What does launch angle mean

Bringing you insights from the PING Proving Grounds, where our talented team of engineers, researchers, fitting experts and data scientists design and develop the newest product and fitting technologies to help you play better. A key factor in optimizing launch conditions, one often overlooked, is angle of attack.

Improved diagnostics and trajectory modeling shed new light on the importance of angle of attack in maximizing driving performance. Players with slower ball speeds may need a little more spin to keep the ball in the air to maximize carry. The net effect stays the same, though: very high launch and relatively low spin optimize distance. The answer is angle of attack. To explain why, we first need to understand ball-flight laws.

Ball-flight laws determine, for a given angle of attack and loft presented at impact, how high the ball will launch. For a Source: rockbottomgolf. Source: golfonline. Source: golf-club-revue. Source: jaysgolf. Source: forcesgolfshop. Source: ralphmaltby. Source: blog. Source: golfloopy. If a manufacturer can tweak a driver's clubhead design — factors such as loft angle, the center of gravity location and moment of inertia — and tinker with the club's overall weight and aerodynamic design in a quest to boost swing speed, then the manufacturer can help improve a golfer's launch angle off the driver.

The slower a golfer's swing speed, the more help the golfer generally needs from his or her driver in boosting launch angle. And an improved driver launch angle often means more carry, which in turn leads to more distance. Launch angle does factor in with all golf clubs, however, and it should be noted that a higher launch angle is not always the preferred outcome particularly moving through the set to the wedges.

Is the launch angle of your drives and other golf shots too high, too low or just right? How does a recreational golfer even know? The best way to get your launch angle checked and analyzed is to visit a clubfitter or teaching professional who uses a launch monitor.

Seeing the numbers that the launch monitor produces is one thing; knowing what they mean and whether you need to tinker with your club setup are very different things. A clubfitter or teaching pro can not just get your numbers, but help you understand them and what to do with them. There are many small devices on the market now that work great as personal launch monitors, too. You can talk to the staff at your local pro shop about the options. If golf were a simple game, we would be able to provide you with the ideal launch angle for your driver and you could head off to the range to work on finding it.

Of course, golf is anything but simple, and there is no one answer to this question. So does that mean that you should be shooting for something in the degree range? No — probably not. The swing speed possessed by a tour player will produce a high rate of backspin at impact, meaning the ball will be able to climb out of that low launch to eventually carry well down the fairway. You do not have the same luxury, in all likelihood. Unless you swing the driver in excess of miles per hour, you are going to need to launch the ball higher to maximize your overall distance.

Believe it or not, it should be relatively easy to notice if you are having trouble with your launch angle, even without the use of fancy equipment.

During your next round of golf, pay particular attention to the ball flight created each time you hit a driver.

Does the ball seem like it is struggling to get off the ground?