tour driver ball speed

TrackMan Average Tour Stats

Tour stats include:

Club Speed, Attack Angle, Ball Speed, Smash Factor, Launch Angle, Spin Rate, Max Height, Land Angle and Carry.

TrackMan Average Stats Taken From The PGA TOUR

TrackMan LPGA Tour Average Stats

80 comments

So the average male Tour pro hits down on the ball slightly with the driver? Should attack angle vary with clubhead speed?

The attack angle for the pros varies on woods, but it’s more or less negative when it comes to hybrids and irons. For the average player, the attack angle on drivers varies and in general so should the ball that is hit from the ground always have a negative attack angle in order to get a better margin of error for the impact.

However, in order to get the longest carry possible, the ball should launch high with low spin. The optimal numbers are individual based on club speed – and that type of flight can easier be achieved if the spin loft is low together with a high dynamic loft. The more the attack angle is negative, then the higher the spin loft gets => the attack angle should be closer to 0 if anything IF the goal is to carry as long as possible.

But generally, the attack angle for irons should be from -2 – -5 for almost all players, but for drivers you can hit it further with a positive attack angle, no matter the club speed.

Niklas Bergdahl Support Manager EMEA & Asia

Can you send me the optimal numbers across the board that players and coaches should be looking for in lessons and trackman sessions

Strangely enough, with a driver you can achieve a carry of 300 vs 275 with the same clubhead speed of 113. Adam Young tries to get people to convert to this method. Attack angle = +8 degrees Launch angle = 19 degrees Backspin = 2,000 Smash Factor= 1.5

Hi. I can only confirm. I achieve those positive angles and l can carry the driver (9 degr loft) 245 yards with a club speed of 95mph. Rollout is average 20 yards.

No, it is 3° and that means the clubhead is movin upwards. – is downwards.

You are reading the LPGA (ladies) numbers Tim. The PGA (men) average is -1.3.

Looks like the average LPGA players trackman swing speed is more or less the same as an average 10 hcp male player. Though the ladies are a lot more skilled in hitting it on the right angles and in the right spot on the clubface. Would an average 10 hcp male player have a advantage or disadvantege using graphite shafts?

Harry, any player of any handicap can benefit from graphite shafts. More often than not, the memory in most players’ minds from graphite stems from a very long time ago when graphite was ONLY graphite. It was whippy, and not very accurate. Material advances and composite technology have nearly rendered steel obsolete. I say nearly, mind you. There are a number of outstanding graphite shafts out there that are super stable and responsive, enabling a lighter club and longer distance without sacrificing accuracy. Fujikura makes some really nice iron shafts that fuse both steel and graphite technologies called MCI. In fact, i have Fuji PRO 95i shafts in my irons and my iron game is better now than it ever was with steel. I’m a 3.5 index and relatively strong but it allows me to play all out without getting tired on the back 9 from heavy clubs. Being a club builder, i can tell you that in golf equipment there’s a trade-off in everything. wether it’s length, weight, or feel so your advantage or disadvantage is dependent on how precisely you build your piece of equipment.

Hey Chris thanks for the info below i find it very interesting. Curious do you have those same shafts in your wedges or do you have steel in your wedges? I played SteelFiber i95 shafts last year in all my irons including wedges. I liked them in my irons but i felt like it hurt my game in wedges. Do you have any thoughts on this? Thanks

Agreed. Shallow your angle of attack to match the LPGA players.

I have had a number of sessions on a Trackman, (the latest on Aug 22, 2015, at “Modern Golf” in Mississauga On.). My clubhead speed and distances are about the same as LPGA averages. I was doing wedge work, and see that for a pitching wedge, (48°), my angle of attack -about 7.5° – is n=much higher than LPGA average. My accuracy is good, (only 3 0f 19 shots more that 20′ away, and all when the face angle was over 4° closed). I’m thinking that I should weaken my left hand a bit, (it’s a little strong on pitch shots), and play the ball farther forward- 2″ ahead of centre. Am I on the right track, or will these changes introduce new problems?

I’m 74 years old, and am a long-time PGA of Canada member. Thanks for any feedback…. love Trackman outings.

I would recommend that you visit one of our certified coaches, he/she would be able to help you and find what numbers are best for you.

See our TrackMan Locator here.

I don’t disagree with these stats but I do it;s kinda weird. 87 miles mph with an 8 iron should produce 177 yards of carry not 160 that’s a lot of mph. Iv’e seen high school kids hit 9 iron 165 and they don’t swing 100 mph with a 9 iron. When I swing hard I hit my 8 iron 155 and my legit radar read 72 mph so logic would dictate at 88 mph you would get more like 180 yards carry again that’s a lot of mph.

Remember that’s a carry number not total distance. Also since the pros produce significant more back spin, their ball flight is higher, landing angle loftier producing minimum roll whereas your total distance might be benefiting from maximum roll. One more thing to check would be launch angle where you might be hitting a low ball flight to maximize distance which in my opinion is “cheating.”

The PGA Tour 8-iron goes 160 in the air for a couple of reasons. One, they usually hit weaker lofts than high school players (like I) do. Secondly, they spin their 8-iron at 7998 RPM to stop the ball on fast greens. I believe this is the combination that makes the 8-iron go so much shorter.

I’ve hit thousands of balls on Foresight simulators, and what I’ve found is that backspin significantly influences carry distance. Holding club head speed constant, greater backspin reduces carry distance on all clubs.

For mid-irons, I’d estimate that you lose roughly 5-7 yards of carry per 1,000 RPM in additional backspin. And with the driver it’s easily 10+ yards of carry lost per 1,000 RPM.

This explains why poorly struck balls will often fly as far, if not further, than a well-hit shot. The key to backspin is crispness of contact – a poorly struck shot simply won’t spin as much. Unless the impact is absolutely terrible, the lack of backspin on poorly struck shots will cause those balls to carry further than a well-struck ball. So if you’re flying balls over the green with your irons, the culprit could be too little backspin caused by poor contact, cheap balls, a dirty club face, etc.

I think this is also the key reason why fades don’t carry as far as draws. It’s not that a draw swing is any faster/more powerful – it’s simply that fades have more backspin due to the impact geometry/physics involved with that swing.

Now I may be wrong on some of this, so I’d love to get a true expert’s take.

One thing I forgot to add to my comment above is that you need a minimum of backspin on all golf shots just to get the ball up in the air. That may be 1,500 RPM for woods and maybe 3,000 for irons.

My point is that increasing backspin beyond this base level will generally reduce carry. For example, I can guarantee that increasing the backspin on your 7 iron from 5k to 7.5k will reduce your carry with that club, even if your swinging faster at 7.5k.

I totally disagree with your premise. Draws carrying further than fades? That makes no sense.

Bare in mind tour players play with proper golf clubs which are weak lofted so the people you see hitting a 9 iron further than tour average 8 it’s probably because that 9 iron is closer to a 7 iron loft

Spin determines weather you hit a draw or fade so logic would dictate distance will also be effected. In my experience draws do tend to be further for 2 reasons and both have to do with spin. With a draw you will usually get more roll out as well as flight because of the decrease in spin. This is especially true with a driver.

Depends what clubs you are using. There can be as much as 7 degrees of variation between a ‘standard’ loft on a 7 iron. If you’re playing the Callaway Mavrik irons, you’ll get 27 degrees of loft on a 7 iron. If you’re playing the Callaway Apex Pro then its 34 degrees. That’s a two club difference.

I was custom fit recently for the Apex 21’s and currently play Apex MBs. With the MBs my 7 iron has 34 degrees of loft and flies 165yds with 89mph average club head speed. Same swing with the Apex 21s (30 degrees of loft) flies between 177 – 180 yds. Big difference.

Larry , I would highly recommend you see Mark Evershed . Buy him lunch and get the answers your looking for .

Hi guys this was a recent session with a cobra 3 wood 16 deg loft.my question is my launch angle seems a little low ,interested in your thoughts .thanks Shot # Club Club Speed (mph) Ball Speed (mph) Smash Factor Launch Angle (degrees) Direction Back Spin (rpm) Carry Distance (yards) Total Distance (yards) 1 3 Wood 94 143 1.52 8.80 Straight 3874.00 215.00 232.00 2 3 Wood 98 148 1.51 9.10 Straight 4096.00 223.00 240.00 3 3 Wood 94 142 1.51 9.10 Straight 3904.00 213.00 230.00 4 3 Wood 94 143 1.52 8.80 Straight 3874.00 215.00 232.00 5 3 Wood 96 145 1.51 9.10 Straight 4000.00 219.00 236.00 6 3 Wood 94 143 1.52 8.80 Straight 3874.00 215.00 232.00 7 3 Wood 94 143 1.52 8.80 Straight 3874.00 215.00 232.00 8 3 Wood 93 141 1.52 8.80 Straight 3826.00 212.00 229.00 9 3 Wood 92 129 1.40 12.40 Straight 4138.00 190.00 207.00 10 3 Wood 94 142 1.51 9.10 Straight 3904.00 213.00 230.00 11 3 Wood 94 142 1.51 9.10 Straight 3904.00 213.00 230.00 12 3 Wood 94 143 1.52 8.80 Straight 3874.00 215.00 232.00 13 3 Wood 96 145 1.51 9.10 Straight 4000.00 219.00 236.00 14 3 Wood 93 140 1.51 9.10 Straight 3856.00 210.00 227.00 15 3 Wood 96 146 1.52 8.80 Straight 3970.00 220.00 237.00 16 3 Wood 92 140 1.52 8.80 Straight 3778.00 210.00 227.00 17 3 Wood 95 144 1.52 8.80 Straight 3922.00 216.00 233.00 18 3 Wood 96 145 1.51 9.10 Straight 4000.00 219.00 236.00 19 3 Wood 94 142 1.51 9.10 Straight 3904.00 213.00 230.00 20 3 Wood 91 137 1.51 9.10 Straight 3760.00 204.00 221.00 21 3 Wood 94 143 1.52 8.80 Straight 3874.00 215.00 232.00 22 3 Wood 95 144 1.52 8.80 Straight 3922.00 216.00 233.00 23 3 Wood 95 144 1.52 8.80 Straight 3922.00 216.00 233.00 24 3 Wood 96 146 1.52 8.80 Straight 3970.00 220.00 237.00 25 3 Wood 96 146 1.52 8.80 Straight 3970.00 220.00 237.00 26 3 Wood 96 145 1.51 9.10 Straight 4000.00 219.00 236.00 27 3 Wood 94 137 1.46 10.60 Straight 4054.00 204.00 221.00 28 3 Wood 94 143 1.52 8.80 Straight 3874.00 215.00 232.00 29 3 Wood 98 142 1.45 10.90 Straight 4276.00 213.00 230.00

What kind of balls were you using?

Brent. This was at a driving range with srixon range balls

Ok the one number that really stood out to me was the smash factor. Usually anything above a 1.50 indicates something is illegal. There’s a reason not even the PGA tour players aren’t averaging 1.50 off the tee. Other than that your numbers look good.

Brent what about the launch angle

Yes the launch is a little on the low side. But seeing how you’re still getting decent distance I wouldn’t worry too much about how it’s coming out. But try hitting down on the ball more to get it up in the air faster.

I frequently get above 1.5 on trackman with longer irons and my woods (I have raised this with your tech teams already). This is because your machine measures club speed just before impact and doesn’t detect acceleration through impact

Trackman doesn’t detect acceleration through impact on solidly struck shots so you can post smash factors above 1.5. It’s best to just rely on ball speed with Trackman

Brent in one of your comments you said my smash factor was high ,had a session last night at range and some of my smash factors were 1.53 is this something to try and change and if so how do I change it

Like you had said you were using range balls correct? If so the smash factor will be a little off since they aren’t a legal tournament ball. What the smash factor (as explained to me by the Carolinas PGA rules committee chairman) is, is a measurement of how well the ball comes off the face. There’s a specific calculation for it but I’m not positive of it and anything over a 1.50 usually is a tell tale sign that either the club or ball is illegal. What I would recommend doing is using the ball you would normally play a round with and get some readings off that ball.

I read not long ago that Rory Mcilroy had a smash factor of 1.53 as well . If Willie can hit it 380 the way Rory does, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Larry. I’m 55 years old 280 is my distance not 380 Like Rory

Ball speed divided by club head speed is smash factor

I’m currently doing my university project on green-side bunker shots, I was wondering if you have any shot data for a short bunker shot or flop shot? Thanks.

Sorry but we do not have any official data we can share, but it would be interesting to see your final research :)

Blair, My assumption would be that the cleaner a ball is picked out of a bunker the more spin it will have and vice versa. The more sand you use to move the ball the less spin.

Do you have TrackMan data for AoA and DL for greenside bunker shots?

Sorry we do not have any official bunker shot data.

In looking at the tour pro stats for men – the max height reading for all clubs is about 30 plus or minus 2. I am trying to understand how/why are the heights the same for all clubs? My assumption would be the more lofted the club the greater the height! Is 30ish the optimum figure for best distance? Because in my last stats my longest 9.5 degree driver shot was max height of 56!

Is there any data available from the Senior tour?

We do not have any official charts for the Senior Tour. But you can login on mytrackman.com and use the combine section and filter, to show only Senior Tour players.

Thanks Christian!

what month/year is this data from?

Is there any data on typical club path for a tour pro?

Can you please post stats for average path, club face, and face to path numbers for PGA tour?

Could you please post average path, club face, and face to path numbers for several top Tour Players?

Before all the hype about hitting up on the ball came about, I hit down on a driver anywhere from -2 to -4 degrees and swung 1-2 degrees left.

Once I started to try and swing up on it. I lost direction big time. An easy swing for me is 112, swinging hard at it I can get it up to 123. Does Trackman recommend those that have higher swing speeds to hit down on it for straighter direction?

There is no physics logic backing up that hitting up on the ball will give a decrease in accuracy. However to go from hitting down to hitting up you have made some changes to your impact obviously. The way you made the changes could well be the problem as this could have affected your impact location, swing path, clubface and the way you release the club

Can pga tour players carry the ball 293 yards.

A Question: Were some data change on this site? I ask because I’m quite sure to have read other data for the men’s driver trajectory. Am I wrong or can someone confirm this?

kindly zorro

Is my impression right, that the data for the men driver were changed from

[Daten alt: 112mph 165mph 11,2° 2685 31y 39° 269y] to [Daten neu: 113mph 167mph 10,9° 2686 32y 38° 275y] ?

Why did TM do that?

For the tour pro stats – mainly carry distance, launch angle and spin rate for the driver, you have the averages, could you supply the max and min (filtered for outliers)? I am going to run an experiment with Trackman at my golf academy and need a starting range for each item. The tour max and min range is a starting point versus having to create this from scratch.

Anyone know where I can find raw data of clubhead speed? It is for a College project. Thanks!

You know what would be great to see – average miss from target – left and right – for each club. Of course short and long from target matter as well, but solid contact isn’t really my issue – left and right misses is my challenge

I’m about a half club off of PGA Tour average distance wise. Technically I’m a 1 handicap, but more like 4 or 5 when the tourney pressure is on. I know from playing with better players the difference between me and them is pretty much how much more accurate they are from a left and right perspective.

You can find all this info from Mark Broadie. He has tracked all the shots on the us tour for years and also written a book Every Shot Counts about it

I have been playing Golf for less than 19 months. I must admit I was damn tired of the same Golf Lesson producing varying results with inconsistent instruction(s) which seemed contradictory to the previous lesson. I take Golf perhaps a little more serious than others and my “approach” to this game may be viewed as extreme due to my focus on Fitness/Strength Training combined with my Yoga and Nutritional regimen.

That notwithstanding I would like to formally THANK the Trackman Developers and Support Staff for FINALLY producing a “Standardized” curriculum eliminating the traditional random quick fixes and circumventing the often inconsistent and contradictory methods being taught today.

I currently own a Trackman 4 and although I DO NOT wish to teach, I am Certified as an Operator and successful in obtaining my Professional Level 1 & 2 Certifications and shortly will be submitting my Thesis to be considered for review. These Certifications have greatly assisted me in understanding Flight/Ball dynamics and greatly assists my Coach and I in our 4-5 hour daily Putting-Wedge-Iron-Wood and Driver Sessions providing the data necessary to produce a more consistent and …. I have a hard time with this next word…… F U N game. (There I said the word “fun” in the same sentence as “Golf.” I’m so proud of myself!!!

Seriously, I simply CANNOT thank Nathan Meyer for coming to my hometown and demonstrating the enormous benefit(s) of purchasing the Trackman 4 product.

Kym Fontana [email protected]

It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know you! Your work ethic, attitude, and kindness are all things that I can look up to. very excited for 2017 and I am looking forward to seeing you again soon!

-Nathan Meyer [email protected]

Are there numbers posted for an average 5 HCP player or 10 HCP player similar to the charts above for the ave tour player?

What is the #1 PGA Tour player in “Carry Distance” average carry distance??

I understand this data is pretty old, released soon after the time when trackman first came out. I’m sure things have changed since then. Any update?

Actually, we haven’t seen any huge changes over the past years, it’s more about roundings. For example, Avg. Club Speed for a driver: 2014: 113.0 mph 2015: 113.3 mph 2016: 112.9 mph And it’s pretty much similar with the other numbers.

We do have a graphical updated version of the Tour Stats here.

