Dynamic Loft

[dvq9654]

My brother and I went to a trackman facility a couple weekends ago. Lots of fun, but also pretty eye opening. He generally swings ~5 miles per hour faster than me through the bag (~112 vs. 107mph driver speed), maybe a bit more, but I hit the ball significantly farther than him for what I believe to be 3 primary reasons:

 

- Spin: He consistently had much higher spin rates than I did 

- Smash Factor: My smash factor was consistently higher than his 

- Dynamic loft: My dynamic loft was low whereas his was high 

 

I'm no expert, so I don't know how these things all tie together, if at all. I am happy as it seems as though I'm getting about as much distance as I can from my swing speed. That said, I was pretty surprised my dynamic loft is so low. Mainly because I do not hit the ball particularly low (at least that I'm aware of). I also do not have issues with spin around the green. How should one think about dynamic loft, what is too low and what does it say about a swing?    

 

Also - without seeing his swing, anyone venture a guess why his dynamic loft / spin rate is so high? He should be hitting 300 yard drives with better launch conditions, but he's well short of that. A lesson is probably the answer, but not sure he's that committed. 

[thaar]

Spin and smash factor certainly have a huge impact on distance. Without seeing his numbers for dynamic loft, it's hard to tell. 

 

What was his smash factor? 

 

And his spin rate might be high due to the club, shaft and ball he's hitting. All three contribute to the performance for a persons swing. Another huge one is is angle of attack. If it's negative or close to zero, it will impart quite a bit of spin to the ball. Increasing that will certainly lower his spin numbers, improving distance quite a bit.

 

Edit - here's a good article on how spin impacts distance. Trackman University and their blog have a lot of good articles and videos explaining the various metrics that optimize distance. https://blog.trackmangolf.com/how-to-gain-more-distance-without-swinging-faster/

Edited July 28, 2021 by thaar

[dvq9654]

12 minutes ago, thaar said:

What was his smash factor? 

 

It was pretty low. Like 1.35 on his driver (maybe even lower). I'm sure it's at least in part due to his equipment, which is all old / not fitted, but that can't account for all of it. 

[thaar]

That's a huge thing then. If he's swinging at 112, he's barely cracking the 150mph ball speed mark. I can't remember for sure, but I think low-160's with optimal launch conditions gets you to a 300yd drive.

[dvq9654]

12 minutes ago, thaar said:

That's a huge thing then. If he's swinging at 112, he's barely cracking the 150mph ball speed mark. I can't remember for sure, but I think low-160's with optimal launch conditions gets you to a 300yd drive.

 

He should be hitting it 300+ at least somewhat regularly with that swing speed. I can scare 300 fairly often with my speed. 

[thaar]

Not if he's not hitting the sweet spot of the club and/or has less than optimal launch conditions. It's more than simply one variable. 

Edited July 28, 2021 by thaar

[dvq9654]

26 minutes ago, thaar said:

Not if he's not hitting the sweet spot of the club and/or has less than optimal launch conditions. It's more than simply one variable. 

 

I mean with better launch conditions he should be hitting those distances. They are less than ideal currently, obviously 

 

[Krt22]

45 minutes ago, dvq9654 said:

 

He should be hitting it 300+ at least somewhat regularly with that swing speed. I can scare 300 fairly often with my speed. 

Should isn't quite the right term, perhaps capable is the better one. Speed is a great asset, but if you hit it all over the face with poor launch conditions, you won't hit it all that far. Your brother has more speed, but you have a better swing which allows you to hit the sweet spot more reliably 

[dvq9654]

3 minutes ago, Krt22 said:

Should isn't quite the right term, perhaps capable is the better one. Speed is a great asset, but if you hit it all over the face with poor launch conditions, you won't hit it all that far. Your brother has more speed, but you have a better swing which allows you to hit the sweet spot more reliably 

 

Fair enough

 

Now - to get to my primary, more selfish question - what drives a lower dynamic loft? How should one think about dynamic loft, what is too low and what does it say about a swing?    

 

[Krt22]

6 minutes ago, dvq9654 said:

 

Fair enough

 

Now - to get to my primary, more selfish question - what drives a lower dynamic loft? How should one think about dynamic loft, what is too low and what does it say about a swing?    

 

With driver..it depends. There is shaft angle like an iron, there is face angle at impact (open-higher, closed-lower) and there is also vertical gear effect (ie strike location). Swing dynamics impact all of the above. Focusing on a single parameter without looking at everything else is largely fruitless. If all the other parameters look OK and dynamic loft is too low, first thing to try is simply more static loft. 

[dvq9654]

23 minutes ago, Krt22 said:

If all the other parameters look OK and dynamic loft is too low, first thing to try is simply more static loft. 

 

Understood on the various variables. I'm not trying to solve for anything, more so just trying to learn more about my swing.  

 

To your point above - how can one tell dynamic loft is too low? Is it a number or is it ball flight or is it spin or some combination of all three (plus others)?

[Krt22]

Just now, dvq9654 said:

 

Understood on the various variables. I'm not trying to solve for anything, more so just trying to learn more about my swing.  

 

To your point above - how can one tell dynamic loft is too low? Is it a number or is it ball flight or is it spin or some combination of all three (plus others)?

It depends on your speed. The less speed you have, typically the more dynamic loft you want, but the launch parameters will dictate that. At your speed, if your spin is <2200rpm and/or your launch is <11,  you probably want more loft.