30 More Yards!

[saevel25]

I think the first drive had lower flight because it was a horrible strike more than having less spin to be honest, the second one was well struck but slight push.

Seriously, that one push was what 10 yards behind my ball. That is a good 15-20 yards past your normal drives. I wasn't particularly driving the ball well that day, but I hit that one driver decent enough. Even still, if you miss hit the club the ball still goes, it really is just stupid long how far the SLDR can hit a drive on a miss hit, especially lower on the clubface. Which is awesome for hitting up, because if you hit too up and catch it slightly lower, it still goes a LONG way.

This.

According to the simulator at my local Edwin Watts, my 7 iron goes 185 yards.  On the course, it carries about 160-165 yards.

Well that is just having common sense really. The thing about using a launch monitor is, you need to swing your clubs as well. Don't just take your real world data, swing your club on it to get a reference. Also a lot of simulators have the ground surface set as normal or hard, both of which are still harder than majority of any fairways you will ever see. Also, you got to be careful not to read off the full yardage on irons, but the carry. You rarely care about the roll out because hitting the green kinda negates that.

[Slice of Life]

Yup, everyone's different...only way to tell is to actually try the stuff out and compare. I went from a 10.5 degree regular flex Nike to an 8 degree stiff flex TM and gained yardage. They said I should go extra stiff, but I think I just need to slow my swing down a hair and gain more control instead of just changing equipment again lol. The occasional 300 yard drive is great, but when it's followed by 38 drives that net me 174 yards or OB penalties, it really just doesn't make sense...

[kpaulhus]

I went in yesterday to Golfsmith and played with their launch monitor for about 30 minutes. I kept my shaft I was fitted for in my previous driver but now have a 913 D2 instead of 910 D3 head. After hitting almost every setting I dialed it into a 45* launch angle netting me about 245 carry and 268-270 total drives (avg over 10 drives). I know on the course last week I had a 317 yard drive measured by GPS, but thats downhill downwind, ect. Its good to have a firm understanding of where I can hit the ball in total distance off the tee in general.

[Pretzel]

After hitting almost every setting I dialed it into a 45* launch angle

I seriously hope you mean a 45* landing angle. I know the mantra is high launch, low spin, but that kind of launch is ridiculous!:-P I myself have used a 10.5* Ping G10 driver since I got a real set of clubs five years ago. The higher loft still suits me to this day, even though my ball flight is usually higher with the irons and tee ball (surprisingly, I hit it much lower with my 3-wood and hybrids than my driver). I've tested lower and higher lofts in a couple different driver club heads (the SLDR, the G/i25, and the Titleist 913 D2) and found that he 10.5* option usually was the best for each of those clubs in testing! with the SLDR being an exception. I hit the SLDR best with an 11* setting! but it interestingly flew much lower than all the other clubs while going the same overall distance.

[sopel10]

Seriously, that one push was what 10 yards behind my ball. That is a good 15-20 yards past your normal drives. I wasn't particularly driving the ball well that day, but I hit that one driver decent enough. Even still, if you miss hit the club the ball still goes, it really is just stupid long how far the SLDR can hit a drive on a miss hit, especially lower on the clubface. Which is awesome for hitting up, because if you hit too up and catch it slightly lower, it still goes a LONG way.

Well that is just having common sense really. The thing about using a launch monitor is, you need to swing your clubs as well. Don't just take your real world data, swing your club on it to get a reference. Also a lot of simulators have the ground surface set as normal or hard, both of which are still harder than majority of any fairways you will ever see. Also, you got to be careful not to read off the full yardage on irons, but the carry. You rarely care about the roll out because hitting the green kinda negates that.

I purchased a new driver after comparing it to my old driver on many different simulators.  New club was averaging about 15 yards longer on the simulator.  Unfortunately, that is not the case in real life.

[saevel25]

I purchased a new driver after comparing it to my old driver on many different simulators.  New club was averaging about 15 yards longer on the simulator.  Unfortunately, that is not the case in real life.

Did you actually hit your current club at the simulator, or did you just assume that the simulator would correlate to your real life situation?

Many golfers just go in an hit balls, and see numbers. You HAVE to hit your club on a simulator. If there is a difference, then there should be a difference on the course. I would never look at total length, but look at carry distance only. Many of these simulators have way too hard settings for ground conditions, even on their normal settings.

As for me, I gained about 5-10 yards carry with my driver. In the summer I gained about 20 yards total distance because of the extra roll. In spring I wouldn't see this much distance because the ball doesn't roll out. So just things to have to take into consideration.