Not really. Lee Westwood was interviewed recently and advised that apart from his driver he hits everything else almost the exact same he has his entire career.

I’m looking for PGA tour averages for dynamic loft for different clubs. Does anyone have this data to share? Thanks!

Are there tour averages for club path?

Are all these stats full swings? Example: Would the avg tour pro hit a 6-iron further, if he turns fully and tries to hit it as far as possible (with a natural movement like on a driver – not with an unnatural swing that creates most possible power, but result in very unconsistent ball flight)?

Currently I practice indoors because of the winter. I do my practice with Trackman and I carry my 7 iron about 177-180 yards and total distance of 188-192 yards with my TaylorMade PSi irons. Lots of my shots with the 7 iron has a smash factor of 1.50-1.51.

This is a example of one of my shots with 7 iron.

Is that normal number for a 7 iron with a that club speed?

Averages are useful, but knowing them would be more useful if we knew the median and mode, as well as the range.

Hello, Are there updated PGA Tour Trackman stats?

On Trackman this week using 7i I noticed the spin rate I had was well below that of a pro by nearly 3,000 rpm but similar club speed and attack angle. How can I get my spin rate up?

It can vary a lot due to the ball and clubs you are using. For example driving range balls are normally very hard and will have much lower spinrates than a quality ball like a Titleist pro v1. Modern day irons are also built to higher the lauch angle and lower the spinrate so that the average golfer will achieve more distance

It would be great to know the average loft for each club, especially the irons!. I think 21-24-27-30-34-38-42-46 (3-Pw) are reasonable specs. What do you guys think?

What loft are the irons? A modern 7i is now 30°

Is this still the original data from 2015 or has it been updated?

I’d be very curious to see if the how the average attack angle has changed over this time in the PGA.

Please update this data from over the years of more testing.

Do you have any numbers on tour averages numbers on dynamic loft and spin loft?

I am a 2 handicapper and I hit my driver 280 yards on an average. What is the attack angle with driver of the best players on the pga tour?

these yardages are no doubt well below reality.

6 iron only 183yds carry? Most high handicappers hit it equally far.

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Coach of the month

The PGA Tour’s Rising Driver Ball Speeds Mean One Thing – $$

Written by Graeme Hay | Last Updated: 12/03/2024

In modern golf it seems you can’t watch a PGA event on TV these days without the commentary quickly turning to the subject of distance and especially driver distance.

And because ball speed is the single biggest factor in determining the distance a golf ball actually carries the ball speeds of the top pros are consistently flashed on the screen as they smash their latest tee shot.

So given the importance of ball speed in golf today we thought it was time to take a look at the average driver ball speeds on the PGA Tour.

The average driver ball speed on the PGA Tour is 172.72mph according to the latest Shotlink stats. This represents a 0.86mph rise on the Tour average of 171.86mph at the end of the 2022 season and is 7.36mph more than the 165.36mph PGA Tour average recorded in 2007 when Shotlink began to track this metric.

But when you delve a bit deeper into the ball speed numbers amongst the top PGA and LPGA Tour pros the pattern that emerges is fascinating and the reason why the best athletes – for that is what they are now – are now constantly searching for ever more ball speed is laid bare.

And what is more, it seems absolutely clear that this quest for more ball speed amongst the top pros is not going to stop any time soon!

Chart of the money won by average ball speed on the PGA Tour from 2007 to 2018

More Ball Speed on the PGA Tour = More Distance = More Money!

When a trend is seen in any sport, and especially when money is involved, the obvious question that follows is what is the reason behind it.

As we have already noted the average ball speed on the PGA Tour has been steadily rising over the last number of years, and continues to do so, therefore it is safe to assume that given there are millions of dollars in prize money at stake that there is a good reason why this is the case.

Some may point to the fact that based on the average numbers we have highlighted, ball speeds have only increased by a seemingly minor 0.49mph per year from 2007 until 2022, but while this is indeed a small number, it makes a big big difference to PGA Tour players.

Pro tip : Ball speed is the single biggest factor in how far a golf ball ‘ actually ‘ carries and is not to be confused with club/swing speed which is the key factor for determining a golfer’s ‘ potential ‘ distance. Ball speed is often judged by ‘smash factor’ which is calculated by dividing ball speed by club/swing speed. The closer the smash factor to the perfect score of 1.5 the better the energy transfer from the club to the ball.

And the simple reason for that is that more ball speed means more distance.

And more distance has been clearly identified by the golf stats gurus as a crucial element in the difference between the scores of all standards of golfers including the best pros in the world.

As Professor Mark Broadie, the godfather of modern golf stats, is quoted as saying – “Golfers who can’t hit it long and straight never even make it to the tour. You need to drive the ball longer than 280 yards to have any chance of competing on the PGA Tour.”

So for all the talk in traditional golf circles of how you drive for show but putt for dough the hard reality amongst elite golfers on the PGA Tour, or any professional golf tour for that matter, is that you have to hit the ball a long way to succeed.

Therefore given a gain of 1mph of ball speed can increase a drive distance by up to 2 yards according to Trackman – and that for pros an extra 20 yards of driving distance is worth about three-quarters of a stroke per round – it is immediately apparent why they keep focusing on improving their driver ball speed number.

3/4 of a stroke per round may not sound very much but for a PGA Tour pro it could mean hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars in increased prize money.

Golfing Focus graph of the year on year comparison of average ball speeds on the PGA Tour from 2010 to 2022

In 2022 for example Cameron Young was 10th on the money list with over $6.5 million in prize money and a scoring average of 69.84. Adam Hadwin’s scoring average by comparison was 70.59 which left him 49th on the list and take home money of just over $2.5 million.

Or to look at it another way that 3/4 (0.75) of a stroke difference over the course of the season cost Adam Hadwin around $4 million!

Not that we should feel too bad for pro golfers who earn millions of dollars but the key point to take away is simply this.

On the PGA Tour more ball speed equals more distance which in turn means more prize money.

Being amongst the top PGA Tour pros in terms of driver ball speed is therefore obviously vital to success and now all the best players in the world are clearly aware of this they are going to continue to push the boundaries to achieve more and more ball speed with their driver.

And just to emphasize how much PGA Tour pros are now focused on driver ball speed you need only look at the number of them averaging a driver ball speed of 170mph on tour over the years which is something that used to put pros into the elite.

Today it’s not even average and as we can see from the table below it’s a ball speed that will more than likely cost a PGA pro his place on the tour!

Golfing Focus chart of the number of PGA Tour pros with over 170mph of driver ball speed from 2009 to 2022

[Note – If you are interested in our delve into the topic of how far amateur driver ball speeds should go ranging from 100mph and up check out our other top article here .]

What is the Fastest Driver Ball Speed on the PGA Tour?

Although average driver speeds are all very well when it comes to talking about anything to do with speed people quickly want to know who is the fastest.

And with driver ball speed on the PGA Tour golfers are no different.

The fastest ‘average’ PGA Tour driver ball speed is 190.94mph and was set by Cameron Champ over the 2020-21 season. The fastest ‘individual’ ball speed on tour of 199.55mph was recorded by Bryson DeChambeau again in 2020-21 but DeChambeau has reached a ball speed of 219mph in world long drive championship competition.

A quick glance through the fastest driver ball speeds on the PGA Tour since 2007 reads like a who’s who of the long drivers in the world of golf in recent times but even these supremely fast numbers almost pale into insignificance when we take a look at the ball speeds of the long drive specialists.

Two-time World Long Drive champion Kyle Berkshire, who unbelievably has hit a drive in competition that almost reached the 500-yard mark (yup, you read that right!), broke the Trackman ball-speed record with an astonishing 236.2mph hit in December 2022.

And unbelievably since that time that record has been broken not once but twice!

Firstly by Berkshire himself at the end of March 2023 with a recorded ball speed of 236.8mph but then again by reigning World Long Drive champ – Martin Borgmeier – who smashed a new world record ball speed of 239.3mph at the beginning of April 2023.

Putting that into context that is an average ball speed roughly 50mph faster than Rory McIlroy’s average on tour, over 53mph more than Jon Rahm’s and almost 59mph faster than Justin Thomas’.

What should be noted though is that compared to the long-driving specialists like Kyle Berkshire the pros on the PGA Tour are more than likely not hitting their drives at top speed when you watch them play tournaments.

To maintain control they will often dial back from what they could achieve should they really go for it with driver and focus purely on achieving the highest ball speed number they can while not worrying at all about where the ball goes.

So when you next watch your favourite players on TV just bear in mind that as Jon Rahm ably demonstrates in the clip below they more than likely have more in the tank!

Rahm is a beast 127.8mph club head speed 188.2mph ball speed That speed with that backswing length is incredible Really cool to see more videos of what players have in the tank vs what they use on the course. Give Rahm a few goes and he’s over 130mph easy. pic.twitter.com/4UlP06CYxt — Fit For Golf – Mike Carroll (@Fit_For_Golf) March 2, 2023

And what about the great Tiger Woods?

You would think that following his serious car crash in early 2021, in the aftermath of which it looked possible he could lose his leg, that a modern game focused on ever-increasing ball speed would now simply get away from him.

And especially when you consider that in the last event he played in prior to the accident, the 2020 Zozo Championship, he averaged a mere 168.5mph driver ball speed and reached a maximum of 171mph.

Unbelievably however in the first round of the 2023 Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club in California, Woods produced an average driver ball speed of 177.6mph, hitting a max of 180mph on not one but two occasions.

Set against the current PGA Tour ball speed average of 172.72mph it seems arguably the greatest golfer ever to play the game is not going to let the younger generation leave him in the slow lane of ball speeds quite yet!

[Note – To find out how the best pros in the world hit the ball so far check out our detailed analysis on this topic here .]

What About the Average LPGA Tour Driver Ball Speed?

When it comes to the professional game the talk is typically dominated by the men’s game.

However when we turn our attention to the LPGA Tour we can quickly see that when it comes to driving distance and the speeds associated with making that happen the same trend can be seen amongst the best women golfers in the world.

Since the great Laura Davies topped the LPGA Tour driving chart in 1993 with an average distance of close to 255 yards, Emily Pedersen has added another 30 yards to that mark 20 years later.

And that means driver ball speeds have been rising on the LPGA Tour also.

The average driver ball speed on the LPGA Tour is now 140mph according to Trackman. World No.1 Lydia Ko averages this speed while longer hitters including Nelly Korda produce ball speeds over 150mph. The longest driver in 2022, Maria Fassi, records ball speeds of 156mph on average.

While these numbers are well short of their male counterparts they show the best women pros are equally focused on distance and driving up their ball speed numbers.

And given the similarity in swing speeds also between the average male golfer and LPGA Tour pros it would often serve regular players far better to see what they can learn from the top pros on the LPGA Tour versus the PGA Tour.

While the average male amateur averages around 219 yards with their driver LPGA Tour pros average a total driver distance of 257 yards with an almost identical club/swingspeed.

That’s an enormous difference of 38 yards and is evidenced clearly by the better ball speeds the top women pros achieve based on their superior ball striking compared to regular amateurs.

So if you’re a regular male amateur player and looking at ball speeds you should probably be comparing yourself against the ball speeds produced by LPGA Tour pros, a selection of whose speeds are detailed on the table below.

More great articles related to this topic:

How Do Pros Hit the Ball So Far? It’s Not About the Equipment!
How Often Do Pros Hit Driver? Not As Much As You Think!
How Far Do Pro Golfers Hit Each Club?
What Driver is Most Used On the PGA Tour? Top 100 Player Analysis
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How Far Should You Hit a Driver? FULL GUIDE By Age, Handicap etc.
Should Beginners & High Handicappers Use a Driver? Yes & Yes
Going the Distance? How Far Should Beginners Hit A Golf Ball?
How Far Should I Hit My Hybrids? 2 vs 3 vs 4 Hybrid Distances
How Far Does a 3 Wood vs 5 Wood Go? Tee and Approach Shots!
Do Distance Golf Balls Go Further? Marketing Matters
Do All Golf Balls Go the Same Distance? Physics First
Are Driving Range Distances Accurate? Golf Balls are a Problem
How Far Should Your Ball Speed Go? 100mph All the Way to 210mph!
What Should Your Driver Attack Angle Be? Try Not to Be Negative

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Instruction

How far you can actually hit your driver.

This story was selected as one of the 15 best GolfWRX stories of 2015!

For 22 years I have taught golf full time, and the one thing that has NEVER changed is the unrealistic expectations golfers have of how far they think they can drive the ball with their current swing speed.

When I ask students how far they carry the ball and what their average total distance is, the answer is usually grossly inaccurate and overstated 99 percent of the time. It has taken technology such as Trackman and FlightScope, the most popular Doppler Radar systems, to help people truly understand how far they can hit their drives.

For that reason, I’ve provided two charts from Trackman below that show you just how far the ball will carry and roll on PGA Tour-like fairways. The results will probably surprise you, and show that there are far fewer golfers in the world who can actually hit the ball 300 yards without the help of special circumstance.

For swing speeds of 75 mph to 95 mph

For swing speeds of 100 mph to 120 mph

Trackman_Optimization_Chart_High_Swing_Speeds

Unless you swing around 105 mph, it’s unrealistic to think that you can carry the ball 250 yards in the air on a windless day at sea level without special circumstances. It’s these special circumstances that golfers tend to recall and focus on when it pertains to their distance output. While this type of vanity driving distance is great for your ego, it is detrimental to your psyche to expect such unrealistic distances to occur.

If you are truly unhappy with your driving distance output, you can see what’s needed to hit the ball farther. The good news is that most golfers do not maximize the distance they can hit their driver for the current speed because of two reasons:

Off-center contact, which decreases ball speed.
An angle of attack (usually too much downward, or negative) that creates less-than-ideal launch conditions.

I hate breaking the bad news to my students that they are not driving the ball as far as they think they are, but in golf, knowledge is power. Know what you actually do so you can know what’s possible for your game in the future.

Note: For golfers who live in areas of the world where the courses tend to be softer, it is often better to follow the “Carry Optimizer” charts from Trackman below, which show the launch conditions that will maximize a golfer’s carry distance. Their the best route to the most distance on fairways where the ball does not roll very much.

The A Swing: A simpler way to swing

Leadbetter Swing Tips for GolfWRX: Part 3

Tom F. Stickney II, is a specialist in Biomechanics for Golf, Physiology, and 3d Motion Analysis. He has a degree in Exercise and Fitness and has been a Director of Instruction for almost 30 years at resorts and clubs such as- The Four Seasons Punta Mita, BIGHORN Golf Club, The Club at Cordillera, The Promontory Club, and the Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. His past and present instructional awards include the following: Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher, Golf Digest Top 50 International Instructor, Golf Tips Top 25 Instructor, Best in State (Florida, Colorado, and California,) Top 20 Teachers Under 40, Best Young Teachers and many more. Tom is a Trackman University Master/Partner, a distinction held by less than 25 people in the world. Tom is TPI Certified- Level 1, Golf Level 2, Level 2- Power, and Level 2- Fitness and believes that you cannot reach your maximum potential as a player with out some focus on your physiology. You can reach him at [email protected] and he welcomes any questions you may have.

66 Comments

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Oct 13, 2019 at 2:20 am

I’ve been in and out the game since 1981,I hit drives in the Australian long drive championships in 1990 and 1991 311m,314 ms,I was no’1 qualifyier both yrs, I used a borrowed demo driver (Taylor made steel shaft,) from the local pro shop.I was 78kgs,but fairly fit,My swing speed (108-110)wasn’t as fast as some of the bruts who thought they could hit it,It’s technique,strong left side of body and great timing.I’m 55 now ,made a comeback 12mths ago after 16yrs without picking a club up,new technology has made it easy for everyone to hit it long,I’m now very unfit,been pensioned off,I’m no where near as strong as I should be yet with 103-106 mph speed I’m still hitting it bout 245 255 m on fly,yer,timing ,and a descent swing speed ,with these new balls and clubs,long distant hits are possible.TIMING..

Jul 6, 2019 at 4:36 pm

I just wanted to clear up a few things about launch monitors and sims that confuse a lot of golfers. The biggest thing is that “Total Distance” means nothing regardless of what monitor is being used.

Ball speed, Carry distance, and spin are the only things that matter and they are also the stats that Trackman is more accurate with than any other launch monitor. It’s more accurate because instead of guessing with calculations it tracks the ball during the entire flight all the way to the ground.

I think most people are surprised by Trackman carry numbers because they have used indoor sims and/or Foresight launch monitors. Almost all indoor sims notoriously inflate speed and carry numbers (as well as draw bias). Foresight is more accurate than most sims but it still calculates carry instead of measuring it and is almost always slightly inflated compared to Trackman.

The other confusing variable here is that different launch monitors and sims measure club head speed differently. For example Trackman measures the center of mass of the club while Foresight measures the fastest part of the club (usually the toe of the club as it is closing through the shot). Most of the time Trackman and Foresight will measure identical ball speed numbers with Foresight having significantly (5-6mph) higher club head speed. For this reason golfers who hit on Foresight or indoor sims think they are swinging faster than they actually are.

Summary: Ball speed is king and is also the most accurate stat to compare between most launch monitors. Your ball speed is THE limiting factor on how far you hit it. You will not be carrying it over 250yds consistently with ball speed less than 155mph. You will not be hitting it as far as most pros if your ball speed is less than 170mph. Sounds simple but very few amateurs have ball speeds over 150mph.

