Driver has carry but no roll?

[mariner]

I drive off with my playing partners, we all pitch at a similar distance . . . . theirs' roll another 20 yards, mine stops dead or even ends up a yard behind it's pitchmark!
I must be putting excessive spin on it, and I know I need to catch it on the upswing to prevent this, but can't seem to do it.
I hit very straight with a 12 degree offset driver and am 14h/c

[LowPost42]

Re: Driver has carry but no roll?

Swinging up or down won't effect your spin directly, however, it will effect your launch angle given the same spin.

From your description, you're certainly overspinning the ball for your given launch angle, but your only likely solution is to increase your Angle of Attack.

The other option is to go to a lower spin ball or try less loft for less spin and likely less carry and likely more roll.

[bill reed]

Re: Driver has carry but no roll?

hi
it it one of the newer big headed 460cc driver, if so what size tee's do you use. with the newer drivers there sweet spot is higher on the face and hitting the ball below the sweet spot can increase backspin on the ball.
i would first check where the sweet spot is on your driver then check using talc or tape to see where the impact point is on the face.
it could just be you need 3 inch or 4 inch tee's.
i sometimes use the little red 1/4 castle tee's with my 360cc driver to hit the ball higher with more spin and get it to stop dead on the green at the 230 yard par 3. if use the normal 2 inch tee the ball runs through the green even with me swinging at about 80%.
cheers
bill

[BrianW]

Re: Driver has carry but no roll?

Take a look at the article in this link. It may help you to understand the problem and offer a solution.

http://www.golf.com/golf/gallery/art...874230,00.html

[rotator]

Re: Driver has carry but no roll?

Hi guys,

LowPost42, I agree with your assessment.

I've seen my partners swing too steep and hit balls too high on the face where there is more loft, and sometimes they leave skymarks or ball s****es on the edge of the crown. These result in popups and lots of backspin. But it seems the OP is driving the ball the same distance as his partners, so this would not be the case.

As a trial, the OP could try a steeper angle of attack as you suggest, and possibly tee the ball lower to induce the steeper angle (it would be like Arnie's old driver swing where he would take a divot after impact).

This would preclude the OP trying to find balls which will spin the ball substantially less. It will though demonstrate to the OP, that a lower lofted head would be a more practical permanent fix.

Ted

[rotator]

Re: Driver has carry but no roll?

Hi guys,

It seem the OP's complaint is not about distance, but of the seemingly high spin, and this is what LowPost42 addressed.

Ted

[BrianW]

Re: Driver has carry but no roll?

Hi guys,

It seem the OP's complaint is not about distance, but of the seemingly high spin, and this is what LowPost42 addressed.

Ted

Ted,

He says that he wants to hit on the upswing but doesn't know how to do it and how he gets little carry compared to his playing partners. My link explains how to do it and also shows that a steeper angle of attack should give him less spin and more overall distance.

[rotator]

Re: Driver has carry but no roll?

"I drive off with my playing partners, we all pitch at a similar distance . . . . theirs' roll another 20 yards, mine stops dead or even ends up a yard behind it's pitchmark! "

Perhaps Mariner can explain the above statement.

Brian and Bill, I read that as the players all drive to the same distance, at which point they all pitch their next shot, but the complaint is the other players' balls have got here by rolling the additional 20 yards, whereas Mariner's got there and topped dead or spun back. Regardless, it seems that the main issue bothering him is the excessive spin that does not allow Mariner's shot to also roll forward an additional 20 yards or so. I believe that what LowPost42 addressed as the issue.

Ted

[LowPost42]

Re: Driver has carry but no roll?

The excess spin would also cause a steeper angle of descent - which is why Mariner's ball will also 'suck back'.

Brian is correct that finding a way to hit on the upswing will both offer more distance in that the launch angle will likely improve - even for the same spin rate - and in doing so will also improve the angle of descent which will allow the ball to roll out as well.

