Jump to content
2024 RBC Heritage WITB photos ×

Greatly improved ballstriking. Now, how about optimizing the Driver?


apearsa

Recommended Posts

10 months into finally starting lessons (if you've been thinking about for a while, pull the trigger and take lessons, it'll be the best money you've put towards your game), and my ballstriking has improved by leaps and bounds. More repeatable movements, and better movements, have raised my ceiling and my floor in terms of range of shot outcomes. The video from now compared to my last upload from April 2018 shows how much things have changed. Iron play, which had kept me in the mid-teens for a few years, improved so much in 4 months last summer that my index dropped from 14 to 9 from July to September. It's continued as I've made an effort to practice in New York during the winter. I've gained about 10-15 yards across the board with anything off the deck. These changes have seen 7 irons go from: SS 80mph / path +4* right / AoA 0* to -1* down for a 150-155yd carry to SS 87-89mph / path -1* to 1* / AoA -2.5* to -4.5* down for a ~170yd carry. It's renewed my enjoyment of the game. Putting is the 100 year war I'm fighting with the goal of scaring a low single digit index. The battle will eventually end when I die.

 

Now to the "problem", putting aside: I was carrying Driver ~240yds before I found another 5-8mph of swing speed. It's straighter and more predictable, which is a win in and of itself, but I'm greedy. I've gotten Driver SS up to the 101-105mph range depending on the day and am striking it relatively centered, +1* to +3* AoA, and on a predictable line. I just haven't gained any distance. Ball speed is 149-153mph, launching at 15*-16*, spinning up over 3000rpm. There's a lot of info out there, some of it conflicting, on what "optimal" launch is for a given swing speed, and I feel less than optimal. If I'm already close to that with these clubhead numbers, I'll go back into my hole and resume my role as reader, not poster.

 

Any thoughts from this esteemed population on causes, and equipment (this is a custom-fit, 10.5* Epic Subzero with a "lower spinning" shaft) or approach (swing more right? hit up on it more?) changes to squeeze some more yardage out of it? Including video below (Driver swing and some irons) and the Trackman Optimizer numbers correlated to the driver swing on video.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 13
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I’m very close to your numbers, it’s very difficult to reduce spin with shaft alone.

I’ll leave it to the clubfitters to weigh in, but in my case, changing to a 9* head

and reducing the loft to 8* cut the spin down to 2000 and only reduced the launch

to 14*. Supposedly ideal launch for @150 BS.

TM SIM Max 9* Tensei Orange 60
Titleist TS2 16.5 Motore X 75
Ping g400 20.5 DVS 85
Titleist 818H1 23* Diamana 90

Ping i500 5-7, iBlade 8-Pw 
Ping Glide 53, 58, Callaway 64*
Kevin Burns “Icemakr” custom
Stage IV MELANOMA SURVIVOR
“kids wear your sunscreen !!"

OG wrxer (check my member #)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What's your spin axis? Those numbers aren't bad .. launch is a little high. Your apex must be over 120ft? Asking to determine if it's worth the upgrade (spin axis can drive higher backspin)

 

Spin Axis on that specific shot was +2.6* and sat around -6 to +6 depending on the shape I was hitting on a given shot. From what I understand, that implies something close to a squarish face and a centered strike. Apex on that shot was 135ft. Average apex over 15 shots was 124ft, and that included some while I was actually trying to hit a lower draw.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’m very close to your numbers, it’s very difficult to reduce spin with shaft alone.

I’ll leave it to the clubfitters to weigh in, but in my case, changing to a 9* head

and reducing the loft to 8* cut the spin down to 2000 and only reduced the launch

to 14*. Supposedly ideal launch for @150 BS.

 

2000 spin is way too low for 150 ball speed. but yes if OP just loses a 1-1.5 degrees of loft they will probably be golden

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 months into finally starting lessons (if you've been thinking about for a while, pull the trigger and take lessons, it'll be the best money you've put towards your game), and my ballstriking has improved by leaps and bounds. More repeatable movements, and better movements, have raised my ceiling and my floor in terms of range of shot outcomes. The video from now compared to my last upload from April 2018 shows how much things have changed. Iron play, which had kept me in the mid-teens for a few years, improved so much in 4 months last summer that my index dropped from 14 to 9 from July to September. It's continued as I've made an effort to practice in New York during the winter. I've gained about 10-15 yards across the board with anything off the deck. These changes have seen 7 irons go from: SS 80mph / path +4* right / AoA 0* to -1* down for a 150-155yd carry to SS 87-89mph / path -1* to 1* / AoA -2.5* to -4.5* down for a ~170yd carry. It's renewed my enjoyment of the game. Putting is the 100 year war I'm fighting with the goal of scaring a low single digit index. The battle will eventually end when I die.

