high driver flight

[imtomtomim]

I had a fantastic driver day today but my ball flight bothered me a bit. I was working it fine, but I'm starting to find my flight to be way too high. My low trajectory shots rose way over the treetops (the trees around here are around 60-70 feet tall. My high ones went even higher. I was carrying about 280 with not much roll at the end due to the height. Now, I like having it just land and not run off to trouble, helped me play in good spots today, BUT, a ball flight that high had potential to get me into a lot of trouble due to winds and stuff. I did notice it go off line a bit, but today was only about 10mph gusts so I was fine. My current driver is a r7 draw 9.0* with the stock shaft REAX Fujikara Stiff. Is that just the nature of this club? Do I need a new driver? I like this one but is this a miss match? Would an x-flex shaft fix this much height?

Thanks for your replies.

[Kcas77]

A new shaft would be the best solution since you already seem to like your driver. Try to get fitted for a shaft with your current driver.

[Vince]

First inexpensive thing to try would be to move the ball back in your stance you could be simply impacting the ball with too much upswing. You should only increase shaft flex if you have the swing speed for it.

[imtomtomim]

First inexpensive thing to try would be to move the ball back in your stance you could be simply impacting the ball with too much upswing. You should only increase shaft flex if you have the swing speed for it.

Well, I just recently moved my ball position further up because I used to play it back a little bit but did not give me enough room to square up. I don't have enough time to practice enough to get my hands fast to square further back and truthfully, that gets me a hook on misses which I've been trying to eliminate this year. Maybe I am teeing it too far forward or too high but the thing is, the ball less than 1/4th above the club, most of the time, the ball is all below the top of the club, so how much upswing can I really get?

Now, do you know anything about shaft flexes or are you just throwing general wisdom at me? I only ask because I am really considering a re-shaft. I love the club but even last year when I started, it felt a bit whippy. If you want a swing speed number, watching my drives yesterday, I probably bumped up through the winter to about 115-118 mph (about 280 yards carry, sounds right right? valley conditions). Any feedback is appreciated.

[Mr3Putt]

If you want a swing speed number, watching my drives yesterday, I probably bumped up through the winter to about 115-118 mph (about 280 yards carry, sounds right right? valley conditions). Any feedback is appreciated.

Those are PGA tour quality numbers. If your math is right, I wouldn't change anything about your driver. At all. Ever. Not even the headcover. From USGA.com "The average driver swing speed on the PGA Tour is approximately 113 mph. There are some who swing at or higher than 120 mph, but they are clearly in the minority"

[Kcas77]

Those are PGA tour quality numbers. If your math is right, I wouldn't change anything about your driver. At all. Ever. Not even the headcover. From USGA.com "The average driver swing speed on the PGA Tour is approximately 113 mph. There are some who swing at or higher than 120 mph, but they are clearly in the minority"

That makes no sense when you could get more distance with a lower ballflight.

The pros can hit the ball a lot farther than they choose to because accuracy is much important to them than distance. If a simple shaft change were made would mean more distance and more control because wind wouldnt become such a factor.

[Mr3Putt]

That makes no sense when you could get more distance with a lower ballflight.

The OP is already carrying the ball further than the following listed players are driving the ball. As a matter of fact there are only 171 PGA tour players out driving him. Let me put it this way. With his numbers he's in the top 200 in driving distance IN THE WORLD. You would try and change that? Really? Does a lower ball flight always equate to more distance? (from PGA Tour.com first bold number is driving distance, sorry for poor formatting) Jim Furyk 84 279.7 45,864 164 T172 T172 Brian Davis 101 279.6 56,482 202 T172 T172 Heath Slocum 101 279.6 56,488 202 T172 T172 Scott Verplank 82 279.6 45,296 162 175 175 Nick O'Hern 72 279.3 37,985 136 176 176 Michael Boyd 61 278.7 31,767 114 177 177 Luke Donald 69 278.4 37,308 134 T178 T178 Tim Clark 66 278.1 35,594 128 T178 T178 Rocco Mediate 72 278.1 40,052 144 180 180 Shigeki Maruyama 84 277.7 46,091 166 181 181 Kirk Triplett 77 277.5 42,728 154 182 182 Stephen Leaney 82 277.4 45,499 164 T183 T183 Craig Kanada 109 277.2 58,222 210 T183 T183 Dean Wilson 92 277.2 51,010 184 T185 T185 Ben Curtis 80 277.1 44,334 160 T185 T185 Matt Kuchar 85 277.1 44,888 162 187 187 Doug LaBelle II 104 276.6 55,311 200 188 188 Jose Maria Olazabal 52 276.0 27,600 100 189 189 Mark Brooks 53 275.2 26,972 98 190 190 Craig Bowden 78 273.1 41,518 152 191 191 Jose Coceres 50 273.0 25,117 92 192 192 Paul Goydos 60 272.4 32,147 118 193 193 Fred Funk 65 271.8 33,165 122 194 194 Brian Gay 107 270.0 55,610 206 195 195 Gavin Coles 87 268.3 44,538 166 196 196 Corey Pavin 81 265.3

