Plain-English definitions for every number on your launch monitor screen. Bookmark this — when ShotRX flags a metric in your analysis, this is where you look up what it means.
How fast the club head is moving at impact, in mph.
The most direct measure of swing power. Tour-average driver club speed is around 113-115 mph for men, mid-handicappers swing around 90-100 mph, and slower swingers are under 90. Higher club speed alone doesn’t guarantee more distance — smash factor and angle of attack determine how much that speed converts into ball speed.
How fast the ball is moving immediately after impact, in mph.
The single best predictor of carry distance, holding launch and spin constant. Tour-average driver ball speed is ~170 mph. Ball speed = club speed × smash factor, so improving strike quality boosts ball speed without swinging harder.
Ball speed ÷ club speed — a measure of strike quality.
How efficiently your club head transferred energy to the ball. A perfectly centered driver strike approaches 1.50 (the legal limit for COR). Tour drivers smash at 1.46-1.49. Below 1.40 = significant off-center contact or face-angle issues. Smash factor is the first thing to check when distance is missing.
The vertical angle the ball takes off at, in degrees.
Higher launch + lower spin = more carry, up to a point. Tour driver launch is ~10-13° for fast swingers, 13-16° for slower swingers (who need more height to carry). Irons launch progressively higher as loft increases.
How fast the ball is spinning backward, in rpm.
Too much spin = ball balloons, no distance. Too little spin = ball falls out of the air early. Driver: 2200-2900 rpm is the optimal zone for most amateurs. 7-iron: 5500-9000 rpm is acceptable — strong-lofted modern irons spin ~1500 rpm less than traditional ones, and different ball constructions vary by ±500 rpm.
The horizontal direction the club is moving at impact, in degrees.
Positive = club moving right of target (in-to-out). Negative = club moving left of target (out-to-in). The classic slicer has a negative path. The classic hooker has a strong positive path. Tour neutral is 0° to +2° for a draw.
Where the club face is pointing at impact, in degrees.
Positive = open (pointing right). Negative = closed (pointing left). Face angle accounts for ~85% of where the ball starts — much more than path. If the ball starts right, your face was open. The other 15% is path.
Face angle minus club path. The single most important number for ball curve.
Positive face-to-path = fade spin (ball curves right for a right-hander). Negative face-to-path = draw spin. A 2° positive face-to-path produces a controlled fade; 4°+ produces a slice. This is the D-plane mechanism in one number.
The vertical angle the club is moving at impact, in degrees.
Positive = ascending (up — for driver). Negative = descending (down — for irons). Driver: +3° to +5° optimal for distance. Irons: -3° to -5° to compress the ball. A negative driver attack angle is a major distance leak.
How far the ball travels in the air before first bounce, in yards.
The number that matters for course management. Total distance includes roll, which varies with conditions. Carry is more comparable across surfaces and is what the launch monitor reports most reliably.
The angle between dynamic loft and attack angle at impact, in degrees.
Lower spin loft = lower spin, more compression, more ball speed. Higher spin loft = more spin, less ball speed but more stopping power. Driver spin loft of 10-15° is efficient; iron spin loft varies by club.
The actual loft delivered to the ball at impact (after shaft lean and AoA), in degrees.
Static loft is what’s stamped on the club. Dynamic loft is what the ball actually sees. A 9.5° driver with -2° shaft lean delivers ~11.5° dynamic loft. Strong players de-loft irons through forward shaft lean; weak players add loft.
The geometric model that explains why ball flight does what it does.
The D-plane is the plane formed by the club’s path and the face angle at impact. The ball starts along the face direction (~85%) and curves toward the path direction. Master the D-plane and you stop hitting random curves — you start hitting the curves you intend.
How tilted the spin axis of the ball is at launch, in degrees.
A tilted spin axis is what makes the ball curve. A 5° right-tilted axis produces a draw; a 5° left-tilted axis produces a fade (right-handed reference). Axis tilt is set by face-to-path at impact.
Same as attack angle — vertical club movement at impact.
See Attack Angle.
How off-center vertical contact changes launch and spin.
Hit a driver high on the face: launch goes up, spin drops, ball goes farther. Hit it low on the face: launch drops, spin goes up, ball goes shorter. This is why "high and toward the center" is the smash-factor sweet spot for driver.
A shot that starts right of target and stays right (right-handed).
Caused by an open face combined with a path matching the face direction. The ball doesn’t curve — it just starts and ends right. To fix, square the face at impact relative to the target line.
A shot that starts left of target and stays left (right-handed).
Mirror of a push. Caused by a closed face matching an out-to-in path. The ball goes straight, but the wrong direction.
A shot that curves significantly right (right-handed).
Caused by face-to-path being strongly positive — face open relative to path. The classic slice has an out-to-in path plus an even more open face. Fix the face first; the path usually self-corrects.
A shot that curves significantly left (right-handed).
Caused by face-to-path being strongly negative — face closed relative to path. The classic hook has an in-to-out path plus an even more closed face. Often shows up after a player overcorrects from a slice.
A controlled left-to-right curve (right-handed).
A small positive face-to-path (2-4°) with the face slightly open to the target line. The most-played tour shape because it lands soft and is repeatable.
A controlled right-to-left curve (right-handed).
A small negative face-to-path (2-4°) with the face slightly closed to the target line. Produces more roll and is favored for distance.
A device that measures ball flight and club delivery at impact.
Two main types: doppler radar (Trackman, FlightScope, Garmin R10) which track the ball through the air, and photometric/camera-based (GCQuad, SkyTrak, Foresight) which capture impact data optically. Both produce the same standard metrics. ShotRX reads any of them.
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