 

Now to the "problem", putting aside: I was carrying Driver ~240yds before I found another 5-8mph of swing speed. It's straighter and more predictable, which is a win in and of itself, but I'm greedy. I've gotten Driver SS up to the 101-105mph range depending on the day and am striking it relatively centered, +1* to +3* AoA, and on a predictable line. I just haven't gained any distance. Ball speed is 149-153mph, launching at 15*-16*, spinning up over 3000rpm. There's a lot of info out there, some of it conflicting, on what "optimal" launch is for a given swing speed, and I feel less than optimal. If I'm already close to that with these clubhead numbers, I'll go back into my hole and resume my role as reader, not poster.

 

Any thoughts from this esteemed population on causes, and equipment (this is a custom-fit, 10.5* Epic Subzero with a "lower spinning" shaft) or approach (swing more right? hit up on it more?) changes to squeeze some more yardage out of it? Including video below (Driver swing and some irons) and the Trackman Optimizer numbers correlated to the driver swing on video.

 

 

 

 

Not an answer to you question, but super curious what changes you made to increase the AoA with your 7i to up to - 4 down. I was on trackman recently and even though I was carrying my 7i an avg. of 168, my AoA never got steeper than -1 down. Been a sweeper for a long time, but when I do (somehow) get a bit steeper, distance and ball flight is vastly improved. Let me know!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any thoughts from this esteemed population on causes, and equipment (this is a custom-fit, 10.5* Epic Subzero with a "lower spinning" shaft) or approach (swing more right? hit up on it more?) changes to squeeze some more yardage out of it?

 

The high spin and launch likely come from a high dynamic loft - which can be an unintended consequence of trying to increase one's AoA with the driver. So you might actually try to hit up on it less and see what happens.

 

Also it's very important to check impact location on the face (foot powder spray) - that can potentially have much more influence on spin than almost anything else.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cool... I guess you should adjust the driver loft down. I had issues with Trackman 4 before... it was near a refrigerator and basically its magnetics or whatever else would disrupt Trackman ended up giving it funky numbers on calculated fields like (spin, apex, etc.) based on initial read data. Face,path, ball speed, swing speed, etc. is still accurate. Just those extrapolated/calculated fields were off, because of a fridge.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 months into finally starting lessons (if you've been thinking about for a while, pull the trigger and take lessons, it'll be the best money you've put towards your game), and my ballstriking has improved by leaps and bounds. More repeatable movements, and better movements, have raised my ceiling and my floor in terms of range of shot outcomes. The video from now compared to my last upload from April 2018 shows how much things have changed. Iron play, which had kept me in the mid-teens for a few years, improved so much in 4 months last summer that my index dropped from 14 to 9 from July to September. It's continued as I've made an effort to practice in New York during the winter. I've gained about 10-15 yards across the board with anything off the deck. These changes have seen 7 irons go from: SS 80mph / path +4* right / AoA 0* to -1* down for a 150-155yd carry to SS 87-89mph / path -1* to 1* / AoA -2.5* to -4.5* down for a ~170yd carry. It's renewed my enjoyment of the game. Putting is the 100 year war I'm fighting with the goal of scaring a low single digit index. The battle will eventually end when I die.

 

Now to the "problem", putting aside: I was carrying Driver ~240yds before I found another 5-8mph of swing speed. It's straighter and more predictable, which is a win in and of itself, but I'm greedy. I've gotten Driver SS up to the 101-105mph range depending on the day and am striking it relatively centered, +1* to +3* AoA, and on a predictable line. I just haven't gained any distance. Ball speed is 149-153mph, launching at 15*-16*, spinning up over 3000rpm. There's a lot of info out there, some of it conflicting, on what "optimal" launch is for a given swing speed, and I feel less than optimal. If I'm already close to that with these clubhead numbers, I'll go back into my hole and resume my role as reader, not poster.

 

Any thoughts from this esteemed population on causes, and equipment (this is a custom-fit, 10.5* Epic Subzero with a "lower spinning" shaft) or approach (swing more right? hit up on it more?) changes to squeeze some more yardage out of it? Including video below (Driver swing and some irons) and the Trackman Optimizer numbers correlated to the driver swing on video.

 

 

 

 

Not an answer to you question, but super curious what changes you made to increase the AoA with your 7i to up to - 4 down. I was on trackman recently and even though I was carrying my 7i an avg. of 168, my AoA never got steeper than -1 down. Been a sweeper for a long time, but when I do (somehow) get a bit steeper, distance and ball flight is vastly improved. Let me know!

