The world was still Jon Rahm’s oyster in 2022 despite questions swirling about his performance following a career-defining season the year prior. Entering January as the world No. 1, fresh off a campaign that saw him finish inside the top 10 in 15 of 24 starts while capturing his first major championship at the 2021 U.S. Open, Rahm looked have to retained this momentum in the early parts of the new year. 

Having one of the highest floors in the sphere of professional golf, the Spaniard disappointingly lost in a shootout to Cameron Smith at the Tournament of Champions, showed visible frustration over the conditions at The American Express and scuttled over the weekend at Torrey Pines.

Concerns surrounding Rahm’s short game began to reverberate through the golf world when a relative lull surfaced in early spring that included three top-20 finishes in five starts. Relinquishing his spot atop the Official World Golf Rankings and needing to squash any naysayers, the 28-year-old came to the Mexico Open as a heavy betting favorite and delivered in such a way.

Rahm’s triumph in Mexico propelled him to weekend contention at the U.S. Open and a runner-up performance at the BMW PGA Championship before notching victories at the Open de España and the DP World Tour Championship. Three wins in his final 14 worldwide starts of 2022 saved what many considered a down year for a player of Rahm’s caliber.

“Hopefully, people can stop telling me that this was a bad year,” Rahm said following his victory at the DP World Tour finale. “Three wins worldwide. Three wins on three different continents. Yeah, there wasn’t a major championship, but it was still a really, really good season.”

A really, really good season? Yes. A great season? No. Harsh, perhaps, that is not to say 2023 will be the same as the clip at which Rahm wins continues to be absurd.

His 2021 season showcased quality. Penciling him in for a victory at the Memorial — where he had to withdraw before the final round with a six-stroke lead due to a positive COVID-19 test — and breaking through for his lone major title at the U.S. Open, Rahm was simply dominant.

The golf course, the weather, the competition — none of it mattered. If there was a tournament to be played, Rahm was going to be in contention. That’s how high his floor was, but more importantly, how high his ceiling was.

Rahm’s 2022 was inherently different despite totaling a higher win count. The quality lacked as he contended in only one major championship, and his lone PGA Tour title came against one of the weakest fields of the season. Winning matters, and Rahm checked that box this past year. But in 2023, expect him to return to his ways of two years ago.

While the standard of his wins was downgraded, Rahm remained the standard for success off-the-tee. Gaining 1.025 strokes per round with the driver in hand, Rahm led the PGA Tour in the statistic and was nearly two times more effective than Patrick Cantlay, who ranked 17th on the season, three times more effective than Scottie Scheffler (37th) and four times more effective than Billy Horschel (50th).

The most predictive strokes gained statistic, Rahm’s blend of distance and accuracy off-the-tee will allow him to tally those 2.5 victories a year. It’s a weapon, yes, a difference-maker, for sure, but it is not the club which will allow him to add major No. 2 or possibly No. 3 in 2023.

That honor goes to his putter. Finding something in his setup on the back-nine of his second round at the 2022 BMW Championship, Rahm rolled the rock with the best of them coming down the stretch of the calendar year. Averaging +1.45 strokes gained putting per round over his last five measured events, Rahm returned to the 2021 version of himself.

Whether this is only for a brief stretch or a prolonged period will define Rahm’s 2023. If the former reigns supreme, look for Rahm to nab a couple wins on the DP World Tour, and maybe even one of the newly elevated events on the PGA Tour. However, if the latter prevails, the world No. 5 will have a real chance to end his year as he began the prior: atop the world of golf and with a shiny, new major championship trophy on his mantle.

Source link

I remember being confused by all the talk about launch angles when I first started playing golf. Though it’s important to understand launch angles, it can be quite overwhelming.

Which golf club launches the ball the highest? And does loft really matter? We answer these questions and more here.

Which Golf Club Has The Highest Launch Angle?

Out of all the golf clubs in your golf bag, the one with the highest launch angle is the lob wedge. A standard lob wedge has anywhere from 58 to 64 degrees of loft, depending on the golf club manufacturer. 

Though lots of amateur golfers only carry a pitching wedge and a sand wedge in their bags, every golfer on the PGA Tour uses a lob wedge regularly during tournaments. Pros usually hit their lob wedges between 75 and 95 yards.

Golfers use a lob wedge when they are fairly close to the green and want to hit a high shot that lands softly near the pin. Another optimal time to hit a lob wedge is when you are trying to get your golf ball over a tall tree.

The Importance of Launch Angle

Why all the talk in golf about launch angle? Because it strongly affects how far the golf ball will travel, especially when hitting your driver off the tee.

