If you have ever gotten fit for clubs, you may have heard the club fitters talking about the launch and spin of your golf ball, but why? And is everyone trying to get the same launch and spin? The answer lies in the physics of the ball flight. Backspin plays a very important role in ball flight, it provides lift to the ball in the air to help it sustain its flight. Your club speed is going to determine the optimal launch and spin for each player, therefore golfers will need different numbers based on their own game. So if everyone needs different launch and spin, how do you determine the correct launch and spin for your game? With the help of modern technology, launch monitors have helped dial in exactly what is needed to optimize your ball flight. To keep it simple, the slower the club speed the higher the launch and spin rate needs to be, faster club speeds need to launch the ball much lower with less spin. The reason is because as the club speed increases, the ball speed also increases and higher ball speeds continue to climb into the air for much longer than slower ball speeds, thus needing less backspin to sustain flight. If you are not sure whether your ball flight is optimal for your club head speed, you can use this chart as a reference for your game!
