launch Angle help

[4Golf]

replace head or shaft?

I was at a Bridgestone ball fitting session last weekend and it was the first time I was ever on a launch monitor. I have a 99 mph club head speed and 141 ball speed. My launch angle was 15.3 and my backspin was 2428. Side spin was -278. I didn't get a attack angle with their monitor. The fitters said everything was in line except my launch angle and I am losing about 20 yds from ideal. My current driver is a Callaway FT-9 10 deg draw head with the Graphite Design YSQ 65 shaft in stiff flex. I'm 5'10" with a fairly smooth tempo and 52 years old. My most frequent miss is a push but the draw head usually brings the ball back a little bit.

Since I have the i-mix components I could replace either the head or the shaft. I'm in a small community so I don't really have access to a store where I could hit several combinations with a monitor. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do here? The fitters put me into an e6 ball and that lowered my spin down to 1880. They said that some people are having good luck with high launch low spin.

[Nabors]

I would probably change the shaft out first myself. With your swing speed I would think a launch angle more in the 13degree range would work best.

Off the top of my head, I would look at a Prolaunch Red or VS Proto in the I Mix shafts, or if you want to spend the dollars, a Whiteboard. High kick, Low Launch shafts.

* I agree with the other posters in regards to the spin rate. 1800 is too low for your ball speed imo. Obviously too much spin will cause a ball to balloon, however, without enough spin rate, the ball will fall out of the sky once it runs out of accelerated velocity.

[schlebrock]

I diasgree with the ball fitter.

In order to maximize distance, you need a launch angle of 14 degrees and 2,444 rpm's of spin for a 150 mph ballspeed. As ballspeeds get slower, you will need more launch and spin in order to maximize distance.

That said, your numbers are just a little off from ideal. Therefore, I wouldn't change a thing.

Hope that helps.

[marrigo]

[quote name='schlebrock' timestamp='1307200034' post='3284219']
I diasgree with the ball fitter.

In order to maximize distance, you need a launch angle of 14 degrees and 2,444 rpm's of spin for a 150 mph ballspeed. As ballspeeds get slower, you will need more launch and spin in order to maximize distance.

That said, your numbers are just a little off from ideal. Therefore, I wouldn't change a thing.

Hope that helps.
[/quote]

Yeah, I was kinda thinking the same thing when I read the post. Not sure why they would want the spin so low unless he's playing really firm fairways?

[golfbum9]

Really need AoA + or -. definitely makes a difference as to whether lower or higher spin is ideal for you. As an example, my AoA is +3-4° yet my launch angle hovered around 13-14° because of the lower spin.
This combo with an 11.5° head gave me the most distance (on the fly).

[4Golf]

I want to thank those that contributed on this post. I did want to try a 73 whiteboard and it took a while and but I finally picked one up on ebay recently. I've only played 9 holes with it but I know already that I like the butt soft tip stiff profile. It was a hot humid evening and I think I averaged about 5-10 yds shorter than the YSQ but with much better dispersion. I hit 5 of 6 fairways with the WB using a Srixon z star. I did lower my fall flight a touch but found that I could tee it a little higher and still hit it high when I wanted too. I'm hoping to get to Kansas City sometime soon to get on a launch monitor and see what I have done. I live in Southwest MO and we play in a lot of wind in the spring so I think the WB is a keeper if I keep hitting fairways.