Advice to lower launch angle

[magix]

I had a Flightscope session today and I believe I can squeeze a little more out of my driver if I make a few changes, but I'm not sure the right way to go about it. I'm not the best driver of the ball to begin with but I get away with it on the courses I play. Any sage advice would be much appreciated! :)

Ideas:

Lower tee height?Lower loft on driver?Just get lessons?Others thoughts that worked for you...?Details from Flightscope:

Swing speed = 111 mphLaunch angle = 16*My driver loft is 9* but dynamic loft is 17* (Probably need to get this under control. I do it higher generally because I have a tendency to get low heel strikes.)Spin 2,236 (seems pretty healthy)AoA = +6*Carry = 275 yards (Flightscope optimizer says I could get to 290-300 carry if I lower launch and spin but this would be an optimal swing. I want the best numbers for swings over a period since there's good and bad days.)

[nsxguy]

Plugging in 163 ball speed, 16* launch and 2200 spin gives about 275 carry.

You're right about at max carry and rollout with your SS. Any gains from lower spin would be minimal - at the risk of more dispersion ?

And I don't know why you'd want to launch it lower. Only thing that does according to flightscope is lessen your carry. Rollout would possibly increase a bit but for darn near the same total.

290-300 carry ? At 111 SS ? Don't see it.

[mgoblue83]

You left out Ball Speed which is about the only relevant number when determining your theoretical max and optimized distances.

[magix]

Definitely fair points on lowering launch angle. I really need to get my smash factor up. Today was a bad day for me strike wise. I was averaging 1.40 with a ball speed of 155 mph. On monitors I usually average around 1.43-1.45 so getting to 163 ball speed will be challenging. Maybe lessons is the right way to go.

[nsxguy]

If you've never taken lessons I would heartily recommend them. Depending on your competency you may not need a long series of them. Perhaps an instructor to get you swinging properly/more efficiently wouldn't take all that long.

Given your smash factor, you don't seem to be hitting the sweet spot often enough.

Also, you mention "low heel". Low heel hits might be as simple as a club that's slightly too long.

Have you tried choking down a bit on the grip ? You have power to spare. It's SS hits you're a bit short of.

My driver for the last 18 months or so is the first one I've played at a shorter than standard length. Standard for my club is 45.5". I'm playing it at 44.75 and hitting the center of the face more often than I ever have.

Now it may of course be the shorter club or it may simply be this driver shaft combo works extremely well for my swing but choking down a bit costs you nothing and works just as well as if you had cut it down.

May be worth a try,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[mgoblue83]

I think it's more likely your swing speed number is inflated (common with many launch monitors) and it's giving you unrealistic expectations. Smash Factor is irrelevant if the swing speed isn't exactly accurate so the number you need to be focusing on is Ball Speed. If you are averaging 155mph of ball speed you shouldn't expect more than 260-270 yds of carry with everything optimized.

[magix]

That would make sense about the inflated swing speed number. In the last 10 years I've had an average carry of 260-270 so I can't imagine getting any faster with my bad back. With this check up I was wondering if that launch window was too high cause that ball flight looked insanely high. Hopefully I can try a shorter driver and see if that improves my impact and efficiency.

[glk]

Take lessons. One big issue is you are hitting +6*. Monte has said many times accuracy, quality of strike, etc are all compromised by have a high aoa with driver - even had an golfwrx article on it a while back showing how dispersion increases dramatically at 5* and up. Fact Check: A Downward Attack Angle With Your Driver Is More Accurate?