CONCEPT · BALL STRIKING INTERMEDIATE FOCUS
Spin loft is the angle between where the clubface points and which way the club is moving at impact. Hit up on your driver and it gets smaller: at the same speed, the ball launches higher, spins less and goes further.
Skill split
01 · Overview
~2 min read
Spin loft is the angle between where the clubface points and which way the club is moving at impact. TrackMan defines it in three dimensions: the direction the club head is moving (its path and attack angle) against the direction the face is pointing (its face angle and dynamic loft). Subtracting attack angle from dynamic loft, it says, gives a close approximation. All else equal, a higher spin loft means more spin, and a lower smash factor: less ball speed for the same club speed.
That's why hitting up matters with a driver. Hit down on the ball, and the club is moving down while the face points up, so the angle gets bigger. Hit up, and the club moves closer to where the face is pointing, so the angle gets smaller, even with a little more loft on the face. At the same speed, the drive hit up launches higher, spins less and goes further.
How much spin is right depends on your speed. For a 94 mph swing with a level attack angle, TrackMan's optimizer puts the spin for the most carry at 2,772 rpm. That's the club speed of TrackMan's average male golfer (a 14.5 handicap), who spins the driver 3,275 rpm, hits down on it by 1.8° and delivers 18.3° of spin loft. LPGA Tour players swing about as fast, at 96 mph. They hit up by 2.8°, average 15.0° of spin loft, and spin the ball 2,506 rpm.
Two limits. This is for the driver, off a tee: TrackMan says shots hit off the ground should have a negative attack angle, so with an iron you still hit down. And the aim is the right spin, not the least. TrackMan calls hitting up a must for the most distance with a driver, but a positive attack angle doesn't guarantee it: the driver's loft should complement your attack angle and club speed.
On average, club golfers swing the driver about level, or a little down, and plenty hit down on it. Three drills get you hitting up. The setup sequence puts the ball forward and the tee high. The tilt check tilts you away from the target, so the swing bottoms out behind the ball and meets it on the way up. The head cover drill proves the club is rising, because only a rising club clears it.
4 components that build the move
01 · THE FACE
Dynamic loft and face angle: the loft on the face as it meets the ball, not the number on the sole, and where the face is aimed. Together they set the direction the face is pointing.
02 · THE CLUB'S TRAVEL
Attack angle and club path: whether the club head is moving up or down, and left or right, as it meets the ball. With the driver teed forward, the club can already be rising when it gets there.
03 · THE GAP
That angle is spin loft, which TrackMan measures in three dimensions. Dynamic loft minus attack angle is a close approximation. All else equal, a bigger angle means more spin and a lower smash factor.
04 · THE FIT
Less isn't always better. The best spin depends on your speed, and TrackMan says a driver's loft should be chosen to complement your attack angle and club speed.
02 · The Reference
3 of 12 · hand-selected
Editor's Pick · #1 · 17:09
Two lines make the angle visible: one for the loft on the face, one for the club's travel, and the slice of pie between them is spin loft. Hit up with the same loft, and the slice gets thinner.
Steve Pratt Golf · intermediate
Editor's Pick · 6:12
A launch monitor session: the same driver hit down with loft on the face, then up with less, and the spin falls as the gap between the two angles closes.
AskGolfGuru · intermediate
Editor's Pick · 15:00
Proof it's the gap that counts: one driver delivered with more loft and more upward attack, another with less of both. The gap came out the same, and so did the spin, near enough.
Fraser Golf Institute · advanced
04 · The Experts
3 perspectives · same drill
Steve Pratt Golf · Two lines, one slice of pie
Why it works
Spin loft is what makes the spin. Hitting up brings the club's travel closer to where the face points, so the gap narrows without taking any loft off the face.
“And spin loft is going to be what gives you spin. So, as I hit up on it with the same amount of dynamic loft, I'm going to narrow the piece of pie and therefore reduce the spin loft.
