Driver Loft

[scooter]

Re: Driver Loft

Thanks I will try some stiffer and some heavier shaft. The store i shop at has a fitting machine for swing speed. scooter

[Dadvocate]

Re: Driver Loft

Hi, everyone…

All of this is very intriguing for me. I have been trying to think of what to do to get more distance on my tee shots in conjunction with some degree of accuracy on the direction.

I’ve had moments greatness with my steel shafted driver and with my 3 wood, but this doesn’t warrant continued use since I’ve also had terrible shots that have cost me a lot in the long run. Sometimes the shots are so bad that I am relegated to using my 5 iron just to be able to get it out there somewhere that is manageable.

A few of my friends recommended that I try higher lofted fairway woods, which in turn has led to the purchase of some fairway woods that I hit very well in Australia over the holidays. I’m a lefty and always happy to set aside some of my hard earned money when I am in a country that takes us lefty’s seriously. I have now added a 7 wood, a 9 wood and a new, lighter (graphite) 3 wood to my bag.

What has been great so far is that the 3 wood is landing the ball at about 200 yards pretty consistently. I do hit off center still occasionally, but the slices or hooks that I get are much less pronounced, giving me a better lie. I get a fantastic flight on both my 7 and 9 woods, which both carry well ( 185 and 175 respectively) and sit down nicely on impact.

My 7 and 9 woods are even easier to hit than my 3 wood because the ball is closer to center in my stance, so if I am feeling a bit worried about my swing, I can use one of these off the tee with more confidence.

What bothers me is that even though I feel I have more control with these clubs, I can’t help thinking that I have given up too early on hitting my driver, or perhaps in finding the right driver for my swing.

With all this talk of loft and contacting the ball on the up swing, I wonder what it is I can do to order a club from the States that will be worth the cost and ultimately better than what I have in my bag now. It seems I like having a mid level tension on my graphite shafts, and I am currently hitting a 10% loft on my old (steel-shafted)driver.

If I go for a higher loft for a driver, am I really going to benefit more so than hitting my 3 wood, 7 wood, 9 wood?

Confusing stuff.

Cheers!

[davo78]

Re: Driver Loft

I've got a 10 degree driver and get a heap of loft. I think ball positioning is crucial - the farther forward you position the ball, the more loft you'll get when sweeping through.

[Jim Allen]

Re: Driver Loft

Chiper,

A few years back, Taylormade marketed a 12 degree driver with their 360 Series. I had a chance to try it and immediately bought one. I could hit the ball long and strong and straight. The only problem came about when I had to play into a strong wind. I started carrying two drivers on windy days and that solved the problem.

I won't give up a standard driver (just bought an R7), but I gotta tell you, being in the fairway certainly raises the fun quotient.

Jim

[gord962]

Re: Driver Loft

If I go for a higher loft for a driver, am I really going to benefit more so than hitting my 3 wood, 7 wood, 9 wood

Because of the length of the shaft, your swing speed will be increased, therefore, more distance. If you are having troubles with slices/hooks, more loft is the way to go to. To reduce side spin you must either hit the ball more squarely OR put more backspin on the ball. The only way to add backspin is to add loft.

[johnmc66]

Re: Driver Loft

I am a high handicapper and have struggled with my 10.5 degree lofted driver.I left it out of the bag in my last round and shot about 10 fewer shots. I would have no problem using about a 12 degree driver with a low kick point shaft for a higher ball flight,but good drivers in the uk are quite expensive £100-120 for a reasonable make cobra etc.It might not make a lot of sense for an infrequent player to lay out such a vast sum for a driver especially off mats in a british winter!
I think there is a lot of machismo involved in higher lofted drivers and clubs because men want to emulate the tour players who have 120 mph swing speeds and play every day.Only a small amount of club golfers will ever get anywhere near that level in their lifetimes. Players should focus on whats best for them as improvement=more fun.

[LowPost42]

Re: Driver Loft

Well then, John, buy a cheap 12º driver and get it reshafted. It may only be marginally cheaper, but you'll be playing a much better shaft!

[Dadvocate]

Re: Driver Loft

This brings up an important point for me, Low Post. Until recently I hadn’t thought of the importance of graphite or steal shafted clubs. I was too concerned about learning the game and learning how to hit the ball correctly. It wasn’t until I got a leftie hybrid 4-iron with a graphite shaft last year that I realized there were other options out there. Once I got used to the difference in weight, this hybrid took over for my 3 and 4 irons.

Now all my woods are graphite shafts, but all at different tension settings (I bought them as is from various shops in Australia). I don’t even know how to go about figuring out what is the best tension for me. I’m kind of just trying to figure out how to hit the clubs as they are.

Then I have my irons. All of them are still steal shafts. I’m not perfect with them, but I hit my irons okay now that I have some consistency in my swing. Is it unusual for a player to have a mix bag of graphite and steal shafts? Should I consider having all my clubs re-shafted if I am seeing better distance and more accuracy with my woods since my change to graphite?

Cheers!

[LowPost42]

Re: Driver Loft

I personally like graphite in my woods and steel in my hybrids and irons.

There are others that have sets completely steel, and others yet with all graphite.

It comes down to a couple things - personal preference and personal performance.

For your average healthy male, steel is fine.

