OK, you've got plenty of swing speed to be using a 9.5
The next question typically can't be answered without video or a launch monitor session - but your Angle of Attack (AoA) is the next piece to the puzzle.
Assuming your ball position and swing mechanics are fine your AoA is far too steep. Personally I played a 13° driver with a -7° AoA with a 108MPH swing speed, and still launched the ball too low (often only getting 230-240 yards of carry). When I worked on it, I could get a -4° AoA, and played a 10° driver and started getting a more consistent carry around 240. I probably could have picked up a couple more yards at that point (as the 13 was launching too high and spinny and the 10 was a little low), but it wasn't worth the hit in the pocketbook.
Generally speaking, the driver swing IS a little different than an iron swing (or even a fairway wood swing).
However, here's a fantastic tip for hitting a ball that's teed up high - and you may want to try it out before changing your swing a ton.
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Originally Posted by Kevin Downey In this day and age of 460cc drivers and teeing the ball up so that a minimum of 1/2 of the ball is above the driver, most people still set their club on the ground and center the face behind the ball. To see why this is bad, from this point, lift the driver head so that the middle of the face is level with the middle of the ball. Surprise! You've set yourself up to heel the ball!
There are two ways around this. Method #1 is to hover your club while you setup, to make sure you've got the middle of the face lined up with the middle of the ball. Method #2 is to keep grounding your club, but line it up off the toe instead. Enjoy more solid drives. |
The other part to this puzzle is a head design spec called roll. If you look at the face, it is not flat. It "sticks out" in the middle. This "sticking out" from the crown to the sole is called roll. What does this matter, you may ask? Well, let's say the bottom of the club has 10.5° loft stamped on it. You may be surprised to know that this loft value is only true in the peak of this "sticking out". Above it, towards the crown, your loft can get as high as 13° - conversely, lower on the face your loft can get as low as 8°. So, hitting the ball low on the face
could turn your 10° driver into a long-drive special, but without the extra shaft or swing speed. So please take note of where on the face you're hitting it. FWIW, my solution to this problem is to actually tee the ball lower and to think about just grazing the grass, effectively taking the bottom of the face out of the equation.