How to Maximize Driver Distance With a Launch Monitor

Recently, Shot Scope released its annual report, which aggregated data from millions of golf shots spread across every handicap level. On tee shots, the findings were twofold:

1) Better golfers hit the ball farther (we knew that already)

2) Better golfers hit their potential distance more often

On the first point, learning ways to increase your swing speed will unlock your distance potential (you can read this article on how to do that).

The second point is interesting because it points to efficiency and optimization. In other words, can you maximize distance with your current swing speed? And if you can do that more often, you stand to gain a big scoring advantage.

Think of scoring like a cascading effect. You might point to your putter and wedges for why you are not reaching your scoring goals. But with modern analytics, we know that it starts at the tee box.

If you leave yourself longer approach shots, you’ll hit fewer greens in regulation, and more importantly, miss them farther away from the hole. If you have longer wedge shots into greens, well then you’ll have putts so far away that you have no chance to save par, and often turn those mistakes into double bogeys or worse.

So it might not feel like a big deal, but leaving yourself 10, 20, or even 30 yards farther back after your tee shot puts you at a massive scoring disadvantage.

Golf is a game of proximity. You can stack the odds in your favor by getting closer to the hole off the tee.

Launch monitors are the perfect tool for providing feedback on maximizing driver distance.

Here’s how to do it…

Distance optimization is a combination of three key metrics:

• Ball Speed

• Launch Angle

• Spin rate

For most golfers, we aim to increase ball speed and launch angle while lowering spin rate. The modern golf ball wants to fly higher with less spin to maximize distance.

This chart from PING illustrates how those numbers vary across different swing speeds and clubhead delivery (most notably, angle of attack).

Almost all of the launch monitors we sell at The Indoor Golf Shop can track these metrics reliably (don’t hesitate to reach out to our team to help you decide on the right one). 

One way to maximize most of those numbers is simply improving your strike location. If you can train yourself to strike the center of the face more often, you will hit your maximum distance more often. It’s that simple.

And this was one of the big takeaways from Shot Scope’s scoring report. Each handicap level had the ability to hit as far as golfers better than them; they simply didn’t strike the center of the clubface enough while playing to do it.

When you access the center of gravity (sweet spot) more often, you’re allowing the golf club to do what it’s supposed to - launch with optimal spin rate and maximum ball speed.

So, at the range, using a combination of spraying your driver’s face with Dr. Scholl’s Odor X (or a similar product) to diagnose where you are currently striking it on the face.

Then, challenging yourself to move the strike location around is incredibly effective.

In addition, use your launch monitor to give you feedback on metrics like launch angle, ball speed, spin rate, and carry distance to see how your strike patterns affect all of these numbers.

If you have a launch monitor that can measure angle of attack, you can use this to your advantage while you practice.

Angle of attack is a measurement of whether the club is moving downward, level, or upwards at the impact interval. With your irons and wedges, we want to see a negative or level angle of attack.

However, to maximize distance with your driver, you want to hit up on it (a positive angle of attack).

But most golfers do the opposite.

They hit down on their driver, often by 2-4 degrees or more, which leads to a lower launch angle and significant loss of distance.

If you can learn to go from a negative angle of attack to positive, it’s one of the easiest distance unlocks there is.

To do that, try these adjustments:

• Tee the ball higher (half the ball should be above the driver crown).

• Move it forward in your stance.

• Tilt your spine away from the target (right-handed golfers: your right shoulder should feel lower).

• Focus on staying “behind” the ball at impact.

• Place an empty tee box in front of the ball - try to challenge yourself not to make contact with it (which means you’re hitting up on the ball)

You don’t have to do all of these at once, but experiment with each of them separately, and use your launch monitor to see how they alter your angle of attack, launch angle, and carry distance.

Your goal is to find a setup (tee height and ball position) and swing intention that can reliably move you from a negative angle of attack to a positive one.

This simple change can unlock 10-30 yards of distance for most golfers, so it’s worth it!

If you’ve invested in a quality launch monitor, this is a great way to ensure your investment is “driving” scoring gains. Also, who doesn’t love figuring out ways to blast their driver 30 yards past their buddies?

These simple practice methods, combined with the accurate feedback, can get you there faster.

The Indoor Golf Shop sells a variety of launch monitors and golf simulators at different price points that reliably capture all the measurements discussed in this article. If you need help deciding which one suits your indoor setup, or when you go to the driving range, don’t hesitate to reach out to us here.