The 19th Hole

Launch Angle: Is the angle the golf ball is leaving the club face. These launch parameters change with different club selection and club head speed. A player that has a high club head speed with a driver such as 100mph, will achieve maximum carry with a launch angle ranging from 12-14 degrees. A player that has a lower club head speed such as 85mph will have a slightly higher launch angle such as 13-15.  Also a player with a very high club head speed will need a wider range from 10-15 degrees.

The launch angle can be altered in a couple of different ways.

• The attack angle can be altered making sure it is a positive attack thus allowing for the ball to launch higher.
• Tee position and height is important. Teeing it off the front foot and teeing it the proper height to achieve the ball reaching impact  just above the club face equator.
• Driver loft will be an important factor in launch angle as well as back swing. With the proper attack angle and true testing driver lofts that range from 8.5 – 13.5 usually fit into the wide range of golfer. Having today’s technology makes it very easy and quick to snap a different driver loft into a different shaft to give you endless options.

Tip: See a fitting centre that has some type of system that can provide you with this data. This data is one of the more important ones when getting fitted.  Major companies that provide these are: Callaway, TaylorMade and Nike.

Back Spin: Is exactly what is sounds like! It is how much backwards spin is created from the ball compressing and leaving the golf club. This controls the trajectory more then people think. It will control how long the ball staying in the air, how high the ball fly’s and how far the ball carry’s. Quick Note: The average golfer does not create enough back spin off the driver to allow for great carry and distance. On the same note the average golfer puts too much back spin on the golf ball which can result in lose of yardage. Tip: Getting a proper fitting can tell you exactly what loft of club you should and shouldn’t be using. Also what shaft works best with that specific loft. Combing the proper launch and back spin can gain you upwards of 10-30 yards carry.  Misconception: No such thing as top spin! If you have achieved top spin on your golf ball you have literally toped the ball and most likely hit the ball 10 yards. The reason some golf balls roll farther then others are due to low back spin and low side spin.

Side Spin: Is how the ball rotates either clockwise or counter clockwise and this is measured in RPM. If you have a left to right ball flight then chances are you have a clockwise spinning golf ball. If your ball flight is moving right to left then your ball is spinning counterclockwise. The more side spin you put on a ball the more left or right
it will move. An ideal side spin is less then 600rpm’s if you are focusing on hitting it straight. This goes to prove it is very hard to hit a golf shot with zero side spin and therefore to hit a perfectly straight shot is a very hard achievement Tip: To create lower side spin and to hit straighter shots you need to work on creating a straighter path angle with a more square club face at impact. If you tend to have a large path angle from the inside or the outside, this movement across the golf ball combined with club head speed will be the determining factor on how much your golf ball turns in the air.

Ball Apex: Is the pinnacle the ball reaches in flight. Each club in normal conditions with a normal struck golf shot should have the same apex with each club. The main argument is that a wedge shot will go higher then a driver. The difference between a driver’s pinnacle and a wedge pinnacle is the wedge pinnacle is closer to you and you are looking up; where a driver’s pinnacle doesn’t reach its apex until a couple of hundred yards away.

Steve Courneyea
Associate Golf Professional

The following is a post about breaking down a Club Fitting and what the all numbers mean.

Attack Angle: Is the descending angle the club is taking into impact of the golf ball. A perfect attack angle based off a 6 iron is -5 degrees of attack. The longer the club, the more shallow the attack becomes and as you progress to a driver you will try to achieve an ascending angle of attack thus being +1-3 degrees.

Path Angle: Is the direction your club is taking into impact. The best ball strikers in the world are somewhere between 1 – 4 degrees from the inside. Quick note: The average golfer that fights a slice or a fade will have a path angle from the outside in of 4-13 degrees. Tip: To become a better ball striker, try to achieve a more inside path angle.

Club Head Speed: Is the amount of speed measured through the impact zone. Club head speed is measured usually by mph. This will determine the amount of ball speed you can generate off the club face. For some golfers, club head speed is what they covet in their quest to hit the golf ball with greater distance. Tip: To achieve a faster club head speed through club fitting, have a look at shaft weight, length and stiffness. To have the right combination can mean 10-20 yards extra distance.

Ball Speed: Is measured in mph and this is the result of club head speed combined with the Time Characteristic (formally know as COR) of the driver face. Quick Note: Players that can generate large amounts of club head speed will not always have the fastest ball speed. In order to be more efficient with both your club head speed and ball speed you will need to achieve better ball striking. This means you need to hit the sweet spot of the club face to maximize your ball speed. Tip: In some cases a driver that is too long is hard to control; by shortening the length, it can help achieve higher efficiency. That said, any club that is proper length will give you a higher percentage of becoming a great ball striker.

Efficiency: Is a ratio of club head speed vs. ball speed; A club traveling at 100mph and struck very well (in the sweet spot) will give a ball speed close to 150mph which = 1.50 ratio. If a club is traveling 100mph and gives off a ball speed of 128mph will = a 1.28 ratio. Quick Note: A player that struggles with hitting the sweet spot will not achieve max ball speed. Usually players that swing too hard will achieve low efficiency as they are swinging out of control and are not hitting the middle of the club. Tip: Through today’s technology getting a 460 cc driver head is always a good investment but making sure you are swinging within your control to utilize the technology.

Club Fitting – Part II: Coming Soon!

Steve Courneyea
Associate Golf Professional

I was sitting in my office watching some of the players practicing today on the driving range. Watching them go through their routines made me wonder what sort of thoughts were going through their heads. Were they the same thoughts that I used to have when I was constantly searching for the answer to consistent golf? It made me think back a few years in my golf life when I discovered some really valuable thoughts that led me to  some of the finest rounds of golf I have ever played. I went down a few different roads before I was even close to the right one. For years I tried get better by perfecting my swing, I focused on things like  keeping my left arm perfectly straight or driving the butt of the grip towards the ball on the downswing. Those thoughts like the many other ones I tried took me down the wrong roads, but they all helped me to find the right one or ones should I say.

Years ago I used warm up by hitting a few balls, doing some stretches and trying to commit to a few swing thoughts. Before I got to the first tee I usually had some expectations about what my score should be as well. Between the swing thoughts and expectations I didn’t stand a chance to succeed and I usually didn’t.

I was driving to the course on a beautiful Saturday morning thinking about the game I had lined up when I started to get some expectations in my mind. The thought I had was that I was going to shoot 72 that day, but that’s when something weird happened. No sooner had I finished that thought that another popped in my head which was, “you couldn’t shoot that score if you tried to”. As I got closer to the golf course I started to think about my goals for my round, and what I came up with were two things: The first was that I was going to make sure that my club was aimed correctly on every shot and the second was that I was going to swing as freely as possible on every shot. Much simpler than anything I had ever played by. Needless to say, I played that day staying committed to my pre-round thoughts on every shot except for three – one chip and two putts. When I sat down on the patio with my group I had no idea what I had shot but after adding the score up, I was 4 under par for the day. I set the same goals for my next round two days later and shot 3
under.

Those rounds taught me that when your mind is clear from distraction and your attention is on your intention you can do some pretty neat things. The crazy part of the story is that those two rounds were shot on a golf course that I very rarely ever shot par on let alone under par.

Jody Boutin
Head Teaching Professional