9.5 degree driver?

[WUTiger]

Got fitted for driver about 18 months ago. Old Air Zevo driver had stiff, high launch shaft + 9* head with a little offset. Had an 18* launch angle with big loss in distance over pervious two seasons.

Tried Hyper X Tour in the sig and other similar drivers. Hyper X Tour had midkick shaft, and I tried it in 9.5* and 10.5*. Basically, every other shot with 9.5* came off a low burner about 4 feet off the ground. With 10.5*, I got better launch - 13* - and more consistent loft-trajectory.

I have about 85 mph swingspeed, and fitter told me that drivers with the lower lofts work best for players with higher swingspeeds (assuming shafts held equal).

[Crey23]

Ronald the answer is yes, no , and all of the above... it really depends...the combination of shaft/head/loft/MOI/etc, create very different conditions on all drivers...

Personally I switched from a 10.5 to a 9.5 with great success, but I attribute this primarily to the shaft, more than the loft. Here are some of my specs and results at the time I bought my driver in Jan-10:

SS: 85 - 96
BS: 101-126
Launch angle 13.5* - 14.5* (consistently) previously at 17* - 19* I was pretty impressed
Spin: 4900 rpm (this is a full 1000 rpm less than other clubs I tried)
Ball Travel height: ~26 Ft instead of 37...

Once i got loose, I started hitting slight draw, between 3 and 7 yard off center.

I have since improved on these stats... I can't tell you with definitive numbers, but my from my results on the course. When I got this in Jan-10 I was driving avg 242 with a slight slice. Now I am Averaging 257 with a long drive of 282. I have gone from 57% right of fairway (31% fairway hit) to 42.2% fairway hits, 20% left, and 37% right.

Now that I have had time to use it a bit, I am still extremely satisfied with my purchase.

With my 10.5 r7 CBG max I was hitting slices that landed on the adjacent fairways....

[ohiolefty]

It depends. I play a 9.5 degree driver because I feel I need to work the ball more with my driver than with any club in my bag. The 10.5 driver is more consistent as far as being straight...but I'd lose out on a lot of things. I also had a harder time hitting low balls into wind with a 10.5, which is a big concern of mine given the amount of wind on my home course.

[ronaldkuntoro]

Ronald the answer is yes, no , and all of the above... it really depends...the combination of shaft/head/loft/MOI/etc, create very different conditions on all drivers...

Crey, How much roll do you get with your current driver ? You got a lot of distance considering your swing speed is only 86-96 Mph.....

My swing speed is around 92-96 Mph.... When I hit a solid shot, I get around 230-250 yards....

[ronaldkuntoro]

Bump..........

[Crey23]

Crey, How much roll do you get with your current driver ? You got a lot of distance considering your swing speed is only 86-96 Mph.....

Hey Ronald...my roll I can't tell you with certainty from on-course play. When I was on the launch monitor, i was getting about 15 to 20 yards, but I am not certain that is 100%. I can say the my longest drive was due to a very favorable roll...i hit the fairway on the top of a very slight downhill slope that assisted the roll.

Regarding Swing speed...I posted those numbers back in Jan. I have since worked a bit on mechanics, and I really think that I have improved. I would say that I am more consistenely swinging around 94-98 ( I think), because I have seen the results in my distance. Before I bought the r7 Limited, I was averaging in the low 240's with my longest at 253, but I was closer to high 230's more often. I have to say on miss-hits I am still getting 225-230. For me it has to do with the r7 Limited combination, which suited my style more than the r7 cbg Max one did, and thus I was able to improve control on my driving. I made a few adjustments to my swing, primarily stance consistency and working on producing lag, by improving rotation backwards, and through the ball. I picked up a book on Amazon by Tamayo called Finally: The golf swing's simple sectret . I found this book to put it in very easy to understand term how to properly swing the club....any club, with sections on woods, irons, and wedges. I really attribute most of my recent success on the course to the techniques in this book. Checkit out at Amazon...Kindle version $1.00, and soft cover $15. GREAT READ!!!!!

[Fozcycle]

Unless you're a single digit HCapper, you should be using a 10.5* Driver.

I was using a Cobra L5V 11.5* Regular Diamana White shaft.......hitting only 190 - 210....BUT staying in the fairway.

I switched to the PowerBilt Air Force One, 2nd Gen, 10.5* Regular fujikura shaft.....now hitting 205 - 250 and staying in the fairway.

Moving back to the 10.5* got me more distance and with the PowerBilt nitrogen charged clubface, I am able to keep it in the fairway, as it is more forgiving than others, due to the Trampoline effect of the thinner clubface (2.6 mm). My swingspeed is 87 mph and most other Drivers are tuned to 110 MPH swing speeds, so you do not get any Trampoline effect when you hit the ball. The Powerbilt does.