I may be going crazy... but driver losing its pop?

[dragonflyin]

I've had my Superquad for a couple of seasons now, and pretty much all of a sudden, I've lost 30+ yards of distance on the club. There is no noticeable damage, and I've taken good care of it. Instead of a 260 yard driver, I have a hard time getting it to go past 220. The hit feels just as solid, and has a similar trajectory, but I'm always surprised where it lands. Weird thing is that rest of my set has retained its usual distance, and I can now hit my 5-wood longer than my driver... any suggestions or similar experiences? I honestly don't know whether I want this to be a swing fault or an equipment breakdown...

[wrx_junki]

Use it as an excuse to get one of the new drivers that recently came into the market or the ones that are on sale!

This happens to my bowling balls. Their effectiveness expires with a certain amount of throws. Not sure how the structure of a driver is and how hitting it over and over effects it over time.

[LongballGer]

I've had my Superquad for a couple of seasons now, and pretty much all of a sudden, I've lost 30+ yards of distance on the club. There is no noticeable damage, and I've taken good care of it. Instead of a 260 yard driver, I have a hard time getting it to go past 220. The hit feels just as solid, and has a similar trajectory, but I'm always surprised where it lands. Weird thing is that rest of my set has retained its usual distance, and I can now hit my 5-wood longer than my driver... any suggestions or similar experiences? I honestly don't know whether I want this to be a swing fault or an equipment breakdown...

That is pretty weird. Maybe it broke from the inside. Go test some other drivers and see if you hit them longer than your current driver.

[firstcut]

Early on there were a few reports of the the superquads faces caving in. One of my buddies witnessed it on the driving range one day. It was pretty obvious though.

That said, a crack somewhere might be really hard to see/notice. I'd look it over again and see if you can find something. Either way, call TM and see if they are willing to help. They'd probably be OK with you sending it back to them to look at.

[deronsizemore]

Drivers are not suppose to lose their "pop." Especially ones that have only been used for a couple seasons as yours has.

Something must be broken internally that isn't visible to you. You're not going to lose something as big as 30 yards unless something weird is going on.

[obsessedgolfer]

I actually felt the same thing with my g5 in july but it was in the middle of junior tournament season so I didnt have the time to send my driver in so I just picked up a TM burner from the proshop.

[dragonflyin]

I actually felt the same thing with my g5 in july but it was in the middle of junior tournament season so I didnt have the time to send my driver in so I just picked up a TM burner from the proshop.

So did that solve your problem?...

[Long_Ball_Bogey]

Submerge it in water & wipe away any visible bubbles from the face/crown area. Hold it there for a while to see if any bubbles develop indicating a crack somewhere. Two seasons really shouldn't provide enough hits to weaken the face and decrease COR, but if the material or construction was faulty, it's definitely possible. --LBB

[marpr]

I have never heard of this ever happening.

From the symptoms you described (and the fact that your hitting your wood further), i would lean towards a structural fault with the driver.

As another member commented, i would submerge the driver in water to see if there is a minute crack somewhere on the crown/base.

failing that > you could always buy a new one! any excuse to bomb a few at your local store!

[jamesgoodchild]

One other area of consideration is the shaft. Any obvious new nicks or gouges on it? It is possible to separate some of the fibers which wouldn't be visible but would have a definite impact on flex and distance. I can't think of any home methods to check for that however the factory could test it.

[rwise44]

I notice when I grip it tighter and swing harder, I loose about the same distance. Loosening my grip as if it is a piece of spaghetti and swinging within the club gives me back all the distance and accuracy. I've never seen a club loose that much distance unless defected. Was there any impact that would give you reason to think it is structural?

[dragonflyin]

Well... an idiot friend of my hit it about 3-4 months ago and put a slight (very slight, almost unnoticeable) dent on the top of the club face. But this distance problem didn't occur until a couple of weeks ago, so I discounted this dent as the cause.

[squaddie]

The topic of an internally cracked driver came up when I had a lesson with a golf pro a few weeks ago, who knows how to build and repair clubs. He said during one tournament his driver suddenly lost distance and was hooking the ball far to the left. He attributed the problem to the driver being cracked on the inside, though he didn't go into detail what that meant.

He also said that's why one should never buy a used driver online, since you don't know if the club may have some internal problem, which would be the main reason why a person was selling it.

[ganjagolfer]

nothing to do with cold fall temps as you live in minnesota?

[Jay-Bird]

If you play 100 times a year and hit driver on every par 5 and most par 4s you'll hit it 1300-1400 times a year on the course. Plus driving range practice - could be anywhere from 50 to 2500 or more in a year. I would not discount the possibility that something could be wrong with it.

[Paddymaster]

I could imagine this happening. Like anything, it serves a limited time, but I can't be sure. I know from baseball, bats can lose their pop. I'm not sure if this applies here, but worse comes to worse, go to your local golf shop or something along these lines

[mako224]

What shaft is in it? Perhaps you are not loading the shaft the way you once were. If the shaft is stiff and you don't generate enough power there will be a dramatic loss of distance. Perhaps you were borderline with that shaft to begin with and something changed in your swing and now your swing is wrong for the shaft.

[goblue107501]

nothing to do with cold fall temps as you live in minnesota?

This was my initial thought. I know nothing about spin rates and air density so I am just shooting from the hip here, but if a ball off a driver spins less than a 5-wood, wouldn't it have more trouble cutting through the denser air? I have played quite a bit in cold weather and the distance is noticably different with the driver in most instances, but the distance with a wedge is about the same. Not to say there is nothing wrong with your driver but this could be a cause.