Selecting a golf driver with the correct loft for your game is extremely important if you want to get the most distance possible off the tee.

Loft is defined as the measurement, in degrees, of the angle at which the face of the club lies relative to a perfectly vertical line, such as the shaft of the club. Drivers are the least-lofted clubs (not counting putters), while wedges are the most-lofted, sending the ball out and up at the highest angle. Manufacturers typically offer driver lofts between 7.5 and 16 degrees. Lob wedges, the highest lofted club, are around 60 to 64 degrees.

In 2003 Golf Digest conducted a study to determine the most ideal lofts for players of various ability levels. They looked at the physics of ball flight. A common misconception among many recreational players, myself included before researching this topic, is that if you send the ball too high, you don’t get enough roll and therefore not as much distance. But, as the study proves, the longer you keep the ball in the air the more distance you will achieve. Essentially, there is less friction to slow the ball down in the air than there is on the ground. The aerodynamic design of modern dimpled golf balls enhances this effect even more.

Now we’re not talking about skying one way up in the air, but high and long is much more optimal to low and long. Many long drive champions will use stopwatches in practice to calculate hang-time, which is how long the ball stays in the air after being hit. They estimate that 10 seconds of hang time is what they need to be competitive in the sport. (Test your hang time on your next golf outing – 10 seconds is a long time!)

The Golf Digest study examined driving distance using driving machines set at various swing speeds ranging from 65 mph to 115 mph. This chart summarizes the results of which driver degree resulted in the longest drive. (You can reference our article on Golf Shaft Selection to calculate your swing speed.)

Using the 9 degree loft driver resulted in the shortest distance at each level up to 85 mph. The study showed that for most golfers adding loft to the driver increased their driving distance by an average of 10 yards (9.14m). The raw data on this study is at the end of this article. Even tour players are moving towards higher lofts to achieve the maximum distance off the tee. About half the pros recently teeing up TaylorMade drivers on the tour used lofts of 9 degrees or more. Tiger Woods, who currently averages 293 yds (267.92m) off the tee, uses a Nike driver with a loft of 10.5 degrees. Of the players using Callaway drivers and Titleist drivers, roughly 40 percent use drivers with 9.5 degrees of loft or higher. So, loft selection for your driver, based on this information, is very straightforward. If you’re playing an 8 or 9 degree loft driver, it’s definitely time to upgrade.  

* furthest carry  

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