Engine performance and aerodynamic lift are very dependent on air density.
In these extreme cases, long-drive hitters are accomplishing a high launch angle-to-head loft ratio with changes in their swing, ball position and tee height which allow the driver to contact the ball on the upswing, well after it passes the low point in the swing arc.The density altitude is another way of expressing air density, and is mainly used in the aviation industry by pilots. It is not uncommon for national long drive competitors to generate launch angles of 12 to 15 degrees with driver heads featuring real loft angles of five to six degrees. Yet, the ball takes off at a higher launch angle and with a greater amount of velocity for any given swing speed because of the upward or positive angle of attack. When a high launch angle is generated by a positive angle of attack using a lower-lofted driver head, the ball slides up the face less, thus creating less spin and losing less energy at impact because the force vector is perpendicular to that lower loft. With a positive angle of attack, the force vector also travels in an upward direction to the ball. The force vector is the direction of movement of the force generated by the clubhead’s mass from the golfer’s swing speed toward the ball and it is always perpendicular to the clubhead’s loft. This result occurs because the upswing, or positive angle of attack, has a significant effect on a physical phenomenon known as the force vector of the head. When the same launch angle is generated with a lower loft angle on the clubhead, there is greater clubhead-to-ball energy transfer, resulting in more distance. A golfer with a level or downward angle of attack always needs greater clubhead loft to achieve the same launch angle as a golfer with a positive angle of attack (See Illustration).
When the ball is hit on the upswing, the shot’s launch angle is greater than the driver’s measured loft because the head’s loft is tilted upward by the swing. But the golfer who can increase their launch angle with a positive angle of attack will always optimize their launch parameters to a greater extent. For example, if a golfer would benefit from a higher launch angle as induced by more driver loft, that change should be made because more carry distance can be achieved. When launch angle is increased by adding loft, the efficiency of the clubhead-to-ball energy transfer is not as great as when (or if) the same launch angle is created through a positive angle of attack. Hitting the ball on the upswing is also known as generating a positive angle of attack with the swing, and golfers that strike the ball on the upswing know firsthand how a positive angle of attack maximizes the already tremendous energy generated from extreme swing speeds. Increasing launch angle to optimize carry distance can primarily be accomplished in two ways - through an increase in the clubhead’s loft or from hitting the ball on the upswing. Unfortunately, optimum trajectory angles do not correspond directly to optimum loft angles. There are many websites out there that give you stats on optimum trajectory angles for Drives at different club head speeds. What Driver Loft will optimize your distance? Repeat the process as many times as you like. Record them and then press your browser's back button to return to this page to enter new data. When you press the CALCULATE button at the bottom of the form, you'll be taken to another page which will display the results. These glasses are specially tinted to assist your seeing the texture of the grass and the break of the Green.