 

Been a long time coming. I was a bad flipper and early extender. Worked a ton on a proper weight shift and lower body work, then the AoA fell into place. It was a result of a better, more centered turn back-and-through. All of that reigned in path from like +4 to +6* right and got it close to zero, and AoA went down with it at an almost 1:1 ratio.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Our picks

    • 2024 RBC Heritage - Discussion and Links to Photos
      Please put any questions or comments here
       
       
       
       
       
      General Albums
       
      2024 RBC Heritage - Monday #1
      2024 RBC Heritage - Monday #2
       
       
       
       
      WITB Albums
       
      Justin Thomas - WITB - 2024 RBC Heritage
      Justin Rose - WITB - 2024 RBC Heritage
      Chandler Phillips - WITB - 2024 RBC Heritage
      Nick Dunlap - WITB - 2024 RBC Heritage
      Thomas Detry - WITB - 2024 RBC Heritage
      Austin Eckroat - WITB - 2024 RBC Heritage
       
       
       
       
       
      Pullout Albums
       
      Wyndham Clark's Odyssey putter - 2024 RBC Heritage
      JT's new Cameron putter - 2024 RBC Heritage
      Justin Thomas testing new Titleist 2 wood - 2024 RBC Heritage
      Cameron putters - 2024 RBC Heritage
      Odyssey putter with triple track alignment aid - 2024 RBC Heritage
      Scotty Cameron The Blk Box putting alignment aid/training aid - 2024 RBC Heritage
       
       
       
       
       
       
      • 0 replies
    • 2024 Masters - Discussion and Links to Photos
      Huge shoutout to our member Stinger2irons for taking and posting photos from Augusta
       
       
      Tuesday
       
      The Masters 2024 – Pt. 1
      The Masters 2024 – Pt. 2
      The Masters 2024 – Pt. 3
      The Masters 2024 – Pt. 4
      The Masters 2024 – Pt. 5
      The Masters 2024 – Pt. 6
      The Masters 2024 – Pt. 7
      The Masters 2024 – Pt. 8
      The Masters 2024 – Pt. 9
      The Masters 2024 – Pt. 10
       
       
       
        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 14 replies
    • Rory McIlroy testing a new TaylorMade "PROTO" 4-iron – 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Rory McIlroy testing a new TaylorMade "PROTO" 4-iron – 2024 Valero Texas Open
        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 92 replies
    • 2024 Valero Texas Open - Discussion and Links to Photos
      Please put any questions or Comments here
       
       
       
      General Albums
       
      2024 Valero Texas Open - Monday #1
      2024 Valero Texas Open - Tuesday #1
       
       
       
       
       
      WITB Albums
       
      Ben Taylor - WITB - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Paul Barjon - WITB - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Joe Sullivan - WITB - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Wilson Furr - WITB - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Ben Willman - SoTex PGA Section Champ - WITB - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Jimmy Stanger - WITB - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Rickie Fowler - WITB - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Harrison Endycott - WITB - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Vince Whaley - WITB - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Kevin Chappell - WITB - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Christian Bezuidenhout - WITB (mini) - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Scott Gutschewski - WITB - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Michael S. Kim WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
       
       
       
      Pullout Albums
       
      Cameron putter - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Ben Taylor with new Titleist TRS 2 wood - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Swag cover - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Greyson Sigg's custom Cameron putter - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Davis Riley's custom Cameron putter - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Josh Teater's custom Cameron putter - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Hzrdus T1100 is back - - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Mark Hubbard testing ported Titleist irons – 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Tyson Alexander testing new Titleist TRS 2 wood - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Hideki Matsuyama's custom Cameron putter - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Cobra putters - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Joel Dahmen WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Axis 1 broomstick putter - 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Rory McIlroy testing a new TaylorMade "PROTO" 4-iron – 2024 Valero Texas Open
      Rory McIlroy's Trackman numbers w/ driver on the range – 2024 Valero Texas Open
       
       
       
        • Like
      • 4 replies
    • 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open - Discussion and links to Photos
      Please put any questions or Comments here
       
       
       
      General Albums
       
      2024 Texas Children's Houston Open - Monday #1
      2024 Texas Children's Houston Open - Monday #2
      2024 Texas Children's Houston Open - Tuesday #1
      2024 Texas Children's Houston Open - Tuesday #2
      2024 Texas Children's Houston Open - Tuesday #3
       
       
       
       
      WITB Albums
       
      Thorbjorn Olesen - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Ben Silverman - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Jesse Droemer - SoTX PGA Section POY - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      David Lipsky - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Martin Trainer - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Zac Blair - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Jacob Bridgeman - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Trace Crowe - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Jimmy Walker - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Daniel Berger - WITB(very mini) - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Chesson Hadley - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Callum McNeill - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Rhein Gibson - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Patrick Fishburn - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Peter Malnati - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Raul Pereda - WITB - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Gary Woodland WITB (New driver, iron shafts) – 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Padraig Harrington WITB – 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
       
       
       
       
      Pullout Albums
       
      Tom Hoge's custom Cameron - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Cameron putter - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Piretti putters - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Ping putter - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Kevin Dougherty's custom Cameron putter - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Bettinardi putter - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Cameron putter - 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Erik Barnes testing an all-black Axis1 putter – 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
      Tony Finau's new driver shaft – 2024 Texas Children's Houston Open
       
       
       
       
       
      • 13 replies

×
×
  • Create New...