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Will this be an expensive mistake?


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During my recent fitting it was recommended that I switch to a lower lofted driver.  I  have been playing a 10.5 with a regular flex for a long time, through my last 3-4 drivers, 10-12 years.  I use a soft cover high spin ball.  My average ball speed was 130-135 with a 9.5 my launch was about 13. They were trying to get my spin rate down.  Although I do not hit the ball high, it does tend to kind of drop out of the sky with little roll.  I am concerned that my efforts that day were not representative.  I had a tough time getting relaxed, and my swing speed range was rather wide, all the way from 84 to 95.  Maybe  my hands were tense and I was releasing the club later than usual or something.  I believe the fitter was competent, but they can't be expected to compensate for human variation. how often would a person with my modest ball speed be moved down to 9.5. I do tend to hit my short irons as long  or even a bit longer than my golf buddies but get out driven significantly.

1W Cleveland LauncherComp 10.5, 3W Touredge Exotics 15 deg.,FY Wilson 19.5 degree
4 and 5H, 6I-GW Callaway Razr, SW, LW Cleveland Cg-14, Putter Taylor Made Suzuka, Ball, Srixon XV Yellow

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Originally Posted by allin

how often would a person with my modest ball speed be moved down to 9.5. I do tend to hit my short irons as long  or even a bit longer than my golf buddies but get out driven significantly.


From what I understand, it's about maximizing launch angle, regardless of clubhead speed.  Not 100% sure of that tho....  Maybe a clubmaker or fitter can chime in for you.

In my bag: adams.gif Speedline Fast 10 10.5, Speedline 3W, Ping Zing2 5-SW  vokey.gif 60 deg odyssey.gif 2-ball    330-RXS

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That happens a lot when you get fit without someone also looking at your swing.  So should a lower SS play that low of loft...you can, but it just means your swing will have to compensate for clubs that are way to strong for you.  Loft is good....get your swing in balance then get a driver with enough loft to be able to actually make that swing and get rewarded for it.

Find a teacher/fitter and that's how to be fit properly.

Never buy clubs to compensate for something your doing/not doing in your swing.

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Originally Posted by allin

During my recent fitting it was recommended that I switch to a lower lofted driver.  I  have been playing a 10.5 with a regular flex for a long time, through my last 3-4 drivers, 10-12 years.  I use a soft cover high spin ball.  My average ball speed was 130-135 with a 9.5 my launch was about 13. They were trying to get my spin rate down.  Although I do not hit the ball high, it does tend to kind of drop out of the sky with little roll.  I am concerned that my efforts that day were not representative.  I had a tough time getting relaxed, and my swing speed range was rather wide, all the way from 84 to 95.  Maybe  my hands were tense and I was releasing the club later than usual or something.  I believe the fitter was competent, but they can't be expected to compensate for human variation. how often would a person with my modest ball speed be moved down to 9.5. I do tend to hit my short irons as long  or even a bit longer than my golf buddies but get out driven significantly.



High launch + low spin = long

I'd try a similar driver with a low spin shaft (whatever that is?!?) before I bought a whole new driver. Make sure you eliminate any power leaks (lots of sources for this info - an in-person lesson with a certified professional is the best way for this to click) then without adjusting your swing, get the driver that is the best tradeoff of spin, launch angle, and ball speed.

Mizuno MP600 driver, Cleveland '09 Launcher 3-wood, Callaway FTiz 18 degree hybrid, Cleveland TA1 3-9, Scratch SS8620 47, 53, 58, Cleveland Classic 2 mid-mallet, Bridgestone B330S, Sun Mountain four5.

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If your smash factor was close to optimal, your swingspeed was around 86-88 Mph based on your ball speed. Recommended loft for your swingspeed is about 13 degrees ..... for a combination of launch angle and ball flight, so 9.5 degrees is not going to help you ...... only it will lower your ballflight and you probably will loose distance aswell.

Besides that the XV is optimised for 95+ Mph, so maybe you should try the Bridgestone Tour B330-RX which is optimised for lesser ss.

CU, Gerald.

Originally Posted by allin

During my recent fitting it was recommended that I switch to a lower lofted driver.  I  have been playing a 10.5 with a regular flex for a long time, through my last 3-4 drivers, 10-12 years.  I use a soft cover high spin ball.  My average ball speed was 130-135 with a 9.5 my launch was about 13. They were trying to get my spin rate down.  Although I do not hit the ball high, it does tend to kind of drop out of the sky with little roll.  I am concerned that my efforts that day were not representative.  I had a tough time getting relaxed, and my swing speed range was rather wide, all the way from 84 to 95.  Maybe  my hands were tense and I was releasing the club later than usual or something.  I believe the fitter was competent, but they can't be expected to compensate for human variation. how often would a person with my modest ball speed be moved down to 9.5. I do tend to hit my short irons as long  or even a bit longer than my golf buddies but get out driven significantly.



