Instruction
Fact Check: A Downward Attack Angle With Your Driver Is More Accurate?
A recent hotly debated topic has been, as golf instructors, should we encourage golfers to hit up or down on the ball with their driver? While there have been many points of views and arguments, I wanted to take a stab at trying to explain this conversation from a scientific perspective with a real-world application.
The difficult part about this conversation is the mutual exclusivity people try to apply to it. In short, hitting up or down is a preference, but each scenario has causality on ball flight.
Here are the biggest points of contention when this debate is discussed:
- Hitting down with a driver is easier to control and therefore straighter.
- What do the best players in the world do?
- Hitting up is optimal.
- The best drivers of the golf ball hit down.
- Hitting down causes more spin and therefore more control.
With recent advancements in golf technology, we now have the ability to track this information. The common term used to refer to the vertical movement of the center of mass of the golf club at impact is called “attack angle.” Although we’ve only recently been able to easily and accurately measure attack angle, the concept has been around for a very long time. In fact, some of the greatest golfers in the history of the game had a conceptualization of attack angle before it was coined in that phrase.
In an excerpt from the Jack Nicklaus book, “Golf My Way,” he states, “I tee the ball fairly high for a normal drive, usually so that center of the ball is about opposite the top edge of the club face. This helps me to hit the ball high by catching it either exactly at the bottom of the swing arc or very slightly on the upswing. I believe teeing the ball low can easily rob you of distance by making you ‘hit down’ on the ball rather than sweeping through it.”
Ben Hogan, although famous for his comments about hitting down on the ball with irons, also gave some inclination of trying to hit drives with a level attack angle or slightly on the upswing with the driver from his ball/stance position outline as seen below.
With the driver, you can see the right foot is placed further back to move the ball position forward and slightly close the stance. At the time, he could not measure club path, but with what we now know about D-Plane and the relationship between club path and attack angle, we safely assume that his normal ball flight of a fade required a slightly upward attack angle. I cannot by any means say this as a fact, but with what we know about his shot shape and set up, you can make a reasonable assumption.
Hitting Down Is Easier to Control and Therefore Straighter?
This is something we hear quite a bit from average amateurs, golf analysts, and even tour professionals. I can remember having this exact conversation with tour professionals on the range and it can lead down a deep, dark rabbit hole. The cause for confusion is that hitting down in and of itself does not allow more control. Hitting down by itself has no direct influence on spin, ball speed, or curvature. One can create the exact same conditions of spin, ball speed, and curvature hitting up or down. The reason for this belief is that when hitting optimal drives with a downward angle of attack, we also have to deliver a higher dynamic loft (loft at impact). The difference in attack angle and dynamic loft in a 3D relationship is compression (now known as spin loft). With greater spin loft (less compression), physics tells us the ball will curve less for a given face-to-path ratio, assuming all other factors are the same. That’s why it’s easier to curve a driver than a sand wedge.
The Hard Facts
Fredrik Tuxen, the inventor and CTO of TrackMan, once shared a scenario with me on this exact subject. Here are the numbers and results. Note that both are set to optimize distance based on club speed and attack angle.
Player A
- Club Head Speed: 100 mph
- Attack Angle: +5 degrees (up)
- Face-to-Path: 3 degrees
Player B
- Club Head Speed: 100 mph
- Attack Angle: -5 degrees (down)
- Face-to-Path: 3 degrees
Results: Player A hits a drive that carries about 25 yards farther and has 6 yards more curve.
So hitting down while optimized does give golfers less curve. The question then becomes, “Is hitting it straighter the only goal when trying to shoot lower scores?” Golf statistician Mark Broadie has delved deep into this topic with his book, “Every Shot Counts,” and he has also shared some Strokes Gained data on this scenario. Strokes Gained is a statistic that aims to define the ways in which golfers pick up and lose strokes against the field. Unlike traditional statistics such as fairways hit, driving distance, and greens in regulation, Strokes Gained takes into account where the shot began from and the outcome compared to the average PGA Tour Professional. He says 25 more yards of carry distance adds 1.4 Strokes Gained, and missing fairway costs 0.7 Strokes Gained for a net gain of 0.7 Strokes Gained. So the worst-case scenario here between the two players is that Player A (hitting 5-degrees up) gains 0.7 strokes per round.
The reason I say worst-case scenario? We can’t be sure that 26 yards more carry and 6 yards more curve directly relate to lack of accuracy.
