200 with 7 wood; 150 with driver?

I've been "playing golf" for about 3 months. I try to get in a session at the driving range once or twice a week, and I play a small par 3 course every few weeks. I've only been on a real course once. I'm trying to build up a set, a semi-reliable swing, and some confidence so that when I do go out, I wont slow down the pace too much :) For the most part, my hitting up to this point was incredibly inconsistent, and quite disappointing.

After making some VERY necessary (and very rudimentary) adjustments to my swing, I got myself down to the driving range to try out my luck earlier today.

My hitting has improved immensely once I made the change, and I'm really excited about it. However, I noticed something really strange. I consistently hit the 7-wood about 200 yards, with no noticeable slice or hook. The ball felt good coming off of it. With the driver, however, I could only hit the ball 150 yards, and it was horribly inconsistent. I would pop the ball straight up (~90 yards) a third of the time, hit a straight shot (~150 yards) a third of the time, and hit a slice the rest of the time.

Now... Both the 7-wood and the driver are my girlfriend's, so they're clearly not optimized for my swing. The 7-wood is a Callaway Great Big Bertha ii Fairway wood with a ladies flex shaft, and the driver is an old Cleveland Launcher 460 CC with a senior flex. Here lies my problem..

I'm trying to build my first set of clubs, and I don't know what shafts I should go for. I can't really afford a club fitting, so that's not an option. The results at the driving range imply that I should be using a ladies shaft However, the driver, which had a stiffer shaft, felt more "wobbly" than the wood did, so I wasn't really sure what to make of that.

Anybody have an explanation for this? What shaft should I try looking at? My irons are uniflex, and they work pretty well for me. That just adds to the confusion, though

Thanks!

I'm assuming that when you say you're trying to build your first set of clubs, you don't actually mean gluing together the heads and shafts and grips. If that's what you mean, let us know.

First, realize that not all club-fittings are these expensive ordeals. What clubs would you buy, if you were somehow told the right shafts? Are they new or used? If they're used, what's the return policy of the store where you'd buy them? We can give you a starting point, and then refine based on what results you see. Some stores allow 100% store credit upon return within a certain time. If they're new, what make and model? Most manufacturers will fit you for free (I hope you can afford that! ) when they know you're going to buy their clubs. Let us know and we'll see what we can offer you, help-wise.

I meant that I'm trying to find enough clubs so I'll have a full set I already bought X-18R Callaway 4-PW irons, and they work really well for me.

If I were to buy woods right now, I'd definitely get 3 and 5 Great Big Bertha ii woods from Callaway Preowned. I'd buy them in regular flex, but don't really have a justification for that other than that I'm an average height male. I love the feel I get with my girlfriend's 7-wood.

If I were to buy a driver, I'd get a "matching" Great Big Bertha ii Driver in regular flex. As before, I can't justify this as I've never actually hit this driver. I just like the feeling of the matching woods :)

If you can, go to a retailer that has either a driving range or a simulator and hit some clubs. They typically talk to you for awhile until they decide you're actually in the market to buy something, but this is easily feigned with some good golf small talk. Hit a few different models/brands and don't be afraid to share concerns with your fitting professional. They are usually quite knowledgable.

On a side note, what kinds of shafts are in your irons? (steel, graphite, and make/model numbers if you have them...)

look for a 7wood Geomax by touredge, get the reg flex shaft (grafalloy, 63g, tq 3.8, launch: high) You will love the feel and distance this club will give you! I got mine on ebay I think for around $100, here is a link for whats on ebay now:
http://sporting-goods.shop.ebay.com/...=p3286.c0.m282

Try the Geomax or Geomax 2. I bet you will be happy!

go to golfsmith. Their club fitting (say what you will it will get you lie angle and shaft type atleast) is only 20$ and if you buy a driver or a set of irons you can put that 20 bucks towards the cost of the clubs.

Don't be so stuck with brands and models when piecing your set together. 3 and 5 woods with a mens regular flex shaft is going to be way different than the 7 wood you have been hitting.

Also I am surprised no one else pointed this out, but if you are getting 200 yards with a 7 wood with a ladies flex, you might be between regular and stiff flex shafts... If you are between, I would opt for the more flexible shaft though.

But yea, look at people's bags on the forum. You will find a big mix of brands, clubs, etc. Look at what the higher handicappers are carrying though, don't think because you see someone with a 2 iron in his bag that maybe you need one.

