What is your driver loft?

[scotth]

After many, many rounds this summer have come to the conclusion that I am playing the wrong driver.  I had that feeling last summer when returning to golf after a 15 year layout from a pretty serious back injury.  After several lessons last year and this year to go along with the rounds of golf am definitely of the opinion that my reduced swing speed does not work with the driver I am consistently hitting straight but consistently hitting "line drives".  In other words losing distance because the ball flight is a significant danger to giraffes and tall golfers.  

Unfortunately where I currently live the only really good pro can do a fitting for a driver but being left handed have few clubs to hit before buying.  Think I will wait until we move to Las Vegas in September to get fitted and try some clubs on the range.  

I am curious what loft others are hitting and if they know their swing speed.  

Mine currently are regular flex, graphite shaft with a 10 degree loft.  Thinking I might need a higher loft based on swing speed of 95 mph last time it was measured last month.

[atrapasuenos]

I use a 9.5° with an Stiff shaft and my swing speed is 112 mph. But I have the same issue, around here there aren't a lot of places to get fit so you can't try other loft/shaft combinations. I feel that I'm too, losing distance because of the loft of my driver.

[MarvChamp]

11.5 in Callaway, Nike set to 12. Yeah, most of us need a bit more loft, I think. Best, -Marv

[Piz]

My driver is a 2006 Cleveland Hi-bore with a stiff flex graphite shaft and 9.5 degrees of loft.  I've tried a number of other clubs, including some strong 3 woods, in the "driver" slot but keep coming back to this one.  The tip section is firmer than most and that helps when I get a bit steep.  I've got a Cobra 9 degree, with a softer tip, that I cannot control...an occasional bomb surrounded by moon shots.  Overall I'd say the shaft characteristics are more important to the trajectory of a shot than the specific loft is.

[saevel25]

Possible you need more loft.

My swing speed is not applicable to your situation. I play a 9-9.5 degree driver.

[Shindig]

10.5 degrees as stamped, but it's the Titleist Surefit system at C1, so it's 3/4 degree less. 

[billchao]

Poll added. https://thesandtrap.com/how-to/create-a-poll/

I play a 9° driver set -1 to 8°.

40 minutes ago, scotth said:

After several lessons last year and this year to go along with the rounds of golf am definitely of the opinion that my reduced swing speed does not work with the driver I am consistently hitting straight but consistently hitting "line drives".  In other words losing distance because the ball flight is a significant danger to giraffes and tall golfers.  

You might need more loft, but it almost sounds like you're just hitting the ball on the thin side.

[boogielicious]

I play a 12. My SS is ~90. But I did struggle to get higher launch too. Some recent changes may fix that.

[Moxley]

12 , although I use my mini driver (14 degrees) far more often. 

[zipazoid]

About a year back, at age 58, I re-did my whole set. As a concession to age I got rid of all my stiff-shafted clubs & 9.5 degree driver. Went to R-flex on everything & got a 10.5 degree Driver. High draws...what a concept. 

[RussUK]

10.5 Ping with a stiff shaft. I could probably do with a little extra loft but not sure how much difference an extra degree would make,

[GolfLug]

10.5. SS measured at 97-98 mph with a 60g stiff shaft in a Cobra Fly-Z driver.

I used to have it set at 9.5. The improvement from the additional loft in carry+roll is very evident on mediocre drives. 

[DeadMan]

It's more about launch angle than it is about driver loft. My driver loft is 10.5 degrees, and my swing speed is 100-105 mph. I used to have a launch angle lower than the loft on my driver. Now, I don't. You want your launch angle to be around 16 degrees. You need to have a driver loft that will get you to around that launch angle.

From my personal experience, I think the vast majority of golfers do not launch the ball high enough with their drivers. More loft is probably better - and I've also personally found that more loft means my misses aren't as bad.

Edited July 19, 2018 by DeadMan

[colin007]

115 SS and 9.5 loft

[scotth]

36 minutes ago, billchao said:

You might need more loft, but it almost sounds like you're just hitting the ball on the thin side.

I wondered about that, except I am hitting my 3 wood off a tee really nice and the driver shots feel really good.  So that's when I went to my golf pro, and hit nothing but drivers with him for an entire lesson.  He is the one that suggested I might need a higher loft as well to get a higher launch. 

He is also left handed and let me hit a few with an old 12 degree Ping driver of his that he doesn't use. (Don't remember which but about 4 years old)  What a huge difference!  Much higher launch and much more distance than what I am currently using. 

Going to get all the specs for that driver before we move and then try and play with lot of different drivers in Vegas where the selection is better for us lefty's than in my tiny little golf world we live in now.

[billchao]

6 minutes ago, scotth said:

I wondered about that, except I am hitting my 3 wood off a tee really nice and the driver shots feel really good.  So that's when I went to my golf pro, and hit nothing but drivers with him for an entire lesson.  He is the one that suggested I might need a higher loft as well to get a higher launch. 

He is also left handed and let me hit a few with an old 12 degree Ping driver of his that he doesn't use. (Don't remember which but about 4 years old)  What a huge difference!  Much higher launch and much more distance than what I am currently using. 

If you're hitting off the center and it's launching low, you need more loft, but you knew that already since you were able to try a different driver 

[RayG]

9.5 on the M1... With the trailing weight set for 'mid-high'. SS is usually 103-106. I struggled with other drivers and an EXTREMELY high ball flight no matter what the settings. Current launch angle around 14-15* and spin rate is approx 2800

[rehmwa]

10.5 or 9.5 depending on the wind and what I'm hitting well that day  (it adjusts from 9.5 to 12.5)