Some Vokey Bling

They make some great wedges, but this look is NOT for me.







3JACK

The Top Club Speed Optimizers and What They Do

I decided to keep playing around with the PGATour.com's 'driving radar' stats. In the latest analysis, I took 2009's top 20 golfers in 'Driving Distance Efficiency.' DDE = Distance / Clubhead Speed. I believe the distances were on shots measured by the radar. Anyway, here's the top 20 golfers in DDE in 2009.

Rnk-----Player------------Distance---------Club Speed-----------DDE
1------------Darron Stiles------------285.8-------------105.8------------2.701
2------------Chez Reavie------------282.7-------------105.8------------2.673
3------------Vijay Singh--------------301.2-------------113.0------------2.667
4------------Jeff Maggert------------287.8-------------108.2------------2.66
5------------Nick O'Hern------------277.9-------------104.5------------2.659
6------------David Toms------------285.1-------------107.6------------2.651
t7------------K.J. Choi---------------287.3-------------108.5------------2.649
t7------------Greg Kraft--------------276.5-------------104.4------------2.649
t7------------Webb Simpson---------290.4-------------109.6------------2.649
t10------------Parker McLachlin-----288.9-------------109.2------------2.646
t10------------Geoff Ogilvy----------300.2-------------113.4------------2.646
t10------------Carl Pettersson------291.5-------------110.2------------2.646
13------------Anthony Kim-----------306.0-------------115.7------------2.645
14------------Camilo Villegas-------300.1-------------113.5------------2.644
15------------Hunter Mahan---------297.7-------------112.6------------2.643
16------------Kenny Perry----------294.3-------------111.4------------2.642
17------------Ryan Palmer----------298.4-------------113.0------------2.64
18------------Heath Slocum---------285.7-------------108.4------------2.635
t19------------John Mallinger-------279.9-------------106.3------------2.634
t19------------Joe Ogilvie------------289.4-------------109.9------------2.634

Now, let's break down their other pertinent radar stats and try to see why they are able to maximize their clubhead speed so well.

Player--Ball Speed--Smash Factor---Spin---Max. Height--Launch Angle
Darron Stiles-------157.33---------1.487--------2516--------107.2---------15.01
Chez Reavie---------156.48---------1.480--------2532--------87.9----------12.54
Vijay Singh---------167.57---------1.483--------2598--------110.5---------12.69
Jeff Maggert--------160.72---------1.486--------2379--------94.2----------13.02
Nick O'Hern---------155.17---------1.485--------2266--------82.8----------12.78
David Toms----------159.76---------1.485--------2558--------96.7----------13.33
K.J. Choi-----------160.87---------1.483--------2432--------86.3----------11.8
Greg Kraft----------154.5----------1.480--------2458--------83.2----------12.72
Webb Simpson--------162.59---------1.483--------2447--------106.9---------13.74
Parker McLachlin----161.91---------1.483--------2858--------86.8----------11.18
Geoff Ogilvy--------168.26---------1.483--------2854--------106.5---------11.87
Carl Pettersson-----163.37---------1.483--------2278--------84.2----------12.14
Anthony Kim---------170.98---------1.478--------2461--------104.9---------11.94
Camilo Villegas-----168.16---------1.482--------2588--------90.7----------11.00
Hunter Mahan--------166.8----------1.481--------2455--------93.1----------11.59
Kenny Perry---------165.22---------1.483--------2381--------99.9----------12.95
Ryan Palmer---------167.96---------1.486--------2553--------105.9---------12.99
Heath Slocum--------160.96---------1.485--------2414--------91.9----------12.42
John Mallinger------157.81---------1.485--------2564--------95.8----------12.72
Joe Ogilvie---------162.93---------1.483--------2564-------101.8---------12.92


Now, let's dive a little more into detail

Average Distance - 290.6 yards

This would rank them 66th on the list, right around with Jason Gore. I've played golf with Jason Gore before and he hits it deep.


Average Clubhead Speed - 109.5 mph

Despite hitting the ball quite aways, the average clubhead speed of these guys is below the Tour average (111.7 mph). This average clubhead speed would rank then 126th, right around where Jim Furyk's clubhead speed. Furyk's distance measured by radar was 278 yards last year (12 yards less than the average of these players listed)


Average Ball Speed - 162.5 mph

This would rank about 121st on the Tour last year, right about where Ryuji Imada's ball speed was. However, Imada 'only' hit it 282 yards on the radar measured shots last year, still 8 yards below the average of these players.


Average Smash Factor - 1.483

Smash Factor = Ball Speed / Clubhead Speed. This usually shows you how well struck the shot is as the PGA Tour average is around 1.48 with the driver. As Trackman studies have shown, smash factor with the driver decreases the more you hit down on the driver.

This smash factor would rank about 15th last season, about where Angel Cabrera was. I think it's safe to say that these golfers where making great contact consistently with the driver and probably didn't hit very far down on the ball.


