I found @Adamyounggolf article to be insanely interesting and makes me want to get on a launch monitor… one of my goals is to get to 300+ yards carry, so this article drew me in immediately… per him, I have the club head speed, I just need more efficiency!
https://www.adamyounggolf.com/how-to-gain-60-yards-with-one-swing-change
@jon this doesn’t seem to be linking correctly?
The link worked for me.
But yes, AOA is a very important component to distance. This is something I’ve worked on with my ball position, tee height, and setup. I think I’m generally around +3 to +4
This works well for me because I don’t spin it much with the driver so I need to add loft and get the ball up in the air quickly. So there can be optimal levels that are different for each golfer. But generally speaking, too many golfers hit down with their drivers and would benefit greatly from increasing their AOA to either a neutral or positive level.
Yeah, it’s not converting to the picture link for whatever reason… it’s all good.
Posted this pre caffeine, so I thought I’d come back and flesh out some points.
Club head speed is important but it’s not the only way to gain distance! Modern technology especially allows us to improve our launch conditions. Pros are playing a (slightly) different game than us, and I think they use negative AoA to keep the ball in play more… while also hitting it a long way… basically, they are optimizing control with AoA and distance with their speed… if you lack speed, you can add distance by adding AoA…
I prefer the feel of a positive AoA swing… It makes my driver swing feel different and I feel a little more free swinging away after it. I’m not sure what my actual numbers are, but it’s something I plan on looking at and working on over the winter. I also battle high spin, so positive AoA has increased my roll… There is also a tree on a par 5 I might be able to get over with different launch parameters… I’m not sure the risk reward is there, but we will see.
Otherwise, I think it’s another variable that’s worth knowing in your swing… what do the different swings feel like, and how do they play differently… my working on AoA allowed me to hit more lower shots into the wind with a negative AoA when I had to… it was super helpful.
https://ping.com/en-us/blogs/proving-grounds/optimal-launch-and-spin
Thought this PING article was interesting.