Still confused? Think about it this way. Have you ever really crushed a drive off the tee but had the golf ball teed up too high? It is so frustrating!

Though the ball may have felt great coming off the sweet spot of the clubface, the extremely high launch angle caused your shot to go high up in the air but not far enough down the fairway. Needless to say, you probably wished you would have teed the ball just a tad bit lower.

The reverse can also be true. You don’t want a launch angle that is too low because the golf ball will fall to the ground too quickly. This also causes a loss of distance.

Causes of a High Launch Angle

Lots of things can cause a golfer to hit the ball with too high of a launch angle. Thankfully, with lots of practice, any of these common flaws can be corrected rather easily.

1. Poor Balance / Footwork

One of the main causes of a launch angle that is too high is poor balance and footwork during the swing. For example, if a golfer keeps too much weight on their back foot during the swing, the result will usually be a ball flight that is too high. 

A good way to remedy this problem is to practice hitting shots with all of your weight on your front leg. This will help you get used to hitting the ball with most of your weight pressing toward your front foot. The best way to improve your shot trajectory is to improve your balance and footwork during your swing.

2. Hitting Behind the Golf Ball

If you are constantly launching your shots at a steep angle, you may be hitting slightly behind the golf ball. This will cause a high launch angle and a loss of precious clubhead speed. Less swing speed means less ball speed and a loss of distance.

If you suffer from this common problem, work on keeping your hands ahead of the golf ball through impact. This will help lower your launch angle and allow you to hit the ball a bit further.

3. Using a Shaft that is Too Flexible

The type of shaft on your golf clubs can have a profound impact on your launch angle. Most off-the-shelf shafts have a lot of flex in them to help high handicappers get the ball into the air more easily. 

As a general rule, shafts that have more flex in them promote a higher launch angle. If your launch angle is too high, experiment with using a staff that is stiffer. This could help lower your launch angle tremendously and will add more mph to your swing speed.

Wedges With The Highest Loft

We already mentioned that the lob wedge has the highest loft of any club in your bag. Here is a list of the wedges with the highest loft (from highest to lowest).

Sand Wedge

The club with the second-highest amount of loft is the ever so lovable sand wedge. The sand wedge has slightly less loft than the lob wedge. Most amateur golfers will hit their sand wedge about 80 yards.

As its name suggests, the sand wedge is mainly used to get the ball out of a sand trap. Most sand wedges have a loft between 54 and 58 degrees.

Gap Wedge

A gap wedge is often called the A-wedge or approach wedge by some golfers. It has a loft of 51 to 53 degrees. When hit correctly, the majority of golfers will hit their gap wedge about 100 yards.

Pitching Wedge

The pitching wedge is the lowest lofted wedge in the bag. It’s a popular choice for approach shots that are 110 to 120 yards away from the green. 

A pitching wedge is a crucial tool for chipping and pitching. Most pitching wedges have a loft of 46 to 48 degrees.

Irons With The Highest Loft

Now that we covered the lofts of all the wedges, are you curious about the loft in your set of irons? Here is a handy list that includes each iron, its degrees of loft, and how far the average golfer can hit each club.

As you can see from the list, there is a direct relationship between the degrees of loft and the total yardage. More loft means higher trajectories but less yardage.

How to Raise or Lower Your Launch Angle

Want to raise or lower your launch angle? Here are the variables that you can change to do either.

1. Pay Attention to Shoulder Tilt

The angle of your shoulders while addressing the golf ball has a big impact on your launch angle. To raise your launch angle, lower your right shoulder slightly. To lower your launch angle, keep your right shoulder a little bit higher.

2. Check How High You Tee The Ball

Remember our story about teeing up the ball too high? It affects your launch angle. To increase your launch angle, tee the ball up higher. To decrease your launch angle, tee the ball up lower.

3. Experiment with Your Ball Position

Want to raise your launch angle? Play the ball more toward the heel of your front foot. This will help you help hit up on the ball when hitting your driver.

Want to lower your launch angle? Play the ball a little bit further back in your stance. This will decrease your angle of attack.

4. Get a New Driver

All of the new drivers on the market allow you to adjust the degrees of loft. This makes it easier than ever to raise or lower your launch angle.

Most driver brands offer an adjustable range of 9 to 12 degrees. Just be sure to not lose the little tool that allows you to make these adjustments.

Mike Noblin

Mike has been involved with sports for over 30 years. He’s been an avid golfer for more than 10 years and is obsessed with watching the Golf Channel and taking notes on a daily basis. He also holds a degree in Sports Psychology.

Source link