What is the ideal ball flight for a driver?

captainidiot · 08-14-2005 , 02:09 PM

Just wondering what it should look like. Anyone have any insight or idea, any info would be greatly appreciated!

golfaddict · 08-14-2005 , 06:17 PM

no clue, but my boss drives 250 yards consistently. his ball flight is a little funky. it does not have the typical curve up and down. it actually shoots low then for whatever reason, the ball starts going up and the finally arcing down. kinda like an lop sided bell curve.

Cole_21 · 08-14-2005 , 11:18 PM

Everybody's ball flight will be different but "golfaddict's" boss has the most common ball flight.

Illegal_Alien · 12-25-2006 , 11:27 PM

A perfect ball flight is a high, penetrating flight with little backspin that descends at a 35 degree angle. You don't want your driver to spin back in the fairway nor do you want it to carry 150 yards and roll another 80 yards. Too low or too high is not good. However, I like to error on the low side because it's easier to control. The loft of your driver, the shaft flex and kickpoint contribute most to your flight. It's more beneficial to play a high lofted driver(like 10.5) and then bring the ball flight and spin rate down with the shaft. A heavier, stiffer shaft(especially in the tip) with a high kick-point will do the trick in most cases.

**SWFlaGolfer** · 12-26-2006 , 01:05 PM

Don't you want to adjust this for conditions, or is your math above what's considered ideal for all conditions? I've always tried to play wet conditions with a lower loft driver to avoid plugging the ball in the fairway before it has a chance to roll at all.

Illegal_Alien · 12-26-2006 , 11:48 PM

Think about it, the ground always provides more friction than the air. How much roll are you going to get in wet conditions anyway? If anything you might want to hit it lower in dry conditions to take advantage of the hard fairways. I always want to hit it high this way my ball won't roll into trouble as much. Find out how fast you swing on a real launch monitor and then go from there. For example, if you swing 100mph you should carry the ball about 250 yards with the driver. If you carry it between 235 and 250 then your doing fine but if your only carrying it 200-220 yards with that speed then something is wrong. Shaft might be too stiff, loft of driver too low or a combination of those and other things might be contributing to your distance loss...

Illegal_Alien · 12-27-2006 , 10:31 PM

Plus you asked me the "ideal" ball flight. Every player has his own preffered flight. Most pro's want to hit their woods high and wedges low. Low spinning shots are easier to control. If you prefer to play the ball low then go for it. I know many great players who flight it low. I flight my irons low on purpose. I move the ball back in my stance, take an extra club or two, use an abbreviated backswing and hit a nice, low, penetrating shot with lots of spin. These are great scoring shots in any conditions plus they come in handy in the Northeast where I live. October thru May can be very windy. Hopefully we don't get any snow and we can play most of the year!!

**SWFlaGolfer** · 12-28-2006 , 11:55 AM

Last I checked my swing it was at 94mph and I typically carry around 230-240, so I'm pretty close. This is why golf is such a great sport, always something to tweak. I've taken your advice and I went to the range and practiced purely pitching for 30 minutes. By the end of hte 30 minutes I was finding myself able to use backspin to drop and stop the ball very close to the flag which was about 50 yards away using a 60 degree Cleveland. Granted, that has so much loft that you don't really need a lot of backspin to stop the ball but it is working for me. I think I'll start trying to only use certain clubs from here on out when I hit the range. My usual progression is hitting 5 or so balls with the wedge, then 5 or so with a 6 iron, then 5 or so with a 4 iron, then clubbing the rest with my driver and hybrid club. Time to re-think that thanks to your advice -- and it does seem to help, but the real test will be after I play in a couple of weeks to see how it helps me overall.

Illegal_Alien · 12-28-2006 , 10:41 PM

also, try hitting a PW 50-80 yards with an abbreviated swing and then try a 9-iron from 100-110 yards or so. If you can master these short controlled shots then you can learn anything. Plus these shots will come in handy in windy conditions. I play in alot of wind here in the northeast and if I'm 150 yards out playing into a 12-20mph wind I might take out a 5 or 6-iron and hit a nice wind piercing, penatrating shot. Despite the fact that I can carry a 5-iron about 200 yards under normal conditions. 94mph is a solid speed. PGA pro's average 110mph with their drivers. I can swing above 130 mph but my playing speed is around 118 mph. I would get tired if I swung that fast all the time plus I would be all over the planet...

ForeLeft · 01-15-2007 , 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by golfaddict

no clue, but my boss drives 250 yards consistently. his ball flight is a little funky. it does not have the typical curve up and down. it actually shoots low then for whatever reason, the ball starts going up and the finally arcing down. kinda like an lop sided bell curve.

This ball flight is not a good ball flight. If you look at equipment and golf balls from about 10 to 15 years ago, then this would be an ideal ball flight. With the advances in techonology players are looking for a higher launch, lower spinnind ball flight. You want to see a launch angle of 12-15 degrees, with about 2800 to 3400 rpm of spin.
Your bosses ball flight is a result of too much spin on the golf ball. If he were to get fit for a new driver he may see a gain of 10+ yards depending on the equipment that he is currently play. If his equipment is older, say 6 to 15 years, he could see a gain of more yardage. The important thing is that he be fit by his local PGA professional.