Lowering Driver Loft?

[JonD]

I used to play 11-12˚ drivers and was plenty successful with them. After an actual driver fitting though, I was placed into an 8˚ setup based on my swing, which completely floored me. That was specific to that driver head though as since then I've seen better results with higher lofts in different drivers, so it really is all about getting a proper fitting.

 

[PatsFan]

There was a interesting article in golf digest recently about this and how many ams would benefit from a lower lofted driver due to angle of attack.

I lowered my EXS to 9.5 and wish I could drop out lower.


Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[Phil75070]

For the longest time I was playing my 10.5° Epic Flash at +1 (11.5°). Not that long ago I dropped to its nominal 10.5° and have enjoyed some longer drives. I'm tempted to give it a try at -1 (9.5°) as I feel I have enough of a positive AOA. I find it tough to judge driver distance on the range as it is difficult to see the roll out but I play often enough to maybe give it a try one day on the course just for giggles.

 

[Scorp]

I went the other way and my driver was lofted up a bit... and I gained 5 yards of carry! 185 yards baby! Woohoo!

 

[Smiter]

The first thing I do with any driver is crank the loft down as low as it’ll go. If it’s a driver like the Epic where I can loft further down by installing a left hand adapter, I go that route.

Like @tahoebum, I’m high launch, high spin. I usually hit several degrees up on the ball as well.

I’ve got a LD driver that’s all of 3.5* of loft. I launch that just fine despite it having a 100+ gram xxx-flex shaft on it. Or at least I could as of last year. This year it might be a little more challenging but even with losing CHS in the accident, i think if I put a good swing on it I can launch it. Most likely...

 

[Snickerdog]

Has anyone lowered the loft of their driver and seen positive results? I stumbled on an article in Golf Digest that suggests lowering one's driver loft will, in general, see distance gains.

Golf equipment truths: Why you should rethink your driver loft

Counter to what you might've been told, less loft could be the key to distance, our research shows.

www.golfdigest.com

The fitter at ECPC did this to me.
1. it dropped the spin to managable
2. I did see distance gain on the Trackman

 

[MattyD-MPLS]

I recently switched my driver from 7.75* down to 7.0*. My descent angle has gotten better to the eye but I should check it on a launch monitor. I have been driving it quite recently.

 

[BigMac]

I’m more than happy with the 12 degrees of loft in my driver LOL.

I play a 12° driver also. GC Quad had my AoA at -2° in my fitting, so lofting down would have me hitting it too low. I have a medium'ish launch and IIRC, my spin was around 2300 with a clubhead speed of 87-90 mph, so I'm probably one of the ones who wouldn't benefit from lower loft.

 

[PapaJohick]

I currently play my driver at 11* I believe? stock head is 12.

My swing has changed quite a bit since buying it though. My miss is to come in steep and put a good amount of spin on the ball, but With me getting better at driving the ball, I would assume I'm pretty level if not a little up as I have been launching the ball much higher and the ball looks like it is spinning in a good range to almost low. Last time I was on gc2, my good strikes launched around 11* with about 2400 rpms and bad were like launch of 8/9* with almost 3500 haha.

Now I would have to think the spin rate is about the same on my good drives (eyeballing of course) but launch has gone up a degree or two. Which, is awesome haha. My average drives when I first got my Cobra SZ extrteme was like 230 ish plus or minus 5 yards.

Now, my new average is around 245-255 (mainly by getting rid of my stupid mishits that only went like 200 yards).

 

[Chef23]

People should really read the article before just lowering loft. The general basis of it is lower loft AND hitting proper launch angles through fitting provides more distance and for the most part, only players with a positive angle of attack.

NOT just lowering the loft equals more distance.

If you do not have a positive angle of attack, lower loft could be robbing you of distance actually and the article says the same thing.

Lower lofts will have more speed, due to less oblique angle at impact, but if you are not launching it high enough, the lower loft will not help increase distance.

After my fitting I am working on changing my angle of attack to improve launch conditions for my driver. I haven't had a ton of success at improving my swing speed but the fitter felt I could pick up 20 yards by improving AoA. When I have done that and hit the ball straight I have definitely seen improved distance. Once I am successful with that I may need less loft on my driver.

 

[kensisland]

Being an old, high handicap guy ... I went max the other way at 12.5, and saw more distance.

In full disclosure, I have chased the lower lofts ... back when I thought you could buy a game like the pro's. Then I embraced I suck at golf, and sought help from a club fitter, who looked at my swing, and explained why the higher loft was better for me. Been one happy camper ever since with my 12.5 ...

 

[Phil75070]

I tried lowering my loft as low as it would go on the Epic Flash, 9.5 N/S and though I may have picked up a yard or two, for whatever reason contact just felt different and something that I didn't care for. Back to 10.5 N/S.

 

[millsan1]

Has anyone lowered the loft of their driver and seen positive results? I stumbled on an article in Golf Digest that suggests lowering one's driver loft will, in general, see distance gains.

Golf equipment truths: Why you should rethink your driver loft

Counter to what you might've been told, less loft could be the key to distance, our research shows.

www.golfdigest.com

I think it really depends on the person, their impact and frankly, their ability.

Most people will benefit from a higher lofted driver, from a dispersion point of view.