Driver control

[PrairieParson]

I am just getting back into golf after a long layoff. The other day I was playing and borrowed a TaylorMade Burner driver from a friend in our group. First hit was a high long draw about 300 yds. with is slight helping breeze. I was really impressed as it felt so good. I have subsequently gone to several stores and tried quite a few clubs but they all feel like the club is twisting in my hands when I hit them.

I am wondering a couple things.
1. Is this normal??
2. These clubs seem longer than they used to be. Is this causing more inconsistency for the impact point?
3. With such a long club don't you need a pretty stiff shaft to be consistent?
4. How much less control do you have with these drivers vs a driver with a small head from 10 yrs. ago??

[snaphook96]

  PrairieParson said:

I am just getting back into golf after a long layoff. The other day I was playing and borrowed a TaylorMade Burner driver from a friend in our group. First hit was a high long draw about 300 yds. with is slight helping breeze. I was really impressed as it felt so good. I have subsequently gone to several stores and tried quite a few clubs but they all feel like the club is twisting in my hands when I hit them.

Well you get more control with a 460cc(Big Head) because it has a lot more MOI(To straighten the club at Impact)

If you really want a straight driver check out the Callaway FT-9 or The FT-i They are both Square and have the maximun MOI allowed

[tsajjad]

the callways are pretty good i agree but try out the nike dymo 2 str8 fitf driver .. also square and a great deal straight.. but then again manouvering the ball becomes a headache with this particular club

[Dub]

  PrairieParson said:

I am just getting back into golf after a long layoff. The other day I was playing and borrowed a TaylorMade Burner driver from a friend in our group. First hit was a high long draw about 300 yds. with is slight helping breeze. I was really impressed as it felt so good. I have subsequently gone to several stores and tried quite a few clubs but they all feel like the club is twisting in my hands when I hit them.

I just got back into the game last year. I was amazed at the 460cc sticks...absolutely awesome developement. As you've found, though, they are not much good if the right shaft isn't installed. I think that squaring those massive heads puts a load on a shaft. The good news is there are tons of great shafts out there and more coming out every month. I suspect that you'll go nuts once you find 'your' shaft and mate it to a head you like. I don't generate all that much swingspeed...around 102 mph....so many of the stock offerings work okay for me. You are going to love it when you get the right combo.!!!!!! Try some of the Titleist drivers for starters. I'll bet you fall in love.

[WUTiger]

Prairie Parson,

I'm about 8 months ahead of you on this. I got a Callaway Hyper-X Tour driver (regular flex) at Thanksgiving. It's my first ever big-headed driver, and I had a learning curve for using it right.

A couple of things on control :
* Swing the club smoothly. The shafts are 1" to 2" longer than 10 years ago, so don't rush it. Staying with the shot seems like eternity at first, given the extra length.
* Experiment with height you tee the ball. I went online, and found several different - and conflicting - ways to do it. I ended up teeing it with the top of the ball just barely above above the top of the clubhead.
* To test for teeing height, get some StrikeNSwipe or similar impact labels to put on your driver face. You can then tell by the impact mark where on your clubface you hit the ball at different tee heights. The impact mark, coupled with actual flight of the ball, will help you determine how high to tee it.

Club twisting in your hands - Check what the torque is on the shaft. If you move well through the ball, you may need a shaft with lower torque. Shafts with higher torque help "square up" the clubface for people with less robust swings. Talk to a clubfitter about torque. They can tell you the details better than I can.

Welcome back to the Kingdom of Golf!

[PrairieParson]

This may take some time. My swing speed is about 115 with a 5 iron. I just felt like the driver was moving all over the place. No two hits felt the same. I don't have the best swing in the world, but I didn't think it was that bad. I can hit a 3 wood about 240+ without too much problem. With an old metal driver I could hit it 280 pretty consistently. Right now, it almost seem like more trouble than its worth to practice enough to hit the 460 heads right.

[aleski]

I'm right there with you. I just started playing after 8 years, walked to a golf shop where they claimed if I were to invest on new equipment, driver would have to be at the top of my list. So, I got myself a new Callaway Diablo -driver, since I was never extremely consistent, nor confident with my old driver. Diablo worked fine for a while, and true, mis-hits don't cost me as much as they did before, but recently I've found the big head hard to accelrate. I'm sure I'll get there, but for now whenever I have to hit a narrow fairway, I'll go for my 2- or 3-iron.

Overall, my swing feels better than it did 8 years ago, but swinging the driver feels awkward and my confidence-level with the driver is nowhere near where it should be.

