I was more concerned with descent angle when playing the ERC Soft due to its lower spin, but since switching to the 2020 Chrome Soft which spins more I have no concerns.
How important is Descent Angle to you
Never thought about it... maybe I should
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- #28
So would you say you target a spin target first and then make sure the descent/land angle is high enough to leverage the spin or do you shoot for max spin so that descent angle doesn't matter to you?
Great thread, sorry I had missed it earlier. A couple of random thoughts
1- From a spectacular THP video with Titleist at their facility, they mentioned that their fitting process goes -> fit a person for an iron, then fit for a ball, then driver.
One of the key things they'll look at with irons is getting certain parameters right, and descent angle is one of the key ones. However, skill level plays a part in that fitting so it's entirely possible the golfer launches the ball really well, has a good descent angle with say a T100, but need more forgiveness than those provide so the fitter may recommend a club providing a slightly less ideal descent angle but with much better dispersion thanks to the additional forgiveness. That's why their premium balls focus on fine-tuning ball flight. In my case, I remember going to the V1X increased my carry from the extra spin and aerodynamics of it about 3 yards, and about 2 degrees steeper descent angle.
2- Conditions will absolutely play a big part in this. If you play soft greens having an ideal descent angle may not be as important. If you play a 2nd shot course that features lots of false fronts or very sloped, hardish greens you may want to increase it.
3- I envy your numbers, quite strongly.
1- From a spectacular THP video with Titleist at their facility, they mentioned that their fitting process goes -> fit a person for an iron, then fit for a ball, then driver.
One of the key things they'll look at with irons is getting certain parameters right, and descent angle is one of the key ones. However, skill level plays a part in that fitting so it's entirely possible the golfer launches the ball really well, has a good descent angle with say a T100, but need more forgiveness than those provide so the fitter may recommend a club providing a slightly less ideal descent angle but with much better dispersion thanks to the additional forgiveness. That's why their premium balls focus on fine-tuning ball flight. In my case, I remember going to the V1X increased my carry from the extra spin and aerodynamics of it about 3 yards, and about 2 degrees steeper descent angle.
2- Conditions will absolutely play a big part in this. If you play soft greens having an ideal descent angle may not be as important. If you play a 2nd shot course that features lots of false fronts or very sloped, hardish greens you may want to increase it.
3- I envy your numbers, quite strongly.
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I certainly don't go for max spin as I have found with extremely high spinning balls I lose distance. With a "distance" ball, as the ERC Soft was promoted, Callaway's softest and longest, the descent angle had to be sufficient enough to compensate for the lack of spin on full approach shots, which it did. With the 2020 Chrome Soft which spins more, descent angle becomes less critical. Bottom line, I look more at the combination of spin and descent angle when choosing a ball without sacrificing distance, not necessarily looking at one or the other characteristic, spin or descent.
I would prefer more spin to less.
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- #33
This is where my awareness changed. Oddly enough before I got fitted and actually started capturing and analyzing data, my focus was on spin. I considered myself a low spin player for a very very long time because I could not get greens to hold. It wasn't until I got fitted for irons that the lightbulb went off and I realized I was coming into greens low. I started hitting wedges and irons on Trackman and I was spinning ProV1's on a PW at 9000-9300 range which I found out most people don't consider to be low spinning. That's when the light bulb went off and I realized my descent angle was the culprit.
My decision to go with T200's really was driven by the distance/ball speed matched to the decent angle. The fact i was getting good spin was a bonus.
Exactly. Drop a ball vertically down onto a green and it stops dead, spin or no spin.