It breaks down like this:

Steel is heavier than graphite by default. Now, they've got heavy graphite and light steel, but as a rule, steel makes things heavier and graphite lighter.

That said, the feel of a club comes into play. Most adults are strong enough to warrant steel in their clubs - all the way to woods, if they like. They can handle the heavier clubs, and in some instances, it actually helps to slow down and even out a swing.

The litmus test goes something like this (and is the premise behind swingweighting):

If you gripped a shaft and swung it, you could swing it really, really fast. But you couldn't control it.

If you gripped a steel pipe and swung it, you could swing it repeatably, but not very fast.

So you go somewhere in between. I myself perfer my clubs on the heavier side (D6 swingweight, D0 is men's standard)

But I like standard swingweight in my woods (D0), but with a heavier (75 or 80g) shaft, to help smooth out my swing...

But I digress.

The important spec when selecting shafts is making sure that you can load it properly (in other words, selecting the proper flex). Shaft composition (steel vs graphite) is pretty much a feel thing.

[Dadvocate]

Re: Driver Loft

Yes, finding the balance between the two sounds good, Low Post.

It really should be an individual feel thing. My problem is that I am pretty well ignorant about the weight of my own clubs, graphite or otherwise. It would be in my best interest to figure out what these are.

From my side, the difference with my graphite woods is that the light weight somehow allows me to relax a bit more in my grip and my backswing. Somehow I feel the need to overcompensate when I am swinging my heavier woods. This leads to all kinds of trouble.

For some reason I don’t seem to have the same problem with my irons. I can’t really say for sure why. I’d love to find out if there is an advantage for me to hit graphite shafted irons, but that just isn’t feasible here in the Philippines as a lefty.

Thanks for your insights.

Cheers!

[LowPost42]

Re: Driver Loft

Why not get one iron reshafted with graphite, just to try it out?

A couple of things to remember:

As a rule, clubs with graphite shafts are built longer. There's a million theories as to why this is, but mine is that it's done to keep swingweights where they've been for a century - and playing with a swingweight calculator, I'd say I'm onto something.

Anyway, you sound like an average golfer, Dadvocate. If you go to your local pro shop, I'm sure they can point you in the direction of a clubmaker/clubfitter, who may even reshaft one iron for free (or a small fee), knowing that if you like it, you'll come back and do a deal for the rest of your clubs.

Your dexterity has nothing to do with your choice of shaft, my friend. Just the head.

As to the feasibility of going graphite over steel, again:

Graphite: Lighter. This presents longer clubs, and assumably more clubhead speed than their steel counterparts, from both the extra length and lighter weight.

Steel: Heavier. Clubs are shorter (compared to graphite), but the extra weight often helps control issues. Swingpaths are generally more repeatable with heavier clubs.

The thing is, it's largely about feel. In this respect, I often look to my own baseball career. I always preferred a lighter bat, as I could whip it through, and it gave me a little more time to read the pitch. But this preference doesn't transfer into golf, for me. I like heavier golf clubs. They get harder to swing towards the end of the round (because they're heavy!) but I find I have more feel. The best feeling club I've ever swung ended up being an H8 swingweight. The 5 iron weighed 675g (in relation, your putter is often this side of 450g). I could only swing it 63 mph, but did it ever feel good. Tough to get the hands in front, though.

Now I swing clubs in the D6-D8 range (about the weight of your average sand wedge). As I said, I like steel in my irons, and heavier graphite in my woods. The nice thing for me, is that I can keep 'steel' lengths in my woods if I end up with a lighter graphite shaft.

So, my advice again is to see a local clubbuilder, and reshaft one iron with graphite. Give it a try! If you like it, get 'em all done. If not, s/he'll replace your original shaft, and you'll have gained some knowledge.

[Dadvocate]

Re: Driver Loft

My, you have loads of sage advice for lots of people, Low Post!

That is a great suggestion, and I think I’ll do it, maybe even this weekend. The next question is which one? Logic would dictate a mid-range club, like my six or seven iron. If I can swing a longer shaft with lighter weight well with it, I suppose the rest would follow suit.

Would you agree?

Cheers!

[LowPost42]

Re: Driver Loft

I would take a mid iron, yes - 7 or 8. Something that will get some range time, and probably see some playing time if you take it out on the course (so you can see it in 'action').

[GolfNut55]

Re: Driver Loft

Hi all....

Been playing for a couple of years and and am a 23 h'cap.

Used a 10.5* driver for most of that time and had inconsistent results.

Recently bought a 12* King Cobra SZ440 off ebay for £65 (bargain!), and wished i'd changed lofts earlier!!

Much better height which brings further carry. Lovin it!!

[SirCliveWolfe]

Re: Driver Loft

Hey Guys,

I had a similar problem with my driver which was a 9 degree, ancient (20yrs?) Ben Hogan driver. I couldn't hit the thing for love nor money.

I was down at my local shop and they had Callaway FT-i that were ex-demo, I had a look and found that the nicest club in there was a 13 degree 'HT' (neutral) and so I got it for around £60.

I am now having to look for a new 3 wood because I'm hitting 250+ yards straight 5 or six times out of seven. On a side not, I'm not sure why, but I just never slice the ball either with this club, although it does go left every now and then

SCW