Average Spin Rate - 2,508 rpm's

This ranks about 29th last season, right about where Stewart Cink's spin rate was. Since this average spin rate is on the low side for the PGA Tour, it tells me that keeping the spin rate down, well under 3,000 rpm's is pretty important to maximizing DDE.

In fact, only Parker McLachlin and Geoff Ogilvy are above 2,600 rpms. They could be considered 'outliers' and if you were to take those two out of the equation, the average spin rate is at 2,469 rpms, which would rank about the 18th lowest on Tour (about the same spin rate Ernie Els has).


Average Maximum Height - 95'9"

This would rank slightly above average at 78th. This is about the same height as Sergio Garcia's driver shots. From looking at the stats, if you want to maximize DDE, you're better off leaning towards a little more higher ball flight than a lower ball flight. But too high will hurt your DDE as well.


Average Launch Angle - 12.57*

Ping recommends a launch angle with the driver in the 10-14* range. However, none of these players are below 11*. Darren Stiles, who led the tour in 2009 in DDE, also had the highest average launch angle (15.01*) and had it by a large margin. The next highest launch angle last year (for the entire Tour) was at 14.1*.

It may be interesting to check out Stiles' swing data on a Trackman and figure out if the launch angle should be more towards the 11*-15* range instead of the prescribed 10*-14* range.

I think you can consider Stiles' launch angle an outlier as well.

Anyway, the 12.57* launch angle would rank 31st highest on Tour in 2009, about the same as Padraig Harrington's launch angle.

If we were to take out Stiles' abnormally high launch angle, the average launch angle would be 12.44*.

From looking at this data, there's not really anything new here. Maximizing your clubhead speed means that you need to have a good launch angle, that's likely to be higher than the Tour average, and a pretty low spin rate. Hopefully this analysis shows exactly what your vertical launch angle and spin rate should be.










3JACK

Swing Update 7.22.10

Here's my latest swing update.



Sorry for the Face On swing. The sun was going right into the camera from that view and I really couldn't get a good view of it.

Here's what my swing looked like on Monday.



But, this game is amazing as one day you can be swinging the club great and the next day can be a completely different story. Believe me, my swing that I had recorded looked nothing like that early on. I was laid off badly in the backswing and for the first time in a long time, I was coming over the top.

HOWEVER, thank god I have accepted the fact that I fall into bad habits quickly and by getting a camera, the TRUE '15th club in the bag', I can address swing issues immediately.







3JACK

Acceleration Show Part I & II

Here are parts I and II of a Mike Jacobs 'acceleration show' using FlightScope.





A few things:

1) I just asked Jacobs as to why exactly they disregard the acceleration profile after impact. If it's something that they feel FlightScope cannot accurately measure, that's understandable. If it's something they don't feel is important, I may question that.

2) Here's a reason why I'm not too keen on FlightScope as blog follower and teaching professional John Graham has pointed out on his Web site (www.johngrahamgolf.com) that FlightScope has problems with accurately measuring the attack angle. And because the attack angle effects the path, you have to question how accurate the path is as well.

For instance, if I got it correctly, Jacobs' numbers looked like this:

-3* attack angle
-0.1* HSP
-1.6* path
65* VSP

As Jacobs mentioned, his Vertical Swing Plane (basically the downswing plane) was a bit too upright. What we know of the VSP the more upright, the less you need to swing left to 'zero out' the path.

But even still, it's showing an HSP of only -0.1*, yet the path is going left -1.6*. Those numbers don't quite add up to me as his path should be a little out to the right with that HSP (-0.1*) and that attack angle (-3*).





3JACK

Gotta Keep That Head Down...

Yeah, right.



And here's the golfer *past* impact.








3JACK

Total Driver Swing and Equipment Efficiency Rankings

A few weeks ago I saw that the PGA Tour started keeping more ‘radar stats’ when it comes to golfers. I’m guessing they got this from Trackman, but they measure things like clubhead speed, carry, etc.

With that, I came up with a stat called ‘Total Driver Swing Efficiency.’ What I did was take the Total Driving Distance Efficiency (driving distance / clubhead speed) and add driving accuracy to that.

Here are the rankings:

