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Driver love/hate relationship
Egor
Legend
 
161 Views    9 Replies    0 Likes   I like it!
For a long time now, I have left the driver in my bag (except NGT hence the stupid high scores). I've gone through all of these:
RBZ
RBZ Stage2 11.5*
R1
Adams XTD ti
R15 12*
R15 10* (current)

I do buy on eBay and Craigslist and occasionally the GolfSmith used rack so it hasn't been a super costly adventure, but a frustrating one to say the least.

The difficult part for me is that I know I can hit it a decent way. My 3w is consistently 215 - 245 according to real distances tracked by Arccos. I flat out bombed it (for me) 263yd today with a nice draw. So why can't I hit my driver well?!?!?

I think I've found a combination I like in the latest iteration of my madness - TaylorMade R15 10.5* head, slightly draw bias with the weights, on a 44" Matrix Red-Tie shaft (the only reason I bought the Adams XTD for $70). It seems to have a very large sweet spot and something about it or the shaft is helping me make solid contact. For the past week or so I've been practicing a drill in the EGor backyard driving range with water bottles to try and force an inside -> out swing path and play more of a draw. Today, my driver problems were minimal and partly because of trees. The distances on well struck shots was good and the mis-hits were not bad. I saw that nice light draw show up a few times and it really showed on the 3w. Wow.

I'm going to cut my Matrix Blacktie shaft down by an inch- it's currently ~45.5" and see what happens there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP_xMN..
Vincedaddy
Legend
 
# 1    9/30/2016 9:02:55 PM   
Please explain to me how the same guy that hit the green on #15 rarely hits more than 50% of fairways that are 25 yards wide.


Egor
Legend
 
# 2    9/30/2016 10:21:55 PM   

Please explain to me how the same guy that hit the green on #15 rarely hits more than 50% of fairways that are 25 yards wide.


Blind squirrels find big nuts sometimes (especially at NGT)


Mongo68
Legend
 
# 3    10/1/2016 5:36:08 AM   
Have you ever been PROPERLY fitted for any of those drivers or do you just assume "I need a stiff 55-60 gram shaft and any that fall in that range will do fine"? There's a lot more to a proper fitting than flex and weight.


njgolfer
Legend
 
# 4    10/1/2016 6:56:11 AM   
For years since driver heads got huge I have searched for a driver that I felt comfortable with and yes I did have a driver fitting at one point. With the exception of having a Cobra and TaylorMade, I have always returned to a Ping driver. That is until this past year. The recommendations for me from driver down to my irons was always stiff shafts, upright lie with the results being dramatic hooks and consistent yells of fore left. Since I have reached the senior stage and was having a problem hitting my 3 iron, I invested in a club that I call my senior club, a 7 wood with a standard lie, soft regular flex stock shaft. I was amazed at how far and consistent I could hit this club, which got me thinking as to perhaps my fitting numbers are now way off. Over the winter, at a local golf show, I came across a Titleist 915 D2 driver with a Bassara 50 Hi regular flex, 12 degree of loft. I figure what the heck the price was right, what did I have to lose. As I made the adjustments, which included a Winn oversized grip, I have finally found a driver that without a warmup, I can take out of the bag and have confidence in. At my age I am not as long as I used to be but with this driver I know that even with a bad swing I can not only find my ball but have a good chance to keep my scores at least respectable at least from the driver stand point.


OtterMan08
Legend
 
# 5    10/1/2016 7:50:55 AM   
I find myself in pretty much the same boat. My Ping G15 driver came from the used rack with a hot shaft. I do get 235 true yardage from a good hit but still get as good or sometimes better out of my old beat up Orlimar 3 wood with the casting flash rattling around in the head.

I've considered that maybe the shorter shaft, smaller head, and lighter club allows me to swing faster. I have been thinking I might like to try a driver with a shorter shaft and a smaller head to see if it helps squeeze a little more juice out of my tee lemons...


LyinLewis
Legend
 
# 6    10/1/2016 8:24:12 AM   
I love my driver shaft combo, but they are not stock (atleast the shaft is not stock). As mentioned in a prior forum I even tested the combo out against other shafts and heads at a Trackman fitter and my combo came in #1 or #2.

I am feast or famine with my driver right now, but it has everything to do with my swing and not the club. I played with a client yesterday and I had a lovely case of the snap hooks. It really was painful.

I would certainly recommend going to see a fitter that can experiment with shafts. My only holdback is most fitters only have stock shaft combos (2-3 choices).


Don Freeman
Professional Champion
 
# 7    10/1/2016 9:41:16 AM   
If you cut the shaft an inch shorter, you WILL lose significant distance but you MAY improve accuracy. My suggestion is to wrap tape around the grip at different measurements and swing it on the range. If you find you are happy with the results from one measurement, then have it cut.


Egor
Legend
 
# 8    10/1/2016 10:16:28 AM   

Have you ever been PROPERLY fitted for any of those drivers or do you just assume "I need a stiff 55-60 gram shaft and any that fall in that range will do fine"?


No. I do know through feel and by doing a Mizuno iron fitting that DGS300 or ProjectX 5.5 or 6.0 are appropriate for my swing speed, I've never had a proper driver fitting. It is one thing I am interested in doing the first part of next year - maybe April-ish. One of the top 100 fitters is in Collierville, TN about 45 minutes from my house : http://www.felixclubworks.com/ which is where I'd probably go.



If you cut the shaft an inch shorter, you WILL lose significant distance but you MAY improve accuracy. My suggestion is to wrap tape around the grip at different measurements and swing it on the range. If you find you are happy with the results from one measurement, then have it cut.


Your suggestion is right. I've decided not to mess with the BlackTie shaft though until a fitting. The RedTie is in the R15 right now and we'll see how it performs for the off-season. I do know that with the RedTie + R15 combo and my water bottle drill all week, solid hits were straight or slight draw and 245-255+ which hasn't happened to me in probably 6 months.

Would it be fair to say that it doesn't matter if you have a 43", 44", 45" shaft if it is the wrong shaft/head for you, than no amount of cutting or manipulation will fix it? Fitting for Egor - April 2017.


Egor
Legend
 
# 9    10/14/2016 12:36:22 PM   
Just an update after ~4 rounds with the Matrix RedTie stiff and TaylorMade R15 set slightly draw bias with weights together:

I have a much more 'love' relationship now with the driver. I thought it was a fluke or just a good day, but I'm hitting this combo solid and even mis-hits go 220+ (unless they are really really bad). Solid contact results in 255+ with a few good pokes at ~270 which are true - at least Arccos true - distances. I've been working on the in->out swing and I can even draw the ball a bit which seems to result in more roll.

I did re-measure the driver using a yardstick with the clubhead on a hard floor and it is 45.25" which seems to be pretty standard. Not messing with anything for a while.