Fraser Golf Institute · Loft by shot shape
Why it works
A face closing fast through impact, as in a draw, tends to lower launch and spin, so a draw player starts with a little more loft.
“The opposite of that is the fader generally adds a little bit more loft, so you start with a little bit less loft. And that helps neutralize this term that we'll talk about a lot in this video, which is called spin loft.
AlexElliottGolf · The spin window
Why it works
The ideal spin changes with your ball speed and launch angle. Hitting up helps raise launch and bring spin down, but the goal is the spin loft that suits your game.
“So, instead of just chasing the lowest spin possible, I really need you to think about this as you're just chasing the right spin for your golf game.
04 · Practice it
3 drills
Drill
Practice protocol with timestamped demonstrations across 3 videos.
Drill
Practice protocol with timestamped demonstrations across 3 videos.
Drill
Practice protocol with timestamped demonstrations across 6 videos.
05 · FAQ
Answered from the library
Spin loft is the angle between where the clubface points and which way the club is moving at impact. TrackMan measures it in three dimensions: the direction the club head is moving (club path and attack angle) against the direction the face is pointing (face angle and dynamic loft). All else equal, a higher spin loft means a higher spin rate.
Subtract your attack angle from your dynamic loft. TrackMan calls that a close approximation; its own figure is three-dimensional, so it also takes in face angle and club path. Hitting down makes the attack angle negative, so subtracting it adds to the angle. Hitting up takes it away.
Because the club travels closer to where the face is pointing. Hit down, and the club is moving down while the face points up, so the angle between them grows. Hit up, and it shrinks, even with a little more loft on the face. TrackMan says that, all else equal, less spin loft means less spin and a higher smash factor.
There's no single number: it depends on your club speed and attack angle. TrackMan's tour averages for the driver are 14.7° on the PGA Tour and 15.0° on the LPGA Tour. In its Combine, the average male golfer (a 14.5 handicap) delivers 18.3°. Its optimizer, for a 94 mph swing with a level attack angle and the most carry, gives 15.6°.
It depends on your speed. For a 94 mph swing with a level attack angle, TrackMan's optimizer puts the spin for the most carry at 2,772 rpm. TrackMan's average male golfer swings at that speed and spins the driver 3,275 rpm. LPGA Tour players, at 96 mph, average 2,506 rpm. The aim is the right spin for your speed, not the lowest.
No. Hitting up is for the driver, off a tee. TrackMan says shots hit off the ground should have a negative attack angle, so with an iron you still hit down: ball first, then turf. That adds to an iron's spin loft. TrackMan's tour averages for a 6-iron are 24.3° on the PGA Tour and 25.9° on the LPGA Tour.
Into the wind, the air rushes past the ball faster. That doesn't add spin. It makes the spin you have lift harder. A drive with too much spin for its launch climbs, stalls and falls short, which golfers call ballooning. Every drive pays something into the wind.
Set up for it. Stand with your feet together and the ball in the middle, turn your lead foot out a little, then take a big step away from the target with your trail foot, so the ball sits in line with your lead heel. Tee it high, with at least half the ball above the top of the driver: a strike a little higher on the face spins less, too. Then let your trail hand slide down your thigh toward your knee, so your trail shoulder drops and your head stays behind the ball.
Tap any concept to explore the library
06 · The Library
YouTube-indexed · expert-graded
Video · 5:37
Golf Studio
Video · 17:09
Steve Pratt Golf
Video · 24:53
Fraser Golf Institute
Video · 6:12
AskGolfGuru
Video · 11:29
Danny Maude
Video · 7:54
AlexElliottGolf
Video · 15:00
Fraser Golf Institute
Video · 24:01
Elite Performance Golf Studios
Video · 0:57
Fraser Golf Institute
Video · 15:18
Fraser Golf Institute
Video · 17:15
Meandmygolf
Video · 12:03
Swing Quest Golf
Ball forward, tee it high, tilt away from the target. Then prove the club is rising: only a rising club clears a head cover laid in front of the ball.