[sopel10]

Did you actually hit your current club at the simulator, or did you just assume that the simulator would correlate to your real life situation?

Many golfers just go in an hit balls, and see numbers. You HAVE to hit your club on a simulator. If there is a difference, then there should be a difference on the course. I would never look at total length, but look at carry distance only. Many of these simulators have way too hard settings for ground conditions, even on their normal settings.

As for me, I gained about 5-10 yards carry with my driver. In the summer I gained about 20 yards total distance because of the extra roll. In spring I wouldn't see this much distance because the ball doesn't roll out. So just things to have to take into consideration.

I hit my own driver on the simulator, and only the new bio cell plus was able to beat it, consistently.  So that is what I ended up buying (used).

I really like the ball flight (lower, I usually hit it too high), but after playing with it for 3 weeks or so, there is no question that it is shorter than my older driver.

[saevel25]

I hit my own driver on the simulator, and only the new bio cell plus was able to beat it, consistently.  So that is what I ended up buying (used).

I really like the ball flight (lower, I usually hit it too high), but after playing with it for 3 weeks or so, there is no question that it is shorter than my older driver.

Was the club you bought the one you demoed? Meaning is it the same loft, same shaft, ect?

What is your old driver and it's specs, compared to the new one (Loft, shaft, flex?)

[sopel10]

Was the club you bought the one you demoed? Meaning is it the same loft, same shaft, ect?

What is your old driver and it's specs, compared to the new one (Loft, shaft, flex?)

Same specs.  Ended up with Red Tie stiff, and I've got it cranked up all the way to 11 right now, b/c it still launches lower than my old driver.

Old Driver was Razr Hawk, stiff shaft with loft at 9 degrees. (shaft is .75 inch longer than in the cobra).

Swing speed about 108mph.

[saevel25]

Same specs.  Ended up with Red Tie stiff, and I've got it cranked up all the way to 11 right now, b/c it still launches lower than my old driver.

Old Driver was Razr Hawk, stiff shaft with loft at 9 degrees. (shaft is .75 inch longer than in the cobra).

Swing speed about 108mph.

Well how high are your drives going? If they are about 30 yards (90 feet high) then they are fine. My best guess is that you might not be use to the driver yet. That is a pretty low spinning driver, my best guess that you are probably hitting down with the driver. I would try to hit up on the ball and see how that goes. The new drivers really are designed to be hit up with, just optimizes the ball launch so much better.

[sopel10]

Well how high are your drives going? If they are about 30 yards (90 feet high) then they are fine. My best guess is that you might not be use to the driver yet. That is a pretty low spinning driver, my best guess that you are probably hitting down with the driver. I would try to hit up on the ball and see how that goes. The new drivers really are designed to be hit up with, just optimizes the ball launch so much better.

I come in very shallow and do tend to hit up on the ball.  I am finding about 10% more fairways, not complaining that much, but I used to be able to look at a bunker 240-250 away and be comfortable flying it, not so much right now.

I am currently going back to my old driver for a week or so, then I'll decide what I want to do.

[Pretzel]

That seems very odd to me. Is there any chance the club you bought used was damaged? If the clubhead didn't look damaged, did the club have a stock grip on it? It's easy to damage a graphite shaft if you're not careful by cutting too deep when replacing a grip. You would never even see that kind of damage when buying it either, since it's immediately covered back up by a new grip.

[sopel10]

That seems very odd to me. Is there any chance the club you bought used was damaged? If the clubhead didn't look damaged, did the club have a stock grip on it? It's easy to damage a graphite shaft if you're not careful by cutting too deep when replacing a grip. You would never even see that kind of damage when buying it either, since it's immediately covered back up by a new grip.

Original grip.  I still hit it solid, just not as far.

[Jeremie Boop]

Original grip.  I still hit it solid, just not as far.

Take that driver, go back to the place you tested the drivers before and hit it on the simulator again. See what happens. It could be that the driver you have is flawed somehow.

[sopel10]

Take that driver, go back to the place you tested the drivers before and hit it on the simulator again. See what happens. It could be that the driver you have is flawed somehow.

That is actually a great idea.  I shall do that.

[Spitfisher]

SLDR, stiff set on 12.0. with out a doubt ...... My longest drive is the one I hit the highest period ( previous loft was 9.5)  On a par 4 four of my home course I am one club closer.

[clutchshot]

That is actually a great idea.  I shall do that.

I have to agree. I get your point, people assume old distance and use simulator distance for new club, that don't work, but if you hit both on sim and one says it's longer, it should be longer....

[kpaulhus]

Here are my stats from the launch simulator, so yes, you are correct it was my decent angle not launch angle.