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Advice on Driver


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Hey All, I am in the midst of contemplating a driver change and just needed some opinions.

Currently play with a stock R11. 60 gram stiff shaft.  Usually play it with a 10.5 / Neutral setting.  Never had a good fitting session with my driver.  My irons were all custom fit this past year.

I suffered a neck injury that has caused me to lose some distance and thought I would try some new clubs at the store just to see if I was not using the right driver for my current swing.

I took my R11 to the launch monitor and compared it with a TM SLDR.  The numbers were pretty revealing.  I hit 10 balls with each club.

R11 had an average spin rate of around 3500.  Swing speed averaged 102, best distance I could get was 280.  Accuracy wise, was more in the middle than I normally ever hit it on the course.

Had a TM TP SLDR with a stiff 80 gram shaft.  My spin rate went down almost 1000 RPM's to around 2500.  My best distance was 308.  Averaged around 275.  Swing speed went up to 105 average.   Only problem was that I hit more left than the R11.

I tested them out about 2 months ago.  Now Ping has the new G30.  I have had some folks say a lot of good things about the recent Ping Drivers and how more forgiving they are.  I am not a Ping guy but I will use whatever I have to use to get more distance but more importantly see more fairways.  I have always been a TM wood guy but have now chosen to look at all brands and see what fits me best.

Mechanics wise, I get lessons frequently and my pro is happy with where I am at.  Once in while I get too quick or have some over moves, but most of the time I have good width, swing inside out and have a small draw or hit it straight.  My misses tend to be blocks or hooks so it is not a consistent miss.  All depends on how I feel that day with my rhythm and timing.

Any advice on if getting a newer driver is really worth it?  By that, is it going to help bring the spin rate down and be that much more forgiving than the R11?

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Hey All, I am in the midst of contemplating a driver change and just needed some opinions.

Currently play with a stock R11. 60 gram stiff shaft.  Usually play it with a 10.5 / Neutral setting.  Never had a good fitting session with my driver.  My irons were all custom fit this past year.

I suffered a neck injury that has caused me to lose some distance and thought I would try some new clubs at the store just to see if I was not using the right driver for my current swing.

I took my R11 to the launch monitor and compared it with a TM SLDR.  The numbers were pretty revealing.  I hit 10 balls with each club.

R11 had an average spin rate of around 3500.  Swing speed averaged 102, best distance I could get was 280.  Accuracy wise, was more in the middle than I normally ever hit it on the course.

Had a TM TP SLDR with a stiff 80 gram shaft.  My spin rate went down almost 1000 RPM's to around 2500.  My best distance was 308.  Averaged around 275.  Swing speed went up to 105 average.   Only problem was that I hit more left than the R11.

I tested them out about 2 months ago.  Now Ping has the new G30.  I have had some folks say a lot of good things about the recent Ping Drivers and how more forgiving they are.  I am not a Ping guy but I will use whatever I have to use to get more distance but more importantly see more fairways.  I have always been a TM wood guy but have now chosen to look at all brands and see what fits me best.

Mechanics wise, I get lessons frequently and my pro is happy with where I am at.  Once in while I get too quick or have some over moves, but most of the time I have good width, swing inside out and have a small draw or hit it straight.  My misses tend to be blocks or hooks so it is not a consistent miss.  All depends on how I feel that day with my rhythm and timing.

Any advice on if getting a newer driver is really worth it?  By that, is it going to help bring the spin rate down and be that much more forgiving than the R11?

@divotmaker

I would recommend getting a proper fitting from a good fitter.  Fittings are usually in the $75 to $100 range and you could get the exact driver/shaft to fit your current swing to reduce spin and gain distance.  That being said, have you talked with your instructor about reducing spin with the driver?  There are set up and swing tweaks you can make that will help.

Scott

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boogielicious - Adjective describing the perfect surf wave

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I agree with Boogie, get fit.  I also agree the the G30 is worth a look.  I am playing the G25 and it is awesome.  It is the only Ping club I own.

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R11 had an average spin rate of around 3500.  Swing speed averaged 102, best distance I could get was 280.  Accuracy wise, was more in the middle than I normally ever hit it on the course.

Had a TM TP SLDR with a stiff 80 gram shaft.  My spin rate went down almost 1000 RPM's to around 2500.  My best distance was 308.  Averaged around 275.  Swing speed went up to 105 average.   Only problem was that I hit more left than the R11.

