women tour player driver lofts

Why do so many women tour pros hit a driver with 7.5 degrees of loft? Ochoa and Hjarth are two players who hit the Rapture in a 7.5 degree. If a woman's swing speed is less than a man's, would they not be better served by a higher lofted driver? Any explanation?

It may have something to do with the amount of backspin that the higher lofted driver will create versus the lower lofted driver. I have heard it both ways from teaching pros, that is, get the higher loft with a low launch shaft, or get the lower loft with a high launch shaft. I have no idea wich is correct, but I know that the commentators both made mention that Lorena and Maria were considered long off of the tee as well. Who knows? Morgan Pressel listed hers as 8.5 in golf digest. I guess the girls are that good.

I always thought the same thing as well...only thing could be more roll?

When the ladies were here in town...they hit their drivers pleanty high too.

Not as high as the bombers in the men's tour....but higher than one would think with a 7.5 or 8.5* driver.

Perhaps it is due to their angle of attack at the ball....

I remember reading about Nick Watney's 10.5 degree driver, and how it was so high because of the amount he delofts the club coming into ball- something that a lot of other PGA pros do (Sergio, for one), as well as the fact that some of the clubs are bent open, which means that they play to a lower effective loft than static loft (Vijay). I would imagine the most LPGA pros lack the wrist strength to keep the club as delofted as PGA pros, and therefore their static loft (the # on the club) is closer to their effective loft.

Both Ochoa and Hjorth play PING drivers which usually have 1 1/2 degrees or so more loft than the number on the sole which is not uncommon among OEM's right now.

I've wondered about this too. Even little Natalie Gulbis uses a low lofted driver. When I watch LPGA golf on TV, the amount of roll once the ball hits the fairway seems much longer than I see at my golf course, and also longer than at the PGA events. I wonder if the LPGA fairways are set up firmer and drier to maximize distance, maybe even more than the PGA does? Golf Digest states that the fairways stimp out at 7 at a few PGA events, which is what the average recreational green rolls at! I wonder if the ladies have optimized their club specs to maximize roll on 'hard and fast' tweaked fairways. I don't agree with the comments posted that maybe the driver loft for the pro ladies is lower than the pro men because they don't have as much lag or delofting through impact. I don't doubt the premise, I just think that if that premise justified use of less loft, then your typical amateur guy who also has less lag, etc would need less loft on their drivers too, and we know this is not true. Has anyone seen numbers of measured roll on the tours? If Michelle Wie's driver swing speed is reportedly about 105, how does she hit the ball 290-300 yards at LPGA events, on measured holes for LPGA comparative statistics? What swing speed does Lorena Ochoa have? I don't really understand. The longest hitters on the LPGA tour are supposedly averaging about 285-290, really not that much different than the averages of the top tier of the PGA, if you throw out the monster drivers like Bubba and Daly. How is this humanly possible??

I couldn't resist.

I've wondered about this too. Even little Natalie Gulbis uses a low lofted driver. When I watch LPGA golf on TV, the amount of roll once the ball hits the fairway seems much longer than I see at my golf course, and also longer than at the PGA events. I wonder if the LPGA fairways are set up firmer and drier to maximize distance, maybe even more than the PGA does? Golf Digest states that the fairways stimp out at 7 at a few PGA events, which is what the average recreational green rolls at! I wonder if the ladies have optimized their club specs to maximize roll on 'hard and fast' tweaked fairways. I don't agree with the comments posted that maybe the driver loft for the pro ladies is lower than the pro men because they don't have as much lag or delofting through impact. I don't doubt the premise, I just think that if that premise justified use of less loft, then your typical amateur guy who also has less lag, etc would need less loft on their drivers too, and we know this is not true. Has anyone seen numbers of measured roll on the tours? If Michelle Wie's driver swing speed is reportedly about 105, how does she hit the ball 290-300 yards at LPGA events, on measured holes for LPGA comparative statistics? What swing speed does Lorena Ochoa have? I don't really understand. The longest hitters on the LPGA tour are supposedly averaging about 285-290, really not that much different than the averages of the top tier of the PGA, if you throw out the monster drivers like Bubba and Daly. How is this humanly possible??

I dunno about the fairways, but I don't think it's fair to compare the typical amateur and the female pros, since the average amateur has a lot more problems that just an inability to maintain lag or deloft the club. The fact that most amateurs need more loft rather than less has to do with swing speed, not angle of attack.

