Need more yards? Match your driver loft to your swing speed

Back in the day, better players tended to favor very low-lofted drivers, often in the 7.5- to 9-degree range. Higher-spinning wound balls were part of the reason, as was the sweeping or slightly descending angle of attack that previous generations of drivers required to prevent the ball from flying high and short.

As technology has shifted to lower-spinning balls, driver lofts have increased significantly, with many long-hitting Tour players gaming 10.5-degree models. Fine for them, but what about you?

Getting properly fitted is the way to go, but according to True Spec Golf’s Tim Briand, swing speed is a key parameter.

“If you swing over 100 mph,” he says, “there’s little to no chance you’ll get fitted into a 12-degree driver, and if you swing less than 90 mph, you’ll never want an 8.5-degree club in your hands.”

Briand recommends keeping speed in mind when determining your loft. You can start with the chart below.

True Spec and GOLF.com are operated by the same holding company, 8AM Golf.

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