Smash Factor

[jacobo]

I was wondering if any of you guys knew what smash factor was. I was at my local golf store and was testing out a driver and it said my average was 1.48, what does that mean? Thanks in advance, Jacob

[boogielicious]

49 minutes ago, jacobo said:

I was wondering if any of you guys knew what smash factor was. I was at my local golf store and was testing out a driver and it said my average was 1.48, what does that mean? Thanks in advance, Jacob

Welcome to The Sand Trap. Smash factor is the ratio of ball speed to club speed. It indicates the effectiveness of contact or how good contact you had.  1.48 is very good. 1.5 being ideal.  A center of the face strike at the sweet spot will give a good smash factor. 

[saevel25]

54 minutes ago, jacobo said:

I was wondering if any of you guys knew what smash factor was. I was at my local golf store and was testing out a driver and it said my average was 1.48, what does that mean? Thanks in advance, Jacob

1.48 is a good number for the driver and fairway woods. The optimal smash factor shrinks as more loft is added to the club. For mid irons it's the high 1.30's.

[jacobo]

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

1.48 is a good number for the driver and fairway woods. The optimal smash factor shrinks as more loft is added to the club. For mid irons it's the high 1.30's.

 

1 hour ago, boogielicious said:

Welcome to The Sand Trap. Smash factor is the ratio of ball speed to club speed. It indicates the effectiveness of contact or how good contact you had.  1.48 is very good. 1.5 being ideal.  A center of the face strike at the sweet spot will give a good smash factor. 

Thank you guys, so is the smash factor dependent on the club or my swing?

[saevel25]

3 minutes ago, jacobo said:

 

Thank you guys, so is the smash factor dependent on the club or my swing?

Both. Game improvement clubs will consistently give you more smash factor because ball speed is maintained on off center hits. 

If you have a bad swing then you will not have consistent contact to produce the ball speed. A higher handicap can have a driver smash factor from something like 1.35 to 1.50. 

[jacobo]

2 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Both. Game improvement clubs will consistently give you more smash factor because ball speed is maintained on off center hits. 

If you have a bad swing then you will not have consistent contact to produce the ball speed. A higher handicap can have a driver smash factor from something like 1.35 to 1.50. 

Ok great thank you. So the smash factor I had was good then? It was with a used 915 D3 if that matters

[Lihu]

29 minutes ago, jacobo said:

Ok great thank you. So the smash factor I had was good then? It was with a used 915 D3 if that matters

Smash factor is simply the ratio of club head speed to ball speed, and 1.48 means that you have nearly reached the maximum possible with a conforming club which has a coefficient of restitution of 0.83. That means the maximum allowed "bounce" off the club face allowed by USGA.

So, if you have an average 100mph swing then the ball speed would be 148mph on average.

 

[jacobo]

 

14 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Smash factor is simply the ratio of club head speed to ball speed, and 1.48 means that you have nearly reached the maximum possible with a conforming club which has a coefficient of restitution of 0.83. That means the maximum allowed "bounce" off the club face allowed by USGA.

So, if you have an average 100mph swing then the ball speed would be 148mph on average.

 

Ok thank you, I thought it was more complicated than that but is actually quite simple.