Feb 11, 2016 at 11:00 am

I play a golf simulator regularly in the winter. I have a swing speed ( on Avg ) of 97 MPH. The carry distance is always around 235-240 yrds… Don’t care about roll-out as I only want to know what I actually fly the ball. I read articles like this and wonder if people really do believe thier own hype. The said trackman numbers don’t meet what I see on a regular basis at the sim. If you can hit it consistantly to or past the average of pros then I am guessing you are in the wrong line of work. Everyone thinks they hit it farther then they actually do, lol.

Jun 6, 2015 at 8:40 pm

Really, really useful. Thanks. I’m looking at the measurements and they’re almost spot-on with on-course experience (at 107-112 mph, somewhat less if I’m in control mode) — the distances based on slight upswing or dead-level impact are right there. That’s not true at all with many of the charts and monitors I’ve seen, which often put me and other plus-handicappers at distances like 210 carry / 240 total, when the average on-course observations (I’m talking about long-term averages under varying conditions, not best-ever with 15-mph trailing wind, downhill, etc.) are much further than that (50-60 yards or more).

Definitely saving for future use. Thanks.

Breakfastballs

Jun 1, 2015 at 12:54 am

There’s one key aspect that is always overlooked in these conversations. Its NOT about clubhead speed. Its about clubhead acceleration. The more you accelerate through the ball, the further it goes. Newton’s second law is Force = Mass x Acceleration (not speed). The simple fact is that if 2 drives are hit at swing speeds of 100 MPH, the one that accelerates more will go further. I think the golf industry thinks physics is boring since they ignore this concept mostly. This golf industry term “smash factor” (Newton cringing) is an attempt to explain the “phenomenon” of why some swings impart a higher level of force on a golf ball than others. Its called acceleration and its not all that difficult to understand. If more golfers were taught this, I think they could learn to hit it a little further.

Jun 3, 2015 at 11:43 am

Hmmmm interesting, so I think what you are implying is two golf clubs of equal mass swung on the same plane, striking the ball square and dead center both making impact at a club speed of 100mph will get different results if one is still speeding up at impact while the other is slowing down at impact. You may be right but I would assume the difference would be minimal since the ball is only in contact with the face for a fraction of a second.

Jun 6, 2015 at 8:41 pm

I’d like to see the test results myself. I was about to post exactly what you posted.

Jun 16, 2015 at 2:21 am

The main difference would be that since the ball doesn’t reflect off instantaneously, it does matter if it’s accelerating or decelerating into the ball. I don’t know by how much, but that should make a difference.

Jul 8, 2019 at 1:49 pm

Sorry buddy, this just isn’t true. Not even in the slightest.

You can’t just debunk smash factor as if efficiency isn’t a thing.

As another user posted, the acceleration is irrelevant as the ball spends so little time on the face. I suspect you’re just trying to justify the discrepancy between your distance claims and your club head speed. Classic WRX.

May 26, 2015 at 8:56 am

Ok. I will finally reveal my secret to increasing driver distance. Any driver, any swing speed, any AOA. Add easy 40 yards. I did this eight years ago when I hit 65. Just move up one set of tees. Works every time.

Jun 9, 2015 at 11:47 pm

Or move to Wyoming…we play in Laramie around the end of August (7,200 feet elevation, no humidity, 85 degrees) and you wouldn’t believe how easy it is to hit the ball a long ways!

May 25, 2015 at 12:50 am

Nice article, BUT, once again, how about REAL measurements! you know, hit it, measure it ?!?!? How about this, Trac-Man “calculations” followed with REAL measure numbers ?!?! Come on TOM , I CHALLANGE YOU to be a innovator. Measure ONLY carry and disclaim the roll.

May 21, 2015 at 9:02 am

On the roll out thing, I was watching the Tour players at Riviera last year and noticed that they had a monitor on one of the holes just as Hunter Mahan drove off. According to the monitor he carried the ball 245 and it ran out at 309. I live in Ireland where we get backspin with our drives 11 months of the year so I suppose it’s subjective.

May 21, 2015 at 8:00 am

Here’s the problem I have with the launch monitors…when I did a TaylorMade fitting/demo day at Golftec my average numbers were 113MPH, spin 2600, ball speed 167, carry 275, distance 311. Which seems to jibe with these numbers.

But here’s my problem…That would rank me 2nd on the PGA Tour in distance. And I know better. If I was to play with those guys they would hit it way by me.

These machines seem to exaggerate distance in my opinion.

May 23, 2015 at 1:33 am

Well Jim my club head speed and ball speed is about the same as yours which means we both swing about avg for the PGA tour. The 275 carry the launch monitor gave you is about what I see on the golf course. The roll however is exagerated. I was just as the Well Fargo in Charlotte last week and most of the pro’s drivers were getting next to no roll unless they where a real low ball hitter. I can tell you I’ve played a few courses that the pro’s play and my drives are in the same spot as most of those guys. Only the bombers like Rory, DJ, Bubba etc. are much longer than me. Point being the launch monitor gave you pretty accurate carry distance but add about 10 for roll and you’ll be about where you really would be on most lush golf courses.

Golfgirlrobin

May 20, 2015 at 4:12 pm

Men exaggerating length; there’s a shocker.

May 20, 2015 at 5:50 pm

thanks “golfgirlrobin” you just gave me a good laugh.

May 20, 2015 at 3:57 pm

These days with most golfers having a laser or GPS device 99% of golfers not knowing how far they hit the ball seems high. I usually laser measure a drive or two each round and check in at around 280 yards total distance on well struck drives and 250-260 on lesser drives. I guess most may not care, but knowing your distances to me is an integral part of course management, and an important part of the game.

May 20, 2015 at 2:51 pm

Once I start golfing more this season, I might get a lesson to work on my driver swing. I actually haven’t had a driver in the bag for years due to cost, but I’ve demoed several in stores and always have too low launch and too high spin for a low-mid 100 mph swing, I can only presume due to a negative AoA. I didn’t always have this issue, but before I get fit for a driver I want to make sure my driver swing is solid!

May 20, 2015 at 2:02 pm

Lots of clowns play golf and think they are good. ….clowns have taken to golf

MasterGeezer

May 20, 2015 at 1:51 pm

Adjustable lofts on drivers . . . what an improvement! The fairways were I play give up maybe a foot of roll no matter what descent angle or spin rate for 6 months a year. And then summer comes and its time to LOFT DOWN bwaaa haaaa haaaa for some roll out. All with a twist of a wrench.

May 20, 2015 at 10:42 am

Agree with Ryan. I’ve had a – A o A and subsequent high backspin forever and that results in very poor roll-out. My carry distances are similar to my buddies but they get past me with roll. Dammit. lol

May 20, 2015 at 9:47 am

Many years ago I got my first Skycaddie. It had the Mark the ball feature which allowed you to measure the exact distance of your shots. It was an eye opener. That trap on 4 that we thought required 220 yards of carry to cover really only required about 190. Ooops that means that our 240 yard drives are really closer to 210. And it hasn’t gotten better with age. That’s why it always surprises me the number of people who claim to hit it over 250. I play a lot of golf and I just don’t seem to meet them. Great article. Thanks

May 20, 2015 at 1:37 am

I think its funny when people complain about the big roll out numbers. Anyone who lives on the coast is upset. Everyone who lives on the prairie doesn’t mind them. The ground can get dry and hard. I played in Vancouver in January and my ball averaged under 10′ of roll. Now I easily get 30-40 yards back on the prairies with our dry fairways.

May 19, 2015 at 5:23 pm

I am not a Trackman expert, but the machines say I swing around 90mph with a driver and my drivers carry between 200 and 220 as measured by my gps and our supersoft fairways where I live.

We had two glorious weeks in the past two years where the course was dry enough for me to try for and hit two par fives in 2.

May 19, 2015 at 4:17 pm

I don’t think these trackman number look right. Those launch angles are stupid low… I have data from a foresight monitor that has my average ball speed 155, launch 14.4, backspin 1832, carry 280, total 308….but from these trackman number it says the FARTHEST i can hit it at 155 ball speed is a 250-260 carry?? I know from the course that this is not true

May 23, 2015 at 12:18 pm

Brother I hate to break it to you but the foresight is wrong if it’s telling you you’re carrying it 280 with a 155 ball speed. The 250 to 260 would be about right.

May 19, 2015 at 1:44 pm

Tom, those charts are not optimized. 0, +5, they each have raising carries. I don’t care what 0 or 5 are; am I better with 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8? When is high too high?

We could really use data that matches swing speed with Dynamic Loft, and then we can assess driver Dyn loft – loft to get AoA (right?) and approximate where we should be. For example, if my driver is 105, then what should my Launch Angle be optimally? 14? 15? 19? As such, this chart actually never goes “too far”, so I can’t even extrapolate an optimum DL.

May 20, 2015 at 3:21 pm

That’s because this chart has been cited over and over since 2010, and has never been updated to fill the gaps. Has Trackman not improved on the information, or at least created more detailed charts in the last 5 years than these ones, and the oft-cited PGA Tour Average Driver swing speed of 113mph, with carry distances that follow for each club? Really? That’s all trackman’s got in the distance-charts-graphics game?

May 19, 2015 at 1:13 pm

The roll out distances are irrelevant as we all experience different NORMAL conditions

May 19, 2015 at 9:57 am

Man I’d love to get a tour roll at my course. A 10yd roll out for me ain’t much but thankfully I play at 8000ft so i get some added air time.

May 19, 2015 at 2:58 pm

8000ft, where the heck do you play?

Double Mocha Man

May 20, 2015 at 9:56 am

Probably one of the ski resorts in Colorado.

May 21, 2015 at 11:45 am

With cb in his name, probably Crested Butte, CO.

May 19, 2015 at 9:15 am

Some of the cheaper measuring devices for swing speed really inflate that number. I have one that costs around $100 and I can get my swing speed almost to 100 on that. Put me on Trackman or Flightscope and I am down around 90 at best.

The use of the cheaper devices might be why some think that they hit it farther than they do.

May 19, 2015 at 8:03 am

I figure that for each beer I drink I gain about 5 yards off the tee. Until I reach the 6th beer, then it decreases about 10 yards from that point on.

Dick Kusleika

May 20, 2015 at 9:57 am

Finally. Somebody who understands golf.

May 23, 2015 at 12:21 pm

If your screen name hadn’t been Jonny B I would have sworn you where my golf buddy Rick. lol

May 19, 2015 at 6:08 am

Shouldnt the Ball speed be the same for each category ( ie 100 mph in the Total Optimizir shows 146/148/149), otherwise the smash factor is not constant?

Apart from that, numbers look spot on. Golf in the Netherlands, see level, my swing speed hovers around 104-108, so 105 numbers ( avg carry 240/245 ish, total around 270) are my numbers exactly.

May 19, 2015 at 6:32 pm

Attack angle affects smash factor. If you hit down on it you have lower ball speed then if you hit through and up more. I think…

May 23, 2015 at 12:24 pm

I believe that only effects spin. Smash factor is more a relation of ball speed to club head speed. Basically the more on the sweet spot you hit it the better your smash factor.

May 19, 2015 at 4:18 am

All this is fairly obvious without Trackman. You could stand there and hit drives and just watch the flight. For every swing speed there is an optimum arc of flight, whether you have Trackman or not, it doesn’t matter too much. Also, accuracy comes into the equation. If I hit up too much it causes a pull hook. There’s always a pay off. I think what most players these days need are two driving clubs. It’s as important as the multiple wedge thing. I’ve carried a 2006 Ping Rapture 3 wood for years… 14* and 230cc, and 43 1/2″…, and long as my driver sometimes, and hits more fairways. I think it’s partly due to a more downward attack.

Large chris

May 19, 2015 at 8:44 am

I don’t think it’s obvious without Trackman…. There are not many driving ranges where you can gauge with any accuracy your driver carry distance.

May 19, 2015 at 3:03 am

Glad to finally read that those “roll” distances are calculated using PGA Tour type fairways (not in one of Tom Stickney’s forum responses). Many of us don’t get to play those types of faiways. They are like a living room carpet compared to what many of us play, so it is no wonder that the rollout is so incredible. Hence, that lower chart optimizing carry would probably be better for those of us playing Kentucky Bluegrass turf rather than Bent grass fairways.

May 19, 2015 at 3:03 pm

Ive been to enough PGA tour events to know they dont usually get anywhere near that kind of roll so I dont know there getting that from

May 20, 2015 at 12:00 pm

I’ve been to enough PGA tour event to know that they get way more roll than that. So, I do not know where they are getting that from 🙂

May 21, 2015 at 1:30 am

More roll than 40 to 50 yds? Not at the tournaments I’ve been to. East lake in Atlanta where they play the tour championship, Quail hollow in charlotte, and the course they play for the greater greensboro open. Maybe our courses play softer her in the south.

Derek from Hong Kong

May 19, 2015 at 1:32 am

I wouldn’t say these numbers are surprising but I was disappointed when I measured my own swing on a Flightscope recently. Swing speeds on a driver was between 95-100mph, 1.4 smash factor, 1900-2400 rpm, carry around 230 and total between 250-260 yrds.

I thought I’d get a bit more carry based on the above, but guess it’s enough length to work with given that I’d rarely have to hit anything more than a 5 irons into the par 4 greens on my course.

Tom and Dennis, would love to hear your thoughts on what I can do to improve my distance. Have been consistently in the gym the last few months and having people give me dirty looks when I smash a ceiling light and dented a trash can with my wayward medicine ball throws (this really happened). Thanks.

Tom Stickney

May 19, 2015 at 12:05 am

David– the roll is calculated on Pga Tour fairways. If I were you I’d focus on hitting the ball a touch lower than your max carry traj and the roll will take care of itself.

May 18, 2015 at 10:43 pm

How far can I actually hit my driver? Not very far, but I am working on it.

I used to be able to carry it 220; now, probably only 205 or so. Carry distance is the real test for me.

Heck, downwind I can get it out there almost 250. But, I don’t have much trouble with down wind holes. It is the holes into the wind where I need to focus.

Dennis Clark

May 18, 2015 at 10:08 pm

When a guy in your group hits one into the woods, start looking about 50 back from where he thought he hit it.

May 18, 2015 at 9:35 pm

Look at the top 5 carry distance drives for a PGA tournament….many times the top 5 drives for carry distance will not be on the list for longest drive…which means that some weeks those guys get 50+ yards of roll out

May 18, 2015 at 6:37 pm

I wish I could get 50 yards of roll.

Jang Hyung-sun

May 18, 2015 at 6:00 pm

Easy way to hit far is buy old Bridgestone j33r and put in a Crazy Black Tour 75 shaft. 290-320 yard for even girly-man like me no workout just on lady friend. Lol

May 21, 2015 at 10:10 am

lol… best comment on here.

May 18, 2015 at 5:52 pm

This same article AGAIN. Where do these absolutely ridiculous roll-out distances come from? It always undermines this article when it’s reposted on the site.

May 18, 2015 at 4:50 pm

Ok so this has nothing to do with this article but I found it very interesting thought you might to Tom. I was at the Wells Fargo this past saturday got there around 11 and left a little after 4. As I was walking to the course I stopped by the driving range and watched some of the pro’s hitting. My buddy noticed Padrig Harrington and pointed him out to me. He appeared to be intentionally hitting fat shots of about 30 yards over and over again. I mean he was digging a trench. When We where leaving about 5 hours latter he was still there doing the same thing. I thought damn he must have had an early tee time and then was very frustrated with his round. Turned out he hadn’t even made the cut but was still there on saturday working on something, what I have know idea.

May 18, 2015 at 8:54 pm

maybe he will go home when he stops drop kicking drives? Crazy Irishman.

May 18, 2015 at 4:48 pm

Those launch angles in the top chart are extremely low! You’re obviously going to lose a ton of carry distance because you’re not getting the ball off the ground. Am I missing something here?

May 18, 2015 at 6:54 pm

Really good post. I recently had a driver fitting and found that I was losing distance because my attack angle had changed in the last year. I went from 2 degrees up to 1 degree downward attack angle with my driver (mostly due to ball position). This information is why trackman is such an awesome training tool.

May 18, 2015 at 7:05 pm

The top chart maximizes total distance using roll on a perfect ideal fairway. The bottom charts are what you want to look at to maximize carry.

May 19, 2015 at 9:00 am

Yes but you’re not getting anywhere near your max carry if your launch angle is only 7 degrees for example. Your launch angle should be somewhere around 11-14. At only half of that launch, all I’m saying is that you’re losing a ton of carry distance.

May 19, 2015 at 11:20 am

You have to realize thats at a -5 AOA.. hitting down that aggressively you’d need a 14+* driver to get those optimal launch conditions which isnt the point of this test. it’s to show realistic maximum carry not ideal maximum carry.

May 19, 2015 at 3:16 pm

I agree but you can still have a negative attack angle and launch the ball high. I don’t know if this test was done with just a standard 9.5 and he calculated the numbers that way. The point I’m trying to make is that if you get properly fit, you should be able to make the distance gains you want. The biggest robber of distance is the spin rate at 3600+. There is no way you’re getting 20 yards of roll with that spin rate.

