Ball Flight
Pick a club and start from the tour averages. Change one number and watch the carry, the height and the landing move.
What this answers
How far and how high does a shot fly from its launch numbers?
- Pick a club, or change ball speed, launch angle, spin and spin axis in the panel below.
- Read the flight from the side and from above. Pin this shot to compare it with the next.
- The tiles give carry, height, land angle and hang time; TrackMan’s figure shows until you edit a number.
Reopen it any time with ? Guide
- CarryCarryHow far the ball flies before it first lands, modeled in still air at sea level with no roll. Beside it is the carry TrackMan published for that tour average.
- 144ydTrackMan 144
- Model
- Max heightMax heightThe highest point of the modeled flight, in feet above the ground. Beside it is TrackMan’s published figure for the same club.
- 79ftTrackMan 78
- Model
- Land angleLand angleHow steeply the ball comes down, in degrees from level ground. A bigger number means a steeper descent.
- 48.5°TrackMan 48.0
- Model
- Hang timeHang timeThe seconds the modeled ball spends in the air, from launch to landing.
- 5.7sLaunch to landing
- Model
The chart shows the PGA Tour 7-iron. The controls need JavaScript.
Show the numbers as a table
| Ball speed | 106.7 mph | TrackMan |
|---|---|---|
| Launch angle | 18.5° | TrackMan |
| Spin | 6,630 rpm | TrackMan |
| Carry | 144 yd | Model (TrackMan: 144 yd) |
| Max height | 79 ft | Model (TrackMan: 78 ft) |
| Land angle | 48.5° | Model (TrackMan: 48.0°) |
| Hang time | 5.7 s | Model |
Published numbers: TrackMan Tour averages (2023 data), published May 2024. Handicap estimates: built as in Club Distances.
For your gear
What the flight tells you
Driver too low or too high
Change the launch angle above and the carry moves with it. Many golfers, especially with slower swings, need more driver loft than they assume.
How to choose driver loftWant your own numbers
A home launch monitor gives you ball speed, launch and spin for your own swing. Some need special balls or stickers to show spin.
What a home launch monitor can and cannot tell youLong irons that won't land
A hybrid generally launches higher than a long iron of a similar loft, which can help a long approach stop on the green.
Hybrid or long iron
Method
How it is calculated
The flight is a physics model. It steps the ball through the air in small time slices, with gravity, air drag and the lift that backspin creates, and lets the spin fade as the ball flies. A few constants in it were fitted to TrackMan's published PGA Tour averages, then checked against the LPGA Tour averages, which were not used in the fit.
| Data | Carry | Max height | Land angle |
|---|---|---|---|
| PGA Tour, 12 clubs (fitted) | 2.9 yd | 6 ft | 2° |
| LPGA Tour, 11 clubs (check) | 3.9 yd | 6 ft | 2° |
It models carry for a centered strike at sea level in still air. It does not model roll, wind, temperature, altitude or a particular ball. Published averages: TrackMan Tour averages (2023 data). The full method, with the error for every club, is on the Golf Lab methods page.