When do You Update Your Driver/Woods?

[ChiTown]

Hello! About a year ago I had a GolfTec fitting for Irons / Woods — highly recommend this by the way. Anyway, I replaced my irons and wedges and they’re playing awesome. Interestingly, we couldn’t find a driver that could perform better than my current Callaway XRS set. So I’m still playing XRS woods and hybrids. I’m not trying to burn a hole in my pocket but I’m seriously debating going for another driver fitting — or has anyone had success at PGA Superstore or someplace similar?

TIA

[Vinsk]

1 hour ago, ChiTown said:

Hello! About a year ago I had a GolfTec fitting for Irons / Woods — highly recommend this by the way. Anyway, I replaced my irons and wedges and they’re playing awesome. Interestingly, we couldn’t find a driver that could perform better than my current Callaway XRS set. So I’m still playing XRS woods and hybrids. I’m not trying to burn a hole in my pocket but I’m seriously debating going for another driver fitting — or has anyone had success at PGA Superstore or someplace similar?

TIA

I haven’t done a fitting at any big box places, but most often your fitting is free if you purchase the club. I also believe you’re less likely to have a fitter push you into a $200 shaft at the big box places.

[ChiTown]

8 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

I haven’t done a fitting at any big box places, but most often your fitting is free if you purchase the club. I also believe you’re less likely to have a fitter push you into a $200 shaft at the big box places.

Thanks @Vinsk  fittings are always tough because there’s always sales pressure behind it. When I went to Golftec I was clear on a price range / club when we started. So it was a much easier fitting. The shafts are the secret sauce!

[WUTiger]

When to update? When I'm struggling with a driver or fairways, and a lesson or tune-up fitting can't straighten out the problem.

Much of changes on long clubs have to do with father time: I'm losing clubhead speed and feel I'm fighting the shaft.

Drivers mostly have been related to getting lighter shafts.

Fairway woods have been mixed. A couple of times I was too ambitious and tried to play a pro/tour/LST type head. I can handle such a head in a driver if shaft is light enough. But, I need a more user-friendly head in my fairways.

[xrayvizhen]

In my personal experience I was 6 years between drivers before I felt the cost was justified. I had a Taylor Made M3 from 2017 that I compared with the latest and greatest from all the MFG's each year starting in 2020. There wasn't enough of an increase in distance, despite the fact that my swing is slowing down as I've been getting older, to justify the expense....that is until a month ago when I saw an eye-popping increase in performance when testing the Titleist TSR-3. The club's actual performance out on the golf course has been even better than what the numbers showed on Trackman so I'm more than pleased. 

On the subject of fittings, I have a sneaking suspicion that some places like Club Champion and maybe some of the other smaller practitioners make most of their money substituting exotic shafts for the stock shafts offered by each manufacturer. I don't believe Golf Galaxy or PGA Superstore do that and their fittings cost a lot less so just be wary when getting fit. 

Edited April 16, 2023 by xrayvizhen

[ChiTown]

11 hours ago, xrayvizhen said:

 

On the subject of fittings, I have a sneaking suspicion that some places like Club Champion and maybe some of the other smaller practitioners make most of their money substituting exotic shafts for the stock shafts offered by each manufacturer. I don't believe Golf Galaxy or PGA Superstore do that and their fittings cost a lot less so just be wary when getting fit. 

@xrayvizhen thanks for your thoughts. On fittings I’ve had experiences at both Club Champion and at Golftec. I didn’t place an order with Club Champion because I felt like it was just a sales job. At Golftec I did order new irons and wedges with shafts. But with Golftec two things I did differently. First, I was very clear up front about how much I was willing to spend, so part combinations were easier to work through. Second, when the fitter couldn’t find a driver / woods I could hit better than my current ones he didn’t try to sell me on something. He even invited me back for a second fitting and still couldn’t do better. Absolutely no regrets and I think the right shaft can make a huge difference. 

I might try to find a demo day for Titleist and Callaway and start there. 

[phillyk]

I replace my driver when it cracks. Seems to happen every year, somehow. 

If you have an instructor you typically use/trust, see if they have recommendations, can fit you, or go with you to get fit. It would help steer clear of sales jobs. 

[tourproto]

I haven't changed drivers in 15 years. Still using a Cobra ZL 9.5*. The Trackman numbers are still good 12* LA, 1.46+ Smash, 2400-2600 spin. Carry 240, Roll to 255+ 

The difference with modern drivers is forgiveness not distance. If you have a driver with max COR, and you have an optimal head/shaft combo that works for you, you shouldn't be losing distance with an old driver on solid hits. But you are probably losing distance on off-center hits. That is where modern heads have greatly improved. 