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Mis-aligned hands

By this I mean that the palms of the two hands are not parallel to each other. Too many golfers have a weak left hand and strong right, or vice versa. The easiest way to learn how to hold the club with your palms aligned properly is to grip a plain wooden ruler or yardstick. It forces the hands to align properly and shows you how that feels. If you grip and re-grip a yardstick several times, then grip a club, you’ll see that the learning curve is almost immediate.

The position of the grip in the upper/left hand

I also observe many golfers who have the butt of the grip too far into the heel pad of the upper hand (the left hand for right-handed players). It’s amazing how much easier it is to release the club through the ball if even 1/4-1/2″ of the butt is beyond the left heel pad. Try this yourself to see what I mean. Swing the club freely with just your left hand and notice the difference in its release from when you hold it at the end of the grip, versus gripping down even a half inch.

To help you really understand how this works, go to the range and hit shots with your five-iron gripped down a full inch to make the club the same length as your seven-iron. You will probably see an amazing shot shape difference, and likely not see as much distance loss as you would expect.

Too much lower (right) hand on the club

It seems like almost all golfers of 8-10 handicap or higher have the club too far into the palm of the lower hand, because that feels “good” if you are trying to control the path of the clubhead to the ball. But the golf swing is not an effort to hit at the ball – it is a swing of the club. The proper hold on the club has the grip underneath the pad at the base of the fingers. This will likely feel “weak” to you — like you cannot control the club like that. EXACTLY. You should not be trying to control the club with your lower/master hand.

Gripping too tightly

Nearly all golfers hold the club too tightly, which tenses up the forearms and prevents a proper release of the club through impact. In order for the club to move back and through properly, you must feel that the club is controlled by the last three fingers of the upper hand, and the middle two fingers of the lower hand. If you engage your thumbs and forefingers in “holding” the club, the result will almost always be a grip that is too tight. Try this for yourself. Hold the club in your upper hand only, and squeeze firmly with just the last three fingers, with the forefinger and thumb off the club entirely. You have good control, but your forearms are not tense. Then begin to squeeze down with your thumb and forefinger and observe the tensing of the entire forearm. This is the way we are made, so the key to preventing tenseness in the arms is to hold the club very lightly with the “pinchers” — the thumbs and forefingers.

So, those are what I believe are the four fundamentals of a good grip. Anyone can learn them in their home or office very quickly. There is no easier way to improve your ball striking consistency and add distance than giving more attention to the way you hold the golf club.

Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

How a towel can fix your golf swing

This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

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Swing Speed and Distance Chart for Every Club

Find out exactly where your swings speeds with each club stack up

Golf driving range with distances measured

DESCRIPTION Golf driving range with distances measured
SOURCE Bildagentur Zoonar GmbH
PERMISSION Shutterstock license

The more data we collect about our golf games, and the games of the best players out there, the more we realize how important distance is. No matter what the club manufacturers tell you, the best way to increase your distance is to increase your club head speed. Here’s a club head speed chart that shows you swing speeds for every club from every type of player, from PGA and LPGA tour players, to high-handicap amateur men and women.

Whether you are embarking on a swing speed mission, or you’re simply seeking some context to see how your swing speed with a certain club stacks up, this chart shows average club head speeds for each type of player.

Tour Player Swing Speed and Distance Chart

Here are the average swing speeds of PGA Tour and LPGA Tour players with each full-swing club, along with their average carry distances, in yards, for each club. This data comes directly from Trackman , which captures dozens of metrics from countless professional and amateur golfers every day.

What Is the Average Distance With Each Golf Club?

Amateur Golf Swing Speed Chart by Gender and Handicap

Trackman measures and publishes actual swing speed data for tour players with every full swing club. Additionally, Trackman has published driver swing speed data for amateur men and women by their handicap range. Given that the handicap index of the average male golfer is around 14.5, Trackman used that as one of its handicap benchmarks, in addition to a category that Trackman calls the “Bogey Golfer.”

Using Trackman’s measured swing speeds for amateur and professional golfers, we can estimate the average swing speed with each club for amateur golfers, both men and women, by handicap.

Combining Trackman’s measured data and these estimations, here is the club head speed chart for amateur golfers.

8 Clubhead Speed Drills to Help You Hit More Bombs

Male Amateur: Average Club Head Speed Chart

Over the years, we’ve collected a ton of data from professional and amateur golfers alike. With access to this data, we can match actual average distances with each club for each type of player with their swing speeds.

Here is the average club head speed chart, with actual and estimated swing speeds, paired with actual average distances from male amateur golfers, according to data provided by Shot Scope, an industry leader in on-course distance measuring devices and stat-tracking. Distances are in yards and are adjusted to remove outlier shots.

Bogey golfer walking the course at sunset

Bogey Golfer Official Handicap and Stats

Female Amateur: Average Club Head Speed Chart

While we don’t have big data on the average distance female amateur players hit each club, we can still give you solid estimates on how fast they swing each club. Here’s the swing speed chart for female amateur golfers, broken down by handicap.

What Is Ball Speed in Golf: Breaking Down the Data

golf club about to swing at a golf ball on a tee

With amazingly precise portable launch monitors fast becoming part of everyone’s golf bag, today’s players have a wealth of information at their fingertips. Anyone looking to refine their swing has a number of data points to choose from and a number of places to start.

One such data point that many overlook is golf ball speed. In this article, we’ll go into exactly what ball speed is, how to interpret the data, and how it can help you to become a better player.

What Is Ball Speed?

Ball speed is a measure of how fast your ball leaves the club head after impact. Ball speed is the main component in generating distance, and it comes from a combination of factors, including your club speed, the selected club, and the quality of the impact.

How Is Ball Speed Calculated?

In high-end launch monitors, ball speed is calculated in a split second as it leaves the club impact. Like any other calculation of velocity, it’s a simple formula of distance over time. However, due to the incredibly small distances and time intervals involved, these measurements need to be very precise to ensure that the calculation provides an accurate result.

The reason that accurate results are necessary is that the ball speed is also used in a number of other important calculations and indicators for your game. It’s used in determining the final carry distance, for example, as well as the smash factor, which is another interesting metric that we’ll discuss below.

The Relationship Between Ball Speed and Distance

To put it simply, the faster your ball is off the head, the farther it’ll go on the course. As a rough approximation, every mile per hour extra of ball speed equates to two extra yards of carry.

Of course, there are a number of other factors that influence exactly how far a ball will carry, including atmospheric conditions on the course, the launch angle, where the ball was hit, and more. However, if these are already factored into your shot and you’re still not getting the yardage you’d like, examining your ball speed is a great idea.

How Your Ball Speed Compares

When you’re looking at your own ball speed data, the first thing you’ll want to determine is how you compare to other golfers. This will give you a good idea of where you stand and give you a target for improvement.

The current Guinness World Record for fastest golf ball speed from a driver is 217.1 mph, achieved in 2013 by Ryan Winther, although there have been reports of speeds of up to 227 mph by him and other golfers. Don’t worry if you’re not reaching those numbers! More realistic average golf ball speeds are:

Male with handicap of 5: 147mph
Average male: 133mph
Female with handicap of 5: 125mph
Average female: 111mph
Driver: 167mph
3 Iron: 142mph
6 Iron: 127mph
Pitching Wedge: 102mph

Again, if you’re not reaching these numbers, don’t lose heart. In the next section, we’ll tell you why you might not be getting your desired ball speed and what you can do about it.

What Ball Speed Tells You About Your Swing

Ball speed is closely tied to the speed of the club head as you swing. If you swing with more strength and move the head faster at impact, the ball should go faster.

However, it’s not quite as simple as that. It’s not just about the speed and power of the club head, but also the way that power is transferred to the ball during impact, otherwise known as the “smash factor.” The smash factor is the ratio of your club head speed to ball speed and, therefore, a measure of how efficient—or how “clean”—the impact was.

In other words, if you strike the ball cleanly and in the middle of the head, the head speed will translate almost directly into ball speed. If you hit the ball on the toe or heel of the head, or slice or loft the shot, the power transfer will be inefficient, and you’ll get less ball speed even though the club speed was the same.

This means your ball speed tells you a lot about your overall swing. If your swing is inefficient, and you’re doing something that results in even a minor miss-hit of the ball, you’ll instantly notice a difference in the ball speed. Conversely, as your swing improves, you’ll see your ball speed rise and you’ll be able to easily chart your progress.

In particular, the parts of your swing you should be focusing on are:

Keeping an even tempo from backswing to the top of the swing, all the way down to impact
Not forcing the club too hard and keeping movements fluid
Your arm positioning and straightness, and how it relates to impact accuracy
The follow-through, which is a key part of the transfer of power at impact

Using a Launch Monitor to Find Your Ball Speed

Launch monitors are, by far, the easiest and most accurate way to gauge your ball speed, but finding the actual figure and getting a truly precise reading depends on which launch monitor you’re using. Some of the more economical brands—the pocket-sized monitors which retail for under $500—don’t measure or calculate ball speed, instead only giving you your carry distance and club head speed. It’s worthwhile checking which data points are available to you before you invest.

For the sub-$500 launch monitors that do provide ball speed readings, you’ll be able to check your results via the supplied app. The high-end launch monitors provide a number of ways of accessing your ball speed: via an app, a connected golf simulator, or on the unit itself.

If accurate golf ball speed readings are a priority for your game, however, you should be aware of how your choice of launch monitor affects the reliability of the reading. Particularly:

Whether it uses radar or cameras – Almost all launch monitors that use radar are situated behind the ball. This makes it more difficult to get accurate results from the point of impact, as the club head will obscure the ball at first. Camera-based systems are much more accurate, being side on and able to picture both club head and ball at impact, as well as easily distinguish between them.
Where it’s positioned – Many launch monitors, particularly radar trackers at the lower end of the market, require the monitor to be placed at exactly the right distance from the tee before you swing. If you’re even an inch or two off, you’ll get unreliable results.
The algorithms it’s using – The best launch monitors have countless years of algorithmic research behind their tracking systems, ensuring that everything from climate to pitch is accounted for when measuring ball speed. Other models might provide a result that’s reasonable, but these are not accurate enough to provide worthwhile training feedback.

Real Improvement Starts with the Right Data

There’s no doubt that measuring ball speed is an integral part of improvement on the course, but, unless you’re getting accurate data, you won’t be able to reach for—and achieve—your training goals with confidence.

Make sure you’re getting the right data with Foresight Sports’ range of cutting-edge launch monitors . Using high-speed stereoscopic and quadroscopic camera systems and advanced algorithms, the GC2 , GCQuad , and GCHawk are world leaders for incredibly precise swing analysis.

For results you can trust, and the perfect base for real improvement, you need Foresight Sports. Contact us today at (858) 880-0179 to discuss your goals.

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Golf Swing Speed Chart: Averages By Age, Skill, and More

Swing speed charts can tell you the average speeds by age, skill, gender, and more. You can also compare how club head speeds compare to distance.

As a PGA-certified golf coach, I know I am not alone in being a numbers and statistics geek. Many of my students are hungry to compare their numbers with their favorite pro golfers using charts, graphs, and other visual representations.

Many swing speed charts exist today. Some break down clubhead and ball speed by a golfer’s handicap, gender, age, years playing, and many other areas. What many may find surprising by some of the data is that most golfers do not swing as fast as they think nor hit the ball as far as they claim to.

My goal in this article is to share all of the latest information and statistics regarding swing speed in golf. I’ll also share other related information, such as the distance at which golfers hit the ball. Other information relevant to this topic will be shared as well.

Here is a breakdown of what you can find if you read on:

Average Swing Speed By Age and Gender
Average Swing Speed By Handicap
Average PGA TOUR Club Head Speeds and Distances
PGA TOUR Average Club Head Speeds and Carry Distance Per Club
Average LPGA TOUR Club Head Speeds and Distances
LPGA TOUR Average Club Head Speeds and Carry Distance Per Club
The Fastest Swingers In Golf

Tips To Improve Your Swing Speed

So get ready, and make sure to buckle up. Things are going to get fast!

Average Swing Speed Chart By Age and Gender

Average swing speed chart by handicap, pga tour fastest 10 driver swing speed averages.

PGA TOUR Slowest 10 Driver Swing Speed Averages

Fast Swing Speed Does Not Always Equal Longer Drives

Swing speed and driving distance matters, but you can win without them, pga tour average clubhead speed and carry distance per club, lpga tour fastest 10 driver distance averages, lpga tour average clubhead speed and carry distance per club, the fastest swing speeds in golf, traditional tips for getting faster swing speeds, non-traditional tips for getting faster swing speeds, what is the mach 3 speed training system, final thoughts.

golf swing speed chart by age gender skill

*Estimates due to a lack of participants in this age and gender group

** The data in the chart was compiled from a Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) study conducted in 2019.

Club head swing speed contributes to the distance a golfer can hit a golf ball. Countless factors contribute to how fast a golfer can swing, such as age, flexibility, strength, gender, and the efficiency of their swing mechanics.

The first factor I wanted to chart concerning swing speed is age and gender. The following chart represents the average swing speeds with a driver for several different age groups and by male and female golfers within them.

Age significantly affects how much clubhead speed a golfer can produce on average. Here is the main observation about swing speed versus age and gender:

As you age, swing speed generally gets slower

However, as you can see from the chart, age does not necessarily have to slow you down completely. Some golfers in the 50 – 59 and 60+ age groups can still swing significantly fast. It all depends on how flexible someone can stay as they age.

Check this out: What Are the Golf Club Distances for Each Club? (Charts for All Skill Levels)

*Data from PGATour.com as of 7/9/23

**Data from PGATour.com as of 7/9/23

Average swing speeds by handicap data from TrackMan

Let’s look at average swing speeds by handicap level for male golfers.

A golfer’s playing ability and how efficiently they swings the club also directly impact how fast their swing speed is. When golfers understand how the swing is supposed to work and can execute those fundamentals correctly, the result is a much more efficient swing. That efficient swing will lead to an increase in swing speed.

Read on: What Driver Loft Should You Use? (Full Chart Based On Swing Speed)

Average PGA TOUR Club Head Speeds

PGA TOUR professionals are among the best golfers in the world, so many golfers look to them as guides to playing the game correctly.

Note: Even though these speeds happened on a specific date in 2024, they’re still applicable today since swing speeds don’t rise significantly over time.

*Compiled through Rocket Mortgage Classic, 7/2/23

Tour Pro Golfer Average Swing Speed – 115.24
Tour Pro Golfer Average Driving Distance – 299.40

PGA TOUR Slowest 10 Driver Swing Speed Averages

*All data from PGATour.com

**Compiled through Rocket Mortgage Classic, 7/2/23

As you may have noticed, some of the PGA TOUR pros in the top 20 in swing speed with the driver are outside the top 20 in average driver distance. This is because of a stat called Smash Factor, which measures the efficiency of a swing.

Smash Factor is calculated by dividing the ball speed by the clubhead speed. Additionally, where the ball comes in contact with the clubface matters quite a bit as well.

Here are some examples of players with fast swing speeds who are outside the top 20 in driving distance.

Of those short knockers in the bottom 10 on the PGA TOUR this season in swing speed, and many of whom are very near the bottom in driving distance, all but two have a PGA TOUR victory on their resume.

*Data compiled from TrackMan’s 2017 PGA TOUR Data Points

I use data from TrackMan all the time with my students as a reference for what peak performance stats look like.

Above, I have pulled out the club head speed and carry distances for each club, on average, on the PGA TOUR.

TrackMan notes that these AVERAGE stats from 2017 have mostly stayed the same over the last six years. The top players on the PGA TOUR have gotten faster and carry the ball longer, but, on average, the chart above still holds close to today’s average.

Average LPGA TOUR Club Head Speeds

The LPGA does not keep data on swing speed. However, the average swing speed with the driver hovers around 95 mph, per TrackMan. As we noticed in the statistics above for the PGA TOUR, there is somewhat of a correlation between swing speed and driver distance, but not necessarily always.

The current top drivers on the LPGA Tour shake out as follows:

Driving Distance Averages from LPGATour.com

Swing Speed Estimates Via TrackMan

Data compiled through 7/9/23

As noted previously, TrackMan is a go-to source for swing and club data for many coaches and players. I use data from TrackMan with my students all the time. For my female students, as well as slower-swinging male students, one of my go-to charts is TrackMan’s 2017 LPGA TOUR Data Points .

Compiled data from TrackMan

As noted previously, TrackMan notes that these AVERAGE stats from 2017 have mostly stayed the same over the last six years. The top players on the LPGA TOUR have gotten faster and carry the ball longer, but, on average, the chart above still holds close to today’s average.

In 2012, Ryan Winther set the world record for swing speed at 167 mph, and that swing produced a ball speed of 225 mph.

Recent long-drive phenom, Kyle Berkshire, has come close to Winther’s record, recording a swing speed of 160. Berkshire does however have the highest ball speed ever recorded at 236.8 mph… Say What?!?

More from Golf Span: The 10 Best Drivers for Slow Swing Speed

Swing speed and distance have become one of the most talked about topics in the game over recent years. It seems that everyone in golf has a need for speed! There is no denying that swing speed is a hot topic in golf.

Golfers are always looking for tips and tricks to improve their swing speed. I will break down my tips for you in two different ways. The first is the more traditional ways we, as instructors and coaches, point students toward when working on improving their swing speed.