What do the Best Players in the World Do?
The PGA Tour average attack angle with a driver is -1.3 degrees (down). Does this mean hitting down is better because the best players in the world are slightly negative? The problem with this assumption is that it is excluding club head speed from the conversation. The PGA Tour average club head speed with a driver is 113 mph. At that speed distance comes naturally, and as we learned above, hitting down optimally can be slightly more controllable. The other issue is that averages can be misleading; it would be very interesting to see median data on attack angles instead of averages to counteract the outliers.
The LPGA Tour average attack angle with a driver is 3 degrees (up). It is curious to see such a big difference between the two tours with the best players in the world. Why is that? This simple answer is the length of the golf course relative to the speed of the players. Here is a little further investigation of that point:
PGA Tour Average Golfer
- Club Speed: 113 mph
- Attack Angle: -1.3 degrees (down)
- Total Distance: 290 yards
- Total Efficiency: 2.56 (distance/club speed)
LPGA Tour Average Golfer
- Club Speed: 94 mph
- Attack Angle: 3 degrees (up)
- Total Distance: 250 yards
- Total Efficiency: 2.65 (distance/club speed)
The average course length PGA Tour is about 7200 yards
- This means the average of each hole is 400 yards.
- With the average drive traveling a total of 290 yards, PGA Tour players are left with about 110 yards into the green on average.
The average course length on LPGA Tour is about 6600 yards
- This means the average of each hole is about 367 yards.
- With the average drive totaling 250 yards, LPGA Tour players are left with about 117 yards into the green on average.
LPGA Tour players are playing much longer golf courses relative to their speed. They are already more efficient driving the golf ball, but are still playing longer golf courses. If the average LPGA player had an attack angle of 0 degrees, it would make golf courses even longer for her. In summary, LPGA players have naturally figured out that distance is a huge premium on tour and they have to hit up.
On the PGA Tour, distance is not as much of a premium, right? Let’s take a look at strokes gained driving stats from last year on the PGA Tour.
2016 Strokes Gained Driving Leaders
- Rory McIlroy, AoA: Up, World Ranking: No. 2
- Dustin Johnson, AoA: Up, World Ranking: No. 3
- Bubba Watson, AoA: Up, World Ranking: No. 10
- Sergio Garcia, AoA: Down, World Ranking: No. 13
- Justin Rose, AoA: Level, World Ranking: No. 15
- JB Holmes, AoA: Up, World Ranking: No. 29
Five of out the top-six PGA Tour players in Strokes Gained driving last year hit up or level on the golf ball. Sergio Garcia is the only one consistently down with the driver, but he is also swinging his driver at 123 mph on average. The other consistent here is that all of these players have a driver club speed well over the average of 113 mph.
The Takeaway: The best drivers of the golf ball in the world swing fast and hit up on the ball. They also happen to be some of the best players in the world.
Hitting Up is Optimal
If you want to hit the ball further and you are already optimized, there are only two ways to do it (unless you want to pull out the old Callaway ERC!). You have to either swing faster or hit more up! Does this mean we should all try and hit up as much as possible? The highest theoretical attack angle you can have with a normal tee is around 13 degrees. Average World Long Drive Players are in the range of 6-8 degrees. Should this be the goal?
As we have shown above, hitting it longer off the tee should be an advantage, but is there a point of diminishing returns? Here are some live scenarios of me hitting up with a driver on the practice tee. In these examples, I was trying to keep club head speed the same as the example I used above.
Level to Slightly Up
3 Down
3 Up
5+ Up
Dispersion Comparison
Summary of Data
Attack Angle: 3-Degrees Down
- Carry: 199.4
- Total: 247.6
- Dispersion: 43’9
Attack Angle: Level to Slightly Up
- Carry: 237.8
- Total: 271.4
- Dispersion: 26’1
Attack Angle: 3-Degrees Up
- Carry: 234.5
- Total: 271.5
- Dispersion: 17’2
Attack Angle: 5-Plus Degrees Up
- Carry: 242.3
- Total: 268.5
- Dispersion: 55’11
As you can see in the screen shots, there is no doubt that hitting up allows for more distance. As I expected, however, there was a point of diminishing returns in a real-world scenario.
