Launch Monitor Numbers, can someone tell me what loft of driver and shaft combination you'd recommend, really new to this stuff.

[blackie2]

Swing Speed: 85.36 Ball Velocity 122.7 Launch Angle 16.1 Ball Spin 2302 Carry 196.3 Total 216.9 PTR 143.9

All of these are based on using a Taylormade R7 425 9.5*, Stiff, driver, standard length and lie. Thanks for your help.

[groovezilla79]

Really it's going to depend on the driver head. I would say with your SS, a regular shaft would be better suited. However, that will definitely change the launch angle. With your ball speed, you're already at the ideal launch angle. However, you need to get your RPMs up.... A LOT. As Ross Perot used to say: Take a look at this chart.

A good place to start would probably be a 9.5* driver with a regular shaft. Should help get more RPMs. Good Luck!

[Stretch]

Honest answer, unless the main problem is that you can't hit your current driver straight, then you don't really need a new one. From a distance point of view, you are already very close to the theoretical maximum carry for your swing speed, which (according to my copy of "Common Sense Clubfitting") is 198 yards.

If you mainly want a new driver just because you want a new driver (not that there's anything wrong with that ), then there's some data missing from your LM session that makes recommendations difficult. With a 16 degree launch, you clearly hit your 9.5 degree club quite a lot higher than most people would, which is a positive because you definitely need the added effective loft to maximize your carry distance. But without knowing your angle of attack (AoA) we can't really tell if that's accomplished by hitting the ball well on the upswing (good) or by getting the clubhead well in front of the hands at impact (not so good).

[blackie2]

I'm very consistent hitting the ball on the upswing with my hands ahead of the clubface.

[Stretch]

Originally Posted by blackie2

I'm very consistent hitting the ball on the upswing with my hands ahead of the clubface.

Well then, again, you seem to have roughly the right driver setup already. For your swing speed and a 5 degree upward angle of attack, you should be looking for about 11 degrees of effective loft from your driver for maximum carry distance. Assuming an average shaft contribution of 1.6 degrees (from the forward bending of the tip at impact), your current head gives you 9.5 degrees + 1.6 degrees = 11.1 degrees.

The only ways you are going to hit the ball significantly further are either to generate more club head speed (easier said than done, right?) or make better contact. Your smash factor of 1.44 is decent, but if you were to be theoretically perfect at 1.50 you could, on paper, eke out nine more yards of carry.

[blackie2]

Would putting a regular shaft in my current driver improve my distance?