Over the next few months, as we lead up to a new golf season for everyone, the topic of my newsletter will be how new Driver Technology provides greater distance to us all. If you have been thinking of purchasing a new driver this season, hold off until you get a better understanding of what's out there.

If there is any topic you would like explained and presented in my upcoming newsletters, just email me. I'll attempt to cover your topic in a future newsletter.

If you'd like one on one explanations about the topic, sign up for the PGI Member Select Club and I'll answer all your questions. Now on to this week's topic.

     Other than environmental conditions, the three major determinants of distance for a golf ball are: clubhead speed, initial trajectory angle and initial backspin. For the most part, the club can't do much for your clubhead speed (as long as it has optimum mass, see Part 1), but it can play a major roll in trajectory angle and backspin. If there were no air, the ball's backspin would not have any effect and the optimum launch angle would be 45 degrees. The ball would not go anywhere near as far as it goes in air (see here for more). Backspin creates a lot of lift for the ball which keeps it in the air longer, so it can fly farther.

     The initial trajectory angle and backspin are greatly affected by the loft of the club and its center of mass (the path of the club, ascending or descending, also plays a role). The loft which optimizes distance depends on clubhead speed. The greater the clubhead speed, the lower the desired loft angle. For a short hitter, the optimum loft might be 16 degrees (which means a 3 wood loft), while for a longer hitter, the optimum angle might be 12 degrees.

     Club manufacturers will clearly label the loft of the driver but make no mention of the center of mass, another important factor. A low center of mass will increase the launch angle thus increasing the effective loft of the club. Since there is no easy way to measure where the center of mass of a club is, it's important that the golfer experiment with different lofts of the same type of driver. A 12 degree loft in one driver won't be the same as the 12 degree loft in another driver.

     Most golfers should play a driver which has a center of mass that is low and back from the face of the club. This will promote higher trajectory without having to have too much loft. The greater the loft of the clubface, the smaller will be the ball speed. One wants optimum trajectory with maximum ball speed. Having the center of mass back from the face will also mean the club will twist less on off center hits (which occur more often than not).

Play with my Driver Distance Calculator. You can input such variables as loft and clubhead speed to determine the optimum loft.

     If you are serious about trying to optimize your distance through clubhead loft, go to a facility that has a club/ball monitor (one that measures clubhead speed, ball speed, trajectory, spin, etc). You can experiment with different clubhead lofts to find the one that produces optimum ball speed, trajectory and spin.

A list of resources that have been used to produce this newsletter can be found on my website here.

The next newsletter's topic will be the driver shaft. What is its optimum mass and stiffness for greatest distance?

The focus of my site is to utilize science and math to lower your score. New technology is one way to achieve this, but to be honest, the technology is one small piece of the puzzle.

To actually improve significantly, we all need to:

1. Improve our swings. Hit Down Dammit!

2. Improve our physical fitness and strength.
The Golf Trainer Power Performance Program™

3. Improve our mental games. Golf Mind Software

4. Improve our Probable Golf games. Learn how to make better choices on the course through knowing how shot patterns and reading the elements and course better.

Click on the links above to take a look at ways that I personally use myself and recommend you try as well.

One last mention of my latest study on amateur golf scores and handicaps.