And finally, as mentioned, get to a retailer like golfsmith when they are NOT BUSY and be ready to hit a LOT of golf balls. This is how I purchased every single club in my bag. For the driver, my putter, and my woods I probably hit about 20 different models from 10 different manufacturers. Maybe half that for the shiny steel sticks. My girlfriend would be so bored when she happened to be with me while I'd go in to hit some clubs. lol

Let me answer all of the questions that have been posted so far:

upah: My irons are Callaway X-18R with steel uniflex shafts. They're quite comfortable for me. I sometimes go to Sports Authority, but I generally don't try out their clubs because I know that I wont end up buying from them I want to support the local sports shop, but I can find much better deals online, and I feel guilty walking in there and "using" their resources.

lobsterzilla: Ya... If it only costs $20, I'll definitely look into it, then. I'm just self conscious about my swing because I'm so new to the game =(

SQ Bimmer: Haha. Ya.. As you can tell, I'm kind of sticking with Callaway for no particular reason other than that my girlfriend plays them. You really think that the 3/5 woods of the same model in a stiffer shaft will play differently for me? To be honest, I couldn't believe that I was hitting the 7-wood 200 yards! Over the past few months, I've been practicing so many aspects of the swing with absolutely terrible results. Somebody came up to me yesterday at the driving range and told me that my hands should be in front of the ball. I don't exactly know how, but it made all the difference.. I went from hitting the 7-wood 100 yards with a slice to 200 yards. I couldn't even make good contact with the 4-iron until today, and I was hitting it 150 yards with 3/4th of a swing. Granted, I bet that everybody on this forum can do that, but it was really exciting for me to actually see results and consistency!

That's actually how I found the X-18R's. My girlfriend started handing me a bunch of 7-irons to try, and the X-18R's "just felt right".

Alright... we've established Callaway. Check out their website - callawaygolf.com. They have a section on custom fitting, including when their staff will be at various places. You can search for one near you. Go to a demo day, try their product, and they can tell you which specifications are best for you. Then you'll know what to look for, even if you are just looking for matching specifications used. This won't even cost you the $20 for the GolfSmith fitting, and should be more accurate. Plus, you get to hit a bunch of new clubs for free.

You should go to golf galaxy/dick's/wherever your local golf store is with a virtual driving range... and analyze your swing speed. That will determine what kind of stiffness you will be looking for on your shaft (i am no expert but i think anything near 100 or over with your driver is a stiff shaft, thats what i use).

I went to the driving range again today, and I was hitting the driver a lot further (not necessarily better, though). Apparently, the plastic tees at the range were too high for me. I used my own tees this time, and the ball flew a lot better.

How high should the ball be teed up?

Thanks to all!

Do you have a local community college that has a class for beginning golf? There are about 1000 questions you either are going to ask or NEED to be asking us that would be best answered by an instructor of some sort. Also, "Golf for Dummies" has all this basic information as well if you cannot take a class or a lesson. I found that when I started out, taking the class at community college was the most cost effective way to get started and to make sure I was not doing anything wrong from the get-go.

To answer your question, it depends. It depends on the player's stroke, the wind, how far forward or back you put the ball, the size of the driver, and I'm sure there are more things that I don't know about. As a general rule, you align your left heel on the ball, and you tee the ball so that the equator of the ball is level with the topline of the driver at address.

May I suggest... hit the 7 wood. muhahaha...

i'd recommend not buying anything until you find out what your swing speed is. this will help you judge which shaft flex is correct for your swing. this is extremely important. if you go to a golf store, they may allow you to get your swing speed for free or just tell them your shopping for an expensive driver and that should work. if your speed is 95mph plus, then you probably need a stiff flex graphite shaft for your driver.

i've learned to tee it up to where half the ball is above the top of the clubhead when the clubhead is placed on the ground.

+1 here.

if you truely can hit the 7w to 200y, then good for you, just use the 7w. keep in mind the average male golfer's driving distance is only 195y. (don't believe for a second all the hackers on this forum say they drive the ball 300+)

first of all i drive the ball 300+..
really though, try some of your friends clubs and see what you hit better.
Last year i could not hit the driver for beans, but i hit my friends 3 wood like crazy, so thats what i teed off with.

Gah. I'm so sick of being terrible at this game.

I've put the driver/woods aside to work on the fundamentals. I might be going on a trip to Arizona with my girlfriend soon, so I need to be able to keep up with others on the course. I've been working on my grip for the past few days. I only mishit about 3 balls at the driving range today (out of 70), but I'm still not seeing the results that I want. I hit a few good 150-yard 7-iron shots, but for the most part, it was a really frustrating day. Most of my iron shots went to the right about 40 yards. They don't slice or fade, though. It's just my aim...

The most frustrating part is that I'm simply not making good contact with the ball. I thought that a correct grip would fix that, but it didn't. I don't get that clean and crisp feel that I used to get with my irons.

Like somebody else said, I think my best bet is going in to get some lessons.