18 September 2026 · 9 min read
Understanding launch-monitor numbers: smash factor, launch angle, spin, attack angle and what is normal
After the first shot in the simulator, eight numbers appear on the screen, and most people look at only one: the distance. The other seven explain why it is what it is. Here they are, with the tour's values for comparison.
After every shot the simulator shows you a row of numbers. Everyone understands the distance. The others are the reason for the distance, and whoever can read them knows more about their swing after ten shots than after a season on the range. Here are the eight that matter most, in the order they come about, with the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour averages TrackMan publishes.
1. Club speed
The speed of the club head just before impact. PGA Tour 115 mph, LPGA Tour 96 mph, the average golfer with a 14.5 handicap 94 mph (TrackMan). The whole table by handicap is in Club speed.
2. Ball speed
The speed of the ball right after it leaves the face. It is the number that determines distance most. PGA Tour 171 mph, LPGA Tour 143 mph, average golfer 133 mph (TrackMan). One more mph brings up to two yards, per TrackMan.
3. Smash factor, the efficiency
Ball speed divided by club speed. The number says how much of your energy arrives in the ball. PGA Tour 1.49 with the driver, 1.39 with the 6 iron; more than about 1.50 is not possible with a conforming driver (TrackMan). A driver at 1.40 shows a strike far off centre or a face across the path. It is the first number you should improve, because it costs nothing.
4. Launch angle
The angle at which the ball starts relative to the horizontal. It depends above all on the loft of the face at impact. For the driver: whoever swings slower needs more launch angle to get carry. Too low a start is more common among amateurs than too high.
5. Spin rate
Revolutions per minute around the ball's axis of rotation, right after impact. PGA Tour 2,545 rpm with the driver, 6,204 rpm with the 6 iron; LPGA Tour 2,506 and 5,904 (TrackMan). More loft and more speed give more spin. With the driver too much spin eats distance, because the ball climbs too high and lands steeply; with the irons spin is wanted, because it holds the ball on the green.
6. Attack angle
Whether the club head is moving up or down at impact. Negative with an iron, because you hit the ball before the ground. With the driver it may be positive, because the ball sits on a tee: struck on the way up it starts higher with less spin and flies further. That is why the same swing brings more distance off the tee than off the ground.
7. Face angle and club path
Where the face points at impact, and in which direction the club is moving, both relative to the target line. The ball starts mostly where the face points, and curves away from the path towards the face. The difference is called face to path; at zero the ball flies straight. What a slice is in these numbers and how you read it is in Fixing a slice.
8. Carry
How far the ball flies before it touches the ground. Not the total with roll, but the flight. It is the number you should know for every club, because it decides whether you clear a water hazard or not. On the range you guess it. In the simulator you measure it, with no wind and no slope, so as an honest number of your swing.
The tour figures side by side
TrackMan publishes four of the eight numbers for both tours and for both ends of the bag, the driver and the 6-iron. Ball speed and smash factor are in their own sections above, because they exist for the driver only.
| Number | PGA driver | PGA 6-iron | LPGA driver | LPGA 6-iron |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Club speed | 115 mph | 94 mph | 96 mph | 80 mph |
| Launch angle | 10.4 deg | 14.0 deg | 12.6 deg | 16.7 deg |
| Spin rate | 2,545 rpm | 6,204 rpm | 2,506 rpm | 5,904 rpm |
| Attack angle | minus 0.9 deg | minus 3.7 deg | plus 2.8 deg | minus 2.3 deg |
The numbers come from TrackMan (launch angle, attack angle). Two rows in there teach more than the rest. First the driver's attack angle: the women hit up on it by 2.8 degrees, the men down by 0.9, and the women still launch it higher. Less speed buys carry through the angle. Second the 6-iron's spin, a good two and a half times the driver's: with an iron, spin is the aim; with a driver, the enemy.
And one comparison that concentrates the mind: the average golfer off 14.5 swings a driver at 94 mph, exactly the speed a PGA professional swings a 6-iron.