The second will come from my friend, Michael Romatowski, founder and creator of the revolutionary Mach 3 Golf Speed Training System. Mike’s system is really helping 1,000’s of golfers get faster with their swing.

Some of the more traditional tips for golfers to help them increase their swing speed include the following:

Train Your Body to Get Faster- If you can increase your flexibility and mobility, reaching faster swing speeds will be more realistic. How a golfer moves their body, in terms of how much they can rotate their hips and upper torso, will play a big part in their production of swing speed. Getting yourself into the habit of stretching your body regularly will help your ability to swing faster.
Equipment can make a difference- Having the right equipment for you can make a big difference in your ability to swing faster. Some of the critical things you need to consider in terms of equipment include:
The overall weight of the club- The lighter the club, the faster you can swing it. That is straight-up science, folks.
The type of shaft you use- The shaft matters in golf. From the length, to the flex, and where the kick-point is, all of these things equate to your ability to swing at your maximum speed.
The head of the club- Golf equipment technology has made massive gains over the last two decades. The clubheads on today’s drivers can offer maximum forgiveness and create a “trampoline effect” with the ball coming off the face. Test different drivers, and you may be surprised at what gains you can make by simply having the right club.

I have recently become a massive fan of a speed training program called the Mack 3 Golf Speed Training System . It was developed by Michael Romatowski. Mike is a multi-certified personal trainer, golf fitness expert, and post-rehab exercise specialist. I have spent a lot of time talking with Mike recently; he was a recent guest on my Quite Please Golf Podcast. You can listen to that episode here.

Mach 3 is a year-round speed training protocol that has produced an average gain in clubhead speed for program participants of 11.5 miles per hour. The tools used in Mach 3 are dynamic and unique, allowing golfers to experience the sensation of “Speed Out in Front,” which is the hallmark of Mach 3.

Some of the critical points of Mach 3 that I like include:

It’s Open To All – The Mach 3 program is for golfers of all ages, genders, and playing abilities.
It’s Fun & Safe – Workouts are fun, non-exhausting, safe, and athletic in nature.
It’s Accessible to All – Speed training workouts can be held indoors or outdoors.
It’s Optimized – Train for golf without “bulking up” and using natural golf body motions.

The overarching theme of Mach 3 is the “Speed out in front” concept. “Speed out in front” means that a golfer needs to become much more target-oriented when swinging. Anything after impact and up to the end of your swing is “out in front.”

Because the golf swing is such a fast movement, taking roughly only 1.25 seconds, it is essential to think in your mind to be a few steps ahead. Golfers often think of the ball and impact with the ball as the finish line when, in reality, it is only the mid-way point. If you focus on the ball as the ultimate goal, you will move slower into it at impact.

Mach 3 trains golfers to think of the finish line of the swing as being the top of your finish. You become hyper-focused on the target, the finish of the swing, and getting all of your energy, momentum, and speed “out in front” and past the point where the ball is at impact…well past it.

Mach 3 will help any and all golfers that give this concept a try. As mentioned earlier, program participants’ average gain in clubhead speed is around 11.5 miles per hour. That is significant!

If you’re a golfer seeking to improve your game, understanding the insights a golf swing speed chart can provide is invaluable. These charts break down swing speeds by various factors such as age, gender, and skill level, offering a wealth of data that helps golfers understand where they stand. My extensive experience as a golf coach has shown me that these statistics are crucial for those aiming to improve their performance. Surprisingly, many golfers discover they don’t swing as fast or hit as far as they initially thought.

The charts reveal that factors like age, gender, and skill level profoundly impact your swing speed and, subsequently, your driving distance. However, it’s important to note that age doesn’t necessarily have to slow you down. Many golfers in the 50 – 59 and 60+ age brackets can still generate impressive swing speeds, particularly if they maintain good flexibility and employ proper swing mechanics.

To boost your swing speed, you can rely on tried-and-true methods and cutting-edge techniques. On the traditional side, improving your body’s flexibility and selecting the right equipment can make a significant difference. For instance, lighter clubs and the right shaft type can notably increase your swing speed. On the innovative front, training systems like the Mach 3 Golf Speed Training System have helped thousands of golfers achieve faster swings by focusing on functional training tailored to golf performance.

To wrap up, a golf swing speed chart is an essential tool for anyone serious about upgrading their golf game. Combining this data with top tips for improving your swing speed can set you on the path to becoming a more formidable golfer. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to fine-tune your skills, a strategic approach backed by sound data can help you reach new heights in your golf career. Stay tuned for the latest updates and trends in golf statistics and training techniques.

More from me on Golf Span: How to Increase Swing Speed: 10 Tips

Brendon Elliott

Brendon is Class A PGA Professional and founded Little Linksters, LLC, and its nonprofit arm, the Little Linksters Association for Junior Golf Development. He won 25+ prestigious industry honors, including the 2017 PGA National Youth Player Development Award. He graduated from the PGA of America Management Program and has a handicap index of 7.8.

He has played golf for over 40 years and currently plays twice a month at the Eagle Dunes Golf Club near Sorrento, Florida. He loves Srixon clubs and plays a ZX5 driver with Z 585 irons. He's written over 60 articles on GolfSpan and specializes in sharing tips to improve your golf game. You can connect with Brendon at LinkedIn , X , IG , FB , his website , or [email protected] .

Best score : 69
Favorite driver : Srixon ZX5
Favorite ball : Srixon Z Star
Favorite food at the turn : Turkey and cheese on white
Brendon Elliott https://www.golfspan.com/author/brendon-elliott Bombs Away: The Longest Drives in Golf History
Brendon Elliott https://www.golfspan.com/author/brendon-elliott 10 Longest Drives in PGA Tour History
Brendon Elliott https://www.golfspan.com/author/brendon-elliott Are Refurbished Golf Balls Any Good?
Brendon Elliott https://www.golfspan.com/author/brendon-elliott Masters Ticket Prices in 2024: What I Pay as a PGA Pro

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Titleist Tour Speed Golf Ball Review

50 Words or Less

The Titleist Tour Speed golf balls has great ball speed and solid performance around the green. Slightly firmer feel than the Pro V1.

Introduction

For a company that most see as exceedingly traditional, Titleist has shaken up their golf ball line substantially over the last few years. The long running NXT departed, AVX entered the fold, and a “Tour Only” Pro V1 hit the retail shelves. For 2020, there’s another new addition: Tour Speed. I tested it to figure out where it fits in the Titleist line up and what players should be reaching for it.

On the greens , the Titleist Tour Speed feels slightly softer and has a lower-pitched impact sound than the Pro V1 . The difference isn’t huge, but it’s noticeable and consistent if you’re focused on feel. Contact creates a sound that’s a little more of a “thud” than the crisp “tock” of the Pro V1.

With a wedge , the Tour Speed feels slightly firmer than a Pro V1 , but it’s not hard or clicky. On pitches and chips, it feels very solid off the club face. In the long game, the Tour Speed fits in the middle of the bell curve – it’s not noticeably soft or hard.

Per Titleist, the Tour Speed has a “proprietary TPU” (thermoplastic polyurethane) cover that “generates greenside spin.” When I took the Tour Speed to the course, I was satisfied with how it performed around the green , so I was very interested to see what the launch monitor had to say.

Testing the Tour Speed head-to-head with a Pro V1 , I found that the Tour Speed had roughly 10% less spin on everything from pitches to full wedge shots. Here’s where I insert my standard caveat: your results may vary. I’m a low spin player, so it’s possible you will see a bigger difference.

I can’t tell you how significant 10% is for your short game. What I can tell you is that when I hit a good pitch, the Tour Speed checked up. A good full wedge ended up near it’s pitch mark. If you’ve got Tiger-level control, I’m sure 10% is life-altering, but I think the recreational player will be very happy with the Tour Speed around the green.

Before any launch monitor testing, I played the Titleist Tour Speed for a couple rounds at Eagle Ridge . These were my first rounds in over a month because I was sidelined by a wrist injury. Knowing that my wrist was weak and that my swing was rusty, I tempered my distance expectations off the tee. But then I was flying over my expected landing zones and hitting drives that met my normal expectations. Could the Tour Speed really be faster than my normal golf balls?

When I got on the launch monitor, the majority of the drives that I hit with the Tour Speed were extremely similar to those I hit with the Pro V1 . The spin of both balls is fairly low, though I’ll repeat that I’m a low spin player and your results may vary. On most shots, I was seeing equivalent speed, too.

However, all my fastest shots – the ones that were 2-4 MPH better than the rest, came with the Tour Speed. Is it possible that the Tour Speed happened to get my best swings? Yes. Did I have some subconscious bias toward the Tour Speed after good showings on the course? Possible, but I hit a lot of drives to try to even things out. Realistically, I don’t think the Tour Speed is 4 MPH faster than the Pro V1, but, for the 100ish MPH player, it is possible that the Tour Speed provides a little extra juice .

In the approach game, the Tour Speed is not markedly different than the Pro V1 . Ball speeds were similar as was spin. If I was splitting hairs, the Tour Speed might be slightly lower spin, but I don’t think the difference is meaningful.

Retailing for $40/dozen, the Titleist Tour Speed is at the high end of the mid-tier golf ball market but is still more affordable than the Pro V1. If you want most of the short game performance of the Pro V1 with the potential for a bit more distance and speed, it’s worth checking out.

19 Comments

Matt: Another great review. I was given a box as a gift and played with the ball for 3 rounds. I usually play the AVX and the ProV1. My qualitative observation is very much in line with your observations. Interestingly enough, I was skeptical about the ball initially, but was surprised by the performance.

Initial Reactions: For some reason, the box, the color scheme of the sleeve, the multi-color arrow, the particular white tint and everything else about the ball screamed “mid-tier” and “not Titleist” to me. I was not excited to play with it the way I had been with, say, the AVX in 2018. The cover also doesn’t have that soft, tacky feel that the ProV1/1x or the AVX has. The cover feels rather thin and hard.

My drives were just as long as my gamers (AVX/ProV1), if not slightly longer. As an aging mid-handicapper (11-12) playing with single-digit guys from the tees that are probably too long for me (6700-6800 yards), I usually hit a hybrid or a long iron into the green on more holes than I should. The ball performed well there, flying slightly higher than the AVX, and with consistent distances.

I didn’t expect the Tour Speed to perform well on full wedge shots and chipping because the cover felt like a distance ball. I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. I have a pretty good and consistent short game around the green. The Tour Speed performed pretty much the same as the AVX, which I have found is about the same as the ProV1 on chipping and pitching for me. On putting, frankly, I didn’t see much of a difference.

Conclusion: The Tour Speed is a ball that I initially didn’t want to like. I am still not entirely sold on the ball as there is something about it that doesn’t sit right with me (irrationally, I am sure). That said, it sure seems to perform well for my rather middle-aged Regular Joe game. I have too many dozens of the ProV1 and AVX balls at home that I have accumulated from the spring 4 for 3 deal and outings/ tournaments. So, I am not looking to buy golf balls any time soon. But, if I had to buy some at a pro shop because I had forgotten to pack my regular balls in my bag, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy the Tour Speed.

Thank you Duffer. Your review was as good as Matt’s

I played a few rounds with the tour speed. The only true thing I noticed a difference in was distance off the driver. It was a full 8 yards longer than the pro v1. Irons were about the same. Spin off the wedge wasn’t noticeable different. So to gain 8 yards and save money, I’m all in.

Wonder how it compares with the ProV1X, which typically has a higher launch and more spin than the ProV1.

I play to about a 9-10 handicap, but do not generate the clubhead speed that Matt or some of you do. Driver distance on good cracks will travel around 230 to 245 and max out there. I currently play Chrome-Soft, but not married to it. My question is……how would slower swing speed players fare with the Tour Speed? Again, Matt, always enjoy your reviews and the comments from my fellow golfers.

If you’re hitting it 230-245, I think you have plenty of speed to give the Tour Speed a try and perhaps see some additional or more consistent speed.

I have used this new ball in temps above 70 and found it to be as you have detailed. 60 and below and it is like a rock!

How was durability? I’ve read several comments online that the TPU cover shreds fairly easily.

I didn’t see any cover damage during my play or launch monitor testing, and the latter included a heavy diet of wedge shots.

How would you compare to Tour Response, Q Star Tour, Snell MTB Black?

The only head to head testing I did was against the Pro V1. We have full reviews of all those other balls on the site.

This ball performed well for me off the irons and that was about it. I normally play the AVX which gives me optimal launch and spin throughout my bag. Maybe it’s not meant for my SS, delivery, etc with the driver, fairway, hybrids and wedges. What struck me the most was how soft it was off my M Craft putter. I really had to give the ball a lot more to get it to the hole on long putts. Like putting a marshmallow tbh. There’s an unwritten rule at Titleist, no ball they make is meant to outperform their flagship line (V1, V1X). Some may do better in one area for one metric but that is about it.

I am 70 years old, a 6 handicap, and still generate 95-102 club speed. This ball definitely flies farther off the tee. I am routinely hitting 275 yard drives at my course (elevation 3500 feet), and occasionally pass 300. It is a touch harder on approach shots, but still checks up nicely. I LOVE this ball…..:)

Hey Matt, I’m a little late to this review, but if you’re still out there… My question is this: Why did Titleist add this ball to the lineup when it already has the AVX? It seems to fit a similar demographic and provides similar playing characteristics. Just wonder what your observations are regarding which ball would be best for my 7 handicap game? Thank you.

I’d agree that it’s similar to the AVX but not identical. It really comes down to how much difference a given golfer can notice. At the Tour level, players can notice minute differences. For a 30 handicap, the difference between the AVX and Tour Speed is probably meaningless.

As for what ball you’d be best with, there are a lot of factors to consider. If you’re between the two you mentioned, I’d suggest buying a sleeve of each and seeing if there’s a meaningful difference to you. If there’s not, the Tour Speed will put a few extra dollars in your pocket.

The reason is that there are many mid-cappers like myself who would like to think we should be playing The AVX because we are not quite Pro V1 guys, but in reality this ball serves us better than the AVX. The AVX is basically for a Pro V1 guy who needs almost exactly the same spin as the Pro V1 but a lower ball flight. Us 12-cappers get too much spin from the AVX–and The Pro V1 as well. Our swing faults are uber magnified by the Pro V1 and the AVX. While comparing the AVX to The Tour Speed, I had a much easier time fighting my miss with The Tour Speed which turns draws into hooks. Though slightly more forgiving than the Pro V1 –the AVX–because it is spinnier than the Tour Speed is definitely less forgiving. Now f you are a single digit capper and don’t quite need the height or spin of the Pro V1 you will be better served by the AVX, as its spin makes it more workable than the Tour Speed. So Basically Pro V1–Low Single Digit to scratch player who needs height and spin. AVX–Low Single digit to possible scratch player who needs almost as much spin but lower trajectory Tour Speed–Mid Capper who needs more spin than a two piece, and a high trajectory.

I am a 12 capper–have played all three- and rather enjoy my experience with the Tour Speed which will be my ball until I become a lower single digit handicap.

This is my go-to golf ball and the only one I will use. Granted I’m someone who would be paranoid that using a different ball would mess with my play substantialy, but still. It feels great, goes far, and checks up incredibly well. Tack on that it’s cheaper than the Pro V1s or Pro V1xs, and it’s a no brainer.

I have been playing the Tour Speed for 2 years but now Titleist is discontinuing it. The AVX and Pro V-1 or PV1X do not get the distance that I need at age 70 and 10 HCP. What ball by other manufacturers would be closest to what the Tour Distance has provided?

If you’re after distance, have you tried the Bridgestone Tour RX balls or the e6?

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Average Golf Swing Speed Chart

by Swing Man Golf Staff | Apr 23, 2024 | Average Golf Swing Speeds Chart

NOTE: This article is updated annually after the conclusion of each PGA TOUR, LPGA Tour and World Long Driver Championship season once all the data becomes available.

When it comes to hitting the ball farther, a lot of golfers realize that technique is important. In recent years, the larger golfing public is also beginning to recognize the importance of getting custom fit for their driver in order to maximize driving distance and their overall average golf swing speed.

However, there’s another way to get more distance that many golfers, even tour players, don’t even know realize is possible or, if they do, they haven’t really gleaned on to what the big keys are to get drastic and rapid gains…swing speed training. Now, I’ll talk about swing speed training and how you can increase your swing speed later on down the page, but to start, let’s simply get started discussing swing speed in general.

First of all, how important is your average golf swing speed?

It’s very important.

Simply put, the more swing speed you have, the farther you’ll hit the ball.

Take a look at this 2017 chart of the average swing speeds for various categories of golfers.

This chart is an average golf swing speed chart showing the different categories of golfers: female amateur, male amateur, LPGA TOUR player, PGA TOUR player, long driver, and the World Long Drive Championship record.

As I’m sure you can imagine, the World Championship Record for club head speed of 157 mph by Mitch Grassing in 2017 would hit the ball much farther than if he had the swing speeds of the PGA TOUR or LPGA TOUR players, who in turn would hit the ball much farther than amateurs with their given swing speeds.

This golf swing speed chart shows the approximate carry distance for each golf club for different driver swing speeds.

But guess what?

Not only does more swing speed help you hit the ball farther, research shows there is a direct correlation between your driving distance (and club head speed) and handicap (and thus scoring).