Once I got to hitting more than 5-degrees up, I was way more inconsistent with accuracy and distance. Accuracy, club delivery, and strike changed from swing to swing. With a level attack angle and an attack angle of 3-degree up, I averaged more than 20 feet of consistency in dispersion compared to swings with the attack angles of 5-degree up or 3-degrees down.
The most astonishing piece of information I noticed from the data was how consistent some of the numbers from scenario to scenario were and how different others were. As you will see, ball speed, smash factor, and spin rate were all pretty similar, however, carry distance was as much as 43 yards different. This proves my statement earlier that hitting up or down has no effect in of itself on spin rate, smash factor, or ball speed.
In summary, I have found that the acceptable range of attack angle for most players should be between -2-degrees down and 4-degrees up. With that being said, it should always be applied on a case-by-case basis.
Attack angle is a balance between age, swing speed, competition, and the tees a golfer plays. If you have a senior golfer swinging 70 mph and 2-degrees down getting frustrated with golf because he doesn’t hit it very far, then his attack angle should probably be positive. If it’s a younger golfer trying to play college golf who is 6-degrees up at 115 mph club speed and hitting it all over the golf course, then a change might be made.
The answer to any question about what is a good number should always be, “It depends.” Trackman numbers are not good or bad; there is only a cause-and-effect relationship between how the golf club communicates a message to the golf ball based on the desired outcome.
The LPGA Tour is kicking off its 2026 season this week at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, and the pros are dealing with something most Florida golfers rarely face: freezing temperatures.
“It’s colder here than in the UK at the minute, which is a first,” said England’s Charley Hull during Wednesday’s media day at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Even Lydia Ko, who lives at Lake Nona, seemed surprised by the cold snap. “We’re pretty much getting to below zero in celsius here, which maybe in other parts of the country they would be thankful, but when you’re in Florida it is a little bit of a surprise,” she said.
If the world’s best players are adjusting their games for cold weather, recreational golfers should, too. Here’s how to play smart when the mercury drops.
Understand What Cold Does to Your Game
Before you change anything, you need to know what you’re fighting against. Cold air is denser than warm air, which means your ball won’t fly as far. Period.
Hull noticed this immediately during practice rounds at Lake Nona. She mentioned hitting a gap wedge into the 18th hole during a previous win but needing a 4-iron during Tuesday’s practice round. That’s a difference of four or five clubs for the same shot.
Action item: Expect to lose 5-10 yards on every club in your bag when temperatures dip below 50 degrees. Plan accordingly and don’t be stubborn about club selection.
Layer Up Without Restricting Your Swing
Hull admitted she wore three pairs of pants during practice. While that might be extreme for most of us, staying warm is critical to playing well in cold conditions.
Your muscles need warmth to function properly. When you’re cold, your body tightens up and your swing gets shorter and faster. Neither of those things help you hit good golf shots.
Action item: Wear multiple thin layers instead of one bulky jacket. Look for golf-specific cold weather gear that stretches with your swing. Keep hand warmers in your pockets between shots. And don’t forget a good hat because you lose significant body heat through your head.
Take More Club Than You Think You Need
This is where ego gets in the way of good scores. When it’s cold, the ball doesn’t compress as well off the clubface. Combined with denser air, you’re looking at serious distance loss.
The pros at Lake Nona are dealing with a course that measures 6,642 yards but plays much longer this week. If they’re adjusting, you should too.
Action item: Take at least one extra club on every approach shot. In temperatures below 40 degrees, consider taking two extra clubs. It’s better to fly the ball to the back of the green than to come up short in a bunker.
Adjust Your Expectations on the Greens
Cold weather affects putting in ways most golfers don’t consider. The ball is harder and doesn’t roll as smoothly. Your hands are cold, making it harder to feel the putter. And if there’s any moisture on the greens, they’ll be slower than normal.
Ko mentioned that she still sometimes reads the greens wrong at Lake Nona despite being a member for years. Cold weather makes that challenge even tougher.
Action item: Hit putts more firmly than usual. The ball needs extra speed to hold its line on cold greens. Take a few extra practice strokes to get a feel for the speed before you putt.
Embrace the Mental Challenge
Hull said something interesting about cold weather golf: “I like the mental toughness of it.”
That’s the right attitude. Everyone on the course is dealing with the same conditions. The player who stays patient and doesn’t get frustrated by the extra difficulty will come out ahead.
Action item: Lower your expectations by a few strokes. If you normally shoot 85, accept that 90 might be a good score in 40-degree weather. Focus on solid contact and smart decisions rather than perfect shots.
