Is the 460cc driver too difficult to hit for amatuers?

[Lihu]

I feel pretty good at 46. Dang sure a lot more athletic than my folks pushing 70. Everyone has a different apex. So far I still haven't encountered many young guys that hit the ball further and in the intended direction as I do. I have played with older guys that absolutely kill it, lifetime golfer types. About the only thing I can't do like I used to is sprint.

True.

I didn't mean to say that 42 is old, I just never though of us as being "youngsters".

[boogielicious]

True.

I didn't mean to say that 42 is old, I just never though of us as being "youngsters".

You will when you hit 50!

[PeaKay]

I seem to have similar problems. This year, my larger head driver is doing nothing but starting right, staying right. I dropped back to my smaller driver and am staying in the fairway much more often. I need to get a tune up.

PK

[flopster]

With a big-ol' 460cc driver.......It's almost impossible not to make halfway solid contact with one of these.  I suspect you'll find it even more difficult to hit a smaller-head driver well.  my2 cents...

For me I can do just as well since the face dispersion will be fairly small when I'm swinging good, today may have been it though, by the 16th hole I had finally hit enough hooks that my friend had my old 400cc driver with a 70 gram shaft with him, I was able to hit the first 270 into a head wind and another 250 I caught off the toe on the same hole, just put my grip on it and will try it out tonight.

[idontknow]

the last driver i bought was the original olimar tri metal driver. used to hit it beautiful had shaft and grip fitted for me. i have always liked smaller heads. so now that i have picked up clubs again after 15 years got a screaming deal on a taylormade R7 super quad (20 bucks) so i hope this big thing works ill be keeping my old trusty in the bag for a bit :)

[Hammer 4]

You will when you hit 50!

And even more so when you get past 65....

[joekelly]

let's stop arguing about age and ability. i'm old and with only small ability so suffer greatly in comparison.  boo-hoo

Want to ask 'what is hot melt'?  I have used hot melt glue but 100 grams of that would be a goodly pile. Hot melt lead (Pb) maybe?

[Hammer 4]

let's stop arguing about age and ability. i'm old and with only small ability so suffer greatly in comparison.  boo-hoo

Want to ask 'what is hot melt'?  I have used hot melt glue but 100 grams of that would be a goodly pile. Hot melt lead (Pb) maybe?

Who's "arguing" about age...? Or did you just forget to add a smiley face..?

[Lihu]

let's stop arguing about age and ability. i'm old and with only small ability so suffer greatly in comparison.  boo-hoo

Want to ask 'what is hot melt'?  I have used hot melt glue but 100 grams of that would be a goodly pile. Hot melt lead (Pb) maybe?

Tungsten powder impregnated hot melt might be heavier, but even at 1gm/cm^3 regular hot melt would fill less than 1/4 of a 460cc head.

[boogielicious]

I did an interesting test the other day at Golfsmith.  I hit a 12* Taylormade SLDR mini (260cc), and 13.5* Titleist 913Fd (180cc) and a 10.5* Titleist 913D2 (460cc).  They were all stiff shaft.  I hit the Taylormade first and it felt pretty good with a slight draw.  The head felt fairly easy to control but the sound was a little dead to me at impact.  I was carrying about 200 with it.

Then on to the 913Fd.  This one I was carrying about 205.  Nice crisp sound at impact.  The head felt easy to control.  Hmm, maybe there is something to this.

Then finally the 913D2.  Carry 220 with a 10.5 degree head.  My launch angle was a little low, 12 degrees.  I currently use a 12 degree 910D2.  Side by side, the head did not feel any harder to control.  Shot dispersion was the same as the others but with 15 more yards.  This is obviously due to the shaft length and COR of the driver face.  they did not have a 12 deg to try.

So bottom line, I think the "difficulty" with controlling the driver is in my head more that in the club.  I recommend others try this and report back what they find.

[cubdog]

For me the look of the club head, as well as the feel,  is as important as the size. I used an early version of the Taylor Made Burner 460cc for years. It was, for me a great driver.  When it suffered a broken shaft I was eager to try the newer white version. Guess what? I hate it! I can't hit it straight to save my life. I don't like it's odd elongated head shape and it has no feel.

Eventually I switched to a Cleveland Classic. I love it's traditional head shape and it feels much like my original Burner. I hit it much better and straighter than the white Burner. as a bonus, it's brownish copper color appeals to my traditional golf values.

So, I guess what I'm saying to anyone who struggles with their driver, or any club for that matter, is start with the clubs looks. A club that's not appealing to the eye will likely be harder to hit than one that is appealing. Basic stuff but sometimes I think this get ignored.

cubdog