You can see this in 2017-2019 Arccos data published by MyGolfSpy in 2020 that shows the difference in driving distance by handicap group.

Average Driving Distance By Handicap

https://www.SwingManGolf.com

Trackman® research also shows that there is a direct correlation between your club head speed and your handicap (and thus scoring).

This chart illustrates the direct correlation between average golf swing speed and handicap or scoring

How Fast Is An Amateur’s Average Golf Swing Speed?

Regarding male amateurs, since 2005, the United States Golf Association (USGA) reports that the average handicap has been between 14 and 15. Golf Handicap and Information Network (GHIN) shows similar numbers of 15.3 handicap in 2003 and 14.3 handicap in 2012.

For these average male golfers, Trackman® statistics report the average club head speed at this 14-15-handicap level is about 93.4 mph…yielding an average total distance of 214 yards per drive. That makes the average male amateur driving efficiency to be 2.29 yards per mph of club head speed.

We estimate the average amateur women run in the region of 78 mph and 167-yard drives. Some women we’ve seen are in the mid to high 40s.

How Fast Is A Tour Player’s Average Golf Swing Speed?

Since 2007, the PGA TOUR has been tracking golf swing speeds of all of its players, also using Trackman®.

As you can see at the end of the 2022-2023 PGA TOUR season, the tour average runs about 115.80 mph and they hit about 299.9 yards/drive, which means their driving efficiency is about 2.61 yards/drive. This is much better than the average 14-15 –handicap golfer who comes in at 2.29 yards/drive. If you think about it, this makes sense because professionals hit the ball more consistently around the sweet spot.

Tom Stickney has done some impact testing for GolfWRX. Here’s what a tour player’s striking pattern looked like after about 10 shots.

tour players striking pattern after 10 shots

Compare that to the impact dispersion after only 5 shots from the 15-handicap golfer he tested.

amateur players striking pattern after 10 shots

As you can see, striking the ball consistently solid will help get you more distance out of your club head speed and improve your driving efficiency. If the average amateur had the same 2.61 yards/mph driving efficiency as the average PGA TOUR player, he would average 245 yards/drive instead of only 214 yards/drive.

That means the average amateur could pick up over 30 yards simply from more consistent strikes.

2022-2023 PGA TOUR Player Swing Speed Chart – The Slowest Swingers

Anyway, here is a selection of the swing speeds for the 2021-2022 season for some of the slowest PGA TOUR Players. These guys are definitely at a disadvantage on tour speed-wise.

If only they knew it didn’t have to be that way!

2022-2023 PGA TOUR Player Swing Speed Chart – The Average Swingers

Next are the guys who are considered to be in the middle of the pack as far as swing speed goes on the PGA TOUR. These guys aren’t hurting for speed, but they could definitely use more.

2022-2023 PGA TOUR Player Swing Speed Chart – The Fast Swingers

Lastly are the guys with the fastest speeds. These guys definitely swing fast by PGA TOUR standards. But as we’ll see in a moment, they are actually still quite slow relative to the competitors in the World Long Drive Championships.

Interestingly, the 2020-2021 season was the first time on the PGA TOUR that a player averaged over 130 mph.

Bryson DeChambeau made a lot of news during COVID-19 by putting on an estimated 40 pounds of fat and muscle weight to gain that swing speed. It worked, but as I wrote about over at GOLFWRX , you don’t need to put on that much weight to gain that much speed. In fact, you can put on more speed in less time without putting on anywhere near that kind of weight.

That’s part of what we do here at Swing Man Golf with what’s available in All-Access .

START NOW WITH ALL-ACCESS

2008 European Tour Player Swing Speed Chart

At the moment, the European Tour (now the DP World Tour) doesn’t post average club head speeds for the tour. However, we did come across a document from a single event in 2008 containing the swing speed of each player in the field. We’re not sure which hole or event these were measured with using Flightscope, but the numbers were interesting.

Here are several notable players.

The event average was 111 mph, which is more or less what we saw on the PGA TOUR in the same year.

In 2023, the median player on the DP World Tour averaged 301.08 off the tee. If we assume that they have the same efficiency of PGA TOUR players at 2.62 yards/drive, that would put their 2022 average swing speed at 114.92. That increase from 111 to 115 correlates similarly to the increase that the PGA TOUR made over the same time period since 2008.

Wilco Nienaber led the DP World’s Tour’s driving distance category at 332.10 yards/drive. If we assume his driving efficiency is also 2.61 yard/mph like the PGA TOUR average, that would put Wilco’s on-course average swing speed at 127.24 mph.

For purposes of our swing speed data research, would you mind telling us a little about yourself?

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How fast are LPGA Tour players?

A Trackman chart I have from 2011 shows that LPGA tour players averaged 246 yards/drive with 139 mph ball speed. Assuming 1.5 smash factor, that’s 2.66 yards/mph, far more efficient than the PGA TOUR’s 2.61 yards/mph. That seemed about right as the LPGA Tour mean driving distance as reported by the tour in 2011 was 248.02 yard/drive.

In 2023, the LPGA tour mean was 256.75 yards/drive. Somehow, driving distance Is about 9 yards farther now. Have club head speeds gone up? Is equipment fitting better? Have the players become more efficient? Are course conditions different? I don’t know exactly what is causing the difference, but something has changed.

When Annika Sorenstam was invited to play in the PGA TOUR’s 2003 Bank of America Colonial tournament, she averaged almost 270 yards/drive that year. The PGA TOUR average that year was 285.9 yards/drive and Annika was long enough to be ahead of the PGA TOUR’s 189th ranked Corey Pavin at 268.9 yards/drive and Loren Roberts at 265.9 yards/drive. She nearly made the cut and even beat some of the men in the field. It would have been interesting to know how well she would have done had she been even just a few mph faster with her swing speed…which is certainly doable.

The shortest player on the PGA TOUR in 2023 was Brian Stuard at 271.5 yards/dive. There were 10 LPGA players over that mark…Mel Reid, Madalene Sagstrom, Emily Kristine Pederson, Yuka Saso, Bailey Tardy, Maria Fassi, Yan Liu, Bianca Danganan, Xiaowen Yin, and Polly Mack.

However, only two PGA TOUR players were under 280.0, David Lingmerth at 278.5 and Brian Stuard. Going by David Lingmerth, only Polly Mack was long enough to be on the PGA TOUR distance-wise.

Polly Mack is conceivably as fast as some male professional golfers. However, her 2023 scoring average of 72.30 from the much shorter tees of the LPGA would not be good enough to match the 70.49 scoring average of the 125th ranked player (the highest ranked player to still retain full playing privileges) on the PGA TOUR, who also play from farther distances. She has the distance…she just has other gaps in her game.

2023 LPGA Swing Speed Chart

Since we have to make some guesses about LPGA Tour swing speed data, here is what LPGA Tour numbers might look like assuming both the 2011 reported Trackman efficiency of 2.66 yards/mph versus 2.73 yard/mph, which assumes no increase in club head speed but factoring in the increased 2023 tour driving distance mean of 256.75 yards/drive.

It’s our belief that LPGA Tour players could actually be competitive on men’s professional tours provided they work on getting faster through a swing speed training like we have here at Swing Man Golf through All-Access.

How fast are the swing speeds at the World Long Drive Championships?

That means that a typical long driver is over 20 mph faster than the average PGA TOUR player from that period…and over 10 mph faster than some of the tour’s fastest swingers like Cameron Champ, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, etc.

Historically, no player on the PGA TOUR would stand a chance of winning (or even being competitive) at the World Long Drive Championships…not until 2021 when Bryson DeChambeau was invited to compete at the 2021 PLDA World Championships and finished in the Final 8.

The event was a limited field event due to COVID-19. However, Bryson’s fastest ball speed during competition that I recall seeing was 219 mph, which would put his club head speed on that swing at 146 mph.

In 2022, Bryson finished 2nd.

As we’ll see below, that’s fast enough to win the entire World Long Drive Championships.

He also added more fat and muscle weight and worked far harder than necessary to increase his swing speed. That’s a story I already wrote about for GolfWRX.com .

Let’s look at how fast a typical Final-8 long driver can historically swing.

Swing Speed Chart for the World Long Drive Championships – Final-8 Competitor

Swing speed chart for the final-8 competitors world long drive championships.

Here are some average speeds of a few individual Final-8 competitors.

Realistically, to win the World Long Drive Championships, you have historically needed to be swinging in the mid-140s. The average champion was about 146 mph based on 7 champions from 2009-2017.

A champion long driver would easily drive it 50 yards past a guy like Bubba Watson. In fact, this actually happened in Hawaii in 2011 ahead of the PGA TOUR event when Jamie Sadlowski hit drives at Kapalua in Maui against Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, and Robert Garrigus. It wasn’t even close.

Occasionally, you’d see guys get in to the Final-8 at the World Championships that average in the 130s. Typically when that happened, they were better fit for their equipment, they were more mentally strong, they took better advantage of wind conditions, and things like that. As you can see, it was very difficult to win swinging in the 130s, though.

If memory serves, Carl Wolter won the 2011 World Championships in the high 130s. That year there were very strong tail winds and Carl presumably hit a better wind ball (usually higher and with more spin) than two other champions he beat head-to-head, Jamie Sadlowski and Joe Miller…both of whom have swung 150 mph in competition.

Unfortunately, full data since then isn’t available in the same way due to inconsistencies in who was owning and hosting the world championships (Ex. Long Drivers of America, Comcast, PLDA, GF Sports and Entertainment)r, but the various winners of those years since (2017 – Justin James, 2018 – Maurice Allen, 2019 Kyle Berkshire, 2020 – No World Championship, 2021 – Kyle Berkshire, 2022 – Martin Borgmeier, 2023 Kyle Berkshire) have all achieved speeds over 150 mph at the World Championships.

However, as mentioned, long drive swing speed seem to be trending upwards.

In 2023, World Long Drive reported a World Long Drive Championship group average ball speed for the Final 16 of 215.7 mph, with Kyle Berkshire at the top with 226.2 mph. Assuming 1.5 smash factor, that’d be averaging 143.8 mph and 150.8 mph of swing speed, respectively.

Also, through 2023, in training, 8 hitters had broken the 230-mph ball speed mark, when the previous record mark had been 227 mph for years, with 3 over 240 mph. To get 230 mph ball speed, you need at least 153 mph swing speed. To break 240 mph, it’s a minimum of 160 mph.

As far as I know, Sam Attanasio has the current ball speed training swing at 243.0 mph, which would necessitate at least 162 mph of club head speed. Seb Waddell has a training swing on a Trackman® at 169.6 mph swing speed.

Let me know if these get broken and I can update what is here.

At the Senior (Over 45 years old) level, in 2012 a Senior division Final-8 competitor averaged 131 mph with a peak of 137 mph. Two-time Senior World Champion “Fast” Eddie Fernandes (2018 & 2022) has previously achieved 156 mph of club head speed and 228 mph of ball speed.

Even the “old” guys can bomb it past any PGA TOUR player.

So, as you can see, the more swing speed you have, in general the farther you will drive the ball…and as I’ve shown, more distance also makes it easier to shoot lower scores.

Can you Increase Your Average Golf Swing Speed?

Aside from improving your technique and getting fit for your equipment, despite what many golfers (even pros like Tiger) believe, yes, you can actually train to increase your swing speed…at any age!

Just consider a long drive guy like Bobby Wilson. At the age of 53, he could swing over 12 mph faster than the PGA TOUR’s “long hitting” Bubba Watson.

Also note that just because you are fit does not mean you are fast. Camilo Villegas was arguably more “fit” than John Daly, but John could swing faster. Granted, some of this is due to John’s technique, equipment, etc…but the point is that although fitness certainly has its place in golf and life, for distance and application towards becoming a better player…it’s more about being fast than fit.

Swing Man Golf Helps You Increase Your Average Golf Swing Speed!

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Swing Man Golf is a 2021 Golf Fitness Association of America Award Winner for it's work in golf fitness and swing speed training

Certification is also available for motivated PGA pros and fitness trainers.

We’ve got junior golfers from 12 years old to men on up in to their 80s with handicaps ranging from pro to 30+ who add an average of 12-16 mph (30-40 yards) of driver swing speed in their first month of basic training. Believe it or not, we’ve even had several golfers who were willing to do the work that gained over 30 and 40 mph (that’s not a typo) over the course of a few months.

One of these golfers was 58 years old!

Titleist Tour Speed 2022 Golf Ball Review

In this Titleist Tour Speed 2022 golf ball review, Neil Tappin sees what this mid-priced urethane-covered model has to offer

A superb all round performer at a very appealing price. This particularly impressed in the long game where it offered consistently impressive distance.

Excellent long game distance

Consistent ball flights throughout the bag

Good feel around the greens

Not as much greenside spin control as with more expensive models

Why you can trust Golf Monthly Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test .

The 2022 Tour Speed is the second generation, mid-priced, urethane-covered offering from Titleist. Coming in at around $10 to $15 per dozen less than the brand’s Tour-played Pro V1 models but offering similar levels of performance, we were hugely impressed by the original version of this ball.

We wanted to see whether Titleist has been able to improve the performance of its’ new Tour Speed while maintaining its competitive price-point so we conducted a thorough test both on the course and using a SkyTrak launch monitor. We tested it up against the previous generation Tour Speed and against a competitor model, the 2022 TaylorMade Tour Response .

Neil tests the 2022 Titleist Tour Speed on course

The key technology in the new ball is the reformulated core with its high flex casing layer. Titleist says this should provide high speed and low spin in the long game. The data from my launch monitor testing would back this up. Off the tee, I gained an extra 2 mph of ball speed over the previous generation and yet the new version spun a fraction less. This translated into a fairly modest but noticeable 3-yard gain in carry and total distance. Interestingly, the new Tour Speed launched and flew a fraction higher than the previous version.

An even bigger gain in ball speed was evident in my 7-iron testing. The new Tour Speed was 7 mph faster and it spun around 1000 rpm more than the original. The result was a higher flight (and more stopping power) with an extra 7 yards of carry. The mid-iron performance was very similar to the 2022 version of the TaylorMade Tour Response and in this area of the game, both options are up there with the best golf balls of 2022 .

The Titleist Tour Speed features a blue and black side stamp to aid alignment

Throughout my on course testing it was clear that well-struck shots were rewarded with strong ball flights that hung in the air. As far as the long game performance goes, I’d be hard pushed to notice much difference between the Tour Speed and my usual golf ball choice, the Titleist Pro V1x .

In my testing, the only real compromise with the Tour Speed versus one of the best premium golf balls would be greenside spin. Short pitch shots and chips do grab but not quite as much as I’m used to. For anyone considering switching from a more expensive Tour-played model, this might take a little getting used to. Interestingly, the Tour Speed did offer a little more short game spin control than the slightly less expensive Tour Soft model (600 rpm more on 50-yard pitches).

When it comes to feel, of course, this is a very subjective element of performance but I thought it was similar to what I’m used to with the Pro V1x. It offers good levels of feedback and feel without being too soft. I think this makes the Tour Speed a good year-round ball versus some of the softer feeling, mid-priced urethane balls, like the Wilson Triad , which is more suited to fast greens. The TaylorMade Tour Response too felt slightly softer than the Tour Speed.

The last thing to mention is the look of this ball. It has a slightly duller finish than the Pro V1 models and the logo is a fraction thicker, as you can see above. This differentiates it from those Tour-played alternatives and also to the TaylorMade Tour Response which is much closer in look to the brand’s TP5 model.

All in all, Titleist has moved the performance of the new Tour Speed forwards. This delivers in all areas of the bag but particularly in the long game. For those who want high levels of performance without stretching to a more premium price, this is definitely one to try.

If you would like to try Titleist golf balls, check out our handpicked Titleist coupon codes.

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In July 2023, Neil became just the 9th editor in Golf Monthly's 112-year history. Originally working with the best coaches in the UK to produce instruction content, he has also presented many Golf Monthly videos looking at all areas of the game from Tour player interviews to the rules of golf.

Throughout his time with the brand he has also covered equipment launches that date back well over a decade. He clearly remembers the launch of the Callaway and Nike square drivers as well as the white TaylorMade driver families, such as the RocketBallz! If you take a look at the Golf Monthly YouTube channel, you'll see his equipment videos dating back over a decade! He has also conducted 'What's In The Bag' interviews with many of the game's best players like Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm. Over the years, Neil has tested a vast array of products in each category and at drastically different price-points.

Neil is currently playing: Driver: TaylorMade Stealth Plus Fairway Wood: Titleist TSR2 Hybrid: Titleist TS3 Irons: PING Blueprint S (4&5), PING Blueprint T (6-PW) Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM7 50˚, 54˚, 60˚ Putter: Odyssey Triple Track Ten Ball: Titleist Pro V1X

Nicknamed King of the Screen, Hongtaek Kim defeated Chonlatit Chuenboonngam in a playoff to win the GS Caltex Maekyung Open

By Matt Cradock Published 5 May 24

Tiger Woods walks down the fairway at Augusta National

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Ball Speed to Distance: The Magic Ratio for Distance

If you want to shoot lower scores fast, you should work on your ball speeds for longer distances.

But what is the ball speed to distance relationship? Is it a simple formula? Will increased ball speed make that big of a difference in your game?

