My Driver Says 9 Degrees of Loft...Damn I'm good!

You're about to buy a new driver after finally retiring old faithful that you bought 10 years ago. Good for you! So you grab a fancy new driver off the rack and make sure it's a 9-degree like old faithful. You take a few swings into the net and drop down the Visa. Purchase complete. Good, er..bad for you!

Here's what just happened: you fell for outdated convention. Your old faithful worked well 10 years ago because at that time golf balls spun more. Multi-piece, non-wound balls of today spin much less. Hence, 9-degrees today ain't going to cut it...unless, of course, you swing 115 MPH or more, with an upward angle of attack, and if you do, say hello to Michelson on the first tee at the Masters.

We mortals need more loft, partly because of the less spinny balls of today, but also because even 10 years ago, 9-degrees of loft was too little. For swing speeds in the "normal human being range" of 105 MPH and less, serious loft is needed, where 10 degrees is a MINIMUM. The caveat here however is angle of attack, which is seldom referenced by the guy with the name tag at the 'mart' who's "helping you". If you're steep, you need more loft. If you hit up on the ball, less will do. For example: I swing 100 MPH most days with a 2 degree angle of attack. I use a head with 12 degrees of loft and a 1 degree closed face angle - which really means the true dynamic loft is 13 degrees! (one degree hook adds loft, visa versa for one degree open). 12 loft gives me the 1:4 smash factor i'm looking for and the mid trajectory I crave, with roll on the end. I couldn't get a 9 degree off the ground unless I seriously changed my swing, which assumes I would know how to do that effectively to begin with.

One other note...the major OEM's have been tricking us. A "9" on the sole, might mean 10 or 11 degrees of loft. A decent shop can measure loft for you before you buy. A good idea before you plop down the Visa.

Net, net...go with more loft and keep in mind two primary metrics right off the bat: (1) ball speed, and (2) distance. After 1 and 2, tweaking spin rate and launch angle will be negligible as 95% of what you're looking for from a driver will reveal itself in measuring ball speed (smash factor 1:4 or 1:5 if you're damn good) and distance through loft.