Optimal Loft
Let’s talk about optimal loft. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen a swing speed under 100 miles per hour with the driver loft setting at 9º and under. What that tells me is that the golfer has no clue how speed and loft dictate the distance that the ball carries.
It is literally a “Hey Jim, what is your loft at on your driver?” and Jim is 6’8″ and swings 117 miles per hour on a bad day and he says “8.5º” so then the guy that asks is 5’2″ and cannot swing faster than 86 miles per hour with driver.
The point is just because it works for one person, and they get phenomenal results, does not mean that it will work for you.
The best advice I can give is overspeed training. If you want to hit the ball farther, you have to train to hit it farther. I do not care what your age is. There are golfers mid 70’s overspeed training and have no issues. The only issue that exists is that YOU DON’T DO IT. My philosophy is that if you think you are too old to train, then you are too old to golf. Golf is a game AND it’s a sport. Sports require fitness in some capacity.
Every club manufacturer would love for you to not train so they can sell you on the next $800 driver that goes 3 yards further than your current driver. They know that you will buy it and waste your money on it, when the reality is you are the biggest distance gainer that there is. 5%-8% distance gained just by training! That’s 20 yards! This chart is an optimal loft graphic adjustment of the numbers provided by Kevin Valentine Golf Pro – Golf made Simple.
These numbers indicate that if you cannot swing driver faster than 110mph, then a 9º loft is robbing you of distance, and perhaps you should set your driver to 10.5º loft instead. Sure, you will no longer be able to strut around with a 7.5º loft setting, but honestly, you cannot use it effectively anyway. A Ferrari does no good in a parking space. Increase the optimal loft of the driver to get effective gains. The truth is there is benefit in a higher lofted driver up to 90 miles per hour before you see a dip. Every wonder why you can hit your 3-Fairway wood further than your driver? Loft is probably the answer.
Here is the best part. Increasing the optimal loft on the driver opens the clubface, so you can swing faster to get better distance. The main reason most golfer’s deloft the driver is to close the face to avoid the slice, yet that is only placing a band-aid on the problem. Start back at the top with fitness and mobility as being a root cause for the wrists stalling in the swing, lack of hip turn, hands too far forward, lead hand staying on top of the swing, etc. Increase the driver’s optimal loft, let the wrists roll, and commit to the swing! Numbers do not lie, only golfers.
Consequently, in the upcoming weeks, you will see that increased swing speed correlates to handicap, and the truth is that speed is the name of the game in this day and age. You can fight it all you want to, but as golf equipment prices soar, the cheapest way to improve is to train yourself. This in turn will turn you into the golfer that you need to be. Amen to that! Optimal loft.
-David