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Smash Factor? How Much Stock Do You Put In It?

JB said:
You are absolutely correct. I was using the analogy and showing apples to oranges. To give you a better answer, it is still important. Very important, but must coincide with good mechanics. Let me use this as an example.

Lets say we are speaking of drivers. And you have perfect smash factor. Now for this example, you are aimed dead left. Great smash factor will yield terrible results. Where is dribbling one off the tee, might still keep you in play.
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I got ya. I think we are going after the same results, just talking about two different fruits in the fruit cocktail that is the perfect golf swing.

Love digging into this stuff, I really do.
 
mancest said:
I think JB mentioned in his 2nd post that he was assuming this discussion was about driver/woods only.

Irons down, it is more about precision and consistency, at least to this hacker.
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Ya we were slightly crossed up, but we're on the same page now I think. I tend to have the same line of thinking you do, absolutely.
 
jlukes said:
If you are getting a truly professional analysis, the fitter/instructor would notice that the launch angle, apex of flight, and angle of descent were not optimal for the iron that was hit
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I agree with that, but those are out of the realm of smash factor when it pertained to what we were originally talking about (maximizing it and how a large smash factor can never be a bad thing.)
 
I think its pretty obvious smash factor is a huge deal for driver fitting. Of course not in a vaccuum (a launch angle of 5 degrees with a 1.5 smash factor is probably not ideal), but certainly is a large indicator with both swing mechanics and a properly fitting driver / shaft combo.

I believe it is also an important factor when considering irons though. In fact, this was one of the first things the fitter looked at when I was trying new irons last year. Of course you aren't going to have massive smash factors, but relatively speaking, the irons that give you a better smash factor are a good place to start. It should be an important factor along with dispersion and launch characteristics in finding the right iron and shaft for your game. For example, just switching shafts in the same iron head produced an increase in smash factor of about 0.08 for my 6 iron leading to about 12 yards more distance.
 
I'll echo what others have said: higher smash factor is better across the board. Realistically, I'm only paying attention to it with the longer clubs in my bag, and with a 6 or 7 iron in a scenario where I'm getting fit for irons.

Smash factor obtained from a good launch monitor (Trackman, Flightscope) is what I love, but that's not always easy to find. I'm a little suspicious of the smash factor readings in the simulators that are in golf shops or other places because I'm not sure that all of those can measure club speed and ball speed independently. Some of them only report ball speed and club speed, and only measure one of those and then use a generic smash factor (based on the club that is hit) to calculate the other speed.
 
I take it with a grain of salt. At my last driver fitting, I was registerring 1.48/1.49/1.5 on the Trackman for Smash factor.

I see it more as a representation of the swing/contact was am able to make, as opposed to the benefit from a piece of equipment (ie. I saw it more as I was swinging well the day of my fitting, as opposed to having a new driver make a difference)

That is just my uninformed thought on it though, and that is based on the mediocre explanation I was given by the pro doing the fitting.
 
I think it's important once you get to certain level of consistency. Meaning at first it might show you mishits vs well struck shots but until you obtain the ability to hit the sweet spot on a regular basis I (as an average golfer) wouldn't look at it alone to choose a new driver for me. Just my completely non professional opinion.
 
Smash factor... Not something I pay attention to really.... If I'm getting good club head speed, ballspeed, launch angles is all I pay attention to in the box stores. Same on the range, and I can see ball flight there.
 
dcbrad said:
I agree with that, but those are out of the realm of smash factor when it pertained to what we were originally talking about (maximizing it and how a large smash factor can never be a bad thing.)
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Agreed. No single launch monitor number can stand alone
 
So looking at the numbers from my fitting today, I averaged a 1.49 with my current driver, 1.50 with a different shaft and a 1.52 with the SLDR. In order to increase carry distance with those smash factor numbers, I essentially need to increase swing speed, or increase launch, or change spin?
 
Philly Golf Guy said:
So looking at the numbers from my fitting today, I averaged a 1.49 with my current driver, 1.50 with a different shaft and a 1.52 with the SLDR. In order to increase carry distance with those smash factor numbers, I essentially need to increase swing speed, or increase launch, or change spin?
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Yes, potentially all of the above. You were hitting all 3 drivers really solidly it appears. Swing speed (outside of swing or strength/flexibility changes) can only be affected by lengthening the driver shaft or lightening the driver. Both of those things can cause consistency issues and actually reduce your smash factor.

Launch and spin changes can absolutely change your carry distance. Depending on your ball speed, there will be ideal spin and launch numbers to optimize your carry. Launch angle can be affected by loft on the club, shaft and club head design. Spin can also be affected by all or the above plus the ball you choose. This is why getting fit on a monitor is so crucial.
 
braddman19 said:
I take it with a grain of salt. At my last driver fitting, I was registerring 1.48/1.49/1.5 on the Trackman for Smash factor.

I see it more as a representation of the swing/contact was am able to make, as opposed to the benefit from a piece of equipment (ie. I saw it more as I was swinging well the day of my fitting, as opposed to having a new driver make a difference)

That is just my uninformed thought on it though, and that is based on the mediocre explanation I was given by the pro doing the fitting.
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That's a pretty good summary of the definition. Now, I have seen differences from driver to driver with Smash Factor. Most of this is with the shaft though. Shorter, heavier shafts usually equal a better smash factor for me.
 
