As mentined in other thread ( 2017 plans ) i have got booked a 1 hour session on a golf simulator faily close to where I live. Rather that just go up there and aimlessly hit 60 balls in an hour my plan is as follows.
As I currently dont know any of my " numbers " on my current driver or ball I have planned to hit 5 drives with my current driver ( Mcgregor eye o matic 13 deg ) with current ball Titliest velocity. This in therory should tie up to what I normally see on the course. a lowish drive of about 200yds and an estimated swing speed of about 85mph.
Thanks to Scott who has introduced another ball into the equation ( LOL ) the TM project A. I will effectively double up all the tests I do with 2 different balls. Should be interesting.
I will then use my new driver TM SLDR set at its most forgiving 3 shots on each ball.
I will then use another new driver TM SLDR S. 14 deg. 3 shots with each ball.
I will then use my highest loft driver I currently have a Ping 15 deg. 3 shots with each ball.
Next I will use the driver I intend to become the driver I will normally use ( SLDR ) over a variety of adjustments.
3 shots with each ball on full draw setting.
3 shots with each ball on highest lost setting 13.5 deg with most forgiving setting.
After all these tests ( time permitting ) I should be able to deduce something, even if its only what my average swing speed is. Im not going to murder the ball, just play it as I would play a typical tee shot during a round.
Does this all sound OK ? or am I going at it the wrong way ? All advice gladly taken. CAC
Had the session today and a few good bits and a few not good bits. Arrived 10 mins early and the young lady showed me to my booth. Showed me the controls and away i went. I had an option of playing varous courses around the world, sawgrass, pebble, st andrews etc. As I was only gathering driver stats I decided to use the virtual range with a target at 275yds. Way past my best drive.
After inspecting the stats on the screen, I was disapointed to see that stats for AOA and ball spin were not availiable. The girl told me she was not an expert on the computer side of things and the tech man wasnt in so I had to do with the stats I had. Club speed, ball speed, smash factor, carry and total distance. Here is a sinopsis of my session.
I hit atotal of 55 drives and discounted 4 of them as were big duffs and didnt want my mistakes effecting the stats. I now had 51 drives with 5 different stats for each swing. I used only 2 drivers as I thought I would be pushed for time trying 4-5 drivers and having to record the ststs by hand. Club 1 was TM sldr 12deg. Club 2 was TM SLDRS 14 deg. I also used 2 balls. Ball 1 was Titliest velocity. Ball 2 was TM project A.
51 drives av club speed 95.3 mph. fastest 99 mph. Av ( off33 )drive velocity ball=95.1mph. Project A ( off 18 ) 95.8 mph ( no diff ).
51 drives av smash factor 1.32 velocity 1.36, Project A 1.24 ( interesting )
Ball speed off SLDR av from 40 hits 125.6 mph. Ball speed off SLDRS av from 11 hits 125.3 mph. ( no diff ).
Smash factor SLDR av from 40 hits 1.32. Smash factor from SLDRS av from 11 hits 1.29 ( hmm? )
Total distance SLDR av from 40 hits 221 yds. Total distance SLDRS from 11 hits 219 yds. ( no real diff )
Overall I was very happy with the session. I was very suprised to learn that my swing speed was 95mph up to 99 mph.
I was suprised to learn that my smash factor was only 1.32
I think that the new club SLDR has given me the extra distance although this can be inproved further with an inprovement in smash factor,. All comments or questions welcome. CAC.
cac handed Geordie.
From Golf Digest:
Tiger Woods has a smash factor of 1.48. Bubba Watson is around 1.52. The average amateur has a smash factor of about 1.20
So Cac, your 1.32 isn't too bad from GD information.
What's the shaft in each driver Cac? I would look into the shaft specs like torque, weight, flex, etc. I think that can make a big difference in the smash factor.
When I got fitted last year, while I wasn't swinging great that day, my driver smash factor ranged from 139 (142 with my old driver) to 145 depending on the driver and the shaft.
Did you have any data on the apex of your swings? Curious about the trajectory and launch angle for each.
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The smash factor is a bit surprising to me as we're talking about a driver. For your swing speed you should be generating better ball speed. Quality of contact is the issue. I would have been interesting to have tracked where you are striking the club on the face to see if you have a set-up issue or that the club is simply just too demanding for your swing. It's not helpful that you're missing the AoA and spin numbers as they tell you a lot about your swing and what the club is doing in terms of adjusting weights.
Unfortunately there is just too much missing data to draw any meaningful conclusions. Another session with the full suite of data is required to make any more informed adjustments.
here's a short video showing an example of off center shots and the resulting trackman data, including smash factor.
http://blog.trackmangolf.com/hit-it-further-improve-smash-factor/
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Smash factor is mostly a matter of WHERE on the face you hit the ball and how well the ball reacts to your swing speed. Some balls are designed to work best at tour player club head speeds and some work best for lower speeds. This said, the main factor that efeects ball speed for a certain swing speed is how close to the center of the club face you hit the ball and how SQUARE the face is to your swing path. IF the face is either open or closed at impact you will hit the ball with a glancing blow and your ball speed and smash factor will be low. I have been using car wax on the face of my woods at the driving range for over 12 years now, and I would highly recommend that you do the same thing to show you exactly where on the club face you are hittng the ball with each of your woods. Center contact is key to maximum smash factor with all of your clubs, especially with your woods. Next time you hit balls with your driver, apply a thin layer of car wax on the face of the driver and hit FIVE balls. Then look at the impact mark for each ball and see if they are CLOSE together or if they are spread over a large area. If they are in one small area, that means your swing is pretty consistent. If they are in a small area BUT off center, you will want to make a small change in your setup to correct for the off center hits. If they are all over the place, you need to work on your swing to get it more consistent. ONCE you get your impact marks in one place and in the center of the face, you can work on how to get the most distance with the club head speed you have. That will mean getting your launch angle and attack angle correct for your swing speed, and get the backspin to around 2000 to 2500 RPM. Any more than 2500 and you will be losing distance. And less than 2000 and you most likely will be losing distance due to the ball falling out of the air too soon due to lack of lift from the backspin.
