Is it really so bad to hit down on the ball with driver? What our robot test reveals
Welcome to MythBusters, a Golf Digest+ series where we explore answers to some of golf’s most common questions through a series of tests with golfers and robots. Sometimes definitive, other times less so, our findings aim to shed new light on topics that have consumed golfers for years.
To maximize distance off the tee, you need to hit up on the golf ball. At least that’s the prevailing sentiment with modern drivers designed to help you launch the ball high with low spin. Rory McIlroy, perhaps the best driver of the modern era, proves this point with his Attack Angle with driver regularly over four or five degrees. Translation? He’s striking the ball on the upswing to maximize distance.
But what about for the rest of us who don’t possess McIlroy’s speed? How important is it to hit up on the ball with the driver?
Our test
To better understand the role that Angle of Attack plays with a driver, we used the Golf Laboratories swing robot to hit a series of shots with varying AOAs. To design, execute, and interpret the test results, we enlisted the help of Golf Labs founder Gene Parente and Golf Digest Top 50 Teacher James Leitz. To measure the shot data, we used Foresight Sports' QuadMAX launch monitor.
With a 10.5-degree driver and 95 mph swing speed (the average for male golfers), we set the robot to hit shots with three different Attack Angles: -3, 0, and +3, simulating golfers who hit down, level, and up with a driver. Attack Angle (or Angle of Attack) measures whether the clubhead is moving upward (positive) or downward (negative) at impact. Every shot was hit in the center of the clubface.
What we found
The shots hitting three degrees down launched and flew very low with relatively little spin, resulting in a carry of just 202 yards. Given the low ball flight, the shots rolled out an average of 30 yards, traveling 232 yards total.
When the robot hit shots with a perfectly level Attack Angle (not up or down), the launch angle increased dramatically from 5.5 degrees to 9.6. Spin increased as well, so the shot flew twice as high (64 feet vs. 30 feet) and carried 19 yards farther than shots with a downward Attack Angle. The neutral Attack Angle shots still rolled out 22 yards, so the total distance was 243 yards, nine yards farther than the shots with the negative AOA.
Similar trends held when the robot hit shots with a positive, or upward Angle of Attack. These shots launched even higher (13.2 degrees) and spun more, meaning the overall flight was the highest of all three swings. Shots with a positive AOA went 92 feet in the air, over three times higher than the downward Attack Angle. As a result of the better launch conditions, shots with the robot hitting up on the ball carried the farthest (224 yards). These shots didn’t roll as much as the other two swings due to the higher ball flight, so the total distance actually decreased versus the neutral Attack Angle.
What it means
There’s a lot to unpack here, but one of the biggest takeaways that Parente and Leitz offer is that if you’re looking to maximize distance off the tee, you need optimal launch conditions. In other words, the ball needs to take off at the proper angle and with the right amount of spin to travel the farthest. One of the most crucial factors in achieving optimal launch (along with finding the proper driver loft for you) is hitting the ball with the proper Attack Angle for your swing.
Leitz provides the analogy of a water hose. “If you take a hose and pour water out of it at 45 degrees, the water goes the furthest. If you go more than that, it goes shorter, and if you go less than that. It goes shorter,” he says.
Our first set of shots with the downward attack angle simulates the first example. Players who chop down on the ball like this deloft the club, resulting in a low launch that doesn’t generate enough spin. These balls fall out of the air too quickly, as our data shows.
For these players who hit down on the driver too much, simply leveling out their Attack Angles can increase distance by 20 yards, even without increasing clubhead speed. In fact, moving from a downward AOA to a level one produced the most significant distance gains, underscoring the importance of not hitting down on your driver if you’re looking to maximize distance.
You can see more carry distance gains when you move toward a positive Attack Angle, as our shots with the +3 AOA show. Hitting up on these shots created a higher launch angle and more spin, allowing the ball to stay in the air longer.
What it doesn’t mean
Leitz cautions that this is not to say that all golfers should strive to hit way up on their drivers. Recall that the shots hitting down the ball rolled 30 yards, far more than the higher ball flights. If you consistently play in dry or windy conditions, that low penetrating ball flight might be advantageous. On the other hand, if you play on soggy turf, you want to maximize your carry distance and will likely be better off hitting up on your driver.
“ There are lots of things to consider when deciding whether hitting up or down is the right thing,” Leitz says. “Can you square the club face consistently? Do does your swing maximize the conditions that you play on a regular basis?”
Also consider the driver loft that you play. Launch conditions are greatly influenced not only by Attack Angle, but by loft. For all three swings, we used a 10.5-degree driver, but in general, the more you hit down on the driver, the more loft you should play and vice versa.
We would likely have been able to achieve a better ball flight with the downward Attack Angle if we had used a higher-lofted driver. Conversely, we could have maximized distance even more when hitting up on the ball if we used a driver with less loft. (More on that to come!)
Takeaways
- Hitting up on the ball the driver increases distance compared to hitting down on it.
- Moving from a downward Attack Angle to a level one produces significant distance gains, with more modest improvements when you start hitting up on the ball.
- When deciding if hitting up or down on the ball with a driver is right for you, consider your driver loft and the conditions that you play in.