Warm Up Longer and Smarter
This might be the most important tip of all. Cold muscles are tight muscles, and tight muscles get injured easily.
World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul revealed she’s been protecting a wrist injury that bothered her late last season. Cold weather makes those kinds of injuries more likely if you don’t prepare properly.
Action item: Spend at least 20 minutes warming up before your round. Start with stretching, then hit easy wedge shots before working up to your driver. Keep moving between shots on the course to maintain body heat and flexibility.
The pros at Lake Nona this week will adapt and compete at the highest level despite the cold. You can do the same at your local course by following these tips and keeping a positive attitude.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Brooks Koepka is back on the PGA Tour, and whether you love him or hate him, the guy knows how to win when it matters. After his LIV Golf stint, the five-time major champion returns this week at the Farmers Insurance Open.
What makes Koepka fascinating? He doesn’t fit the mold. His swing isn’t textbook. He doesn’t obsess over mechanics. Yet he’s won three PGA Championships and two U.S. Opens, regularly making it look easier than guys with prettier swings.
So, what can average golfers learn from someone who treats the game so differently? Quite a bit.
Stop Overthinking Every Shot
Koepka describes his approach as “reactionary” rather than mechanical. While most tour pros grind over swing thoughts, Brooks sees the target and hits it. No mental checklist.
This might be the most valuable lesson for weekend golfers who’ve watched too many YouTube swing videos.
How to actually do this:
On the range, hit five balls where you stare at the target for three seconds prior to addressing the ball. Don’t think about grip or stance. Just burn that target into your brain. You’ll be shocked at how pure you hit it when your brain focuses on where the ball is going instead of how you’re swinging.
Next time you play, give yourself a rule: Once you pull the club, you’ve got 15 seconds to hit. Koepka is one of the fastest players on tour because he doesn’t give his brain time to sabotage him.
If you feel tension in your hands at address, you’re trying to control too much. Koepka’s grip pressure is famously light. Loosen up until the club almost feels like it might slip, then add just enough pressure to hold on. That’s your swing thought: soft hands, see the target.
This approach works better under pressure. When you’re standing over that shot with water left and OB right, the last thing you need is a mental checklist. See it, feel it, hit it.
Play to Your Strengths (Even If They’re Not Pretty)
Koepka uses a strong grip that wouldn’t pass muster in some teaching circles. But he’s built his game around what works for him, elite driving distance and recovery skills. He doesn’t try to be someone he’s not.
Here’s how to build your game like Brooks:
Look at your last five rounds and figure out where you’re actually gaining strokes. Bombing it off the tee, but can’t hit greens? Lean into it. Play courses where distance matters more than precision. On tight holes, grip down on your 3-wood instead of trying to thread a driver through a keyhole you’ll miss seven times out of ten.
Koepka knows he can scramble, so he’s not afraid to miss greens. If you’re deadly from 50 to 75 yards, start leaving yourself those distances on the par 5’s instead of going for them in two every time.
Know when to take your medicine. Koepka in the trees at the PGA? He’s punching out to 100 yards, not trying to bend a 6-iron around three oaks. You’re in the rough with a flyer lie and water short? Hit your 8-iron to the middle and move on. That’s not playing scared, that’s playing smart.
Save Your Best for When It Counts
Here’s a wild stat: Koepka’s putting average in majors is often more than a full stroke better per round than in regular events. He elevates when pressure is highest.
How does an amateur tap into that gear? It’s not about trying harder, it’s about caring differently.
Here’s what actually works:
Decide which rounds matter to you. Club championship? Member-guest? That annual trip with college buddies? Circle those dates and treat them differently. Koepka doesn’t care much about regular tour events, but majors? That’s when he locks in.
Two weeks before your big round, change your practice. Stop beating balls mindlessly. Play nine holes in which every shot has consequences. Miss the fairway? Hit from the rough on the next hole too. Three-putt? Twenty push-ups. Koepka’s practice intensity ramps up before majors because he’s rehearsing pressure, not just swings.
Develop a between-shot routine that resets your brain. Koepka is famous for his blank expression after bad shots. Try this: After any shot, take three deep breaths while walking, then find something specific to notice, a tree, a cloud, someone’s shirt. That’s your reset button. By the time you reach your ball, the last shot is gone.
