DRIVER LOFT
Driver loft is the angle in degrees between a plane that touches the center of the striking face and a vertical plane that is perpendicular to the sole line.
At one time in the golf equipment industry, there existed a series of loft angles that were considered to be standard. The main reason each company now chooses their own loft specifications for their drivers is because they believe their lofts must match the effect of the clubhead’s center of gravity with the loft necessary to determine the drives trajectory, and the particular needs of the type of golfer they are trying to cater to.
Another basis for loft angle selection has to do with the competitive nature of golf companies. Each company wants you to hit their club farther, so they have continued to make low lofted drivers.
What you need to know here, is, that every golfer needs his unique driver loft, custom fitted to him, and not what those big golf companies want you to play. Read on to discover how easy it is to get the right one for you.
If you GOOGLE driver loft, optimal loft, or all things concerning loft, you will get a ton of papers written by an awful lot of golf gurus that are all good, but man I got a headache just trying to understand it all. What I am going to tell you about driver loft, will be a condensed version, but one that has been compiled over the years that I have been fitting golfers. It will help you, with the aid of your club maker, to pick the best loft for you.
99% of today’s rec. golfers have no idea of how fast they swing their driver, and they probably swing too fast for their athletic ability anyway.
Assuming you have the proper shaft in your driver, and assuming you hit the ball right on the screws, go get your swing speed calculated by a reputable source. They say that the average Male golfer swings between 80 to 90 m.p.h., the average Female golfer between 60 to 70 m.p.h., the average on the P.G.A. Tour is around 115 m.p.h. and the freaks on the Long Driving Circuit are plus 125 m.p.h.
YOU HAVE YOUR OWN UNIQUE SWING SPEED—AND YOU MUST LIVE WITH IT. We all know where the ball goes when you over swing with your driver.
OPTIMAL DRIVER LOFT
| Optimal Loft | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver Swing Speed | Angle of Attack Note #1 | Driver Loft | Carry Distance Note #2 | |
| 70 mph | level | 22 | 155 yds. | |
| 75 mph | level | 17 | 170 yds. | |
| 80 mph | level | 15 | 185 yds. | |
| 85 mph | level | 14 | 198 yds. | |
| 90 mph | level | 12 | 211 yds. | |
| 95 mph | level | 11.5 | 223 yds. | |
| 100 mph | level | 11 | 235 yds. | |
| 110 mph | level | 9 | 255 yds. | |
| 115 mph | level | 8.5 | 265 yds. | |
| 120 mph | level | 8 | 275 yds. | |
Note 1: Your angle of attack greatly affects your driver loft. Rule of Thumb is for every degree of change from level, add or subtract one degree of loft.
Note 2: Carry distance varies by a large degree by where you golf-ie. altitude, temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind direction, raining, snowing, you get it.
Conclusion:
Although the true TECHIES will find this guide to loft to be a little simple, we have found throughout our years of fitting and building drivers, the numbers work quite well. Throughout our website we will be dealing in more depth on items like Launch Angle, Swing Speed, Face Angle, Face Construction (GRT), Swing Release, Shaft Fitting, etc. etc. that affect your optimal choice in driver loft. Nothing beats dynamic fitting of hitting various lofted drivers at the range.
