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Need recommendations on a driver shaft to lower ball flight.


ftrw85
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Hey guys, I'm having an  issue with my driver where my ball flight is just too high. I am currently swinging a 10.5 Taylormade Burner HT and no matter what I seem to do, whether it be lowing tee height etc... I am hitting moonshots. I had thought about dropping from a 10.5 degree loft to 9.5/8.5 but I dont want to spend the money on a new driver. Is there any way I can just replace the shaft to lower my ball flight? I understand that you want the majority of your distance to come from carry, but the height of my tee shots is hurting my distance in my opinion. I'll drive a ball and have it plug into the fairway or even back up at times due to the height of the shot. If I get roll its not much at all. Any suggestions/recommendations?

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do you know what your swing speed and launch angle/spin numbers are?  i just went through this and found the combination of a low spin driver head, dropping from 9.5 to 8.5 in loft, and a tip-stiff shaft lowered my launch angle by about 4 degrees to an ideal 11-12.  plus it reduced my spin from about 4k on average to 2.5k.  it also increased my distance by an average of about 15y.

the shaft i used was a grafalloy prolaunch red, which can be bought for about $30 new on ebay.  do some searches and you will find that shaft plus the original grafalloy blue (no prolaunch) are both very good tip-stiff shafts that will lower launch angle and spin.  they are also probably the cheapest option that comes well recommended.

unfortunately though, that 10.5" is going to always work against your shaft no matter what you choose to go with.  i would say if you buy a new shaft, definitely buy a new head as well.  you can find them for pretty cheap if you peruse CL or ebay enough.

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Thanks for the reply. My swing speed is on average around 107mph. I can't remember my exact spin rate but I know it was on the high side ( I believe it was around the 4500 area ). Not sure of my launch angle but I am going to hit on the shot monitor tomorrow so I will have more exact details on swing specs. I will definitely take a look at those shafts that you mentioned. I have naturally high ball flight anyway, so the 10.5 degree is defined rely working against me as you mentioned. I'm just looking for an improvement at the moment. I'll take a look at driver heads as well. Right now only looking to spend about 50$.
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If you are swinging the club 107mph and have 4500 spin...

1.) You should have minimally a stiff shaft.  Maybe with those spin numbers - go to an X-stiff.

2.) You need to look at where you are hitting the driver on the face.  You said you are teeing the ball lower - to try and reduce the spin... This could be the issue.  Tee the ball up.  Start hitting the ball in quadrant 1.  Or where the Green circle is.  This is going to maximize launch - reduce spin - and help you hit the ball further.

If you find you are hitting your current driver in that spot - and you don't like the distance that you are getting off the tee - then get a different club/shaft combo.  Ideally a driver spin numbers with your speed should be around 2K.

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Ill take a look at where I'm hitting it on the face. I am happy with the distance for the most part, I can carry 285 and that is plenty, but I figure why not try and maximize the distance. I feel like with a more penetrating ball flight, I could easily gain 25 yards in total. I also have a little bit of trouble when its windy out and where I live it is windy quite often. I currently hit a stiff shaft.
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Ill take a look at where I'm hitting it on the face. I am happy with the distance for the most part, I can carry 285 and that is plenty, but I figure why not try and maximize the distance. I feel like with a more penetrating ball flight, I could easily gain 25 yards in total. I also have a little bit of trouble when its windy out and where I live it is windy quite often. I currently hit a stiff shaft.

107 SS and 285 CARRY is not likely possible. Average PGA SS is 112 and carry is only 269, and they know how to hit a ball. At any rate, 25y extra is a HUGELY liberal approximation. In reality most people don`t get much more than 10-15y when they make an optimal upgrade, and I would not call $50 the type of funds to get you an optimal upgrade. No offense. 107 SS should put you somewhere around the 250 carry range. With 4500rpm spin, you probably do not get more than about 2-3y of roll.

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I've been clocked anywhere between 100-114MPH swing speed, but 108-109 would be the high end of an under control swing for me. So hoping for 25 extra yards is expecting too much, including roll? You are definitely correct on the current amount of roll, its not very much at all. Now that you mention it though, the 250 yard carry seems like what I remember seeing on the swing monitor last time. I gathered 280 from a drive I hit last year on a straight away par 4 where the ball plugged in the fairway and didnt roll and inch. Accoring to my GPS calculating the distance I had left to the hole I had carried 285 on the drive. I do see what your seeing though.