The Bottom Line
Brooks Koepka’s return reminds us there’s no single path to success in golf. His “substance over style” approach proves that results matter more than looking good.
You don’t need a perfect swing; you need a reliable one that holds up under pressure. You don’t need to hit every shot in the book; you need the shots you can count on. And you don’t need to play great every time; you need to play great when it matters.
Welcome back, Brooks. Thanks for the reminder that golf is ultimately about getting the ball in the hole, not winning style points.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “Playing Through” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
Blades Brown made a big impression last week in the California desert, and not just because he’s only 18. He put up numbers that would catch any weekend golfer’s attention. Most of us won’t hit 317-yard drives or find 86% of our greens in regulation, but there’s a lot to learn from how Brown managed his game at The American Express.
Here are three practical lessons from his performance that you can use on your own course this weekend.
Step 1: Give Priority to Accuracy Over Distance Off The Tee
Brown’s driving stats are impressive. He averaged almost 318 yards off the tee, ranking 12th in the field. More importantly, he hit 76.79% of his fairways, tying for fourth place in the tournament.
Think about that ratio for a second. Brown could have swung harder, chased more distance and tried to overpower the course. Instead, he played smart golf and kept his ball in play.
Your Action Item: Next time you’re on the tee box, ask yourself a simple question before pulling the driver. Do you need maximum distance here, or do you need to be in the fairway? If there’s trouble lurking or the hole doesn’t demand every yard you can muster, take something off your swing. Grip down an inch. Make a three-quarter swing. Do whatever it takes to find the short grass. Brown’s approach illustrates that fairways lead to greens, and greens lead to birdies. He made 22 of them last week, along with an eagle.
The math is simple. When you’re hitting three out of every four fairways like Brown did, you’re giving yourself legitimate looks at the green with your approach shots. That’s when scoring happens.
Step 2: Commit To Hitting More Greens
This is where Brown really separated himself. He hit 62 of 72 greens in regulation, an 86.11% clip that tied for first in the entire field. Read that again. An 18-year-old kid tied for the lead in one of the most important ball-striking statistics in professional golf.
How did he do it? By keeping his ball in the fairway (see Step 1) and giving himself clean looks with mid-irons and wedges.
Your Action Item: Start tracking your greens in regulation. You don’t need a fancy app or a statistics degree. Just mark down whether you hit the green in the regulation number of strokes. Par 3s in one shot. Par 4s in two shots. Par 5s in three shots.
Once you know your baseline, set a goal to improve it by 10%. If you’re currently hitting five greens per round, aim for six. The beauty of this approach is that it forces you to think strategically about club selection and shot shape. Brown’s strokes gained approach number was positive (0.179), meaning he was better than the field average. You don’t need to be perfect. You just need to be on the dance floor more often.
When you hit more greens, you eliminate the need for heroic short game shots. Brown only had to scramble 10 times all week, and he got up and down 70% of the time. That’s solid, but the real story is that he rarely put himself in scrambling situations to begin with.
Step 3: Minimize Mistakes And Stay Patient
Here’s the stat that jumps off the page: Brown made only three bogeys all week. Three. In four rounds of professional golf against the best players in the world.
He also made just one double bogey. That kind of clean card doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when you play within yourself, avoid the big miss and trust that pars are never bad scores.
Your Action Item: Before your next round, decide that you’re going to play boring golf. No hero shots over water. No driver on tight holes just because you can. No aggressive pins when there’s a safe side of the green.
Brown’s performance shows us that consistency beats flash every single time. He didn’t lead the field in any single strokes gained category, but he was solid across the board. That’s how you post numbers and cash checks.
Give these three steps a try. Your scorecard will thank you.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” now on R.org, RG.org’s partner site, each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more tips!
RBC Heritage Tour Report: More minis, course-specific setups, Spider & GTS launches
Justin Rose WITB 2026 (April): Full WITB breakdown with new McLaren irons
Best fairway woods of 2026: The most versatile fairway woods + the most forgiving fairway woods
Gary Woodland’s winning WITB: 2026 Texas Children’s Houston Open
What’s the story behind Webb Simpson’s custom-stamped irons?
Cadillac Championship Tour Report: Spieth’s sizable changes, McLaren Golf launches, and more
The 24 players who can win the Masters
Rory McIlroy’s winning WITB: 2026 Masters
Kristoffer Reitan’s winning WITB: 2026 Truist Championship
J.J. Spaun’s winning WITB: 2026 Valero Texas Open
Alex Fitzpatrick WITB 2026 (May)
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (15 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus...
