Loft is absolutely critical when it comes to achieving maximum shot distance from the tee. Matching the correct loft for the swing speed that you have will achieve the optimum launch angle for your tee shots and result in you getting the ball into the air for the longest amount of time possible. The longer that the golf ball is in the air, the more the golf ball is travelling forward and the further it is being hit.

If you watch golf professionals training for the longest drive championship, you would see them hitting golf balls and then timing the amount of time that the golf ball is in the air for. Long drive champions have realised that the longer the golf ball is in the air, the more distance it is covering and the further it is travelling. The higher you hit the golf ball into the air, the further the shot will be hit. An easy way to explain this principle is to think of watering the garden with a garden hose. If you hold the hose so the water sprays out of it at a low angle, then the water will not travel as far away from you as it would if you held the hose pipe up and sprayed the water out at a higher angle.

Thinking that to achieve distance you need a lower lofted golf club is incorrect. The male golf professionals that you watch playing on the television can play with lower lofts and still achieve huge distances because they have a much higher swing speed than the average lady golfer. A Tour Professional swings their driver on average at 112 miles per hour, with the fastest club head speeds registering 130 miles per hour. Due to this higher swing speed, these players can use lower lofted drivers to achieve maximum shot distance, because club face loft is directly related to swing speed and shot distance.

The average club head speed for a lady amateur golfer is much slower at 65 miles per hour and the slower your swing speed is, the higher the club face loft that is required for maximum shot distance.

At 60 miles per hour, an 11 degree driver produces 106 yards of distance, a 15 degree driver produces 117 yards of distance and a 19 degree driver produces 122 yards of distance. At 65 miles per hour, the best driver loft for the average lady golfer is 16 degrees of loft for optimum shot distance.

If you are playing a lower lofted driver than 16 degrees, the next time you get the opportunity to try a higher lofted club have a go and watch how you hit the golf ball a much greater distance from the tee.

Women Golf Tip – Best Driver Loft for Average Ladies Golfer

In most ways, the game of golf is the same for both men and women. The hole is the same size regardless of the gender of the golfer, and the fairways and rough are the same, as well. Even tee boxes, which are sometimes sorted out by gender, really aren't gender specific when you think about it. After all, an accomplished female player could easily play from longer tees than a beginner male player. A golfer should play the tees which suit his or her distance and playing ability – not the ones that are associated with their sex.

One area where golf is usually separated on gender lines is in the category of equipment. There is equipment on the market which is marketed specifically to female golfers, and it is designed to meet the needs of those players specifically. Women's golf clubs are usually lighter and shorter than men's clubs, and they often have thinner grips as well. Of course, there are no rules which state that female golfers need to play with women's clubs, as some ladies find that they are able to perform better with men's clubs, or even senior clubs. Whatever the case, just as is true with regard to picking your tee boxes, you should pick your equipment based on your ability and needs rather than your gender.

In this article, we are going to take a look at one specific piece of the equipment selection puzzle – driver loft. You might not think much of this point while you are playing an average round of golf, but using a driver with the right loft is actually quite important. The right loft for your swing will allow the ball to launch on an optimal angle, meaning you will maximize your distance while still maintaining control over your shots. If you have not previously thought about which loft would be best for you to use off the tee, now would be a great time to examine this point.

Before we get into the details of this topic, we should mention that there is nothing wrong with looking to your golf equipment as a source of improvement. Some golfers bristle at the idea of buying new clubs to get better – thinking they should just improve their technique instead. While your technique will always be more important than your gear, it is still important to have the right clubs in hand. Think about it this way – golf is already a hard game; you don't want to make it any harder by using the wrong equipment. Make sure you have the right clubs in your bag, all the way down to small details like driver loft, and then move on to mastering your swing technique.

All of the content below is written for a right-handed golfer. If you happen to play left-handed, please take a moment to reverse the directions as necessary.

Why Loft Matters

If you don't know much about golf equipment, you might be tempted to just walk into the golf shop and purchase the first affordable driver that you find. After all, they are mostly the same, right? Not necessarily. Beyond obvious differences such as brand and price, you will need to look closer into the details of each club. The loft you choose is one of that details that should not be overlooked.

So why does loft matter? First and foremost, optimizing the loft of your driver for your swing is important because you can maximize carry distance. When the ball leaves your club face off the tee, it creates what is known in the golf world as a 'launch angle'. This is simply the angle at which the ball leaves the club face, relative to the ground. So, for example, a shot that never left the ground at all would have a launch angle of 0*, while a shot that went straight up into the sky would have a launch angle of 90*. Neither of those launch angles would be worth anything on the golf course, obviously, but you get the idea.