Cal Razr Hawk 10.5 | TM Superfast 3W | Adams Idea Pro Black 20 | MP-68 3-PW | TW9 50/06 + 58/12 | Ram Zebra Putter

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Originally Posted by Gerald

If your smash factor was close to optimal, your swingspeed was around 86-88 Mph based on your ball speed. Recommended loft for your swingspeed is about 13 degrees ..... for a combination of launch angle and ball flight, so 9.5 degrees is not going to help you ...... only it will lower your ballflight and you probably will loose distance aswell.

Besides that the XV is optimised for 95+ Mph, so maybe you should try the Bridgestone Tour B330-RX which is optimised for lesser ss.

CU, Gerald.

I have played the Bridgestone 330. I actually liked the E-7 better.  I play the XV because it seems to work perfectly for me in the short game.  since that is my strength I am reluctant to switch since it only seems to make about 5 yards difference for me.  On windy days I will switch back to the E-7 since I end up playing a lot of punches and letting the ball roll out anyway. My printout said average swing speed 90.7, average carry 207, 214 total with the 10.5, carry with the 9.5 was 204, but total distance increased to 222.00.  It came down to angle of attack issues.  Since I hit it with a slight draw and my dispersion was low, matches up with my real world experience.  Because  I have a short swing with fairly quick tempo he really would have preferred to tip the shaft to stiffen it or find a shaft with a little stiffer profile, but the ones we tried I pushed the ball and when I tried to hit a fade I basically hit it low and straight. There were a couple with the 9.5 that ball speed got close to 140, machine said that one got to 249 total distance, but I only had a few in the 235 + range.



1W Cleveland LauncherComp 10.5, 3W Touredge Exotics 15 deg.,FY Wilson 19.5 degree
4 and 5H, 6I-GW Callaway Razr, SW, LW Cleveland Cg-14, Putter Taylor Made Suzuka, Ball, Srixon XV Yellow

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Still I say you shouldn't focus on more roll but on more carry, carry is control, roll can go anywhere.

204/222 is about iron 3 or hybrid distance ..... for a lot of golfers at your handicap.

Maybe you should just try a higher lofted driver, and yes maybe with a stiff tipped shaft (high kickpoint) but still enough torque bc. a less torque shaft might mean open clubface at your moderate swingspeed......

I am about sure your carry can be improved with at least 10% if you get a driver loft that matches your ball speed for an optimised launch angle.

Just try a few 12-13 drivers with matching shafts ...... it wouldn't surprise me if you hit these way longer........

Cal Razr Hawk 10.5 | TM Superfast 3W | Adams Idea Pro Black 20 | MP-68 3-PW | TW9 50/06 + 58/12 | Ram Zebra Putter

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Originally Posted by Gerald

Still I say you shouldn't focus on more roll but on more carry, carry is control, roll can go anywhere.

204/222 is about iron 3 or hybrid distance ..... for a lot of golfers at your handicap.

Maybe you should just try a higher lofted driver, and yes maybe with a stiff tipped shaft (high kickpoint) but still enough torque bc. a less torque shaft might mean open clubface at your moderate swingspeed......

I am about sure your carry can be improved with at least 10% if you get a driver loft that matches your ball speed for an optimised launch angle.

Just try a few 12-13 drivers with matching shafts ...... it wouldn't surprise me if you hit these way longer........



Agreed.....I like the original poster was in a similar boat.  I ended up loosing distance when I went from a 10.5 to a 9.  Same driver, same shaft.  I'm back to a 10.5.  What I found out was that the ground has more resistance than air thus carry is your friend. And, higher loft = more forgiveness.

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First of all most people think that golf in general is an expensive mistake!

As for you post, what was your carry?  For your swing speed, 9.5 seems low, but there could be other variables at play.  However, if you told me that with the 9.5 you were carrying the ball 210 to 237 (based on your swing speeds of 84-95) then I would have to say that you are pretty optimum.

Cobra LTDx 10.5* | Big Tour 15.5*| Rad Tour 18.5*  | Titleist U500 4-23* | T100 5-P | Vokey SM7 50/8* F, 54/10* S, SM8 58/10* S | Scotty Cameron Squareback No. 1 | Vice Pro Plus  

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My swing speed is around 95-100. This year I went from a stiff 9.5 to a regular 10.5, as my fitting showed that was optimal for me. The difference is dramatic, I'm easily 20 yards longer off the tee. Carry is better than roll any day. If you want more roll, hit a little draw

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Note: This thread is 4752 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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