How to quickly find your driver’s sweet spot with this simple device

One of the biggest keys to hitting your driver longer and straighter comes down to your ability as a golfer to hit the sweet spot. The sweet spot on your driver, or any club in your bag, can also be referred to as the center of gravity projection through the face relative to the club’s loft. But to make it easy we’ll keep calling it the sweet spot for now.

Now that we’ve cleared up the technicalities, let’s dive into the science.

Why it’s important

The reason that finding the sweet spot is so important, especially with a driver, is because it is the most efficient place to make contact on the head and will generally result in creating the most ideal launch conditions.

Gear

While it is possible to hit it slightly above the sweet spot to gain a small advantage when it comes to launching the ball higher with less spin, the farther you get away from the sweet spot (CoG projection) the greater the chance the golf ball will end up offline. It also goes the opposite way when you hit the golf ball low on the face below the sweet spot because strikes on that part of the face cause the ball to launch lower and spin more. That will quickly rob you of extra distance.

How to find it

The video below explains the process of finding the sweet spot on your driver and how to build the simple tool to help you do it.

Once you have your driver marked you can use it as a point of reference for the next time you go to the range or to the course to find out how your misses are affecting your driver game and how to make more solid contact.

Ping G430 LST Custom Driver

$579.99

The PING G430 LST Driver features an exclusive Low Spin Technology (LST) Carbonfly Wrap, a lightweight composite that covers the crown and wraps into the heel/toe sections of the skirt to save weight and lower the CG for more ball speed, less spin and higher MOI. The 8-layer, one-piece composite saves four grams and weighs 11.5g fully installed. A moveable 22-gram, high-density tungsten backweight influences shot shape ±7 yards between the Draw, Neutral and Fade settings. At 440cc, the smaller tour-style LST is available in 9° and 10.5° lofts (adjustable +/-1.5° and lie up to 3° flat from standard) and best fits faster swing speeds. THE DISTANCE DIFFERENCE. MORE BALL SPEED. A shallower, variable-thickness face is thinner to create more face deflection for generating faster ball speed for our biggest distance gains to date. THE SOUND SOLUTION A new integral rib structure and increased curvature of the crown, skirt and sole fine tunes clubhead frequencies to produce a desirable sound and impact experience. SPINSISTENCY A variable roll radius, with less loft low on the face, enhances spin consistency and carry distance. CARBONFLY WRAP Lightweight composite crown wraps into the heel and toe of the skirt to save weight and lower the CG for more ball speed with higher MOI. MOVEABLE BACK WEIGHT A 25-gram, high-density tungsten moveable backweight influences shot shape +/-10 yards between the Draw, Neutral and Fade settings.

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Golf.com Editor

Ryan Barath is GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com’s senior editor for equipment. He has an extensive club-fitting and -building background with more than 20 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. Before joining the staff, he was the lead content strategist for Tour Experience Golf, in Toronto, Canada.

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