Kristoffer Reitan’s winning WITB: 2026 Truist Championship
Driver: Ping G440 Max (9 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 60 TX 3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees) Shaft:...
WITB Time Machine: Rory McIlroy’s winning WITB, 2021 Truist Championship
Rory McIlroy’s victory at the 2021 Wells Fargo Championship 2021 (now the Truist Championship) marked a significant return to form,...
Collin Morikawa WITB 2026 (May)
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D LS (8 degrees) Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 60 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade SIM Tour (14 degrees) Shaft:...
-
Equipment2 weeks agoJustin Rose WITB 2026 (April): Full WITB breakdown with new McLaren irons
-
Equipment1 week agoWhat’s the story behind Webb Simpson’s custom-stamped irons?
-
Equipment2 weeks agoCadillac Championship Tour Report: Spieth’s sizable changes, McLaren Golf launches, and more
-
Whats in the Bag3 days ago
Kristoffer Reitan’s winning WITB: 2026 Truist Championship
-
Whats in the Bag1 week agoCameron Young’s winning WITB: 2026 Cadillac Championship
-
Whats in the Bag3 weeks agoNelly Korda WITB 2026 (April)
-
Equipment2 weeks agoJustin Rose on the switch to McLaren Golf, learnings from previous equipment moves
-
Tour Photo Galleries2 weeks agoPhotos from the 2026 Cadillac Championship
link alternatif ion casino
Jul 17, 2021 at 6:37 am
Ion Casino
Ion casino is a trustworthy and best on the internet casino site coming from
2010 that has served millions of gamers in Asia. Ion casino or also referred to as Ionclub is the top
ranking choice site because that provides the finest experience for
internet gambling players in Dalam negri. With an established license to run, this provider guarantees that
players help to make bets without risk, credibility and can be depended on.
Pingback: Launch Angle Vs. Angle Of Attack In Golf - Everything You Need To Know - (MUST READ Before You Buy)
Scot
Oct 20, 2020 at 4:09 am
Hi, yeah this piece of writing is in fact good and I have learned lot of things from it on the
topic of blogging. thanks.
Tim Janssen
Mar 29, 2020 at 11:05 am
What is the difference for the ball flight? When you instead of changing the attack angle you just optimize the driver loft, with your current attack angle?
Bob
Feb 9, 2019 at 11:13 pm
Dustin Johnson does not have an “up” AOA. Quite the opposite. He is negative -4.5 on average.
Reference: Dustin Johnson – Golf Swing Made Simple (YouTube Channel – Meandmygolf)
Andy
Jul 11, 2019 at 5:09 pm
This is not correct. Dustin hits his driver +3 degrees. This is from pgatour.com 2017.
Nuuna
May 31, 2017 at 3:05 pm
None of anything you say makes any sense
Paul
May 30, 2017 at 12:07 pm
Great feedback. I completely agree, there are numerous factors affecting how the clubface interacts with the ball, not least the path the hands take on the downswing and forward swing and the speed and efficiency of the release. It is not merely about swing geometry and club metrics, in my view it is just as much about the dynamism of the strike and its effect on spin and ball speed. This is self-evident with the way top players have always struck the ball. I have yet to hear a convincing explanation of the power fade in terms of club metrics.
Joro
May 29, 2017 at 3:31 pm
That is why the shaft flex and torque is right for your swing.
MBU
May 29, 2017 at 2:23 pm
I for one have found it more beneficial to tee a little under 1/2 inch less than normal. Just a fraction under half a ball showing. It actually gets me more consistent length, and no more hooks.
The slightly off the toe shot certainly works for me. If I neck it, it certainly loses more distance.
I really liked the article, I love the technical stuff…
CheckJV
May 29, 2017 at 11:20 am
Well written article Hunter. Thanks for your contribution to GolfWRX
Hunter Brown
May 29, 2017 at 11:23 am
Thank you!
Sander
May 29, 2017 at 5:25 am
Funny how few people have knowledge about golf AND statistics. The writer of this article has taken the driving information of 6 (!) of a total of 242 PGA tour players. Then he has add a few drives from himself with different Angle of Attacks that he is not used to hit to complete the “proof”. I appreciate the effort, but if this article was sent to a scientific paper publisher it would disappear in the bin straight away.