Unfortunately, you can't just seek out one launch angle which is going to be right for every golfer. The ideal launch angle for you is going to depend on how much speed you generate in your swing, and how much backspin you put on the ball. Generally speaking, players with lower swing speed are going to need to launch the ball higher than those with a high club head speed through the hitting area. One of the keys to the process of finding the right loft for your driver is determining what launch angle will serve you best.

Optimizing your loft is about more than distance. There is also the element of playability to consider when it comes to your drives. A drive which soars high in the air is going to be hard to control, as it will have plenty of time to drift off to the left or right before it lands. This kind of tee shot will be nearly useless in windy conditions, and you will find it hard to hit the fairway even when the breezes are calm. On the other end of the spectrum, an extremely low drive is going to have its own problems. Sure, you should be able to hit the fairway pretty reliably, but you are going to sacrifice quite a bit of distance by landing the ball so soon (in most cases). Also, hitting the ball low will make it difficult to carry any hazards which may be in play, such as cross-bunkers or waste areas.

The ideal ball flight from the tee walks the line between all of these extremes nicely. It takes a path which is high enough to offer distance, but not so high that it costs you control. A good ball flight is also able to perform properly in the wind, allowing you to play better in a variety of conditions. When you have the right loft on your driver, your ball flight will settle into a great position and you will be able to make confident swings hole after hole.

If there is one piece of great news in this article, it is the following – finding the right driver loft for your game is easier than ever before. That is true thanks to the development of technology called a 'launch monitor'. Most golf facilities have one of these devices, and you can usually use it – with the assistance of a teaching pro or fitting expert – for a small fee. The launch monitor is a computer program which uses a number of sensors to pick up data related to your launch. That information will allow the professional to suggest changes to your equipment in order to get better results. The monitor may inform you that your loft is too low, for instance, or too high. Whatever the case, you will be able to use the hard data to make informed equipment choices moving forward.

The Adjustable Age

In years gone by, you would have to settle on a loft for your driver before you made your purchase. Once the club was selected, that would be that – you weren't going to be able to do anything to change the loft. Fortunately, those days are behind us, and you don't have to be as sure today when you spend your money on a new driver. Many of the new drivers on the market feature adjustable lofts, meaning you can tweak this important element of your club long after the money has been spent.

For example, it is common for women's drivers to come with lofts of around 10.5* - 11.5*. Let's say that you decide to buy a driver which comes stock with a loft of 10.5*. At first, you think that loft is perfect for your game. However, over time, you pick up some club head speed and the ball is now flying too high for your preferences. If you have picked a driver with adjustable loft, you won't need to buy a new club – you can simply make the needed adjustment and move on. Dial the loft down one degree and experiment to see if you have found the right spot. To really make sure you are on the right track, you could go through a launch monitor session with your new club to test out all of the various lofts before settling on a winner.

While it is great to live in a time when there is so much technology in the game of golf, it would be a mistake to continually adjust your driver settings without landing on a preferred loft. You need to have a high level of trust in your golf clubs when on the course, and that is only going to be the case if you know what kind of shots they are going to produce. Once you find the right setup for your driver, do your best to leave it alone from round to round.

The only exception to that rule of thumb has to do with playing conditions. If you are playing on a day which features heavy wind, you might want to make changes to lower your ball flight before the round begins. So, in reality, you should have two 'go-to' settings for your driver. One of those settings will be your standard that you use on most days, while the other setting will be reserved for poor weather days. This two-setting approach is a great way to give yourself versatility on the course without having to get comfortable with too many different setups. Of course, it is against the rules of golf to change the settings of your driver in the middle of a round, so any adjustments you do make will need to be completed before you tee off.

If you are in the market for a new driver, you should certainly look closely at the variety of adjustable models on the market. While they might cost a little bit more upfront to purchase, adjustable drivers are desirable because they can save you from having to buy an entire new club sooner than you would have to otherwise. Also, they offer the afore mentioned flexibility to adjust your loft prior to starting a round. In this case, you will probably wind up spending a bit more now in order to save money later on down the line. Take advantage of the technology available in golf equipment by getting an adjustable driver and you won't have to make a difficult decision on which loft to choose.

Build Your Game to Meet Your Needs

With access to the internet from virtually anywhere in the world these days, you almost always have golf information at your fingertips. In fact, you are viewing some such golf information right now. This is a good thing, to be sure, but it also poses a risk – you may wind up building your game according to instruction alone, rather than finding your own way at the same time. The best golfers tend to be those who bring together traditional instruction and advice with their own intuition and feel.

