Choose Your Driver Face Thickness
March 29, 2024
If you are looking for driver that can provide you with longer, more accurate shots off the tee box, then KRANK GOLF has some important information for you to consider. For starters a different face thickness can affect the flight of the ball, when contacted applying the same swing speed. With a custom thickness, it means you don’t have to swing harder or faster to hit the ball longer.
DRIVER SPRING EFFECT - The spring effect is created by a driver face that can temporarily flex inward but returns to its original shape. This produces a higher coefficient of restitution (COR), which is a parameter used to measure the energy loss in a collision of two objects. The higher the driver's face COR number, the more energy it retains and transfers to the golf ball at impact.
The COR value measured during testing indicates how much of the force generated by your swing is left over after your driver face strikes the ball and then flexes back at a speed that is less than its incoming speed. To be USGA-approved for tournament play, the COR cannot be higher than 0.830 (with a .008 test tolerance), which indicates that 83% of the clubhead energy is transferred to the ball.
A chronic problem experienced among most recreational golfers is that his or her swing speed is no where near that of today’s professional golfers whose clubhead speeds were used to determine the USGA's maximum COR value. Simply stated, the performance of your driver may not match your capabilities. Unless of course, your swing speed is somewhere between 115 to 140 mph. If so, Krank Golf can personalize a club for your game too.
So, what the heck is CT?
Well, if there weren't enough acronyms and abbreviations surrounding the game of golf, we have another one to discuss with you today. CT stands for characteristic time and is one of two measures used by the USGA, as well as the R&A (based in St Andrews), specifically for driver clubheads when codifying the rules of golf equipment. Originally, COR testing for a driver’s spring face involved measuring the velocity of the ball after it was shot from an air cannon into the contact area of the clubface. That worked fine in the lab but was not a practical solution for spot checks during tournament play.
In 2004, the USGA’s Research and Test Center developed a new procedure for measuring the enhanced rebound velocity of a driver’s face using a pendulum-like device that determines CT (or characteristic time). In 2014, with a more portable alternative to measure COR values, the USGA announced testing would occur throughout the PGA TOUR season. Today, both the USGA and R&A use CT with a limit of 239 microseconds and 18 microseconds of test tolerance for measuring spring effect. After the numbers are crunched, if the outbound velocity exceeds 83% of the inbound, then the club is non-conforming for tournament play.
Krank Formula Fire Drivers & Fairway Woods
Golfers today should be able to get the same benefits of applying the latest science and technology to the clubface of their driver just as world's most competitive golfers do. By matching your swing dynamics to the optimum clubface thickness, you have a much better chance of achieving a longer and straighter shot. That’s why the club builders at Krank believe every golfer should play the game with the same margin of error when it comes to their equipment.
Although driver face thickness is surrounded by confusing terminologies and a lot of math, our Krank Formula Fire High COR/CT drivers and Krank Formula Fire High COR/CT fairway woods provide you with a simple solution for added distance off the tee or fairway. Although you will still need to have the proper swing mechanics, our clubface and clubhead design can provide you with a personalized driver or fairway wood to enhance your on-course performance. Forget the snake oil and magic bullets. At Krank, we match the science to your swing.
If you’ve been hitting a 3-wood off the tee, you’ve likely learned to trust the smaller head, shorter shaft and additional loft that allows for more vertical lift. Plus, it makes it easier to hit than your mismatched driver. But, what about the 20 to 40 yards of distance that you’re giving up on nearly every hole. That’s not to say there’s not a need for fairway woods, even off the tee box on complex holes with fairway hazards or narrow landing areas, which is why we offer HIGH COR/CT fairway woods from 13-degrees of loft to 39-degrees of loft.
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Krank Golf isn’t new to winning. We have 26 Professional Long Drive World Championships behind our clubhead technology. If you are tired of giving away crucial yardage, the right Krank Formula FIRE driver and fairway woods will allow you to hit the ball farther off the tee and straighter down the fairway. Click here for our DRIVER FITTING TOOL and start designing a club that is custom built for your swing.
