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Twenty yards in 20 minutes. That sounds like a Golf Digest cover line, and in my case it really happened. You want more distance? Take it from an addicted instruction and equipment junkie and, as a senior writer for this magazine, someone who has access to the top minds in the game. The answer is a launch monitor. You need to get optimized.

I had tried everything else--lessons from the top instructors on Golf Digest's staff, a year and a half of hot yoga designed to increase flexibility, throwing medicine balls into a trampoline as part of a "core training" program to create body speed. Yeah, I tested all the new "hot" drivers, too.

But when I saw Tiger Woods at last year's Byron Nelson Classic, he just laughed at me. "Hasn't worked, has it Rosie?" he said. No, Tiger, it hasn't.

I was still hitting what Tiger calls "weak-ass fades," these little floaters that would reach an apex at about 230 yards and listlessly fall to earth, usually in the right rough. Instead of rolling out after landing, my drives would sometimes leave ball marks and back up. Into the wind I had no chance. When I caught one downwind, the ball might fly 250 yards. As an 8-handicapper, maybe I shouldn't have expected much more. But on 450-yard par 4s those distances weren't getting it done.

So earlier this year I went to Ping Wrx in Phoenix, the product test facility used by the company's tour professionals (other clubmakers like Titleist, Callaway and TaylorMade have similar facilities). Much to my amazement, and in less than half an hour, master clubfitter Jeff Beauregard had me in the right shaft and loft to produce a flatter ball flight that was consistently resulting in 250 yards of carry, and another 25 yards of roll. On top of that, the dispersion window of my misses had narrowed dramatically. This was nirvana!

Before I began the optimization process, I hit more than 100 balls on the range to get loose. At the launch monitor I started with my 7-degree Ping driver. The computer showed my ball speed was 150 miles per hour, my launch angle 14 degrees and my spin rate 4,400 revolutions per minute. What I needed was less spin. That would flatten out the ball flight and increase roll. To achieve that Beauregard began experimenting with shafts and lofts on a prototype of Ping's new Si3 driver.

My fitting process was similar to the treatment tour pros get, and it made me realize: If a little tweaking can help me, imagine what it can do for Chris DiMarco, Mark Calcavecchia or anyone else who plays this game for a living. Several tour players had stopped by Ping Wrx that week, and what really stands out is their ball speed. Average-length tour players produce ball speeds of 165 mph or higher. Beauregard told me that Kevin Sutherland, for example, launches tee shots at 14 to 15 degrees with a spin rate of between 1,800 rpm and 2,000 rpm. They bounce and run like they're loaded with overspin. By comparison, Tiger's ball speed is 180 mph. When the folks at Nike Golf tested him with graphite shafts a while back, his ball speed jumped to nearly 200 mph.

My numbers, which popped up on the plasma screen in the hitting bay after each swing, weren't nearly that good. Before long, though, I could feel the difference in my hands without seeing my stats. There are 434 sensors on the driving range at Ping that give a precise reading of where the ball lands, and as Beauregard kept tweaking, my floaters turned into line drives. By the 20th shot, my ball speed had risen a few miles per hour, my launch angle had decreased slightly and my spin rate had been cut in half, down to 2,200. All that mattered to me was the distance I was suddenly hitting the ball. My longest drive registered a carry of 258 yards and had rolled another 25.

I told friends it was like going to an optometrist. You start out nearsighted, but by the time you're down to the last two lenses the differences are so close you can barely tell one from the other. We settled on an 8-degree Si3 driver with a Grafalloy Blue shaft (stiff), which had a lower torque for big-headed drivers.

"Lower torque cuts down on sidespin," Beauregard explained. "Lower loft cuts down on your backspin." My mis-hits tended to come toward the heel of the club, so he flattened my lie angle to promote what he called "gear effect."

I can't wait to see Tiger again. I've got to tell him that all my yoga and core training has finally paid off.

RELATED ARTICLE: How to use a launch monitor.

The launch monitor may not be every player's salvation, but most experts who use them and players who've tried them say they provide what the equipment-selection process has lacked: raw data.

A launch monitor or ball-flight monitor is a relatively simple-looking device that is immensely complex below the surface (which is why they can cost $10,000 or more). It can measure a host of characteristics at impact, including but not limited to launch angle, clubhead speed, ball speed, ball spin, distance and trajectory, along with things like angle of attack, face angle and dispersion. To locate a shop or clubfitter with a launch monitor, go to www.golfdigest.com/equipment and look for Launch Monitor Locator. Here's what to know before you go:

1. Prior to hitting a shot on a launch monitor, make sure you've warmed up and feel like you're hitting the ball well. Bad swings produce unreliable data.

2. Bring your own driver and test it on the launch monitor first. That'll give you a baseline to evaluate any change you make during the rest of your session.

3. When comparing clubs, isolate the differences. Compare drivers with similar lofts and shafts, so the only difference is the head. Or if you've settled on a brand, compare different lofts on the same head, with different shafts or perhaps different lengths. Switching golf balls also can affect your launch conditions. Many tour players say they've optimized performance by changing only their golf ball, a decision made easier by the information they get from the launch monitor.

4. There is no hard-and-fast set of numbers that every player should be trying to produce with a driver on the launch monitor. What's right for you is largely a function of swing speed. Generally speaking, though, a good range is an 11-degree to 14-degree launch angle and a spin rate of 2,200 rpm to 2,800 rpm. A player with a slower swing might need a higher launch angle with more spin, while a faster swing speed can get good results with a slightly lower launch angle. In a fully optimized hit, your initial ball speed should be equal to 1 1/2 times your clubhead speed.

5. Leave your ego at home and come with an open mind. Don't be afraid to try a softer shaft or more loft. Mike Stachura

COPYRIGHT 2003 New York Times Company Magazine Group, Inc.
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