Backspin and Driver Distance

In the January 2008 issue of Golf Magazine, at page 99 there is an article about TaylorMade Balls and Driver, with a graphic indicating how much LESS backspin you get on the ball, depending on where you hit it with the driver. If you top the ball or hit it on the upper region of the driver face you get -1, 200 less RPM the article goes on and I quote "this spin reduction adds up to a shorter drive because the ball wont's stay in the air quite as long" - so more spin more distance....

At page 88 of that same magazine there is a picture of a driver hitting the ball in a downward fashion - at about -5 degrees - the caption reads "downward strikes result in MORE backspin and a loss of distance."

How can both of these propostions be true.... is more or less backspin better for distance, with the driver.....


thanks,


jamesh

Don't know about that specific driver, but every driver has an optimal spin rate vs launch angle that will achieve the most distance. So by hitting it on a downward angle you apply more spin and reduce the launch angle, which equals a loss in distance, at the same time hitting up on a driver or hitting higher then the sweet spot has much the same effect, increasing the launch angle and lower spin rate, again loss of distance from optimal. One person may swing it and have it fall correctly in its optimal specs, the next person may not, all depends on that person swing speed, angle of attack, ball position, if he draws or fades, etc...etc..many many factors.

Here again a great driver for me might be a terrible driver for you, everybody is different. Don't try to adjust to your driver, find a driver that suits you. A club fitter can help, more and more are going to launch monitors, different shafts can have a huge effect, so can loft.

Now for me using a Titliest ProV1x, I have a Cleveland HiBoreXL 9.5 with a stiff low torque shaft yields, the last time I checked, a launch angle around 14 degrees and a spin rate of about 2900. For me I get my best results from that setup. Generally you want a LA of 12-14 degrees and a spin rate of 2000-3000. If the driver your using is outside those parameters, your probably leaving yards in your bag. The only way I know to find this out is test some different drivers with different shafts on a launch monitor and find out where you get the best results.

The Launch monitor is a real God send these days, we used to have to just hit allot of drivers and go by the seat of our pants. When I was growing up, we were ALWAYS hitting our playing partners driver once or twice a round, it used to a common thing, because you just never know when you were going to hit that right combination.

The Magnus effect:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnus_effect

The ball flies like an aerofoil. And much like the angle of attack of an aerofoil, the spin rate acts on lift when combined with forward momentum. So, a slow ball will need more spin to stay in the air than a fast ball. And a fast ball will tend to balloon when it spins too much thereby reducing the total potential distance it can and will travel. This reduction in distance is due to the deceleration the ball is subjected to when it tries to climb more steeply because of the extra spin. In other words, it stalls. Conversely, not enough spin for its forward momentum will tend to make it drop like a rock. Again cutting the total distance the ball flies.

There is an optimum spin rate and launch angle for any particular ball speed that will result in maximum flight distance. This does not take into consideration roll after the ball lands. When we want more roll, we must also consider the angle and speed at which the ball lands. The more shallow and fast the ball lands, the farther it will roll.

Finally, because we know how far a ball flies according to the speed you hit it, once we know how fast you hit it we know which club you should use. The club you should use is the one that launches the ball at the precise spin rate and launch angle for the speed you hit it at.

__________________
Ultimately, doubt is
what makes us fail.
If we doubt that,
let us take a moment
and consider the irony.

The only thing I can add to this is ...


They only want to sell advertizing space and are rarely a source of anything that will educate golfers but there is plenty to confuse.

Charles

PS Nice posts GoNavy and Martin I think you have covered the important points.

Long story short:

Too much backspin and the ball balloons or has too much drag and falls to earth short.

Too little backspin and the ball can't sustain it's lift - and falls out of the air like a stone.