Do any pros use 10.5 loft?

At the WGC-HSBC Champions, Dustin Johnson took the title using a TaylorMade SLDR driver with 10.5 degrees loft. Although TaylorMade has recently been touting the benefits of "lofting up" with its new driver, it's actually been a trend on the PGA Tour for more than a decade.

Is 10.5 a good driver loft?

The ideal driver loft depends on your swing speed and the attack angle. Average players that swing the club less than 95 MPH will likely find that a 10.5-degree driver performs the best. Better players who can control their drives and want the most distance will lean more towards a 9-degree driver.

Do pro golfers use 10.5 driver?

Most professionals on the PGA golf tour are using a driver with a loft between 9 and 10.5. The golfers will change the loft based on the shaft they have on their club and how the shaft impacts the ball flight as well.

Is 10.5 loft better for beginners?

We would venture to say that the vast majority of amateur and beginner golfers will benefit a lot more from the extra loft of the 10.5 degree driver than using a 9.5 degree and this comes down to forgiveness.

What loft do pro drivers use?

Professional golfers tend to play with a driver that has about 9.5 degrees of loft. Of course, there are some golfers who find 10.5 or 8.5 to be more effective, but you will generally see most players end up in the 9 to 9.5 range. The loft on the driver makes it easier to launch.

What Driver Loft Should You Play? Impact of Driver Loft On Distance And Accuracy

What loft is Rory McIlroy driver?

Rory's driver is a 9º head, with the hosel adaptor set a notch lower so the loft plays more like 8.5º. The sliding sole weight is in a pretty neutral position, and the shaft is a Fujikura Ventus Black 6X tipped one inch (to make it play stiffer).

Is 11.5 loft too much?

If you have a mid swing speed of 95-104 mph, a driver loft of between 10-11.5° will normally be a good starting point. If you hit down on the ball, you're likely to have high spin loft, so using less loft will actually reduce your backspin and should help you hit the ball further.

Is there a big difference between 9.5 and 10.5 driver?

In theory, a 9.5 degree driver shot will travel lower at a greater speed with less backspin than a 10.5 degree driver when struck square. You must be sure that you have enough club head speed -- how fast the golf club is moving toward impact with the golf ball -- to warrant a lower lofted driver.

What is the difference between 9.5 and 10.5 loft?

The difference between the 9.5- and 10.5-degree drivers will be one degree of loft and quite a bit of forgiveness. Although it may not seem like a lot to change the loft in the driver by just one degree, it will certainly impact the ball flight and distance of the shots that you hit.

Do any pros use a 12 degree driver?

Think of the high lofted wedges and how easy they are to hit straight. It is not a direct comparison, but similar physics. A 12 Degree driver has slightly more loft than the average driver used by most amateurs and pros. In fact, many pros use drivers at or below the 10.5-degree mark.

What loft driver does Dustin Johnson use?

Dustin Johnson is currently using the TaylorMade Stealth Plus driver.

What loft driver does Tiger Woods use?

The 15-time major winner did have a TaylorMade SIM driver in the bag but at the 2021 PNC Championship, he put in the new TaylorMade Stealth Plus driver (opens in new tab). It has a Mitsubishi Diamana shaft and has 8.25 degrees of loft.

What degree driver does Tiger Woods use?

At the 2022 Masters, Tiger Woods used a TaylorMade Stealth Plus+ driver, a 15-degree TaylorMade SIM 3-wood and a 19-degree TaylorMade M3 5-wood. That has been Tiger's standard setup, along with his TaylorMade P·7TW irons (3-PW) since he joined TaylorMade in 2017.

Is a 10.5 degree driver more forgiving?

The primary benefit of the 10.5-degree driver is that it is more forgiving than a lower lofted driver. When you take loft away from a club, you make it harder to hit. Generally, the less loft a club has, the faster a player must swing the club to get the distance and launch results they need.

What is a 10.5 degree driver?

The least-lofted golf club, other than a putter, is the driver. Drivers are typically lofted between 8 and 11 degrees, so drivers with lofts of 9.5 and 10.5 degrees are common. The higher-lofted driver is typically a better choice for an amateur player.

What is the loft on Bryson Dechambeau driver?

Bryson was using a Cobra King Radspeed driver which had only 7.5 degrees of loft but in 2022 he has switched to a Cobra LTDx which only has five degrees of loft.

Does a lower loft driver go further?

Lower lofts can provide more energy transfer at impact because there's less of an oblique angle. It's why your 7-iron flies farther than your 8-iron. In our test, drivers with less loft consistently produced more ball speed, even for low swing-speed golfers (3.2 mph more compared to the 10.5 and 12-degree drivers).

Does a 9 degree driver go further?

At –4 AoA the 10.5 degree driver was 9 yards longer due to higher launch and higher spin. At +2 AoA the 9 degree driver was 14 yards longer due to decreased launch angle and reduced spin. At +4 AoA the 9 degree driver was 14 yards longer due to decreased launch angle and reduced spin.

What loft should a high handicapper driver be?

A higher handicap player is going to do best with the 12 degree driver. With this club in their hand, the golfer can get plenty of ball speed, distance, and ball flight as well. IF a faster swinging player were to attempt to use the 12 degree driver, they might struggle with getting the control they need.

How much does 1 degree of loft affect distance?

How Much Does 1 Degree of Loft Affect Distance? Given that you're at your maximum clubhead speed, just 1-degree change in the loft angle of a golf driver can affect your driving distance by 2-4 yards.

Does driver loft affect slice?

A higher driver loft can help a slice because it will help to encourage a bit more forgiveness and backspin on the driver. These features of a higher lofted driver are going to help improve a slice and straighten out overall ball flight. A slice is often caused by a bit too much side spin being applied to a golf ball.

Is a higher loft driver better?

Ultimately the accuracy of your shot will come down to the mechanics of your swing. And the position of your clubface at impact. So, a higher loft driver is not necessarily more accurate, but it does help slower swinging golfers to get the ball airborne to achieve maximum distance.

Is a higher loft driver more forgiving?

Loft for loft, the G30 will tend to launch higher, spin more, and have more forgiveness. When properly fit, it is common to see the R15 driver help golfers create more optimal launch conditions — a higher launch and less spin — but its forward-CG design lowers the forgiveness of the club on off-center hits.

Who makes a 14 degree driver?

TaylorMade 14-degree SLDR driver.

Does decreasing loft open the face?

Being able to adjust the loft allows golfers to achieve launch angles and spin rates that are suited well to the way that they deliver the club. When you adjust a hosel to increase loft, you are actually closing the face fractionally. Conversely when you reduce loft you are open the face slightly.