[Scott_K]

I came off my 8 year break this year. Upgraded from a '99 TM bubble reg flex. Picked up the '09 Burner with the 49 Reax shaft. Not sure what that means, but I gather the 49 is the weight of the shaft. From what I understand, TM has a lot of different configurations. I was originally looking at the '07 since it was going for $150. The '09 was $300. I went in the next day and they dropped the '09 to $200, tried a google'd coupon and got it down to $170, so it was a no brainer to go for the '09.

As far as control, I feel like I have more control with the shaft difference (reg vs. stiff). The bigger head doesn't hurt either. I still laugh at the head because I feel like there's a grapefruit addressing the ball. It's very forgiving. I can hear when I'm a little off the screws, but even then, the ball goes far enough for a mishit. The old driver wouldn't allow that. I'm able to stand over every tee shot with confidence. I've out driven bunkers which never use to be in play for me.

I tried the Diablo, the R9s felt weird to me and a few of the Titleists. The '09 Burner just felt like home at address. The Diablo would be my 2nd choice. Even though the shaft is a little longer, it doesn't feel that long for some reason. I hold it at the butt of the club. I don't know too much about shafts other than general flex. My clubhead speed averaged 105 with a ball speed around 150 at the store. Still trying to find a comfortable swing speed and tee height.

Didn't do too much research. Spent a couple of days reading and trying a few clubs and pulled the trigger. If I did my normal research, I'd be still looking for a driver. I've been in the hunt for a gap wedge the past few weeks and now I'm stuck over analyizing.

Ten years of tech is insane.

[Thaddy]

I've heard that a driver with a shorter shaft length will greatly increase the control. I believe Sergio is now playing a driver with a shorter shaft. I assume you will give up some distance, but I'd rather be 280 out in the fairway than 300 out in the long stuff.

[Replay]

  tsajjad said:

the callways are pretty good i agree but try out the nike dymo 2 str8 fitf driver .. also square and a great deal straight.. but then again manouvering the ball becomes a headache with this particular club

yeeaaaah Nike Dymo2!!

[PrairieParson]

Got a quickie club fitting today. Started with a 20 year old standard size driver head. I could hit that OK. 94 MPH club head speed. Tried several drivers, but all the hits felt off center and club kept twisting in my hand. Put tape on the face. Hitting the ball too close to the heel. I moved back a little, made a few small adjustments. Started hitting the Mizuno MP-600 dead square with 100MPH club head speed. Great feel. 240 yd carry according to the computer. Will buy club tomorrow.

[aleski]

  Thaddy said:

I've heard that a driver with a shorter shaft length will greatly increase the control. I believe Sergio is now playing a driver with a shorter shaft. I assume you will give up some distance, but I'd rather be 280 out in the fairway than 300 out in the long stuff.

I want to get a few inches off mine.

[golfnuub]

  Thaddy said:

I've heard that a driver with a shorter shaft length will greatly increase the control. I believe Sergio is now playing a driver with a shorter shaft. I assume you will give up some distance, but I'd rather be 280 out in the fairway than 300 out in the long stuff.

i agree 100%. i have heard most pros use shorter shafts, something around 43.5-44.5inch's.

[WUTiger]

In the day of persimmon-headed woods - with actual wooden heads - the standard steel shaft length for a men's driver was 43.5 inches.

In modern large-headed drivers, graphite shafts normally run from 44.5 inches on up.

Shorter shafts will help control, but also will increase stiffness of shaft. Talk to a club repair person to find out how this plays out in graphite shafts. The effect will vary from model to model. Also, don't trim a graphite shaft yourself unless you know what you're doing.

[Thaddy]

  aleski said:

I want to get a few inches off mine.

I've been using my 46" Callaway BB460/ProLaunch Blue combo a lot lately since my XCV-G is on the bench while I decide what shaft to purchase. Whatever I decide upon, it's most likely going to be cut down to 44.5" or 45" and will be heavier than the ProLaunch Blue. I have seen excellent results with Grafalloy products, so it'll probably end up being the Platinum or Red. That's

if I don't splurge on the Motore F1

[pinhigh27]

  PrairieParson said:

This may take some time. My swing speed is about 115 with a 5 iron. I just felt like the driver was moving all over the place. No two hits felt the same. I don't have the best swing in the world, but I didn't think it was that bad. I can hit a 3 wood about 240+ without too much problem. With an old metal driver I could hit it 280 pretty consistently. Right now, it almost seem like more trouble than its worth to practice enough to hit the 460 heads right.

If you swing 115 with a 5 iron, you better be hitting your 3 wood a good bit farther than 240.

[JSwiney10]

  pinhigh27 said:

If you swing 115 with a 5 iron, you better be hitting your 3 wood a good bit farther than 240.

115 is my average 8 iron, lol

[Wazzu8]

  JSwiney10 said:

115 is my average 8 iron, lol

Really? What is your driver SS?