Today we’ll address these questions and other factors like equipment, swing speed, and launch angle that factor into ball speed. We’ll also help you learn how to measure speed so you can improve it over time and hopefully hit your golf goals .

Ball Speed to Distance

Before getting into driver ball speed numbers for amateurs, let’s start with the pros as we all love to watch them hit bombs on TV. According to Trackman Golf , the average PGA player has 113 mph club speed, 167 mph ball speed, 1.48 smash factor, 10.9 launch angle, 2686 spin rate, and carries it about 275 yards.

That’s right the pros only carry the ball about 275 yards… which is impressive but not what we see on TV. It’s important to note that fairways are firm and fast, not like the everyday municipal golf course. Plus, they have perfectly fitted equipment too.

Key Takeaways

Ball speed tells how fast the ball leaves the club and is the main component to adding distance.
Launch monitors are the easiest way to measure your ball speed and hopefully increase it over time.
Every extra mile per hour of ball speed equals about two more yards of carry. But there are tons of factors to consider when looking to gain speed.
There are a lot of ways to increase clubhead speed (and ball speed) including better swing mechanics, speed training, golf workouts , and more.

Keep reading to learn more about speed and distance to hopefully make golf easier.

Ball Speed vs. Swing Speed

First, it’s important to understand the difference between ball speed and swing speed.

Ball speed refers to how fast a golf ball is traveling the moment after impact with the clubface.

The longer the club, the higher the ball speed. For example, a PGA Tour player averages 167 mph ball speed with his driver, but only 127 mph with his 6-iron.

Clubhead speed refers to how fast the club is traveling at impact .

Like ball speed, longer clubs produce more speed. This is why PGA Tour players average 113 mph clubhead speed with a driver and only 92 mph with a 6-iron.

There are tons of factors that come to ball and club head speed including; c lub path, club face, type of ball, weather, age of golfer, mechanics, fitness levels, gender, and more .

A launch monitor is the most common way to measure golf swing and ball speed . You can use personal launch monitors ( here are our favorites ) or a professional launch monitor that you’ll see at a golf store. These are much more expensive but can also double as a golf simulator as well.

Average Ball Speed

Before getting into the factors that contribute to ball and club speed, let’s go over average driver ball speeds for amateurs. Foresight Sports – a leader in high-end launch monitors – found these averages:

Male golfer – 5 handicap: 147 mph
Male golfer – average handicap: 133 mph
Female golfer – 5 handicap: 125 mph
Female golfer – average handicap: 111 mph

While Trackman Golf – another top name in the launch monitor world – found these stats for the average male golfer.

Ball speed: 132.6 mph
Clubhead speed: 93.4 mph
Spin rate: 3275
Carry: 204 yards

Between the two it’s safe to say that the “ average golfer ” (which the USGA says is a 14 handicap) has a 133 mph ball speed. While scratch golfers are likely north of 150 mph but still far from a professional golfer.

This means the average golfer is about 30 mph less than a PGA Tour player. But when you keep reading we’ll give you some simple strategies to gain distance fast.

Now, let’s get into the biggest factors that contribute to speed.

Smash Factor

One of the biggest drivers of ball speed and clubhead speed is your smash factor . As mentioned above, the PGA Tour average is 1.48 out with a driver (1.50 is the max).

This essentially relates to where the ball is struck on the clubface; the more you hit it in the center (aka sweet spot) the higher the speed you can generate. Shots off the toe, heel, or low on the face lower the strike contact and thus, lower the smash factor (and ball speed).

Other Factors

Here are three other factors when it comes to driver ball speed:

Optimal Launch Angle : The optimum launch angle is between 10–14 degrees according to Foresight Sports. This will help the average golfer optimize carry distance for longer drives.
Spin Rate : Spin is another huge factor for golf ball speed and ranges based on club speed. For example, if you have 69 mph golf ball speed, your ideal spin is 2500-3500 rpm. But if you’re swinging at 110 swing speed, your ideal spin range is 1900-2900.
Temperature : As you probably know from experience, temperature plays a huge role in your total distance. When it’s colder, the air is thicker and your body is stiffer, making it harder to swing fast and hit bombs. But when it’s hotter the air is thinner, your body is loose, and the fairways are firm. Don’t forget to factor in the weather as it plays a big role in total distance.

To learn more about average distances, click here .

How to Gain Golf Ball Speed (Increase Ball Speed Tips)

As you can tell, gaining speed is extremely beneficial to your game. Here are a few tips to help you increase your speed (or read our full guide here ).

Sign Up for a Custom Fitting

If you want to improve your ball speed it’s a good idea to do a custom fitting for your driver. While you don’t need to get custom fit for every club in the bag (yet), I think driver and putter are the most important… since you use them on nearly every hole.

A quick 45-minute driver fitting can do wonders for your ball speed and total distance. Not only can you test out different driver heads but different shafts as well to see how your ball speeds change.

While you’re at it, if the fitter offers a golf ball fitting , take them up on it. Dialing in driver and golf ball equals maximum distance!

Learn to Generate More Lag

One of the reasons that most golfers don’t hit it as far as they’d like is from a lack of lag. Most golfers have an out to in swing vs. an in to out swing .

The latter promotes a shallowing of the golf club on the downswing, which makes it easier to add distance with your hands ahead at impact. While most golfers get steep and come over the top which eliminates lag. This tends to happen from a weak grip and/or inside takeaway.

Lag is a secret weapon to not only gaining ball speed but also making better contact – which also improves speed. Sergio Garcia is a great example of someone who creates tons of lag and a great ball striker for several decades.

As Golf Digest noted, “What Sergio actually is doing to create lag is starting the downswing with his lower body. He has a free-flowing swing and seamlessly goes from backswing to downswing with his legs and hips before his arms, hands and club can do the same.”

This is why it’s so important to start the downswing with your lower body. To generate more lag try out the Lag Shot golf training aid . It’s a great device you can use at home or at the driving range to hit balls with and generate more lag.

How to Use the Ground to Gain Power in Golf

Use Ground Force Properly

Big hitters use the ground and their lower body to generate more power on every swing – especially with the driver. While everyday golfers rotate their upper body to start their downswing and lose out on a ton of distance.

If you want to improve ball speed, you must learn how to use the ground properly. When you do it will act like a trampoline to help you push off the grass. This will allow you to generate more power and get the big muscles of your legs involved.

The next time you watch golf on TV, make sure to notice how much they use the ground when announcers review their swing. It’s easy to spot it in slow motion and can lead to big distance gains fast.

Also, another great way to use the ground more effectively is to wear Athalonz golf shoes. These are specifically designed to improve your speed without speed training or changing your swing.

Try Out Speed Training Tools

Gaining distance and speed happens from training your muscles to swing faster. This isn’t always easy to do/feel on your own. Luckily, there are great new training aids that are meant to improve your speed over 8–12 weeks. This process is called overspeed training for golf .

Here are two of our favorite programs.

SuperSpeed Golf

One of the original overspeed training systems is SuperSpeed Golf. These weighted sticks will help you hit the golf ball longer than ever by increasing your carry distance with their training regimen. If you’ve never tried speed training, this is a great way to start.

Click here to read our full review now.

The Stack System

If you’re a more advanced golfer (or have already tested out SuperSpeed), check out the Stack System. This is an advanced speed training program that uses an app and launch monitor (or Sports Sensors speed radar system ) to increase your speed.

Unlike SuperSpeed Golf, this is the only club with interchangeable weights. The app is also very detailed and provides tons of different programs to hit your goals. It’s used by tons of PGA and LIV golfers – including Matt Fitzpatrick who used it to win the 2022 US Open Championship.

The only downside is that you do need a launch monitor or radar to measure your speed. But it’s an impressive program that can do wonders for your total ball speed.

FAQs About Ball Speed and Club Head Speed

Do you have more questions about adding speed and distance to your game? If so, keep reading through the most frequently asked questions below.

How do you calculate distance from ball speed?

The easiest way is a launch monitor to learn how the golf ball immediately reacts after impact to determine ball speed. As soon as you hit the ball it’ll give you tons of information about your swing.

How far should 150 mph ball speed go?

Swinging at 150 mph is pretty high for the everyday golfer; if you can accomplish this, you’ll have anywhere from 250 to 270 yards of carry distance. Factored in with roll and the right weather conditions you might get closer to 270–290 yards off the tee.

How many yards is 1 mph of ball speed?

Roughly 2–5 yards, depending on who you ask. This is why it’s so important to do everything you can to gain speed as it leads to a lot of longer drives.

Think about it… if you add 3-5 mph to your swing, that’s 10-15 yards (or more) extra. This will give you a full club shorter into the green, which statistically makes it a lot easier to score.

How fast do you need to swing to carry 300 yards?

Carrying it 300 yards is no easy feat even for the best players in the world. In the 2021-2022 PGA Tour season only Cameron Champ and Rory McIlroy averaged more than 320 total yards. That means they probably averaged around 300 yard carry (or slightly less).

Needless to say, carrying it 300 yards is more of a long drive goal than one for the average player. You’d need to swing the club insanely fast and generate close to 170 mph (or more) of ball speed. Not to mention optimize launch angle, use the right equipment, and have the right weather too.

What is the fastest ball speed ever?

The fastest ball speed ever at 236.2 mph from Kyle Berkshire. He’s a long drive competitor and one of the longest hitters on the planet (he hits his 6-iron 230 yards on average).

As Golf.com noted, “Berkshire hit 236.2 mph of ball speed three separate times during the training session, and he averaged 231.8 mph across 70 swings.”

That ball speed from Kyle is impressive for sure!

My Experience with Golf Ball Speed

Golf courses aren’t getting any shorter so it’s vital to do everything you can to increase speed. I’ve added 5-7 mph swing club head speed on average over the past few years and paired with new equipment has made a big difference in my game.

Just remember when it comes to adding speed, it won’t happen overnight. While you can increase your average ball speeds with a new driver, the big progress takes months of hard work.

Whether you’re speed training or regular golf workouts, it will take time. Plus, you want to approach this slowly so that you can avoid golf injuries and hit the ball solidly.

Final Thoughts on Improving Ball Speed

Golf ball speed is a big factor and when you can increase your driver swing speed, your game can get to the next level. Roughly one mile per hour ball speed equates to about two yards carry distance.

More speed simply makes the game easier. But more club head speed and ball speed isn’t just swinging faster.

It’s about launch angle, attack angle, weather, playing the right equipment, golf swing technique, and more. I highly suggest buying a launch monitor to measure your driver ball speed over time and see what’s working.

If you start seeing a decreased ball speed number, start using the tips above to practice with a launch monitor . With the right golf clubs you’ll increase ball speed in no time.

How to Hit Further with Driver Ball Speed to Distance Charts

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Table of Contents

Until two years ago, I struggled to compress the golf ball at impact, reducing my smash factor and ball speed and increasing spin. In this post, I’ll teach you the relationship between driver ball speed to distance and how you can increase yardage from the tee box .

After walking away from this post, you will learn whether your average ball speed is fast, medium, or slow. I also reveal what ball speeds pros on the PGA Tour Champions and PGA Tour conjure up.

Driver Ball Speed to Distance Overview

annika sorrentam preparing to hit her driver off the tee box

Driver golf ball speed and distance are impacted by factors including spin rate, attack angle, smash factor, and launch angle. Keep reading to understand how these metrics impact your distance and what you can do to boost your yardage.

What is Ball Speed in Golf?

Ball speed refers to the velocity your golf ball leaves the clubface at. It is regarded as a key factor impacting your distance, along with the spin rate, attack angle, launch angle, humidity, and wind. Your club head pace is transferred to the golf ball at contact, boosting acceleration for a powerful launch.

The faster your club speed is, the more ball speed you are likely to generate. However, striking the ball in the heel or the toe reduces your smash factor, energy transfer, and ball velocity, leading to a loss of distance.

How Do You Convert Ball Speed to Distance?

Converting golf ball speed to distance requires a strong smash factor, moderate launch angle, and favorable wind and precipitation conditions. When your clubface reaches impact, it transfers clubhead speed to the golf ball.

If you strike the ball out of the sweet spot, you should generate optimal velocity and a lower spin rate to elevate your ball into the air and produce a satisfactory carry distance. However, if you hit the ball excessively high in dry and windy conditions, you stand to lose length in the air.

Mishiting the ball lowers your speed and increases your spin rate producing a weak launch and a loss of distance. Therefore, a low launch angle and low spin will travel shorter than a higher launch angle with moderate spin, despite producing the same ball speed.

Ball Speed to Distance Cha rt

The below chart gives you a rough idea of carry distance relative to ball speed. The figures will vary depending on your smash factor, attack angle, spin rate, and launch angle. Using the example provided by Ping, we notice varying distances for a 167 mph ball speed.

When a player launches the ball between 7.5 to 8 degrees and produces 1600 rpm backspin, the golf ball flies 240 yards. Conversely, if the ball launches at 17 degrees with 2400 rpm spin, it delivers an average carry distance of 296 yards.

Read Next: Best Golf Drivers for Seniors + Buyers Guide

Driver Swing Speed Chart To Ball Speed

Pro golfer, John Daly practicing to hit the ball off the tee

Take a look at the chart below to see how club head speed translates to ball speed. These metrics consider ideal conditions where you strike the ball cleanly, launch it optimally, and enjoy clear weather.

⛳️ Read Next: How to Use Golf Club Lead Tape

Average PGA Tour Player Ball Speed

golf tip from John Daly "the very best thing I do...visualize a perfect shot in my mind every time I set up the ball"

The ball speed chart below highlights the average PGA Tour player and their LPGA counterpart’s ball speed. Cameron Champ beats the average by approximately 17 mph, while Brian Stuard is behind the mark with an average of 157 mph.

Although little radar data is available on the PGA Tour Champions, I was impressed to see Padraig Harrington’s ball speed average. The Irishman generates 180 mph ball speed regularly. As a YouTube Channel instructor , he shares some of his favorite tips for increasing speed in the golf swing.

Miguel Angel Jimenez produces less ball speed than the PGA Tour average, notching up 165 mph. Impressive from the 60-year-old Spaniard.

Individual statistics on ball speed are few and far between for LPGA Tour pros. However, it is interesting to note that Nelly Korda conjures up 154 mph ball speed, 14 mph more than the LPGA Tour average.

⛳️ Read More: Golf Club Distance Chart For Seniors

Club Head Speed vs Ball Speed: How Does it Affect Distance?

Accelerated clubhead speed is vital for optimizing energy transfer at contact to impart rapid pace onto the golf ball. The faster your ball speed is, the less spin you create and the better your chances are of an optimal launch angle and maximum carry distance.

Faster clubhead speeds typically hit further than slower swingers because they are able to deliver greater force at impact. However, if you mishit the ball and produce a weak smash factor, you lose ball speed and ultimately, distance.

Comparing my average metrics to Cameron Champ puts the club head speed and ball speed distance relationship into perspective. Champ averages 126 mph clubhead speed and 191 mph ball speed, prompting an average driving distance of 316 yards.

My driver clubhead speed averages 85 mph, ball speed 131 mph, and distance 273 yards. I lose 40 mph on Champ during the downswing, and even with consistent contact, my ball speed is over 60 mph slower than his. My total distance average is 43 yards shy of Champ’s average.

6 Expert Tips on How to Increase Ball Speed

Photo of Darren Clarke hitting off the tee box in 2023

1. Use a Lightweight Driver

If your ball speed loss stems from slower clubhead speed, I suggest altering the components of your driver. Employ a lighter, flexible shaft to drop the swing weight and help you accelerate the club on the downswing.

Alternatively, seek a new driver with a lighter, flexible shaft and a lower swing weight.

The lighter construction will give you an added boost on the downswing and spring the clubface into the ball at contact. This boosts rebound off the clubface for reduced spin rates and explosive speed.

I recommend senior golfers consider the luxury of flexibility and high torque in a senior or ladies flex shaft . I also find drivers with lower swing weights around the D0 mark easier to unload for slow clubhead speeds.

⛳️ Read Next: Can’t Hit Your Driver? How to Hit a Driver Further Today

2. Shoulder Turn On The Backswing

Increasing clubhead speed is vital to generating rapid ball velocity. The faster you swing, the faster your potential ball speed is. The first part of conjuring pace in your swing is optimizing the rotation of your shoulders on the backswing.

As Rick Shiels explains, you want to boost your range of motion to get the clubhead as far away from the strike zone as possible. The farther your clubhead is from the ball at the top of the swing, the more distance you have to cover on the way down, setting the scene for explosive pace into impact.

This positions you to impart rapid zip onto the golf ball for a powerful launch and impressive carry distance.

3. Hip Rotation

Sticking with building up clubhead speed, I tend to rotate my hips as far as possible, away from the target on my backswing. It creates a coil and builds up ample energy for me to unleash on the downswing, generating an accelerated ball pace.

If I only turn my shoulders on the backswing and rely on my arms, I lose power and speed on the way down, prompting a weak strike. However, optimizing my hip rotation on the backswing helps me build up energy, which I can release from the top and accelerate into impact.

4. Smooth Transition

Once your clubhead reaches the top of your backswing, you should transition smoothly to your downswing to avoid losing power and speed. Often, amateurs rush the transition from the top, causing them to unload the club early and lose power.