What does that have to do with driver loft? It is an important point to make here because you are only going to find success with your driver if you are able to customize your loft – and your entire driving game – to meet your needs. The needs you have are going to be unique to your game, because you are a unique individual. Trying to copy another person's game step for step is only going to lead to disappointment and failure.

There are a number of variables which will determine how you want to set yourself up to drive the golf ball. Those points include the following –

• Local course conditions. The driving needs of a golfer who plays mostly in a damp, cool climate are going to be dramatically different from the needs of a player who lives in the desert. If you play dry golf courses all year long, you can probably get away with using less loft while letting the ball bounce and roll down the fairway. That plan isn't going to work in wetter areas. For golfers who are used to soggy fairways and no roll, carrying the ball as far down the fairway as possible is the best plan. As you are setting up your driver, keep your local course conditions in mind and match your game to those needs.
• Your style of play. As you gain experience on the course, you will gradually carve out your own style of play which will carry with you year after year. For instance, some people find that they love to be aggressive with the driver, frequently trying to carry the ball over bunkers or cut the corner on doglegs. Other players keep the ball low and play safely down the middle whenever possible. If you already know what style of golf you like to play, keep that game plan in mind when picking out your driver. You always want your clubs to be able to match up nicely with the kind of game you intend on playing.
• Consistency throughout the set. It is hard to play good golf when you are getting different kinds of shots from all of your clubs. Such inconsistency will wear on your mentally, as you will always be trying to figure out what trajectory you are going to get from which club. For instance, it would be tough to play well if you hit your driver high in the sky while keeping your irons low to the ground – or vice versa. As you are picking out and setting up your driver loft, think about the rest of your set and make sure you are creating a cohesive experience from top to bottom.

The point we are trying to make in this section is applicable throughout your entire set, and your entire game from a strategic perspective. You always want to be thinking about your needs, and the demands of the courses you frequently play. Golf is a hard game, and you aren't going to succeed by just walking out to the first tee and hoping for the best. A plan is necessary, and that plan should include plenty of thought about your own personal needs on the links.

Other Equipment Tips

While loft is an important piece of the driver puzzle, it is just one piece, and there are others to consider. Even if you pick out the right loft, you could still struggle with your driver if there are other equipment problems. To help you find the right club for your game, we have listed a few final tips below.

• Carefully consider shaft flex. Of all of the variables involved in the driver world, it is shaft flex that is the most important. If you find the right flex for your swing, the results are likely to be good – regardless of the club head you have picked. In fact, you can even get away with solid drives using the wrong loft if you have the right flex. While women's clubs generally come with a standard 'ladies' flex shaft, that isn't going to be right for all players. If you are a strong player with higher-than-average swing speed, your game may be better served by a regular-flex men's shaft. Again here, the help of a club fitting professional can come in handy. Going through a launch monitor session will not only allow you to figure out what loft you should select, but it will also help you settle on the right shaft.
• Find a club head you like. One of the biggest misconceptions with regard to picking out a driver is that the club head is the crucial piece of the puzzle. In reality, there isn't that much difference from one club head to the next. Nearly all of them are 460CCs these days, which is as big as they are allowed to be under the rules of golf. Rather than trying to find the 'best' club head, you should simply be looking for one that you like. You should enjoy the way it looks sitting behind the ball at address, and it should inspire confidence in you as your swing gets started. As long as you buy a quality club from a respected company, you shouldn't have to worry too much about its performance.
• Pay attention to grip size. This is one of those points that doesn't seem like a very big deal at first, but it can actually change the way you swing the club in a significant way. If you do buy a ladies' driver, that club is likely to come with a relatively narrow grip to fit the hands of most women. That's fine, but it might not be right for you. If your hands are larger than the average woman, or if they are smaller, the stock grip could cause problems. Ask a pro at your local course to check the size of the grip relative to your hands to ensure that they are a good match. If not, you can have the grip quickly replaced for very little cost.

Swinging a driver with the correct loft for your game is a big step toward optimizing your performance off the tee. Obviously, nothing is going to replace good mechanics and plenty of practice when it comes to hitting long and straight drives, but using the right loft will make things a bit easier. Once you do put a club in your bag that you are confident has the right specs, do your best to take care of that club and keep it working for you for as long as possible. Not only can you save money by getting a long life out of your driver, but you will perform better because you will develop confidence and trust in that club. Good luck!