Posts Tagged ‘angle of attack’

2009 PGA/LPGA Tour Trackman Data

February 8th, 2010

Here’s some information that was provided in the January 2010 Trackman Newsletter.  I thought some of you would be interested in this info.

2009 Tour Averages

2009 Tour Averages

Things to take notice of include carry distances and Max Height.  A properly fit set of clubs should roughly max out at same height.  When it reaches that height and the angle of descent will vary but as you can see, it is within a few yards of each other.  Angle of Attack is another key variable to look at.  Most fittings will recommend an upward Angle of Attack for driver.  Remember that a positive AoA is designed only for distance.  There is some that believe that an upward AoA can be harder to control or that swinging more right to make an upward AoA work is just too hard to repeat.  This is because they have a negative AoA with all the other clubs.

It’s possible that they just haven’t been doing it (swinging up) long enough to be comfortable.  It’s really hard to say either way but you can see that LPGA pros are hitting up because they want the distance benefit.  Follow me on twitter @johngrahamgolf and give me your opinion.

Angle of Attack

October 11th, 2009
I was on the lesson tee today working with a young beginner and like most he was trying to lift the ball in the air. I talked to him about how we should strike the ground after the ball and how that it is accomplished. We tried a couple different things but nothing seemed to get through. I couldn’t get him to picture a steeper angle of attack.

So, I came up with a new visulization on the fly and here’s how it goes. I asked him if he had ever skipped stones before. He’s pretty young but he said, “Sure, at our cottage.” I said great. So, I set out a towel on the ground and we backed away about 30 feel or so. I asked him to throw a ball like he was skipping a stone and try to fly the ball and land it on the towel. He gave it a nice and low sidearm throw but never really came close. I asked him if he could see how low the ball was and how shallow the angle to the target was. He said sure.

Then I told him to move up until he was six feet away. Make the same side arm throw and see how you do now. Obviously, he hit the towel everytime. Then I asked him if the ball angle of attack into the towel had changed. He said, “Yea, it’s more up and down instead of across now.”

Perfect. That’s what we need the club head to do. Your angle of attack was too similar to that far side arm throw. Within 2 balls, he was striking the ball then the turf and he had a bunch more speed with it. So I asked him how it felt different. He told me that he felt like he was trying to hit the ball so it would go deep into the ground.

Perfect, great picture. I really liked this picture. It made it very obvious why we want the clubhead to come in with a bent right wrist vs. a straight right wrist.

I hope this picture helps everyone.

Increase Driving Distance

October 9th, 2009

A few months ago, a professional long driver came to our course to conduct a clinic. He gave some golf lessons on how to hit the ball farther. He was a big guy. Tall and well built but his swing didn’t seem overly dynamic.

The thing that interested me the most was his knowledge of the swing and distance maximization. He knew to aim right if he was going to swing up(D Plane knowledgable). He knew to swing up on the ball. This allowed him to use a 5* driver. It’s the ability to use lower lofted drivers that reduces the spin. As long as they can get a launch angle high enough to keep to ball in the air. Let me tell ya. This guy hit it a mile in the air with a 5* driver. Very impressive.

As I look at most of my students that I have taught for a while. Distance is one of the things they all share. I like it when my player’s pound it. I’ve said before many times that I teach speed first and accuracy second.

If you want to hit it long, focus on relaxing the wrists and turning as hard as you can.