[imtomtomim]

The OP is already carrying the ball further than the following listed players are driving the ball. As a matter of fact there are only 171 PGA tour players out driving him. Let me put it this way. With his numbers he's in the top 200 in driving distance IN THE WORLD. You would try and change that? Really? Does a lower ball flight always equate to more distance? (from PGA Tour.com first bold number is driving distance, sorry for poor formatting)

First off, those are completely miss read numbers. Driving average statistics take into account every single tee shot they take, not including the par 3's. That includes all misses, as well as all tee shots taken with clubs besides the driver for example 3 wood. These are not their club distances. Furyk usually drives right around the 300's when I watch him. And truthfully, you have managed to turn my attempts at an answer to your own rant about driving distances. Please do not provide any more disrespects to me or any of the other posters who are honestly trying to help.

[Kcas77]

with a 115mph ss a x-flex would definatly be the best choice.

[Mr3Putt]

First off, those are completely miss read numbers. Driving average statistics take into account every single tee shot they take, not including the par 3's. That includes all misses, as well as all tee shots taken with clubs besides the driver for example 3 wood. These are not their club distances. Furyk usually drives right around the 300's when I watch him. And truthfully, you have managed to turn my attempts at an answer to your own rant about driving distances. Please do not provide any more disrespects to me or any of the other posters who are honestly trying to help.

First off I read the numbers correctly. If you think that they "use every single tee shot" including the par 3's please check the Source . Here's the explanation of how the PGA tour calculates those numbers: The average number of yards per measured drive. These drives are measured on two holes per round. Care is taken to select two holes which face in opposite directions to counteract the effect of wind. Drives are measured to the point at which they come to rest regardless of whether they are in the fairway or not I'm not ranting about anything. I was trying to save you the aggravation and expense of trying to improve your already impressive driving stats. How did you arrive at your 280 yard average measurement? I wonder if anyone else reading this possesses the skills to repeatedly drive the ball as well as you do? You and I are about the same handicap and my best drives don't go that far. If they did, I guarantee you I wouldn't be trying to change anything.

[imtomtomim]

If I were driving the ball well, I would not be posting this thread would I? I came here asking for help, not for you to vent your shortcomings or insecurities as a golfer. How do I know I drive 280? The same exact way I know my 56 goes 100 with a half choke, 110 full, 90 from 3/4ths, 70 from 1/2. You know your game, you know your yardages. Why are my drives 280? Because that's where I hit to. You want a reference? I drive the green of the 1st hole on my home course. 280 par 4, 25-30 feet incline. You want to know why you don't hit the ball 280? Maybe it's because you're not me. Maybe you didn't just finish up your collegiate carrear as a national level swimmer training over 5 hours a day. Maybe you aren't an athletics coach and understand the precise physics of athletic motion. But that's impossible, because we have the same handicap, so it's impossible for us to be different in any way...

[Mr3Putt]

If I were driving the ball well, I would not be posting this thread would I? I came here asking for help, not for you to vent your shortcomings or insecurities as a golfer. How do I know I drive 280? The same exact way I know my 56 goes 100 with a half choke, 110 full, 90 from 3/4ths, 70 from 1/2. You know your game, you know your yardages. Why are my drives 280? Because that's where I hit to. You want a reference? I drive the green of the 1st hole on my home course. 280 par 4, 25-30 feet incline. You want to know why you don't hit the ball 280? Maybe it's because you're not me. Maybe you didn't just finish up your collegiate carrear as a national level swimmer training over 5 hours a day. Maybe you aren't an athletics coach and understand the precise physics of athletic motion. But that's impossible, because we have the same handicap, so it's impossible for us to be different in any way...

Wow. And I'm the one accused of ranting? Happy Easter.