[ChiTown]

10 hours ago, tourproto said:

The difference with modern drivers is forgiveness not distance. If you have a driver with max COR, and you have an optimal head/shaft combo that works for you, you shouldn't be losing distance with an old driver on solid hits. But you are probably losing distance on off-center hits. That is where modern heads have greatly improved. 

Not sure Rory McIlroy would agree with you on that. 
 

Remember what he said after The Travelers? 

Following his final round, Rory McIlroy was asked if the course is now too gettable for today’s players, and he replied in the affirmative.

“I don't particularly like when a tournament is like this. Unfortunately, technology has passed this course by, right?”

[Vinsk]

3 minutes ago, ChiTown said:

Not sure Rory McIlroy would agree with you on that. 
 

Remember what he said after The Travelers? 

Following his final round, Rory McIlroy was asked if the course is now too gettable for today’s players, and he replied in the affirmative.

“I don't particularly like when a tournament is like this. Unfortunately, technology has passed this course by, right?”

Not sure I entirely agree with Rory. Their significant improvement in athleticism is just as much a factor than technology I believe. I’ve been watching a bunch of old tournaments from 1960’s-1990’s on YouTube. These guys today are just much more physically fit on the whole. I bet if this past Traveler’s tournament was played with clubs from 1990…the scores would vary little if any.

[ChiTown]

22 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Not sure I entirely agree with Rory. Their significant improvement in athleticism is just as much a factor than technology I believe. I’ve been watching a bunch of old tournaments from 1960’s-1990’s on YouTube. These guys today are just much more physically fit on the whole. I bet if this past Traveler’s tournament was played with clubs from 1990…the scores would vary little if any.

That’s very fair. But if you gave Rory a club from today and one from 15 years ago I think it’s fair to say he’d hit the current club farther and perhaps better shot shaping as well

[billchao]

29 minutes ago, ChiTown said:

Not sure Rory McIlroy would agree with you on that. 
 

Remember what he said after The Travelers? 

Following his final round, Rory McIlroy was asked if the course is now too gettable for today’s players, and he replied in the affirmative.

“I don't particularly like when a tournament is like this. Unfortunately, technology has passed this course by, right?”

It’s not the driver. There’s been COR limits in place for years.

[ChiTown]

6 minutes ago, billchao said:

It’s not the driver. There’s been COR limits in place for years.

Interesting. So you’re saying that COR is the only factor in driver distance — assuming a strong player with consistent swing etc?

[phillyk]

9 minutes ago, ChiTown said:

Interesting. So you’re saying that COR is the only factor in driver distance — assuming a strong player with consistent swing etc?

Shafts have made a difference too. Lighter weight and very low torque.

[snapfade]

I update my driver/woods when they launched into the intercoastal. Kind of have to after that. But seriously, I want to go in for a fitting, not just driver but whole bag, but I think I'm getting a better ROI on meeting with my instructor. They way I look at it, if I'm averaging 252 right now off the tee, in the fairway, playing from the whites, leaving me around 7 iron on in to the green, Im happy. Im playing a Ping G410 with the stock shaft. Could I get an extra 8 out of a different driver/ set up? I saw a video where you take something like a debit card and lay the edge across your drivers face and it will show if the face is dented in, it happens after you have hit an a lot of balls or a cheapy driver. I never thought about that. I'd check your driver face if you have had it a good while and depending on how often you play.  

[iacas]

1 hour ago, ChiTown said:

Interesting. So you’re saying that COR is the only factor in driver distance — assuming a strong player with consistent swing etc?

He's not going to hit it appreciably farther, no. Drivers have been at the limit of what they can do for quite some time. So, if you gave him a driver head and fit him the same way you did his current driver head, no, it wouldn't go much farther at all.

[billchao]

3 hours ago, ChiTown said:

Interesting. So you’re saying that COR is the only factor in driver distance — assuming a strong player with consistent swing etc?

No, but the post you quoted specifically talked about COR and that’s what I was responding to.

[ChiTown]

7 minutes ago, billchao said:

No, but the post you quoted specifically talked about COR and that’s what I was responding to.

Ah!  I see confusion here. I was responding to @tourproto who focused on COR. Whereas I was focused on the comment that there was little difference from drivers from 15 years ago. So I still think there are overall performance gains (even if COR was the same) between drivers today and from 15-ish years ago.