No offense taken on the 50$ lol, I was looking at some shafts that werent quite that much that were said to lower ball flight, specifally the one mentioned earlier in this thread ( grafalloy prolaunch red ) which I found for about 30$ new on Ebay.

I'll post some stats after I hit tomorrow morning.

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i posted about the prolaunch red.  i game it and it works for me.  i have a SS of 105mph and play the stiff.  it plays a bit stiffer than stiff too, and i did not want to work too hard with the x stiff.  so far that decision has been a good one for me.

i don't doubt you hit it 285y, but there are many factors that could have led to that.  there may have been a tailwind, or even one 30y above your head that you would have never known was there.  i hit a 365y drive in october uphill, and i've never once clocked a clubhead speed over 112mph.  that drive did have a tailwind, but not one so serious that 365y seemed even remotely possible.  at any rate, there are things that happen on the course sometimes that we should accept as unfathomable and not assume they are typical.

use that gps to get a full round of drives and determine your average that way, ideally even do that over 2-3 rounds or more.  then get your new club/shaft and repeat that same process and that will be a fairer comparison.  i did this and i was humbled; my average with my old driver was 257, and i always thought i was closer to 265-270.  with my newest driver, i am at 271, so that's +14y.  so i still think +25y is a big stretch.  shaft alone you may see a 5y difference, but total club i think 15y is possible.  anymore than that on average is probably a fantasy, but who knows, you may surprise yourself.  let us know how it goes!

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generally, a high kick point, heavy shaft will keep the ball lower, but too many variables to answer your question, you have to be fitted by a club maker/fitter to see what your stats are, your swing, how you load it etc etc.

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Originally Posted by notsohard

generally, a high kick point, heavy shaft will keep the ball lower, but too many variables to answer your question, you have to be fitted by a club maker/fitter to see what your stats are, your swing, how you load it etc etc.

i don't entirely agree about fitting.  if you know what your stats are and do a little research, you can narrow your shaft selection down pretty decently.  furthermore hit some mainstream heads in the shops and see how they feel.  most of them will be incredibly different with the right shaft in terms of launch monitor numbers, but if you find one you hit consistently, that would be a good one to pair with the aforementioned shaft you choose.  really the only outlying factors then are shaft length, loft angle, and stiff factor.  make your own judgment here as most fitters will take a ballpark guess anyway.  i think fitting is overrated unless you just completely refuse to do a bit of your own digging for the right information, or unless you compete and money is no object.

Originally Posted by notsohard

BTW the PGA tour averages.... The average clubhead speed with the Driver is 112 mph; ball speed is 165 mph and carry distance is 269 yards


nice, we pulled from the same sources because that's the numbers i posted too.  i think i heard average driving distance on pga tour is 288y total, which means they get 19y of roll.  tells you a little something about their backspin numbers.

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I had my swing monitored yesterday and I came back with an average of around 106MPH swing speed, the high being 111MPH and low being 101MPH and ball speed was around 145. My launch angle was between 14-15 degrees a lot of the time and when I really hit it off the face square and flush, I even got some around 17 degrees. My spin was in the 4000-45000 range but the golf pro said the spin rate might not be 100% accurate. However, when I hit a stiffer shaft, my spin rate came down and my launch angle dropped to around 11.5-12.5 degrees. So, I pulled the trigger and bought the Graffaloy Pro Launch red shaft stiff off of ebay. Only 24$ new so it was a great deal. The golf pro stated that this shaft in stiff flex would be stiffer then my stiff shaft that came custom in my TM Burner HT driver ( Can’t remember the shaft off the top of my head ). Granted I’ll still have 10.5 degree loft head, but I think this will definitely help my ball flight and dispersion as well. My current shaft has a low kickpoint while the Graffaloy is mid-high. Another thing I noticed is that when hitting a stiffer shaft, I gained 5-6 MPH swing speed on average. I didn’t hit a TON of balls with the stiffer shaft, so not sure how true that will hold. I also had a problem with hitting the ball to low on the driver face. The closer I was to quadrant 1/2 the higher my launch angle became.