Don
Putting is easy if you have the Right Putter.
All great comments.
Scott- I can get data for launch angle and apex. I have emailed to see if I can get AOA and ball speed.
Shaft in the SLDR is stiff shaft. SLDRS is Reg. Although I cant really tell the difference. Dont know about torque or weight. Also great video. Have to get some DR Scholl.
Scomac. Totally agree with your comments and I have emailed the simulator office to see if the data I want is availiable.
Don. All good stuff. All makes sense. I really need AOA and ball spin going forward.
I have a chart that gives data on swing of 95mph. It says ball speed off 137mph , Total dist of 240 yds and an AOA of -5. All these stats match oneof my better swings apart from AOA which I dont know but would guess it in the area of -5. CAC
cac handed Geordie.
SOunds like Don and Sco have this down pat Cac. I would do a little investigation on your shafts so you at least know how they compare to each other weight wise. I've learned for me, my swing doesn't like a heavy shaft. And I've put in new shafts to get more launch angle. All that can make sure you're getting the most out of YOUR swings. Maybe you pick up a little club head speed or maybe one gives you a more desired launch angle.
I plan to grab some Dr Sholls spray myself. That's easier than the tape I carry around in the trunk-it golf case I have in the back of the car.
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GolfGearReview.com Administrator
My swing from a couple of years ago. Dont think it has changed much CAC,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6HCWI8aDNw
cac handed Geordie.
I'm curious as to how you became a cross-handed golfer? Was this something that came to you from another game that you played prior to golf?
The reason I ask is because I see that as potentially a limiting factor when looking at your swing. I'm surprised that you can generate as much swing speed as you do with the limited back swing. Also, I wonder if your cross-handedness is resulting in a flat and abreviated follow through. I would expect you to be a low ball hitter with a left-to-right ball flight with a tendency to slice.
Scomac not the prettiest swing in the world I know ( HA HA ) but its the way ive always played from a boy knocking the ball around on the field before I started playing golf properly at age about 30.
I was suprised the swing speed that the simulator gave ( av 95mph ) I would have believed about 85mph.
When I am playing well I hit the ball about 210yd but I am very straight off the tee. No hooks or slices apart from a very bad shot. Although I do hit a low ball. That is an area I am planning to address. I predict my AOA is about -5 degree down. This has yet to be measured. CAC
cac handed Geordie.
Interesting. If your typical tee shot is ~210 yd including both carry and roll than I would think that's probably more indicative of an 85 mph swing speed than the 95 that you were measured at. It makes one wonder just how accurately calibrated the simulator was?
That said, if you're hitting it straight, then that's half the battle, so you must be getting the clubface squared up to path consistently.
As far as improving the AoA off the tee, that is only going to be accomplished by steepening the plane of your swing. That's a very major swing change, so you will have to ask yourself if you are prepared to go through with it and all the negatives that can be associated with such a change.
Sometimes it maybe best to learn to live with the swing that you've got if it's consistent and then work on improving your score with the short game, putting and course management. This is the sort of conclusion that I have come to with my own game. Golf is not a game of perfect!
The first thing I would recommend you do would be to learn to swing UP at the ball with your driver and fairway woods off the tee. This alone will gain you a LOT of distance off the tee. Martin Chuck did a video os doing this simple change and he gained about 30 yards just with this one change. He is the same instructor that did the video Scott posted the link to that you watched about center contact.
Don
Putting is easy if you have the Right Putter.
Quite interesting. I wasn't expecting to see the crosshandedness either. I did see a young man playing that way, near scratch golfer, on one of the GolfChannel Big Break shows. He grew up playing hockey and making 'slap shots' and that carried over to golf somehow.
Cac, I agree with Sco: to really make the improvement you need, would be a big change. Depending on your long term goals, it might make more sense to leave the swing where it is, try to improve the short game and game management and lower scores that way.
All depends on 1) the investment you're willing to make, 2) the goals you set for yourself, and 3) your patience level...
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Scomac and Scott the figure of 210yd is the distance I have been getting with my current 13.5 deg Mcgregor driver. I added weight to the inside of the head so it is a bit heavier. This also may be slowing the swing. The new stats and swingspeed of 95mph ( average ) are with my new TM SLDR driver. The best overall distances I was getting were over 235yds. At this moment in time I would be very happy if I could hit a drive 230+ yd on a regular basis. This should ( in theory ) be attainable by minimising my body sway and improving my smash factor by getting more persistant contacts in the sweet spot and getting my AOA up a few degrees. So not really a radical swing change required as yet,. However this may change if I get to this stage then want to improve further. CAC.
cac handed Geordie.