This is a supplement to the piece that I wrote regarding the Kiyoshi Purple and current trend on tour to higher launching/lower spinning shafts.
Golf World – Efficiency Experts
Excerpt from article;
To max out distance, players need to get the best match with their driver, ball and launch conditions. The key to efficiency? Almost without exception it is a combination of high launch with low spin. The 21 players in the top 20 in total driving efficiency on the tour average 1.52 degrees more launch angle than the tour average (12.65 degrees compared to 11.13 degrees) and spin it 245 revolutions per minute less (2,376 to 2,621).
Woods’ stats speak to the importance of the launch angle/spin connection. In 2007 Woods was the epitome of a player whose launch conditions off the tee were the worst of both worlds as he combined a low launch (8.45 degrees) with high spin (3,343 rpm). This year Woods has a more desirable 11.76 degrees launch angle and a spin rate of 2,672 rpm. This has allowed him to maintain his length (300.3-yard average, a drop of just two yards from 2007), despite a loss of 4.5 miles per hour club- head speed during that same period.