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Originally Posted by ftrw85

I had my swing monitored yesterday and I came back with an average of around 106MPH swing speed, the high being 111MPH and low being 101MPH and ball speed was around 145. My launch angle was between 14-15 degrees a lot of the time and when I really hit it off the face square and flush, I even got some around 17 degrees. My spin was in the 4000-45000 range but the golf pro said the spin rate might not be 100% accurate. However, when I hit a stiffer shaft, my spin rate came down and my launch angle dropped to around 11.5-12.5 degrees. So, I pulled the trigger and bought the Graffaloy Pro Launch red shaft stiff off of ebay. Only 24$ new so it was a great deal. The golf pro stated that this shaft in stiff flex would be stiffer then my stiff shaft that came custom in my TM Burner HT driver ( Can’t remember the shaft off the top of my head ). Granted I’ll still have 10.5 degree loft head, but I think this will definitely help my ball flight and dispersion as well. My current shaft has a low kickpoint while the Graffaloy is mid-high. Another thing I noticed is that when hitting a stiffer shaft, I gained 5-6 MPH swing speed on average. I didn’t hit a TON of balls with the stiffer shaft, so not sure how true that will hold. I also had a problem with hitting the ball to low on the driver face. The closer I was to quadrant 1/2 the higher my launch angle became.

did you hit a stiffer shaft on your own head?  i don't see how that is possible, in which case of course your launch angle/spin would decrease with another head and shaft.

changing to a stiffer shaft can lower the launch angle, but 10.5 with your SS is still really working against the shaft (as noted in the 17 degree launch angle).  i definitely say at least do a little research on heads and try and pick one up on ebay.  you can find some good options for very cheap.  after all, you're going to spend some money on a grip and assembly anyway, may as well get it completely done once.  i have a feeling you'll be back to a new head in a matter of a few months otherwise.

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Tuffluck, any suggestions on heads, other then lower loft obviously. I do hear what your saying. No, I did not test the stiffer shaft on my own head, so the comparison is flawed for sure.

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Originally Posted by ftrw85

Tuffluck, any suggestions on heads, other then lower loft obviously. I do hear what your saying. No, I did not test the stiffer shaft on my own head, so the comparison is flawed for sure.


when i was looking, some recommended were adams 9064ls, rapture v2, and cleveland 290 as they are all low spin heads.  i guarantee you there are others, but none that come to mind.  i ended up though with the adams fast 12 ls because someone on CL was selling a brand new one in the 8.5 degree loft for $40, which is a steal.  really for me, price is what sold me since i hadn't hit any of them.

you will like that shaft though.  i think stiff was a good decision.  my average SS is 104 and the grafalloy ratings are like 100-110mph Stiff, and then 105-120mph X-stiff.  i personally think 105-110 only needs X stiff if you are a very good ball striker and aren't trying too hard to swing harder.

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i have the prolaunch red in x-stiff. it helped for me, i have a high ballooning flight and the shaft helped get it down and flatter without the sharp rise and the fall out of the sky that i had before.

Colin P.

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Originally Posted by ftrw85

I had my swing monitored yesterday and I came back with an average of around 106MPH swing speed, the high being 111MPH and low being 101MPH and ball speed was around 145. My launch angle was between 14-15 degrees a lot of the time and when I really hit it off the face square and flush, I even got some around 17 degrees. My spin was in the 4000-45000 range but the golf pro said the spin rate might not be 100% accurate. However, when I hit a stiffer shaft, my spin rate came down and my launch angle dropped to around 11.5-12.5 degrees. So, I pulled the trigger and bought the Graffaloy Pro Launch red shaft stiff off of ebay. Only 24$ new so it was a great deal. The golf pro stated that this shaft in stiff flex would be stiffer then my stiff shaft that came custom in my TM Burner HT driver ( Can’t remember the shaft off the top of my head ). Granted I’ll still have 10.5 degree loft head, but I think this will definitely help my ball flight and dispersion as well. My current shaft has a low kickpoint while the Graffaloy is mid-high. Another thing I noticed is that when hitting a stiffer shaft, I gained 5-6 MPH swing speed on average. I didn’t hit a TON of balls with the stiffer shaft, so not sure how true that will hold. I also had a problem with hitting the ball to low on the driver face. The closer I was to quadrant 1/2 the higher my launch angle became.

1.) What did your spin numbers drop to when you went to the stiffer shaft?

2.) What's the length of shaft the shaft of the Graffaloy Pro Launc red stiff shaft?

If you want to further optimize your numbers... You may want to consider a lower lofted driver for your swing speed - like 9*?

And finally, h itting the ball low off the face will increase your spin numbers as I stated above.  If you make contact in quadrant 1 and 2.  1 being the best. Your launch numbers will go up - but your spin will decrease - and you will bomb it out there.

When you get your setup (new shaft and possibly new head) - see if that Pro will let you jump back on the monitor.  It would be interesting to see what your numbers are with the new setup.

.

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Note: This thread is 4049 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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