Understanding yourTrackMan numbers: club path, face angle and launch

Five numbers explain most golf shots on a TrackMan screen: club path, face angle, face to path, attack angle and launch. Face angle mostly sets where the ball starts, and face to path sets how much it curves. Read the club numbers first, then use the ball numbers to confirm the story.

Quick answer: start with face angle (where it started), then face to path (why it curved), then path, attack angle and launch (why it flew the way it did).

Club data and ball data

TrackMan splits what it shows into two groups. Club data describes what the club did at impact. Ball data describes what the ball did as a result. Reading them in that order, cause first and then effect, is the key to making sense of the screen.

Club path

Club path is the direction the club head moves through impact. A path to the right of the target is called in to out, and a path to the left is called out to in. For a right-handed golfer, TrackMan shows out to in as a negative number and in to out as a positive number.

A path on its own is not good or bad. A golfer who plays a draw usually has an in to out path, and a golfer who plays a fade often has a slightly out to in path. What matters is how the path relates to the face.

Face angle

Face angle is where the face points at impact, compared with the target line. A positive number means open, pointing right of the target for a right-hander, and a negative number means closed. Face angle is the biggest influence on where the ball starts. If the face is two degrees right of target, the ball will start close to that direction, whatever the path is doing.

Face to path

Face to path is the face angle minus the club path. It tells you how open or closed the face is to the direction the club is travelling, and that difference creates sidespin.

• Positive face to path: the face is open to the path, so the ball curves right for a right-hander, as a fade or slice.
• Negative face to path: the face is closed to the path, so the ball curves left, as a draw or hook.
• Around zero: a straight ball flight, with little sidespin.

A worked example

Say your face angle is +2 and your club path is -4. Face to path is +2 minus -4, which is +6. The ball starts slightly right of target and then curves further right. That is a slice, and the cause is a face that is open to a path moving left.

This is why aiming further left does not cure it. The path moves further left, the face is still open to it, and the curve stays. The fix is to bring face and path closer together. Our guide on how to stop slicing the golf ball covers practical ways to do that.

Attack angle, launch and spin

Attack angle shows whether the club is moving up or down at impact. With an iron you usually want a downward strike, so the club catches the ball and then the turf. With a driver, a slightly upward strike tends to help launch and reduce spin. A steeply downward attack angle with a driver often gives a low ball with too much spin.

Launch angle is the vertical angle at which the ball leaves the face. It is mostly decided by dynamic loft, which is the loft you present at impact, and it is influenced by attack angle. A closely linked number is spin loft, the difference between dynamic loft and attack angle. More spin loft tends to create more backspin. You do not need to memorise the maths. The practical point is that launch and spin come from how you deliver the club, not just the loft written on it.

How to read a shot in order

• Look at face angle first. Did the ball start where you aimed?
• Look at face to path. Does it explain the curve?
• Check club path. Is the path the cause, or is it the face?
• Check attack angle and dynamic loft for launch and spin.
• Look at the ball data last to confirm the story.

One shot tells you very little. Look at the typical shot across ten swings, and at how much the numbers vary. If your face to path is consistently positive, you have a pattern to fix. If it jumps around, you have a consistency problem.

Things that catch people out

Three points trip up most golfers. First, numbers are measured against the target line, so if you aim off, face angle and path will both read from that line. Second, a very good looking number is not always the aim. A golfer who plays a controlled draw needs some positive path and a face slightly closed to it, so chasing zero on everything can wreck a shot shape that works. Third, change takes time. If you move one number, another will often move too, so work on one thing, hit a group of shots, then look again. A coach can help you decide which number matters most for your game.

Using TrackMan at Evolution

Every range bay at Evolution Golf Academy uses TrackMan, as do the indoor simulators and the private teaching bay, so you can see these numbers whenever you practise on the TrackMan driving range or in the golf simulator. If you are new to it, read how TrackMan works first.

In a one to one lesson, a PGA Professional uses the data alongside video analysis to explain what is happening and decide what to change first. You can read more about our golf lessons in Derby, and our TrackMan teaching bay. A 60 minute lesson is £55, with TrackMan data and video analysis included.