Evolution of High Launch and Low Spin

[1badbadger]

On 5/9/2014 at 3:24 AM, tomvk77 said:

A high spinning ball will balloon more into the wind because the wind will increase the spin on the ball.

On 5/9/2014 at 3:35 AM, saevel25 said:

 

It really doesn't increase spin on the ball that, more that it increases the high and low pressure from the front to the back of the ball, which drives the ball upward. That is how a ball curves, because of a pressure difference. So basically hitting into the wind increased pressure on the front of the ball. So the ball wants to go higher if you have mostly spin around the horizontal axis.

Are you saying sidespin doesn't make a ball curve?

 

[iacas]

4 minutes ago, 1badbadger said:

Are you saying sidespin doesn't make a ball curve?

He didn't say that.

And of course there's really no such thing as "sidespin" - the ball spins in just one direction. The axis of its rotation is simply tilted.

I know you know that, of course, @1badbadger. Just saying it for clarity and for others.

[1badbadger]

On 5/8/2014 at 10:04 AM, mvmac said:

I attended a TaylorMade event for their new driver earlier in the week and wanted to share some interesting slides from the presentation. I'm not starting this thread to promote their new clubs but to highlight how launch conditions have changed and how it can benefit your game.

 

Some of you may be familiar with the term "high launch and low spin", it basically refers to the "key" to hitting your driver further. You get the ball up in the air with a certain amount of spin to maximize carry distance as well as "roll out" distance once the ball lands. Typically, launching it high meant 12-14 degrees and low spin was around 2500rpm. I think there is a huge misconception out there that pros hit the ball low with their drivers, that might have been the case 20-30 years ago but it's a much different story now. Go any professional event and I think you'd be surprised at how high they launch their tee shots.

Interesting look at how launch and spin has changed over the past 23 years. Obviously the ball has played a huge role. Older balata balls spun a lot so you had to launch the ball lower to maximize distance. Then with the introduction of solid core, multi-layered balls, players were able to launch it higher since the ball spun less.

TaylorMade is now talking about the "Holy Grail" of 17 degrees launch at 1700rpm. 

The ability to hit your driver with a positive angle of attack will also reduce spin and launch it higher.

Here's why all this matters. Two players, Justin Rose and Michael Bradley, ball speed is the same yet Rose hits it 27.5 yards further. Why? Because Rose launches it higher with less spin. Taylor vs Watney is eye opening as well, they hit it the same distance but Watney's ball speed is 14 mph faster.

I agree with a lot of this information.  In the last 18 years I have worked with thousands of players of all abilities and have seen their launch data, and I could probably count the number of players on one hand that launched the ball too high.  Almost all players launch the ball too low!  There is a small percentage that launch the ball within their ideal window (between 1* lower than perfect and 1* higher than perfect).  A lot of players think they launch the ball too high, but usually they are launching it too low with excessive backspin, which makes the ball balloon and is confused with "hitting it too high".  Most players would get better results with a higher lofted driver.

I'm not sure I buy into the "17* launch with 1700 rpms of spin" as the magical numbers to try to achieve. The first issue I have is...who is this ideal for?  Obviously the ideal launch angle, spin rate, ball speed etc is different for everyone, so it's not a one-size-fits-all solution.  I am a firm believer in the high launch/low spin concept, but eventually there is a point of diminishing returns:

I think 17* is too high of a launch angle for players with a high swing speed, and 1700 rpms isn't enough backspin for slower swinging players to keep the ball in the air.  Actually, I'm not sure it's enough spin for any player.  Even a player swinging 140 mph should have a little over 1900 rpms.

According to Trackman, Tour players don't start launching the ball at 17* until they get to around their 8 iron!

Do I think 17* launch is ideal?  No.  Having said that, do I think most players should launch the ball higher?  Absolutely. For most players a higher launch with less spin will produce a much more efficient trajectory.

[iacas]

8 minutes ago, 1badbadger said:

Do I think 17* launch is ideal?  No.  Having said that, do I think most players should launch the ball higher?  Absolutely. For most players a higher launch with less spin will produce a much more efficient trajectory.

It fits a rather decent range of players, though:

http://flightscope.com/products/trajectory-optimizer/

You can play around with the numbers there.

[mvmac]

DJ from this week....

Probably not his "stock" spin number  but still cool to see.