Hunter Brown
May 29, 2017 at 11:22 am
Thanks for the feedback and your thoughts. The real world application was never meant to be scientific. I just wanted to show a simple example of actual real world numbers and what might happen. The science in the article was in the scenario that I shared from Fredrik Tuxen, the CTO of TrackMan. He has gathered this information from the millions of shots captured by TrackMan. I am just a golf pro so I leave the science up to much smarter people than me.
DrRob1963
May 30, 2017 at 3:39 am
Could you do this experiment with the “Iron Byron” to take the human element out of the equation? That could give definitive optimal strike criteria for maxing out our drivers!
H
May 29, 2017 at 3:24 am
Read about Inertia, you numbnuts
Juaney
May 29, 2017 at 12:43 am
Can’t wait for the next year or two when golf club makers come up with the newest technology and market the heck out their new drivers: “Feeling down on your driver? Let the New Callaway Carrier Carry you to New Heights! Our New Face Angle Pendulum Technology detects your angle of attack and adjusts accordingly to give you the right angle at impact specifically designed for your swing!”
And the year after they’ll include the Slice/Draw adjuster.
Richie Hunt
May 29, 2017 at 12:28 am
In the scenario stated, Tuxen said in 2013 that the upward strike would travel 28 yards offline compared to the downward strike of traveling 22 yards offline. If we are using a PGA Tour data where the fairways on average are 28 yards wide and a golfer is aiming at the middle of the fairway…the upward strike would travel 42 feet from the edge of the fairway. The downward strike would travel 24 feet offline.
So using the strokes gained methodology is misleading because as we know…the further the ball is from the edge of the fairway the more likely the golfer will have a have a worse lie. Either a worse lie from the rough (taller rough), fairway bunkers, hazards, etc. There is a strong statistical correlation to Distance to Edge of Fairway and hit fairway bunker % and missed fairway – other %.
For instance, last season a player that was 24′ from the edge of the fairway (downward strike) on average would rank 40th in Avg. Distance from the Edge of the Fairway. The 42′ from the edge of the fairway (upward strike) would rank dead last in Avg. Distance to the Edge of the Fairway. I don’t think there’s really much of a way somebody could accurately determine how much being more offline would matter given how holes are differently designed with different penalties and features.
Hunter Brown
May 29, 2017 at 11:25 am
Richie I really appreciate the reply here and sharing your insight. I have much to learn from you and others. I look forward to continuing to understand more. Thanks!
Ohhh
May 30, 2017 at 1:44 pm
Yeah, Richie, exactly!
And besides – look at all the different course designs. Not every bomber likes to play places like Hilton Head or Merion because they’re too damned narrow for them. So where is THAT data?
Calheel
May 28, 2017 at 8:11 pm
Excellent article and Biltmore Forest is one of the finest courses I’ve had the pleasure of playing. You are a fortunate man!
Hunter Brown
May 29, 2017 at 11:26 am
Thank you and I am extremely humbled to be a part of such a great place
Michael
May 28, 2017 at 6:17 pm
Great, Great article!
Hunter Brown
May 29, 2017 at 11:27 am
Thanks Michael. I appreciate you taking the time to read and reply
Mat
May 28, 2017 at 6:17 pm
Thank you Hunter. Finally, someone willing to come out and say that it’s a balance of different variables. I find it constantly funny how opinion articles on here so often state things like “this is the best way according to Trackman.” No. Never is. It’s the best way to achieve a maximum of a certain variable. Hitting up gets you more distance until hitting up gets you less accuracy than you want for that distance. Hitting up, lowering the spin… all nice things on optimal days. Until we’re all playing indoor golf on machines, we don’t need to be such absolutists. Thanks for this!
Hunter Brown
May 29, 2017 at 11:28 am
Great stuff Mat. You bring up a lot of great points. I still haven’t ever heard TrackMan tell me something was good or bad
Jeff LeFevre
May 28, 2017 at 5:55 pm
As an older and smaller player on a long course I used to practice hitting with the old persimmon driver (trying to hit a top spin type shot) so the driver would go a reasonable distance. We didnt have any high tech gear and even a video camera was rare, which meant that you just had to go on the course and see if you were hitting it better than you normally did. I must confess that 20+ years in the army meant that I was fairly fit which helped. We never had the option to buy a low spin club back then. We used to install fibre inlays, try different shafts, maybe add or remove some weight, install your favorite grip and that was all you could do. While my AoA was a distinct advantage this is not such of an advantage nowadays as I’ve tried the latest low spin drivers and they are spinning too low. While I used to be really long for my size most of my mates can either keep up or get it past me now.
