The Green Fee You were gifted a Club Champion fitting for the holidays and you are watching all the Youtube channels hitting the new stuff. Now you are excited to book your driver fitting and cant wait to hit all the new stuff. I know its exciting but there are some really important things to look for when you get fit for your new driver
Important Data
Lets talk about the important numbers you should be looking for when looking at your fitting data.
Club Head Speed- How fast the club is travelling at impact. Generally speaking the higher the club head speed the further you will hit it
Ball Speed- How fast the ball travels off the face.
Smash Factor- Measures efficiency of the ball speed based on swing speed. Ball Speed / Club Head Speed
Launch Angle- Measured in degrees. Tells you the angle the ball leaves the club head. Too high and the ball speeds all its speed going up, too low and the ball doesnt carry enough
Spin- Measured in RPM. Too much and the ball balloons up and not out. Too little and the ball knuckles and drops out of the sky
Carry Distance- How far the ball goes in the air.
Swing Speed
There is no optimal swing speed. Obviously higher is better but your swing speed is what it is. The reason it is important to know is it starts the journey. Based on swing speed we begin to know what launch characteristics we need to be looking for. A person swinging the club at 115 MPH different launch and spin numbers to optimize their distance than someone swinging 85 MPH
We also want to know swing speed to begin the journey to find the right flex. While the fitter will fine tune what you need, seeing the swing speed helps them narrow down the flex you need.
Ball Speed
When I fit myself I almost always look at this number to decide the driver I am going to narrow it down to. I am always looking for the highest ball speed. I can fine tune launch and spin with loft, weight placement, and shaft. Everything else being equal the club with the higher ball speed will go further.
Smash Factor
This also tells us a ton about how well we are swinging the club. This measures how efficent out club head speed is. It can also tell us quite a bit about the strike location. Generally speaking you will get a higher smash factor the closer to the sweet spot you are.
Maybe you are swinging one club a few miles an hour faster but its not going as far. If the Smash Factor or efficiency is down it shows that the strike location is off and we are wasting those extra MPHs.
Launch and Spin
I’m putting these two together because they work together to help optimize carry distance. There isnt a perfect number for every person. The perfect numbers varies on swing speed. As a general you will want a higher launch and higher spin the slower your swing speed is. This will help you maximize carry distance. With that being said too much of a good thing is a bad thing!
At 90 MPH swing speed you should be looking for something to launch anywhere from 11-14 degrees and spin should be around 2000-2500 RPM. At 100 MPH something launching around 12 degrees with spin around 2000 RPM is going to optimize your launch conditions. You could venture in the 1800’s and 1900’s but while that looks great in a simulator out on the course the lack of spin can make the the driver harder to square up consistently. For someone swinging the club around 105 MPH a launch of 10-12 degrees with spin below 2000 is great.
Carry Distance
Notice I said carry distance not total distance. I want to know how far the ball will travel in the air. Once its on the ground it can do anything. I dont know if you know this but outside it changes all the time. Some days you play its dry and will run out a ton. Other times youll play after it just rained and youll not have any roll. Optimizing your club to get maximum roll is great when its dry but not when its wet. Optimize it for carry and youll get benefits in all conditions.
A few other tips
Dont kill yourself– Youre going to hit a bunch of golf balls. Take breaks. Listen to your body. If you are starting to hit the ball poorly give your self a few minutes. Grab some water
Ask Questions. This is your fitting and your hard earned dollars. Ask questions. Dont be afraid of the fitter. They want you to be happy. Most of them are golf equipment geeks anyway and would love to talk shop.
Trust the fitter. Dont be the guy who second guesses the fitter. The worst is if you say “I hit it further on the course” or the classic “Your machine is off”. Its not and you dont hit it as far as you think you do.
Also dont be the guy who spends an hour in a fitting only to not buy the driver they fit you for because you wanted the other one more. Feel free to do that but dont complain when it sucks
Bring your current club. Test it against your current driver. If you take it in and the new stuff cant beat your current stuff why buy it? Having your current driver will help you really know if you hit the new one better. Hell maybe you can tweak your current driver with a shaft change or a setting change to really optimize its performance
