Advice on a new driver.

[1chaos52]

After a few weeks off from golf due to injury I went to the driving range this weekend and ended up snapping the shaft on my driver. The odd part is that I did not hit the ground or anything, it snapped when I hit the ball. It was the original Rocketballz driver and lasted about 3 years and went through hell with my swing for the first 2 years of that.

I am a 20 handicap now after taking some lessons last year and learning how I should be hitting the ball. I am actually hitting really well so far this year and think my handicap will go down some if I can get my short game improvements sorted out.

Anyway, thinking I will buy a new driver this week and am looking for some advice. The two I have looked at so far are the TM Jetspeed and the Ping G25 (I have the G25 irons too). Unfortunately I got to the local golf shop a little late yesterday so only got a couple swings with each.

With my old driver, it was a regular flex shaft. I am thinking I will switch to a stiff shaft as my swing speed is much higher now that I am swinging better. My general misses with it were blocks to the right and sometimes (but rarely) a straight pop-up that did not break 200 yards. So far early this year there has been a block with a slight fade which has been problematic. A good drive is usually 260 - 280.

So, in all what I am looking for is something that is forgiving. I do not plan on working the ball much at this point so not worried too much about that. If I want to work the ball, I can do that to some extent with my hybrids.For now I want something that will go fairly straight with decent distance.

I will be going back to the golf shop on Thursday to try some out. What suggestions do you have?

[saevel25]

With my old driver, it was a regular flex shaft. I am thinking I will switch to a stiff shaft as my swing speed is much higher now that I am swinging better. My general misses with it were blocks to the right and sometimes (but rarely) a straight pop-up that did not break 200 yards. So far early this year there has been a block with a slight fade which has been problematic. A good drive is usually 260 - 280.

So, in all what I am looking for is something that is forgiving. I do not plan on working the ball much at this point so not worried too much about that. If I want to work the ball, I can do that to some extent with my hybrids.For now I want something that will go fairly straight with decent distance.

I will be going back to the golf shop on Thursday to try some out. What suggestions do you have?

If you pop it up like that, stop hitting down on the ball. You are probably catching it near the crown of the driver.

Both clubs are forgiving. If you go with either I would recommend getting them cut down to at least 45 inches. Just to help with control. Jetspeed is 46 inches long and that is just crazy stupid.

[1chaos52]

I definitely noticed that the JetSpeed did feel longer and I was a little thrown off by it. The G25 definitely did not feel as long. Luckily when I go on Thursday I will have some time to hit them and will be able to do so on a range and not just the monitor.

As far as hitting down on the ball, I know I was doing that and have corrected it for the most part and am generally now hitting up at it. I used to get my head way in front of the ball during my downswing which caused that. I have corrected it for the most part, but very occasionally still feel myself doing that.

[COBRAboy]

I would say g25 is a better driver but the freeE fairway or rescue is hard to beat with the jetspeed. Don't think you could go wrong either way. Try out the cobra bio cell. You will be amAzed and it might win you over

[hacker101]

Get yourself on a monitor, try all the drivers out there and narrow it down to a couple before you make up your mind.

My father in Law, son and myself all play a G25 driver and love it but that does not mean it is for everyone. I did try the JetSpeed about a month ago did not see any improvement or extra distance so I keep what I had.

[backNine29]

The TaylorMade RBZ model is pretty good...

[1chaos52]

I have to admit I am becoming a bit put off by Taylormade. I have had two drivers from them over the past years and both broke in some way after about 2 years. Granted my swing was pretty ugly before taking lessons, but I still have (and occasionally play) an old Adams Tight Lies driver that I have had forever and the thing looks like new and has never had an issue and has seen more playing and practice time than the 2 TM's combined. The shaft on my RBZ broke after 2 years. The head on my R7 cracked after 2-3 years. While I like the old Adams driver, it is easily 20-30 yards shorter than newer ones and can be difficult to hit straight or else I would play that until it dies.

[saevel25]

I have to admit I am becoming a bit put off by Taylormade. I have had two drivers from them over the past years and both broke in some way after about 2 years. Granted my swing was pretty ugly before taking lessons, but I still have (and occasionally play) an old Adams Tight Lies driver that I have had forever and the thing looks like new and has never had an issue and has seen more playing and practice time than the 2 TM's combined. The shaft on my RBZ broke after 2 years. The head on my R7 cracked after 2-3 years. While I like the old Adams driver, it is easily 20-30 yards shorter than newer ones and can be difficult to hit straight or else I would play that until it dies.

Newer drivers are thinner and lighter. Its only natural that they are not as durable as older drivers. Look at Phil, he cracked his Callaway driver a few times before.

[1chaos52]

Well, after a couple of weeks trying new drivers  (and battling injury which is why it took so long) I finally made a decision. One of the last ones that I tried I simply hit better than the rest. I ended up with the Callaway X2 Hot.

The final decision came down to the Taylormade JetSpeed, The Ping G25, and the Callaway.

The TM I hit fairly decently. I am not a long hitter but was able to hit it around 250 fairly straight.

As much as I love my Ping G25 irons, the driver was not for me. Every shot I hit was dead straight, but short. I can hit my 1 hybrid 220 - 230, and I was having a hard time breaking 240 with this one.

The Callaway X2 Hot I did not like at first. For some reason every shot with it at first was blocked right. I found that  the club head was deceiving me somehow and it made me put the ball in the middle of my stance instead of forward. Once I got the eye for it, that all changed. I was hitting the ball straight or with a slight draw and getting it out there between 260 and 280 every time with a max of 290. Since I can hit it relatively straight or with a draw and blow past the other clubs, this was an easy decision. That and the fact that they were having a one day sale for $100 off the price. I hit is again yesterday at the range> I ended up with a 9 degree that I have set to 10 standard and the amazing results with the driver continued (with of course a few mishits and bad shots).

[03SMURF]

I agree that the X2 hot's have pretty decent pop to them. I have a 9* head and a 5.5* pro head. The 9* head would be great for anyone who needs to hit their driver higher. I'm actually gonna sell mine soon hopefully.