We are all looking for more distance off the tee and for our irons to travel further. Without putting in the time in the gym to get stronger and work on movement patterns, doing yoga for flexibility, and training for speed what are some areas that will help maximize our potential? For the YouTube clip that ties in with this blog CLICK HERE
In a previous article about maximizing the driver, HERE, I discussed spin axis and club delivery. If we are delivering a glancing blow to the ball the club speed is not projecting its full potential onto the ball. Also any balls that are not hit out of or near the center of the club head will deliver less speed.
Let’s take a look at a 7 iron example. In the below image the club head was traveling 77 miles an hour, the face to path was slightly closed at -1.5* for a slight draw delivery, the spin loft was 27.5 which is good for a 7 iron, and the ball speed was 107.1 mph. 107.1 ball speed decided by 77 club speed gives us 1.39 which is the Smash Factor. The golf ball left the face at 1.39 times that of the swing speed. In this scenario the ball launched at 18*.
Now let’s take a look at another 7 iron scenario. Here is the same club speed but the ball was slightly miss hit, face was more closed to the path, and spin loft was higher. These little variances had a club traveling more across the ball resulting in a ball speed of 94mph. Even though the ball launched higher at 20* with the potential to carry further the smash factor was down from 1.39 above to 1.23 here resulting in a ball speed of 12.8mph and 28.8 yards of carry. Could say roughly every MPH of ball speed is 2.25 yards.
Here is a LPGA driver example off TrackMan’s data base showing an efficient strike with a smash factor of 1.49 which is right at the 1.50 USGA limit where a ball can leave the club face. The swing direction and club face difference was minimal at 0.8 open and attack angle to loft small at 12.2 degrees. This swing speed it a typical male club player swinging their driver 90mph.
