance will vary inversely. so 60* launch angle will have the same hang time as a 30* launch angle but the 30* launch angle will go substantially farther than the 60*. i dont know if that help clear up why i say that? the closer you get the farther it will go. if you do the math problem it works and there is a huge difference in 8.5 and 11.5. 8.5 is unbelievably hard to hit at least it was for me they dont get up fast and they spin a lot.

What! Your 45° calculation is very wrong. If you're launching an object in a vacuum, then 45° will always be the ideal launch angle. Your calculation would also be pretty good if the ball was perfectly round, and had no spin. But this is golf, we don't play in a vacuum, and golf balls are not perfectly round, and they sure as hell spin. The problem is, a golf ball is not neutrally buoyant, it has lift. If you ever try driving a golf ball with no dimples (I have), you'll find that the longest it can possibly fly is about 150 yards, even when you crush it on the center of the driver face. Because of this reason, the 45° launch would cause the ball to balloon into the air, and drop very short. If it really was 45°, then we'd see drivers that launched the ball to that degree, but it's not, so we don't. The ideal launch angle of a golf ball is directly proportionate to its speed, spin rate, and dimple pattern. At a ballspeed of about 140 mph, the ideal launch angle is around 14.5° with an ideal spin rate for maximum carry, while at 170 mph, the ideal launch angle is closer to 11.7°. The point is, that in any case, the ideal launch angle is directly proportionate to the spin and speed of the ball. Now, if you wanted to throw a football as far as you can, 45° is much closer to the right answer.

[jpalermo]

Holy thread jacking