distance between 9* and 10.5*

To all expert here, i have a newbie question here. In general, would a 10.5* drive lesser distance than a 9* driver? If yes, roughly what is the difference like? I am contemplating between the 2 now.

In general, it depends on your swing.

typically, a 1 degree difference in loft for irons would result in 3m difference...

however, this would not hold true for drivers... every driver will play differently as well...

i use a 8.5 in some, a 9.5 in others.... and those have the same shafts too...

so my suggestion would be to see a club fitter to seek out his expert opinion...

i myself only trust DGman to fit me and handle my clubs...

Assuming same swing and strength. I would assume the 10.5* will launch the ball higher, hence shorter distance logically, but that gives the ball more time to drop further right?

jaez wrote:

Assuming same swing and strength. I would assume the 10.5* will launch the ball higher, hence shorter distance logically, but that gives the ball more time to drop further right?

that's so many factors in it, u need to give certain parameters to make that sort of assumption.

depending on your swing speed, club face angle, club path, smash factor.

like what Sham said, if you are unsure, its best to have your swing analyzed by a clubfitter with proper shot-tracking tools to advise you.

for sham's swing and his swing speed, he usually benefits with a lower lofted driver, to keep his launch angle and spin down. I am better suited for a higher lofted driver, to maximise carry distance.

Thanks guys. I guess there is no easy way out. I'll check out the clubfitter soon.

Distance = Height / Tan 10.5 or 9.

Distance = Height / Tan 10.5 or 9.

jaez wrote:

To all expert here, i have a newbie question here. In general, would a 10.5* drive lesser distance than a 9* driver? If yes, roughly what is the difference like? I am contemplating between the 2 now.

Short Answer

The distance a golf ball travels through the air depends on:
- your swing speed
- your angle of attack
- the resulting spin
- the resulting launch angle
among other things, assuming other variables (temperature, air pressure, wind, ball type, etc) are the same.

So, it's a complicated mathematical relationship, involving fluid dynamics.

However, there are some guidelines.

The average player with average swing speed typically will benefit from more loft. Read on.

Long Answer

Distance is not purely a function of the driver loft. A key variable (one of many) in determining maximum distance is swing speed.

For example,

"Tom Wishon in his great book The Search for the Perfect Golf Club points out that...

For a 90 m.p.h. swing speed a driver with a 9 degree loft will launch the ball at a 10.5 degree launch angle and the ball will carry 206 yards.
An 11 degree driver will launch the ball at 12.1 degree angle and the ball will carry 211 yards.
A 13 degree driver will launch the ball at 13.7 degrees and the ball will carry 213 yards. The difference between 9 and 13 degrees is 7 yards."

Here's another quote.

"A club with a loft angle below 11 degrees will not impart the optimum trajectory to the ball if your swing speed is below 100 mph. If your golf swing speed is 90 mph or less, you will need a loft of 12 – 13 degrees, and so on. There is an optimum loft angle for your driver which is dependent on your swing speed."

See the trend?

Here's another guide.

"OPTIMAL DRIVER LOFT

Optimal Loft
Driver Swing Speed Angle of Attack Note #1 Driver Loft Carry Distance Note #2
70 mph level 22 155 yds.
75 mph level 17 170 yds.
80 mph level 15 185 yds.
85 mph level 14 198 yds.
90 mph level 12 211 yds.
95 mph level 11.5 223 yds.
100 mph level 11 235 yds.
110 mph level 9 255 yds.
115 mph level 8.5 265 yds.
120 mph level 8 275 yds.

Note 1: Your angle of attack greatly affects your driver loft. Rule of Thumb is for every degree of change from level, add or subtract one degree of loft.
Note 2: Carry distance varies by a large degree by where you golf-ie. altitude, temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind direction, raining, snowing, you get it."

Link Here

From the chart above, to benefit from a driver loft of 9 degree, the swing speed need to be around 110 mph.