Then adjust your aim on the course?

I tested them out about 2 months ago.  Now Ping has the new G30.  I have had some folks say a lot of good things about the recent Ping Drivers and how more forgiving they are.  I am not a Ping guy but I will use whatever I have to use to get more distance but more importantly see more fairways.  I have always been a TM wood guy but have now chosen to look at all brands and see what fits me best.

Mechanics wise, I get lessons frequently and my pro is happy with where I am at.  Once in while I get too quick or have some over moves, but most of the time I have good width, swing inside out and have a small draw or hit it straight.  My misses tend to be blocks or hooks so it is not a consistent miss.  All depends on how I feel that day with my rhythm and timing.

Any advice on if getting a newer driver is really worth it?  By that, is it going to help bring the spin rate down and be that much more forgiving than the R11?

SLDR will be a tad less forgiving than the R11. Primary reason is lower MOI due to the movement of the COG lower and forward. I would say it isn't that big of a deal really. I found that I could mishit my old G10 driver just as bad as my SLDR when the swing gets off. On toe mishits the ball does go decent, probably not as far as my old Ping driver. For heel and low on the clubface the SLDR crushes anything I had in the past. I could almost nearly top a ball, hit a low bullet and it would go pretty far, just because the spin on those type of shots is still about 1000-1500 less. I think I still get sub 3000 rpm with a low on the clubface hit.

As for the G30, haven't tried it yet. I heard good things about it.

All I can say is, get fittted and see which one works for you. If the forgiveness of the SLDR bothers you, then go with something else. A lot of drivers are pretty much lower spinning than your R11. Another good club I heard about is the Bio Cell+ by cobra. Few guys on the forum here really like it. Its a low spinning driver as well.

Yea, get fitted. In the end pick the club you are comfortable with. For me, I can hit anything as long as it feels good on the strike. The primary reason I didn't take the Ping i25. Just HORRIBLE feel for me. Looked awesome, numbers were good. A solid strike felt dead to me. So, no go.

Matt Dougherty, P.E.
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What's in My Bag
Driver; :pxg: 0311 Gen 5,  3-Wood: 
:titleist: 917h3 ,  Hybrid:  :titleist: 915 2-Hybrid,  Irons: Sub 70 TAIII Fordged
Wedges: :edel: (52, 56, 60),  Putter: :edel:,  Ball: :snell: MTB,  Shoe: :true_linkswear:,  Rangfinder: :leupold:
Bag: :ping:

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Yea, get fitted. In the end pick the club you are comfortable with. For me, I can hit anything as long as it feels good on the strike. The primary reason I didn't take the Ping i25. Just HORRIBLE feel for me. Looked awesome, numbers were good. A solid strike felt dead to me. So, no go.

That's kind of weird, because I felt almost the opposite. The SLDR to me just felt kind of weird and wooden compared to my G10, while the i25 felt more familiar. I also found the Big Bertha driver to feel the same way though. Part of the issue could be that I just could never consistently find the center of the face on the SLDR compared to other drivers, partially due to it looking off at address.

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Just going to toss this out there. The most forgiving and consistently long driver no matter how bad I hit it is the Bombtech Grenade. My 70 yr old mom took it from me because it was so easy to hit. With a tour stiff shaft and slow swing speed she hits it straight and about 200 yards. She was lucky to get 150 out of her TM driver. If I had to choose a 2nd place easy to hit driver it would be the GEEK FS3. Both look old school and setup nice, simple and just kill the ball.

Dave :-)

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All I know.. Is I stopped in and saw a Nike driver which was colored a brownish-copper color with an enormous crazy looking cavity in the back of it... What in the...? This equipment stuff is getting nutty. It honestly looked like something from an infomercial but I'm sure T-Dub and Rory are Rockin it. Wow I'm really blown away. Even the new Titleist 915 looks a little gimmicky... TM's have always been spaced out looking, but man they're always long...Ping looked pretty good but they are shaped like my '09 Titleist?! Are they running out of stuff since the COR is maxed???? I couldn't tell you what to hit, I use an old 2009 driver but this talk about "more forgiving and 15 more yards" every single year seems kooky. I'm solely talking about appearance mind you... If they perform, then they perform.. But good grief... I'm like you, I have no idea what to get deny more...
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