From the symptom to the number
On the course you notice the symptom; on the screen stands the cause. The translation:
| What you see | Which number to look at | What it usually shows |
|---|---|---|
| The ball flies too short | Smash factor, then club speed | Strikes off the middle, before it is a speed problem |
| The ball leaks right | Face to path | The face is open to the path |
| The driver climbs and drops vertically | Spin rate, attack angle | Too much spin, usually from a downward strike |
| The ball will not hold the green | Spin rate with the iron | Too little spin, often from a thin strike |
| The irons fly 130 one time, 150 the next | The spread of ball speed | The contact point is wandering across the face |
| High balls with no distance | Launch angle together with spin | Too much loft at impact |
The order is not accidental. Almost every distance problem is a contact problem first, and the smash factor is the one number that sums contact up in a single value. Which is why it stands at the front of every diagnosis.
How to train with them
- One number per session. Whoever wants to improve all eight at once improves none. First smash factor, then launch angle, then the rest.
- The average, not the best shot. Ten shots, then the middle number. The best shot lies.
- The carry table. Every club ten times, note the average. One hour, and you know for the whole season which iron flies 140 metres.
- A professional for the reading. The numbers say what happens. What you do about it is for someone who has seen a thousand such screens. 81 of the 110 venues offer coaching; the training page lists them.
The hour that writes your carry table
Of everything a launch monitor can do, this is the most useful, and it takes an hour. Take every second club, hit ten balls, write down the middle carry and the width of the spread. After that you have a table that holds for a season:
Six clubs cover the whole bag, because the gaps between them can be worked out: driver, 5-wood or hybrid, 7-iron, 9-iron, pitching wedge and the sand wedge at half a swing. Write down three things for each: the middle carry, the width of the spread from left to right, and a note when something stands out, such as every third ball coming out thin.
Three rules with it. First, the average counts, not the best shot: on a course you pick the club for the shot you usually hit. Second, carry is what matters, not total distance, because the bunker in front of the green does not know how far your ball would have rolled. Third, the spread belongs in the table: someone who knows they scatter 25 metres aims beside the flag and starts making pars.
More on this: Driver tee shot for beginners, Which club for which shot?.
What the numbers do not say
A launch monitor measures the shot, not the game. It knows no lie in the rough, no slope under your feet, no wind that turns and no group waiting behind. Nor does it say what to change: the number is the effect, the cause is in the swing, and there it is seen by somebody who has seen many.
Two mistakes cost evenings. The first is believing a number after three shots; ten is the minimum, and the median is more honest than the mean, because one wild ball does not drag it. The second is working on several numbers at once. Take one an evening, write it down, and next time compare it with the same number rather than with today's feeling.
Whether a venue measures with radar or with cameras hardly matters for these numbers; Radar or camera explains the differences. What matters is that you get them. Which venue near you delivers them is on the map. What a portable device for home use delivers of this is in Portable launch monitors, and which number saves strokes on the course is in Strokes gained for amateurs.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good smash factor?
With the driver the PGA Tour sits at 1.49 and the maximum at about 1.50; with the 6 iron at 1.39, because more loft lowers the value. A driver well under 1.45 usually shows an off-centre strike.
How much spin should the driver have?
The PGA Tour averages 2,545 rpm, the LPGA Tour 2,506. Well above that you lose distance because the ball climbs too high; attack angle and loft are the two adjustments.
What is the difference between carry and total distance?
Carry is the flight to the first touch of the ground, total is flight plus roll. For club selection carry counts, because it decides whether you clear a hazard.
What numbers does the PGA Tour average with a driver?
By TrackMan's tour averages: 115 mph of club speed, 171 mph of ball speed, a smash factor of 1.49, a launch angle of 10.4 degrees, 2,545 rpm of spin and an attack angle of minus 0.9 degrees. On the LPGA Tour it is 96 mph, 143 mph, 12.6 degrees, 2,506 rpm and plus 2.8 degrees.
How many shots do I need for a number I can trust?
Ten with the same club, then take the middle value. Three shots show chance, ten show you. Write down the spread as well: on a course it tells you more than the average does.
Sources
- TrackMan: What is Club Speed? (Tour- und Amateurdurchschnitte)
- TrackMan: What is Ball Speed? (171 und 143 mph auf der Tour, 133 mph beim Durchschnittsgolfer)
- TrackMan: What is Smash Factor? (1.49 Driver, 1.39 6er-Eisen, Maximum um 1.50)
- TrackMan: What is Spin Rate? (2'545 und 6'204 rpm PGA Tour, 2'506 und 5'904 rpm LPGA Tour)
- TrackMan: What is Face-to-Path? (der Ball startet nahe der Schlagfläche und kurvt weg von der Bahn)