All kinds of confused right now...

So ive been struggling with my driver lately, and been slicing it quite a bit. All my other clubs have been fine. Ive been super frustrated with it because its really hurting my scores. Its been benched lately and ive been using my 3 wood mostly off the tee. Today I played the back black tees at my course with my golf coach and a few of the club guys. Now I know I have no business playing from the black tee's, but we did it just for fun. Long story short, I HAD to use my driver because its just THAT much longer. Couldn't keep it in bounds, I kept slicing/fading it right. My instructor kept tweaking things and it wasn't helping. Then he handed me his driver (one of the new Titleist's) and BAM, straight again, or at least they weren't right anymore. I started pushing left. (I also know my internal alignment was off today, so that didn't help). But no hooks, just straight left or down the middle.

After our round I went to the range for a lesson. We worked on it a bit with my driver and nothing was helping. He told me he didn't think my shaft was right for my swing. Im playing a PING G15 with a stiff Aldila "serrano" shaft. He went and grabbed a few drivers he had in his car and I hit each one. It wasn't about the head it was about the types of shafts. One had an Aldila and one had a Matrix shaft. To sum it up I hit both his drivers well, but what surprised me the most is the one I hit the best was an older Cleveland HiBore XL with an Aldila NV shaft in X Flex !!! Im hitting a stiff shaft now, but Ive never even considered an "X" I dont have the swing speed for an X flex shaft… according to the recommended guideline numbers.

Does anyone have any ideas why an X flex would work all of a sudden? I think my swing is right around 100 mph give or take a few mph.

Although I know nothing of this factually and this is just a theory...

I would guess that those charts are designed so that the club flexes a bit but not so much that it becomes unstable. So at 100mph your club is going to flex as much as the company that made it thought was appropriate for that swing. However for whatever reason that amount of flex is causing you issues. So when you picked up a X flex suddenly that flex was no longer throwing you off and so you made solid contact. However a little flex gives you more distance and can help you with trajectory so while they were strait perhaps you will lose some yardage.

But again just speculation but it sounds logical to me.

Same thing happened to me.  I was playing a reg flex Diablo and it jsut got all whippy on me over time/as my swing got faster and iI started slicing like a boomerang.  I got fitted for a stiff SF 2.0 and probably have sliced maybe 3 times in 10 rounds..maybe.  My uneducated guess it depends on more than just swingspeed and more about when you turn and how quickly you can apply power.

I have an uber slow swing with club head speed just above 100mph. I can NOT play with a R flex which is recommended. I have very "busy" hands at the bottom. I use the Adams 9064LS with RIP red eye shaft. People always tell me before seeing me hit it that the shaft is too much for me because Im tall and lanky. However I am more consistent with this driver than any other driver Ive hit. It is my theory that the stiff shaft allows for less club head movement at the top where you "load" your swing.

Try this, ALWAYS ALWAYS keep your left elbow stiff. Also make sure you are not swinging outside to in, these are two common mistakes made by people who fight the slice.

Also line your feet up straight at the target, aligning your feet left opens your hips up which will make the slice worse.

Lastly make sure your knees are staying flexed, people have a bad tendency myself included to lock their right knee on their back swing this kills all lower body movement. Keep them flexed and finish on your right toe with your belt buckle facing the target line.

With a little practice working on keeping your lower half consistent and solid, will ultimately lead to longer straighter drives. This is coming from someone who hits nearly every fairway!

cheers

Thanks for the input and tips. My swing is a constant project, so ill try anything until my instructor says " WTF are you doing?" Hahaha

I do struggle with an outside to in swing, and I tend to flare my right elbow out sometimes.

Oddly enough that Adams Speedline 9064LS is the driver I want. Alpha stiff shaft. However I did just score a Taylormade R9 superdeep tp with the RIP shaft on ebay for next to nothing, so Im going to try that first and then we'll see. I don't typically like Taylormade clubs, so this will be interesting. And I have to admit that R11 is growing on me. Every time I hit it in the store it feels better and better…

This is the classic let me hit your driver and I hit it better scenario. You should borrow that Cleveland for a month to see how it works for you over time. I suspect that with the different feel in your hand you are making a better swing and the club/shaft has less to do with it than you think. Hitting it down the middle versus OB is more a function of a suspect move than a shaft that is too soft.

Not that I have any advice for you, but I was hitting a Diablo Edge with a R flex Aldila Habanero shaft and couldn't hit it straight to save my life.  I was given a like-new Cleveland HiBore (the original model) with an Aldila NV R flex 65g shaft.  Since switching to that driver I have been consistently hitting a real nice fade that starts just left of center and comes back to the middle or just slightly right of the middle.  As crazy as it sounds, it's now my most consistent club!  They are funky to look at, but seeing as how I can keep it in the short grass now, who cares what it looks like!!

Its true, HOWEVER, I wasn't looking to change my driver originally. I was trying to fix my swing. My instructor actually said he thought I didn't have the right shaft… I don't know anymore. I played an entire round today with that Cleveland driver and it helped. In the sense that I didn't go right at all. I pulled/pushed several of them left though. Im thinking that the X flex is too stiff now, and thats why I was going left all of a sudden. I dont know. I will refer to my original post title… "Im all kinds of confused right now." Hahaha

I have the exact same driver as you, Ping G15 with stiff Serranna.  Love it.  Allthough on accasion I also develop a nasty slice for a round.  But it really is my fault, and not the driver's.
Would a new driver really do any good ?  If again something in your swing changes, the new one might be off, and the old G15 might be spot on again ? !

When I slice it, first thing I try to do is stop the hipturn at square before impact, because most of the time I feel my hips are getting too fast for the rest to keep up.  Don't know if that's all correct what I'm saying, but it seems to work that way for me !