New Here and need a little advice

I played 15 years ago. Children, jobs, moves, etc. and now I am starting over. After a car accident in December, miracle to be alive, I was having a terrible time walking. ... knees and lower back. My rheumatologist told me to go hit some balls and see how it felt in the knees/back.

I went to the local driving range and got a large bucket of balls. Brought my 3 wood and 5 iron. Hit about 20 or so and then started working on not shanking, slicing, killing the lawnmower guy - as was my signature years ago - by paying attention to the information my buddy gave me on my swing. After 25 or so more balls it started working. I was launching 180yd drives with the 3 wood. Longer after a little more practice. Strait as an arrow. But my alignment sucked.

As I was pondering the alignment thing, and watching others working on their swing I noticed a guy that was crushing his drives. So I watched a minute or so and noticed that he was hitting those balls with what looked like an older Chevy. The club was so incredibly huge.

I looked around a bit more and nearly everyone had one of these ginormous drivers. Some were hitting them well. Some not so much.

I noticed that my 3 wood was about the size of the 5 hybrids that I saw. Hmmm. So I asked. What's the dealio? Why are all of these drivers so big...The guy working at the range said it was more forgiving and advanced and ... well he spoke fast and used words I had little concept of ...

Long story shortened...The day after I hit that large bucket of balls, taking 2.5 hours to do so,  my knees felt better than they have in several months and my lower back wasn't screaming.

I don't care about crushing the ball. I got the 3 wood up to about 205-ish by the end of the day and that is fine. I would like to update my bag, and not for a lot.

I have a no name driver, 3 wood, and 5 wood (that is actually wood). I used to have a Burner Bubble 10.5 but it was stolen years ago. My irons are Mizuno blades with stiff shafts.  Well Mizuno knockoffs. Love em. I was breaking the 180yd marker by the end of the practice with the 5 iron. Putter is a Mizuno. Dunno how much I like it...but will use it for a while longer.

What I hope you can help with is narrowing down my selections. I like Taylor Made, but that is mostly all I have used. Open to others. What do you suggest? Money is an issue...I will probably need to buy used. Haggin Oaks, local range, has nearly every driver from last season on sale for 100.00 ea. So please weigh in with your thoughts and please give reasons for me to look at your club selection. :)

Thank you in advance

Cool. Yeah they said I could test drive anything I wanted. 

Any preferences?

10.5 loft. Hit it fairly straight - leaned to the right... Taylor Made R9

Hit this one fairly straight as well... Both had a stiff shaft.

I found that the longer the shaft was the harder it was to control the shot. Is that normal?

Here is the 3 wood that I can hit really very straight. I understand that the 16degree loft is what launches it but...I hit it straight.

Any thoughts what this iron is? I was told that it was a Mizuno knock off.

I hit this one pretty well...

I liked the feel of this one... and hit it really well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlf16507 

Gat a driver with at least 11* of loft(12 or 12,5* better) and shaft not more than 45" -Regular graphite shaft should work OK,but a Senior shaft probably would be better .I am sure the range will let you test drive a couple. Let us know whjich ones you liked best before you buy.

The pix are the ones that I thought I hit the best.

No hijacking... 

What is a "great big bertha" driver? in comparison with all of the above?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlf16507 

Did they have a softer shaft than the stiff to try? I would try R or A(Senior) before buying  I always liked the way Cobra drivers hit the ball,but the sound drives me CRAZY! The longer the shaft,the tougher it is to hit  in center.  For every 1/2" you miss the sweet spot, you lose 10 yds in distance. That is why I said no longer than 45" long. Your iron is a pretty generic blade. Tough to hit in sweet spot,but when you do, you are rewarded with great shot.
 

 

Yeah. It was tough to get used to them. But they are comfortable now. Maybe I should sell them and step up to current technology for irons as well? 

It was the only one they had - Diablo - ... but I hit the snot out of that one. The sound is a bit unnerving. I did like the way the Cobra felt and I hit it pretty well.

Ok. So I bought a "starter" driver. One that in time I will grow out of. It is the Cleveland DST Launcher Draw. 10.5* loft. 45" long regular flex Diamana graphite shaft. I hit it in the 200+yds range after the first shot. Nearly straight as an arrow. :)

Thank you all for your help.

Picture of the "new to me" club.