Philly Golf Guy said:
So looking at the numbers from my fitting today, I averaged a 1.49 with my current driver, 1.50 with a different shaft and a 1.52 with the SLDR. In order to increase carry distance with those smash factor numbers, I essentially need to increase swing speed, or increase launch, or change spin?
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What were your launch and spin numbers that were associated with each smash factor?
 
dcbrad said:
What were your launch and spin numbers that were associated with each smash factor?
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Current driver: smash- 1.49, launch - 12.8, spin 2019
Current with different shaft: smash- 1.50, launch - 13.6 spin 2404
SLDR: smash- 1.52, launch - 15.9 spin 2231
 
Philly Golf Guy said:
Current driver: smash- 1.49, launch - 12.8, spin 2019
Current with different shaft: smash- 1.50, launch - 13.6 spin 2404
SLDR: smash- 1.52, launch - 15.9 spin 2231
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Number 2 and 3 look pretty darn good. What ball speed?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
For that ball speed the 3rd option probably got you the most carry, right?

I played around with your numbers on this site:

http://flightscope.com/products/trajectory-optimizer/

And you could get up to another 5 yards of carry with an additional 2 degrees of launch keeping spin about the same. But overall, those numbers are pretty good for that ball speed. Well done!
 
golf4life said:
For that ball speed the 3rd option probably got you the most carry, right?

I played around with your numbers on this site:

http://flightscope.com/products/trajectory-optimizer/

And you could get up to another 5 yards of carry with an additional 2 degrees of launch keeping spin about the same. But overall, those numbers are pretty good for that ball speed. Well done!
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Thanks Brett. I'm gonna have to check out that site. Yeah definitely got the most carry with #3. It was the SLDR at 10.5, so I might have to toy with it in a higher loft to see what happens. The fitter gave me a shaft that was heavier with a little more flex than the stock R1 shaft and you could tell the difference between the two. Now I'm in the market for a Diamana Kai'li 60!
 
Its something I paid attention to during my last fitting. What I saw with it in relation to shafts was the one that fit be best had the highest factor and best launch/spin. Now the interesting part was when I was handed the MB's and was able to produce almost exactly the same numbers as the player iron. Switch heads to a GI head and everything went south. It was a very interesting and enlightening fitting for sure.

I believe it is important as it shows the efficiency of your swing and of the shaft & club head for your swing.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
I've played with flightscope today, while being fitted. Saw low smash factors on not so good hits and awesome ones on the good hits. Bad hits being 1.33-1.38 and good hits consistently 1.47+

(My trajectory (12.2º) is quite low and the spin was crazy low (<2200), exactly what I was looking for.)
 
Wow, those are good numbers - I don't know that I would tinker much with the SLDR unless you did not like the ballflight on the course. Were those max numbers or averages?

Philly Golf Guy said:
Current driver: smash- 1.49, launch - 12.8, spin 2019
Current with different shaft: smash- 1.50, launch - 13.6 spin 2404
SLDR: smash- 1.52, launch - 15.9 spin 2231
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Philly what is your current driver? Seeing that thing almost below 2000 is nuts. You spun the SLDR, which is a low spin driver one and in itself, more than your current gamer. Could absolutely be shaft difference, but that is crazy.
 
dcbrad said:
Here is another question: If you are having a smash factor that is considered "poor", is that a reflection of your swing, or the club, or neither?
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I put a lot of stock in smash factor when trying out new clubs. It's basically the "you're hitting the sweet spot" stat. If I get a bad smash with a stock club but like the look and feel I'll start tweaking shaft and lie to see if that gets smash up to my "potential" numbers. If it doesn't I just throw it aside and try some other clubs.

Good example is X Hot Pro vs Rocketbladez Tour. XHP 6i gave me a smash in the 1.34 range. Tweaked it around and got it up a bit to 1.38. The RB Tour was 1.30 range and no matter what shaft I put in it I couldn't get the number up so looked at other clubs instead of wasting time.

Tour average on a 6i is around 1.38.
 
bellairemi said:
Wow, those are good numbers - I don't know that I would tinker much with the SLDR unless you did not like the ballflight on the course. Were those max numbers or averages?
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Those were averages. There was a max that was a little higher and another shot that was lower, but generally they were in that range. I'm curious to see if increasing loft would result in more carry without detracting from the other numbers, but I liked how it felt and the numbers enough to hang with that set up for a while.

dcbrad said:
Philly what is your current driver? Seeing that thing almost below 2000 is nuts. You spun the SLDR, which is a low spin driver one and in itself, more than your current gamer. Could absolutely be shaft difference, but that is crazy.
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My current driver is an R1. The fitter said I was doing a good bit of de lofting at impact, which lowered the spin dramatically. He attributed it to the lighter stock shaft and after going through a number of different shaft/head combinations, I believed him. I also wonder if it was little things like I hit the R1 first or wasn't teeing it up high enough, but the SLDR with that shaft was a great fit for me.
 
dcbrad said:
I have heard from time to time when swinging clubs at stores with other golfers or sales associates, how they reference smash factor and how it correlates to how well you are striking the ball. 1.50 being a perfect smash factor.

It leads me to pose this question, how much do you look at smash factor when you are hitting clubs on the simulator or when making a decision about whether a club is right for you or not? Do you put a lot of stock in it? Or is it kind of considered the glamor stat of the golf world, the bench press of golf statistics so to speak? (No one cares what kind of physical shape you are in, it's how much you can bench press, right?)

Here is another question: If you are having a smash factor that is considered "poor", is that a reflection of your swing, or the club, or neither?

There is a lot going on here and I apologize for rambling a bit but I have been digging into this stuff a ton this winter and it has really been eye opening and I wanted to see what others thought about it.
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Well, my smash factor is pretty low, which means I suck - so I'm not gonna put a lot of stock in it haha! It is probably the one number that convinces me to take lessons. I should be able to hit the ball harder for my swing speed.
 
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