Maybe the concept is talked about more by golfers and gear sellers than I’m realizing, but in general the Smash Factor seems undersold as a concept. We quoted the clubfitting expert Brian Anderson, of Brian’s Precision Golf in Stuart, Florida, on this subject a few months ago. His points were well-taken, mainly that “clubhead speed shouldn’t be the focus—certainly not compared to initial ball speed. In other words, the so-called smash factor, which is a ratio that tells you how efficiently you’re using clubhead speed to drive the ball. They have to understand that, for a variety of reasons, balls fly off the clubhead faster than the clubhead is traveling. So, on any given shot, you look at ball speed and divide it by your clubhead speed. A real good target ratio is 1.5, a poor one would be 1.1 or 1.2. “