I've wondered about this too. Even little Natalie Gulbis uses a low lofted driver. When I watch LPGA golf on TV, the amount of roll once the ball hits the fairway seems much longer than I see at my golf course, and also longer than at the PGA events. I wonder if the LPGA fairways are set up firmer and drier to maximize distance, maybe even more than the PGA does? Golf Digest states that the fairways stimp out at 7 at a few PGA events, which is what the average recreational green rolls at! I wonder if the ladies have optimized their club specs to maximize roll on 'hard and fast' tweaked fairways. I don't agree with the comments posted that maybe the driver loft for the pro ladies is lower than the pro men because they don't have as much lag or delofting through impact. I don't doubt the premise, I just think that if that premise justified use of less loft, then your typical amateur guy who also has less lag, etc would need less loft on their drivers too, and we know this is not true. Has anyone seen numbers of measured roll on the tours? If Michelle Wie's driver swing speed is reportedly about 105, how does she hit the ball 290-300 yards at LPGA events, on measured holes for LPGA comparative statistics? What swing speed does Lorena Ochoa have? I don't really understand. The longest hitters on the LPGA tour are supposedly averaging about 285-290, really not that much different than the averages of the top tier of the PGA, if you throw out the monster drivers like Bubba and Daly. How is this humanly possible??

That's what I have always guessed. With the exception of Ochoa, most of the ladies I have seen hit the ball pretty low.

I think the average on the lpga is more like 255

Interesting read on LPGA driving stats:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/golf/lpga/2...ga-drives_x.htm

[quote name='tesla' timestamp='1191286775' post='738759']
I've wondered about this too. Even little Natalie Gulbis uses a low lofted driver. When I watch LPGA golf on TV, the amount of roll once the ball hits the fairway seems much longer than I see at my golf course, and also longer than at the PGA events. I wonder if the LPGA fairways are set up firmer and drier to maximize distance, maybe even more than the PGA does? Golf Digest states that the fairways stimp out at 7 at a few PGA events, which is what the average recreational green rolls at! I wonder if the ladies have optimized their club specs to maximize roll on 'hard and fast' tweaked fairways. I don't agree with the comments posted that maybe the driver loft for the pro ladies is lower than the pro men because they don't have as much lag or delofting through impact. I don't doubt the premise, I just think that if that premise justified use of less loft, then your typical amateur guy who also has less lag, etc would need less loft on their drivers too, and we know this is not true. Has anyone seen numbers of measured roll on the tours? If Michelle Wie's driver swing speed is reportedly about 105, how does she hit the ball 290-300 yards at LPGA events, on measured holes for LPGA comparative statistics? What swing speed does Lorena Ochoa have? I don't really understand. The longest hitters on the LPGA tour are supposedly averaging about 285-290, really not that much different than the averages of the top tier of the PGA, if you throw out the monster drivers like Bubba and Daly. How is this humanly possible??
[/quote]

My SS is similar to Wie's. Slightly faster. I don't have the height she does but on firm days like those she plays on, I can rip them over 300. It is all about ball speed. Doesn't matter if your SS is high if you don't make proper contact. That's why Tiger was soooo good for so long.

natalie gulbis is listed as being 5' 9".....that's not so little...

Low lofted drivers and lots of Pro V1X use on the LPGA tour should make you question a lot of the conventional wisdom on clubfitting and ballfitting.

Average angle of attack on LPGA tour is about +3*, so they are hitting up on it.

Average angle of attack on PGA tour is about -1.5*, so they are hitting down on it.

LPGA player therefore don't need the extra loft to get the ball in the air at the appropriate launch angle.

[quote name='dodger' timestamp='1191275769' post='738523']
Why do so many women tour pros hit a driver with 7.5 degrees of loft? Ochoa and Hjarth are two players who hit the Rapture in a 7.5 degree. If a woman's swing speed is less than a man's, would they not be better served by a higher lofted driver? Any explanation?
[/quote]

Difference between average Joe using 7.5 and the LPGA gal is the she hits it on the screw 98% of the time so she benefits down the middle. Average Joe misses the screw more then he hits it so if he were hitting a 7.5 he'd be called slice-o-matic and hate the game where as 10.5 lets him enjoy the game more.

I have wondered about this! My driver is 10.5 which I hit pretty high but I hit 9.5 and 8.5 degree drivers at the range and seem to hit them higher than the boys do!