[rotator]

Re: Driver has carry but no roll?

This is just for clarification.

Regarding carry, the title of the thread reads "Driver has carry but no roll?", which indicated to me the OP's main concern he was expressing was not with carry, but with the spin and lack of rollout as he described. I thought LowPost42's initial reply addressed that.

Anyways, it doesn't matter, in the end there are ways that the OP could consider for resolving the issue of getting more overall distance, and that's what counts.

Ted

[bill reed]

Re: Driver has carry but no roll?

hi Ted
i have found by using diffrent tee heights i can change the hight of the flight. when i use the small red castle tee the ball flys higher and as lowpost says the ball drops also drops on a steeper line so does not roll any distance. with the silver 2 1/2 in tee i get a lower flight but about 10 yards of roll and does not have such a steep drop. the only thing diffrent in the both shots is the tee hight and i think with the small tee i hit the ball lower on the face.
I'll need to check next time on the range to see just were on the face i hit the ball with each size tee.
i find it useful in adjusting the tee size to suit if i want run or not when playing say a par three hole. sometimes it better not using a tee on the shorter par threes. by using diffrent size tee with irons works the same as with woods but irons put more back spin on the ball and the effect is not a big as it is with the driver.
i have found this out but doing rather than by reading it in a book.
maybe if you or lowpost have equipment to measure spin rate then you could maybe try and see the diffrent on spin diffrent tee make when driving.
all the best
Bill

[LowPost42]

Re: Driver has carry but no roll?

The ball flight differences you witness are due to vertical roll - there can be as much as a 3 degree difference in loft from the middle of the face to the top and bottom (so 6 degrees from crown to sole). There's also an entity known as vertical gear effect that works the same as the (horizontal) gear effect. Shots hit high on the face - while there's more loft and should produce more spin - have less spin due to VGE. Conversely, shots hit low on the face get more spin and launch lower. That's why the new mantra is high on the face and on the upswing. High on the face strips off more spin and the more positive AoA allows for closer to ideal launch angles with closer to ideal spin rates.

As for irons, hitting it well off the turf (or low tee) is pretty much always going to produce more spin if struck well due to compression than a ball teed high and swept off. Granted, this assumes a good strike. If you hit the low teed ball a little thin it'll run out much more compared to a slightly chunked teed up ball (hit high on the face and weakly that pops up).

[bill reed]

Re: Driver has carry but no roll?

hi lowpost
thanks for the information, that does make sense going by the results i get.
i find using tees of diffrent heights you can get a repeatable result, ie a high flight that drops quickly or a lower flight with more run.
i find doing it by adjusting the tees is easer than trying to adjust the swing to give you the same results.
also hitting the irons more of the toe will take about 5 to 7 yards of a 7 to 9 iron so you can dial in the yardage better that trying to take 5% off your swing and it don't make the ball fade any more than normal.
Cheers
Bill

[rotator]

Re: Driver has carry but no roll?

Hi Bill,

What you are saying is the trial I mentioned in my earlier post, about teeing the ball lower.

Ted

[mariner]

Re: Driver has carry but no roll?

hi
is it one of the newer big headed 460cc driver, if so what size tees do you use. with the newer drivers there sweet spot is higher on the face and hitting the ball below the sweet spot can increase backspin on the ball.
bill

Yeah, it's a big headed square offset 12 degree driver, and I use the yellow castles or sometimes those newer dayglo pink castle tees (that break with one hit, incidentally)
Thanks for all the answers, I've only just come back to check on them. I've always had this trouble, and I thought it was because I was letting the clubhead flip past the hands and putting artificial loft on the shot, but a pro said during a lesson that it was the exact opposite and I was chopping down on the ball too much.
I think that is why a low tee produces a higher shot, because you have to come down on it more and one of those long silver castle tees should produce a lower shot as you have to sweep through it on a more level swingpath . . . . though I don't dare use them anymore because of the occaisional one that I top edge.