For a swing speed of around 100 mph, a loft of 11 degree is optimal (drivers in the market are commonly marked 10.5 degree instead of 11 degree.)

So, in conclusion, your swing speed will determine which driver loft is right for you.

Going by the above, it seems to indicate that if your swing speed is around 110 mph, go for the 9 degree, if not, go for the 10.5 degree.

In my case, when I swing around 100-105 mph, I get better distance from my 10.5 degree driver than my 9 degree driver (same model.)

So, it would be incorrect to assume that a 9 degree driver will definitely give a longer distance than a 10.5 degree driver, without knowing the swing speed.

As for the second part of your question on the difference in the distance between the two lofts, it cannot be answered unless we know all the variables involved (listed above.)

Hope that answers your question.

Cheers.

Lee36328 wrote:

jaez wrote:

To all expert here, i have a newbie question here. In general, would a 10.5* drive lesser distance than a 9* driver? If yes, roughly what is the difference like? I am contemplating between the 2 now.

Short Answer

The distance a golf ball travels through the air depends on:
- your swing speed
- your angle of attack
- the resulting spin
- the resulting launch angle
among other things, assuming other variables (temperature, air pressure, wind, ball type, etc) are the same.

So, it's a complicated mathematical relationship, involving fluid dynamics.

However, there are some guidelines.

The average player with average swing speed typically will benefit from more loft. Read on.

Long Answer

Distance is not purely a function of the driver loft. A key variable (one of many) in determining maximum distance is swing speed.

For example,

"Tom Wishon in his great book The Search for the Perfect Golf Club points out that...

For a 90 m.p.h. swing speed a driver with a 9 degree loft will launch the ball at a 10.5 degree launch angle and the ball will carry 206 yards.
An 11 degree driver will launch the ball at 12.1 degree angle and the ball will carry 211 yards.
A 13 degree driver will launch the ball at 13.7 degrees and the ball will carry 213 yards. The difference between 9 and 13 degrees is 7 yards."

Here's another quote.

"A club with a loft angle below 11 degrees will not impart the optimum trajectory to the ball if your swing speed is below 100 mph. If your golf swing speed is 90 mph or less, you will need a loft of 12 – 13 degrees, and so on. There is an optimum loft angle for your driver which is dependent on your swing speed."

See the trend?

Here's another guide.

"OPTIMAL DRIVER LOFT

Optimal Loft
Driver Swing Speed Angle of Attack Note #1 Driver Loft Carry Distance Note #2
70 mph level 22 155 yds.
75 mph level 17 170 yds.
80 mph level 15 185 yds.
85 mph level 14 198 yds.
90 mph level 12 211 yds.
95 mph level 11.5 223 yds.
100 mph level 11 235 yds.
110 mph level 9 255 yds.
115 mph level 8.5 265 yds.
120 mph level 8 275 yds.

Note 1: Your angle of attack greatly affects your driver loft. Rule of Thumb is for every degree of change from level, add or subtract one degree of loft.
Note 2: Carry distance varies by a large degree by where you golf-ie. altitude, temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind direction, raining, snowing, you get it."

Link Here

From the chart above, to benefit from a driver loft of 9 degree, the swing speed need to be around 110 mph.

For a swing speed of around 100 mph, a loft of 11 degree is optimal (drivers in the market are commonly marked 10.5 degree instead of 11 degree.)

So, in conclusion, your swing speed will determine which driver loft is right for you.

Going by the above, it seems to indicate that if your swing speed is around 110 mph, go for the 9 degree, if not, go for the 10.5 degree.

In my case, when I swing around 100-105 mph, I get better distance from my 10.5 degree driver than my 9 degree driver (same model.)

So, it would be incorrect to assume that a 9 degree driver will definitely give a longer distance than a 10.5 degree driver, without knowing the swing speed.

As for the second part of your question on the difference in the distance between the two lofts, it cannot be answered unless we know all the variables involved (listed above.)

Hope that answers your question.

Cheers.

great info!

