Lofts of drivers and distance?

[Treemagnet]

Right now I'm using a 10.5 lofted driver. And was wondering if I went down to a 8-9 deg about how much more carry and roll distance should you get from that kind of loft change. Also I've always just used a standard length driver, If you cut it down say an 1" how much should that effect the distance as well.

[CG031]

Cutting it down will not effect the distance a whole lot. I got mine cut down an inch for greater control and maybe I lost 5 yards, but that's it. I'll sacrifice it if it means hitting more fairways.

[Treemagnet]

Cutting it down will not effect the distance a whole lot. I got mine cut down an inch for greater control and maybe I lost 5 yards, but that's it. I'll sacrifice it if it means hitting more fairways.

Do you know how much the loft will add?

[m11]

your best bet is to get a fitting done before you buy any club. Usually if you browse around a store...they'll put you on a monitor for free and give you a rough idea of what you need. If you are interested in purchasing...they'll put you through a full fitting and determine shaft, head....everything you would need.

Its not very helpful to advise you on a loft without knowing your backspin, launch angle...those type of stats.

[Treemagnet]

your best bet is to get a fitting done before you buy any club. Usually if you browse around a store...they'll put you on a monitor for free and give you a rough idea of what you need. If you are interested in purchasing...they'll put you through a full fitting and determine shaft, head....everything you would need.

I did go about two weeks ago but the guy was no help at all he just told me to hit 3-4 clubs and kind of left it at that gave no advise on what I should be hitting. Then a week after that they had a demo day at the range and I was hitting a callaway ft- something 8.5 tour driver and was killing the thing. I was hitting the ball about 10-20 yards farther and just wanted to know if that was about the normal increase in range form a 10.5 to 8.5

[CG031]

Just because you get a low degree of loft doesnt mean more distance. I had a 10.5 driver but was advised to get a 13.5 because it gave me more carry for my swing and swing speed, and i hit it furthur than a 10.5. Once my swing and swing speed increased I was able to move down to a 10.5. Unless your hitting it too high, and causing backspin, getting an 8.5 and shooting it real low doesn't mean more distance.

[Treemagnet]

I hit my 10.5 high but it still has great carry good roll. And I hit that 8.5 lower but farther and had lots of roll. If I were to guess I would say my 10.5 launch angle would be 15-16 deg and the 8.5 12-14 deg. Do you know what deg launch angle you should have for your driver?

[JYB]

my coach uses a 7.5º Ping G5 and I have seen him hit it 345 on the fly. I really don't think the loft means as much as it would seem.

[titaniummd]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct;=re...-kAuvz3-slq_qg

Read Tom Wishon's 12 Myths above. Better yet, check out The Search for the Perfect Driver.

I may personally fair better with a Lucky 13 by Nike.

[rebby]

I hit my 10.5 high but it still has great carry good roll. And I hit that 8.5 lower but farther and had lots of roll. If I were to guess I would say my 10.5 launch angle would be 15-16 deg and the 8.5 12-14 deg. Do you know what deg launch angle you should have for your driver?

You optimal launch angle will depend on your ball speed, which is greatly influenced by your swing speed.

http://thesandtrap.com/playing_tips/driver_fitting For reference, my swing is about 108-118mph which results in a ball speed of about 160-165mph. The chart in the article that I linked above was a perfect correlation for me and I found that I had the best carry distance with a launch angle of roughly 12-13'.

[cfmgolf]

So much of it is shaft dependent. It's to bad that you had a bad experience at the store, as this can be quite helpful in narrowing down the selection. If this is a chain store i would recommend going back and having someone else help you. If you still don't feel that you have been served well, ask for the store manager. That will get their attention. The combination of launch angle and spin rate will really tell you what you should have. You might be surprised that ideal fit is something very different than anticipated. Good Luck!

[Stacey_E]

You'll see virtually no decrease in distance on your maximum drives by cutting your shaft. I saw an INCREASE in my AVERAGE drives because I'm hitting the sweetspot more often. But if you decrease your shaft by an inch without adding swingweight you are just asking for all manner of problems with your swing. Add 12 grams of head weight for every 1" you decrease the shaft.

When your driver starts to hit and stop without rolling you have too much loft. It's up to you how little loft you want. Some prefer a big carry, some prefer a big roll.