By the time the clubface reaches the ball, it is slow and has minimal energy to transfer to the golf ball. I suggest working with a swing training aid like the Orange Whip to help improve your tempo for a fluid motion from takeaway through impact.

5. Wrist Flexion Prior To Impact

For most of my career, I lost ball speed at contact because of excessive wrist extension prior to impact. This caused me to open the clubface, weaken the loft and launch the ball high and to the right.

I started working with the HackMotion wrist training aid a couple years back, and it has done wonders for my ball speed. By training myself to flex my wrists on the downswing, I started shallowing the shaft and delofting the clubface to increase compression, ball speed, and accuracy.

6. Shallow Shaft

I was guilty of swinging steeply for two decades, which cost me clubhead speed on the downswing. It also led to the odd chunk and inconsistent strike, hampering my smash factor, ball speed, and launch.

Under the guidance of the HackMotion wrist sensor , I have managed to consistently shallow my club’s shaft, leading into impact. I bring my golf shaft parallel to the ground prior to contact, creating lag, delofting the club, and marginally closing the clubface.

My rotation and momentum whip the club from the parallel position into the golf ball, maximizing energy transfer, compression, and ball speed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is my swing speed if my ball speed is 150.

Your golf swing speed is approximately 103 mph if you produce 150 mph of ball speed with an enhanced smash factor and launch angle. Your golf ball speed could also reach 150 mph with a 110 mph swing speed and a weak smash factor.

How fast does your ball speed need to be to hit 300 yards?

On average, your golf ball speed will reach over 170 mph if you are to hit your driver 300 yards. However, these driver distance metrics are based on clear days with limited wind or humidity.

How far should a 70 year old man hit a driver?

On average, I find 70-year-old men hitting a driver between 180 to 200 yards in perfect conditions.

Final Thoughts

After reviewing the connection between driver ball speed to distance, it is clear that multiple factors impact these metrics. Ball speed is determined by clubhead speed, angle of attack, smash factor, and spin rate. However, a rapid ball speed does not necessarily translate to optimal distance.

You require a medium to high launch angle, no wind, and some humidity to enjoy the perfect conditions for increasing yards off the tee. Just because your ball speed is explosive does not mean your ball will fly long.

The perfect tee shot requires rapid swing speed, a reduced spin rate, mid-to-high ball flight, and limited headwinds.

The CJ Cup Byron Nelson

TPC Craig Ranch

Winner's bag

The clubs Taylor Pendrith used to win the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson

Any true sports fan knows the sting of losing a Game 7. Toronto Maple Leafs loyalist Taylor Pendrith, however, erased the hurt of his squad losing a 2-1 heartbreaker to the Boston Bruins by winning his first PGA Tour title at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas thanks to a final-hole birdie and a ghastly stumble by Ben Kohles, who made the only bogey of the day on the par-5 18th hole.

Pendrith fashioned a five-birdie, one-bogey 67, the result of renewed confidence in his 9-degree Ping G430 LST driver.

“I feel like my putting has been really good all year,” said Pendrith, who uses a center-shafted Odyssey Versa Jailbird 380 putter. “I usually drive it well and I haven't been driving it great. The last few weeks I've found something with the driver. Got a new shaft [Accra’s TZ6]. I think I'm just swinging it better in general. But driving it well and not putting myself in awkward positions off the tee, which I had been earlier in the year. So, yeah, just feel comfortable with everything and now that the driver is clicking, it's a nice feeling.”

Pendrith ranked fourth in driving distance at 318.5 yards off the tee while finding more than enough fairways, ranking T-27 in that category at 64.29 percent. He also ranked first in putts per GIR at 1.57.

A solid-working driver, a hot putter and a first PGA Tour win. Now about those Maple Leafs ...

Ball: Srixon Z-Star Diamond

Driver: Ping G430 LST (Accra TZ6), 9 degrees

3-wood: Ping G430 Max, 15 degrees

7-wood: Ping G430 Max, 20.5 degrees

Irons (4-5): Srixon ZX5 Mk II; (6-9): Srixon ZX7 Mk II

Wedges: Cleveland ZipCore RTX6 (46, 52, 56, 60 degrees)

Putter: Odyssey Versa Jailbird 380 CS

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Chinese leader Xi Jinping will spend the bulk of his five-day tour in Europe this week in two small countries at the continent’s eastern half

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Chinese leader Xi Jinping will spend the bulk of his five-day tour in Europe this week in two small countries at the continent’s eastern half, a region that Beijing has used as a foothold for its expanding economic ambitions in Europe.

Following a stop in Paris on Monday to kick off his first European trip in five years, Xi will then travel to Hungary and Serbia, two nations with autocratic leaders that are seen as China -friendly and close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

As mainstream European leaders have pursued more protectionist policies to limit Beijing and Moscow’s reach on the continent, the governments of nationalist conservative leaders Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia have vigorously courted economic ties with China, inviting major investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, energy and technology.

As the first European Union country to participate in Xi’s signature Belt and Road Initiative, Hungary has straddled a middle ground between its membership in the EU and NATO, and an unusual openness to diplomatic and trade relationships with eastern autocracies.

Tamás Matura, a China expert and associate professor at Corvinus University in Budapest, said that Hungary’s hosting of major Chinese investments and production sites — and its agnosticism on doing business with countries with spotty democratic and human rights records — has opened a crucial door to China within the EU trading bloc.

“The Hungarian government is the last true friend of China in the whole EU,” Matura said. “It is very important now to the Chinese to settle down in a country that is within the boundaries of the EU ... and is friendly to the Chinese political system.”

One of the major benefits to China of establishing bases within the EU: avoiding costly tariffs. The European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, is mulling raising duties on the import of Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) from its current 10% to protect the European auto manufacturing market — a mainstay for Germany, the 27-member EU's largest economy.

Yet in December, Hungary announced that one of the world’s largest EV manufacturers, China’s BYD, will open its first European EV production factory in the south of the country — an inroad into the EU that could upend the competitiveness of the continent’s auto industry.

That shift is already visible in Budapest, where one car dealership has begun scaling down its supply of European vehicles and instead introducing models produced by BYD.

Márk Schiller, the strategy and marketing director for the family-owned Schiller Auto Group, said he believes that European carmakers are “already behind” China in transitioning to EV production. His company recently stopped selling cars made by German carmaker Opel, and switched to BYD.

“This was a huge shift,” Schiller said.

Unconfirmed reports suggest that during Xi’s visit to Hungary from Wednesday to Friday, he and Orbán will announce another EV manufacturing investment involving China’s Great Wall Motor. Orbán's office didn't respond to multiple requests for information on the schedule of the visit.

In Serbia, to Hungary's south, China runs mines and factories across the Balkan country, while billions more in infrastructure loans have funded roads, bridges and new facilities.

Hungary and Serbia have an agreement with Beijing to modernize the railway between the countries’ capitals of Budapest and Belgrade, part of a Belt and Road plan to connect with the Chinese-controlled port of Piraeus in Greece as an entry point for Chinese goods to Central and Eastern Europe.

The bulk of the project, which after numerous delays is expected to be completed in 2026, is financed through loans from Chinese banks — the kind of capital that Hungary and Serbia have been eager to utilize.

According to the AidData research lab at William & Mary, a public university in Virginia, Chinese lenders have issued loans worth more than $22 billion to nine countries in Central and Eastern Europe between 2000 and 2021.

Of that sum, $9.4 billion has gone to Hungary and $5.7 billion to Serbia, dwarfing the totals of other regional countries.

Vučić has said he is “honored” that Xi — whom he often describes as a “friend” — is visiting on Tuesday. He said before the visit that Serbia would seek further Chinese investment, particularly when it comes to advanced technologies.

But economic analyst Mijat Lakićević said he didn't expect any major new investment deals, because “everything that Serbia does with China has already been agreed.”

Hungary, too, has created a favorable investment environment for China, providing generous tax breaks, subsidies and infrastructural assistance to Chinese companies, as well as helping them navigate Hungarian bureaucracy.

“They get the red carpets rolled out and they get everything tailor-made by the government. And that is a huge advantage,” said Matura, the China analyst.

Near Debrecen, Hungary’s second-largest city, construction is underway of a nearly 550-acre (222-hectare), 7.3 billion euro ($7.9 billion) EV battery plant, Hungary’s largest-ever foreign direct investment.

Orbán’s government hopes the factory, run by Chinese battery giant CATL, will make the country a global hub of lithium-ion battery manufacturing in an era where governments are increasingly seeking to limit greenhouse gas emissions by switching to electric cars.

Such investments are coming at a time when Hungary's sluggish economy has been further hindered by record-setting inflation and the freezing of billions in EU funding that has been withheld over Orbán's track record on democracy standards and the rule of law.

With EU money at a standstill, Matura said, China has been willing to fill in the gaps in Hungary's budget.

"EU funds have almost came to full stop flowing into the Hungarian economy, so now there is a desperate need in Hungary to turn towards other alternatives, other sources of financial capital,” he said.

Orbán has been open about why he has prioritized Chinese investment: his belief that Western economies are declining, and that China is on the rise.

During a recent speech at the CPAC Hungary conservative conference, Orbán outlined a vision of a "global economy that will be organized according to the principle of mutual benefit, free of ideology.”

Jovana Gec reported from Belgrade, Serbia.

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COMMENTS

TrackMan PGA Tour Averages Stats
TrackMan PGA Tour Average stats including Club speed, Attack Angle, Ball Speed, Smash Factor, Launch Angle, Spin Rate, Max Height, Land Angle and Carry. Workshops; Coach of the month; Tour Stats; Contact; ... For example, Avg. Club Speed for a driver: 2014: 113.0 mph 2015: 113.3 mph
What's The Average Ball Speed Of A PGA Tour Pro?
According to Trackman data, the average ball speed, with driver, of a PGA Tour player in 2022 was 167mph. A look at the 2022/23 ball speed numbers provided by the PGA Tour suggests that that number is now higher. Cameron Champ has been averaging over 190mph for ball speed. Of the 193 players listed, only 27 players average below 167mph, with ...
Golf Stat and Records
PGA TOUR Stats
Golf Ball Speed: The King of Distance
5 HCP - 147 mph. 10 HCP - 138 mph. Average Golfer (14.5) - 133 mph. Bogey Golfer - 131 mph. When golfers talk about increasing their distance (particularly with their driver), they usually focus on clubhead speed. In my opinion, focusing on ball speed is more important. While your swing speed is very critical - golf ball speed is a ...
The PGA Tour's Rising Driver Ball Speeds Mean One Thing
The average driver ball speed on the PGA Tour is 172.72mph according to the latest Shotlink stats. This represents a 0.86mph rise on the Tour average of 171.86mph at the end of the 2022 season and is 7.36mph more than the 165.36mph PGA Tour average recorded in 2007 when Shotlink began to track this metric. But when you delve a bit deeper into ...
This is how far PGA and LPGA Tour players hit it with every club
As you can see, the club speed for the average PGA Tour pro is 113 mph with driver. Cameron Champ currently leads the club-head speed charts this season with a 129.72 average. You'll also notice ...
Understanding Average PGA Tour Ball Speed
It is also worth noting that the current average ball speed is significantly higher than the 165.36mph PGA Tour average recorded in 2007 when Shotlink began tracking this metric. the average driver ball speed on the PGA Tour has increased by 7.36mph over the past 15 years, with the current average being 172.72mph. Average Ball Speed of Rory McIlroy
Ball Lab: 2022 Titleist Tour Speed
The 2022 Titleist Tour Speed is a three-piece golf ball with a 346-dimple cover. While not as soft as a good bit of the competitive set, it offers high-flight, low-ish spin off the tee that you typically find with softer golf balls. With the higher relative compression, it tends to be a bit faster than those competitors.
The top 5 fastest golfers on the PGA Tour and the drivers they use
The top 5 fastest golfers on the PGA Tour and the drivers they use. By: Ryan Barath October 31, 2023. Cameron Champ has the highest average ball speed on the PGA Tour. Getty images. Being able to ...
How far you can actually hit your driver
For that reason, I've provided two charts from Trackman below that show you just how far the ball will carry and roll on PGA Tour-like fairways. The results will probably surprise you, and show that there are far fewer golfers in the world who can actually hit the ball 300 yards without the help of special circumstance.
Swing Speed and Distance Chart for Every Club
Trackman measures and publishes actual swing speed data for tour players with every full swing club. Additionally, Trackman has published driver swing speed data for amateur men and women by their handicap range. Given that the handicap index of the average male golfer is around 14.5, Trackman used that as one of its handicap benchmarks, in addition to a category that Trackman calls the ...
Maximize Ball Speed With PGA Tour Driver
Conclusion. In conclusion, maximizing ball speed with a PGA Tour driver can greatly enhance your performance on the golf course. Understanding the factors that influence ball speed and how it relates to the PGA Tour provides valuable insights for improving your own game. By focusing on proper equipment selection, technique improvement, and ...
What Is Ball Speed in Golf: Breaking Down the Data
More realistic average golf ball speeds are: Amateur golfers (Driver ball speed) Male with handicap of 5: 147mph. Average male: 133mph. Female with handicap of 5: 125mph. Average female: 111mph. PGA Tour golfers. Driver: 167mph. 3 Iron: 142mph.
Bryson DeChambeau records his fastest speed ever with new Cobra driver
Using an unreleased Cobra prototype driver and his Bridgestone Tour B X golf balls, DeChambeau officially eclipsed the 220 mph mark, topping out at 221.5 mph. View this post on Instagram. A post ...
Golf Swing Speed Chart: Averages By Age, Skill, and More
PGA TOUR Fastest 10 Driver Swing Speed Averages. RANK: PLAYER: AVG SWING SPEED: AVE DRIVING DISTANCE: 1: Cameron Champ: 126.48: 314.6 (6th) 2: Brandon Matthews: 126.38: 322.2 (2nd) 3: Will Gordon: 125.2: ... Smash Factor is calculated by dividing the ball speed by the clubhead speed. Additionally, where the ball comes in contact with the ...
Titleist Tour Speed Golf Ball Review
The Titleist Tour Speed golf balls has great ball speed and solid performance around the green. Slightly firmer feel than the Pro V1. ... I play to about a 9-10 handicap, but do not generate the clubhead speed that Matt or some of you do. Driver distance on good cracks will travel around 230 to 245 and max out there.
Average Golf Swing Speed Chart
299.9. 2.61. As you can see at the end of the 2022-2023 PGA TOUR season, the tour average runs about 115.80 mph and they hit about 299.9 yards/drive, which means their driving efficiency is about 2.61 yards/drive. This is much better than the average 14-15 -handicap golfer who comes in at 2.29 yards/drive.
Titleist Tour Speed 2022 Golf Ball Review
The 2022 Tour Speed is the second generation, mid-priced, urethane-covered offering from Titleist. Coming in at around $10 to $15 per dozen less than the brand's Tour-played Pro V1 models but offering similar levels of performance, we were hugely impressed by the original version of this ball.
Ball Speed to Distance: The Magic Ratio for Distance
Ball speed refers to how fast a golf ball is traveling the moment after impact with the clubface. The longer the club, the higher the ball speed. For example, a PGA Tour player averages 167 mph ball speed with his driver, but only 127 mph with his 6-iron. Clubhead speed refers to how fast the club is traveling at impact.
How to Hit Further with Driver Ball Speed to Distance Charts
Using the example provided by Ping, we notice varying distances for a 167 mph ball speed. When a player launches the ball between 7.5 to 8 degrees and produces 1600 rpm backspin, the golf ball flies 240 yards. Conversely, if the ball launches at 17 degrees with 2400 rpm spin, it delivers an average carry distance of 296 yards.
COBRA Darkspeed LS
Forgiveness is its best scoring metric, which showcases efficient dispersion, consistent carry distances and effective ball speed numbers. Low-spin drivers aren't notorious for being forgiving, so this is a huge accomplishment for COBRA Darkspeed LS. ... Tour Edge Exotics E723. $349.98. Check Price Check Price. 7. PING G430 LST. $579.99 ...
5 drivers that'll help you boost distance
Five months after Ping's G430 took the PGA Tour by storm in Las Vegas, the driver lineup is officially coming to retail. As we've come to expect from Ping, all three drivers (G430 LST, G430 ...
The clubs Taylor Pendrith used to win the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Toronto Maple Leafs loyalist Taylor Pendrith, however, erased the hurt of his squad losing a 2-1 heartbreaker to the Boston Bruins by winning his first PGA Tour title at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in ...
Here's how fast golfers swing their driver based on handicap
PGA Tour pros average upwards of 110 mph of swing speed. Scratch golfers average around 106 mph of swing speed. High single-digit handicap s hover around 97 mph. Average golfers swing the club ...
Hungary and Serbia's autocratic leaders to roll out red carpet for
According to the AidData research lab at William & Mary, a public university in Virginia, Chinese lenders have issued loans worth more than $22 billion to nine countries in Central and Eastern ...
Want to know your fastest potential swing speed? This app will tell you
This is helpful when speed training because it lets you know the exact components in the swing you need to work on to gain power. For the swing I uploaded, my clubhead speed was 102 mph, with a ...
Learn to draw your driver in just seconds with these quick tips
This is the 'optimal' tee height for your driver, according to a Top 100 Teacher By: Nick Dimengo Instead of releasing the hounds to hunt down your ball from the rough or the woods — where ...