Tony Wright
May 28, 2017 at 5:27 pm
One of the best articles on this topic I have ever read…..thank you.
Is not perhaps one of the areas of confusion on this related to the concept “Hitting Up” or “Hitting Down” ? If you have a negative angle of attack at impact, are you not striking the ball before Low Point? And if you have a positive angle of attack at impact, are you not striking the ball ahead of swing Low Point? I would love to hear your feedback on this question….again thanks for the article.
Hunter Brown
May 29, 2017 at 11:30 am
Tony – thanks so much for the kind words. You are absolutely correct on the correlation of Attack Angle and Low Point. Generally speaking for every degree up or down you are hitting it is about 1 inch from low point.
Tom Duckworth
May 28, 2017 at 4:30 pm
I try to have just a little forward shaft lean at impact so I know I didn’t release too soon and it feels like a more solid and controlled hit. That is offset by tilting back with my upper body to have a slight upward attack angle.
Hunter Brown
May 29, 2017 at 11:31 am
Great point here Tom. There is definitely a difference between hitting up and hitting up compressed
Bobalu
May 28, 2017 at 12:57 pm
Man, your roll out is incredible! I would I love to get nearly 40 yds of roll with my 100 mph driver swing. I’m +3 on AoA with driver, but I don’t play on rock hard fairways.
Hunter Brown
May 29, 2017 at 11:33 am
Roll out on TrackMan is a calculated number. That doesn’t by any means that is is not accurate however. Roll out is based on landing angle, ball speed(which is pretty much the same on all normal golf shots), and spin rate. The assumed variable here is average PGA Tour Fairway firmness. So probably slightly more firm than most
William Baker
May 28, 2017 at 12:30 pm
Nice work Brown! I liked this article a lot- even before I saw the authorship.
Hunter Brown
May 29, 2017 at 11:36 am
Thanks William, hope you are well
Cory
May 28, 2017 at 12:17 pm
Really good summary of what can be a confusing topic. Any advice for how to hit more down with driver? I struggle getting my attack angle to numbers that are sometimes 7 or 8 degrees up.
Hunter Brown
May 29, 2017 at 11:35 am
Thanks Cory. Hard to say without actually seeing you swing and play. But here are some general points. Ball position, lead arm/shoulder at impact, club path, and how you use the ground are all areas to look at
Cory
May 29, 2017 at 5:01 pm
Thanks Hunter, From video it definitely seems like I push off the ground and have that jumping look so might have to look at that along with what you mentioned. Appreciate the ideas, seems like lots out there on how to increase attack angle but not as much on the reverse. Thanks again!
SH
May 28, 2017 at 11:54 am
Horrible assumption of Hogan’s set up and equipment. Was anybody able to actually and accurately measure the face angle of his driver? Everybody says it was open, and, at E8 swing weight to boot. Try swinging any of the modern drivers with a E8 swing weight, you’d be hard-pressed to turn it over, it will want to stay open and leak out, just as Hogan wanted for his preferred cut away from the left side of the fairway. And if you try hard to turn it, it will dump on you so fast it will die left and not go anywhere.
What loft and face angle did you use for this test and do you know the weight-bias inside the head?
Q
May 28, 2017 at 6:14 pm
They will never let out the real secrets anyway
H
May 29, 2017 at 9:15 am
Moe’s swing has been debunked.
Jack
May 29, 2017 at 12:54 am
I know he is basically the father of the modern swing I guess, but why do people care about his details? He played with very different equipment and balls, not to mention courses. What’s important is his swing fundamentals. And he clearly sets up open to the ball for a fade according to the illustration. Stays that way until he gets to driver which is a draw setup. Interesting…
Ga
Oct 9, 2020 at 1:27 am
Hogan started to change to square to closed with his feet starting with the mid irons to the long irons. He has foot illustrations for every club in the bag.
Hunter Brown
May 29, 2017 at 11:38 am
Assumptions are exactly that. Taking a stab at something without actually having proof. I simply wanted to use it as a way to explain that maybe this is what Hogan was doing without knowing it.