Bro Lee,
Trust you to dig up all these information and post it on the net for all! Where the hell did you find these things???

Batman wrote:

To all experts n shifu here,
With all else being equal, and only lift difference, which would u say would give u further distance?

From the table above, if your swing speed is 110 mph and above, 9 degrees give a further distance than 10.5 degrees.
If your swing speed is 100 mph and below, 10.5 gives a further distance than 9 degrees.

polersg wrote:

great info!

Thanks, hope you find it useful.

Denmeister wrote:

Bro Lee,
Trust you to dig up all these information and post it on the net for all! Where the hell did you find these things???

Interesting, right?

Golf is such an interesting puzzle, engineers and physicists like to study it in their free time. And I like to study their conclusions.

bkll wrote:

Batman wrote:

To all experts n shifu here,
With all else being equal, and only lift difference, which would u say would give u further distance?

From the table above, if your swing speed is 110 mph and above, 9 degrees give a further distance than 10.5 degrees.
If your swing speed is 100 mph and below, 10.5 gives a further distance than 9 degrees.

See? Supplied with the right information, information becomes knowledge, and questions can be answered.

Small caveat. If the ground is hard, then roll becomes more of a factor. Lower loft may give more total distance (carry + roll) in that case. Look at the American tournaments on TV, see how much the ball runs after landing. The ground over there is much harder than ours in our lush tropical climate.

Remember Tiger's running draw shot at the 8th at Augusta? The ball landed well before the green and still ran all the way onto the green toward the pin.

But in general, for most of us, 10.5 degree will do just fine.

For those of us who are tall, like DenMeister, there is a natural advantage. There is a commonly quoted rule of thumb that each inch in the swing radius adds 3 mph to the swing speed. So bro DenMeister for example will touch 110mph just raising his long arm to say hello.

Tall American forummers talk about 9 and even 8 degree loft, and driving 300 yards or more. Long drivers go even lower. Jamie Sadlowski drives with 6 degree loft. (Look at how far his shots run in the dry desert of Mesquite, Nevada, where the long drive competition is held.)

This has given the mistaken impression that lower loft always equal more distance.

Higher swing speed with the correct matching loft give more distance.

bkll wrote:

Batman wrote:

To all experts n shifu here,
With all else being equal, and only lift difference, which would u say would give u further distance?

From the table above, if your swing speed is 110 mph and above, 9 degrees give a further distance than 10.5 degrees.
If your swing speed is 100 mph and below, 10.5 gives a further distance than 9 degrees.

Thanks guys. These information really helps.

Bro Lee,
To add, in order to maximise the benefits of a driver regardless of loft, a fundamentally sound swing is a prerequisite. 

Let me give you an example by comparing two golfers of totally different physical make up, using myself, a 6'2" build vs a friend, Yau who is 5'5" tall. 

My previous swing was not as fundamentally sound as Yau. Although he does not have a physical advantage, his swing mechanics was extremely strong. He could generate a swing speed of 105mph at least and was able to hit the sweet spot very consistently. As a result, his booming drives were longer than mine by 20 to 30m. If he were to really hit a good one, the difference could be more than 50m!!! Averaging 230m was chicken feet to him. 

As for me, after working on the tips given by DGman, my swing improved tremendously and I was finally able to take advantage of my physical advantage. I think my swing speed has increased because of my improved swing. My 10.5 degree driver is now a lot longer than before.  

So a word of advice for folks who are just starting out, buy a forgiving driver of a higher loft first. After building a solid swing, you will be able to hit at least 230m. When that happens, you will then be able to take advantage of the lower lofts or better aftermarket shafts to further increase on the 230m drives. 

Denmeister wrote:

Bro Lee,
Trust you to dig up all these information and post it on the net for all! Where the hell did you find these things???

I know where .. from his best friend where he do all his swing through the trackman and also... do you still remember what stuffs he has in his car the last time we played ?? book, dvd, golf balls, golf clothing, golf shoes, culb shafts ... etc it is like a pro shop ...