1…..David Toms
2…..Darron Stiles
3…..Chez Reavie
4…..Heath Slocum
5…..Brian Gay
6…..Jeff Maggert
7…..Kirk Triplett
8…..Nick O'Hern
9…..John Mallinger
10…..K.J. Choi
t10…..Glen Day
12…..Alex Cejka
t12…..Zach Johnson
t12…..Tim Clark
15…..Mark Wilson
t15…..Jay Williamson
17…..Justin Leonard
18…..Brandt Snedeker
t18…..Colt Knost
20…..Kenny Perry
t20…..Scott Verplank
22…..D.A. Points
23…..Jason Bohn
24…..Boo Weekley
t24…..Mark Brooks
26…..Steve Elkington
27…..Brian Davis
28…..Jason Gore
29…..Paul Goydos
30…..Hunter Mahan
31…..Tommy Armour III
32…..Billy Mayfair
33…..Cliff Kresge
34…..Greg Kraft
35…..Ian Poulter
36…..Vaughn Taylor
t36…..Patrick Sheehan
38…..Jeff Quinney
39…..Matt Kuchar
40…..Ben Crane
41…..Ernie Els
42…..Mathew Goggin
43…..Tom Pernice, Jr.
44…..Justin Rose
t44…..Bob Heintz
t44…..Peter Lonard
47…..Aron Price
48…..Kent Jones
49…..Steve Lowery
t49…..Lucas Glover
51…..Vijay Singh
t51…..Steve Marino
t51…..Chris Riley
54…..Bo Van Pelt
55…..Peter Tomasulo
t55…..Richard S. Johnson
57…..Marc Turnesa
58…..Camilo Villegas
t58…..John Rollins
t58…..Corey Pavin
61…..D.J. Trahan
62…..Matt Weibring
63…..Tim Petrovic
64…..Ryan Palmer
65…..Webb Simpson
66…..Chris Stroud
67…..David Mathis
68…..Steve Stricker
69…..Will MacKenzie
70…..Bill Lunde
71…..Kevin Sutherland
72…..Bryce Molder
t72…..Jeff Klauk
74…..Rocco Mediate
75…..Geoff Ogilvy
t75…..Ben Curtis
77…..Rick Price
78…..Jerry Kelly
t78…..Ryan Moore
t78…..Robert Allenby
81…..Todd Hamilton
t81…..Tom Lehman
83…..Jim Furyk
84…..Joe Ogilvie
t84…..Ted Purdy
t84…..Bart Bryant
87…..Carl Pettersson
88…..Nicholas Thompson
t88…..Johnson Wagner
t88…..Scott McCarron
91…..Joe Durant
92…..Charles Warren
93…..Matt Bettencourt
t93…..John Merrick
95…..Casey Wittenberg
96…..Jason Dufner
97…..Parker McLachlin
t97…..Anthony Kim
t97…..Cameron Beckman
t97…..Rod Pampling
101…..Chris DiMarco
102…..Briny Baird
103…..Stewart Cink
104…..Rich Beem
105…..Daniel Chopra
106…..Michael Allen
107…..Pat Perez
108…..Martin Laird
109…..Greg Owen
110…..Jonathan Byrd
111…..Charlie Wi
112…..Kevin Stadler
113…..Robert Garrigus
114…..Davis Love III
115…..Scott Sterling
t115…..Bob Estes
117…..Brendon de Jonge
t117…..Mike Weir
119…..Steve Flesch
120…..Spencer Levin
121…..Rory Sabbatini
t121…..Sean O'Hair
123…..Brendon Todd
t123…..Woody Austin
125…..Fredrik Jacobson
126…..Michael Letzig
127…..Chad Campbell
128…..Kris Blanks
129…..Fred Couples
t129…..Jason Day
131…..Brian Bateman
132…..John Senden
133…..Dean Wilson
t133…..Stephen Ames
135…..Ryuji Imada
136…..James Nitties
t136…..Tiger Woods
138…..Andres Romero
139…..Greg Chalmers
140…..Dustin Johnson
t140…..Lee Janzen
142…..Mark Calcavecchia
143…..Brad Faxon
t143…..Kevin Streelman
t143…..Luke Donald
t143…..Kevin Na
147…..Ken Duke
148…..Tim Herron
149…..Troy Matteson
150…..Adam Scott
t150…..Nathan Green
152…..Y.E. Yang
153…..Harrison Frazar
t153…..Scott Piercy
t153…..Marc Leishman
156…..Bill Haas
157…..J.B. Holmes
158…..Brett Quigley
159…..Padraig Harrington
160…..Brad Adamonis
161…..Tag Ridings
t161…..Charley Hoffman
t161…..Jarrod Lyle
164…..Stuart Appleby
t164…..Charles Howell III
t164…..George McNeill
167…..Matt Jones
168…..J.J. Henry
169…..Phil Mickelson
170…..Angel Cabrera
171…..Leif Olson
172…..Sergio Garcia
173…..Eric Axley
174…..Nick Watney
175…..Retief Goosen
176…..Jeff Overton
177…..Ricky Barnes
178…..Gary Woodland
179…..Derek Fathauer
180…..Aaron Baddeley
181…..David Duval
t181…..Bubba Watson
183…..Jimmy Walker

With the LPGA Tour, we know that the attack angles are much more shallow than the PGA Tour. In fact, the average AoA with the driver on the PGA Tour is -1.3* whereas the average AoA on the LPGA is +3*. This sort of tells me that golfers who are shorter off the tee at this level almost instinctively hit more up on the ball in order to get some added distance, but can still find ways to be accurate off the tee.





3JACK

The Open Winner's Swing

Some stuff on Louis Oosthuizen.











3JACK