Lacking distance differential between longer clubs??

[tonto]

I am a 76 year old golfer that is concerned about the decreasing length of my golf shots. To better understand the situation, I have recorded the distance of each of my golf shots over the past several months such that I now have a statistical significant set of data. I have found that my median 1 wood shot is 158 yards, while down four clubs, to my 5 hybrid, the median distance is 147 yards. The other three clubs are in-between. In other words, I have a total 11 yard differential between my five longest clubs. The shaft lengths and lofts of these clubs are standard for a senior. This does not seem reasonable. Can anybody explain it? The distance and differential of my irons and wedges are about as expected for an admitted short hitter.

[Rich1212]

Its very simple.  If you driver swing speed is around 77 or less, change shafts to a Ladies flex. (assuming your using a senior flex now)

You shafts are not working for you.  In other words, your swing speed is not loading the shaft on the down swing and allowing it to transmit its power into the rear of the ball.  Go to a golf store, swing some ladies shafted clubs.  You will find our yardages spreading out.

With normally lofted clubs, you should find around 6 to 8 yards difference between clubs.  The driver will have a larger spread because it has a longer shaft.

[tonto]

Rich:

Thank you for your reply. However, I think my driver swing speed is greater than 77 mph. I occasionally get a drive off of 200 yards, but it is rare.

Ron

[TimS65]

I THINK its quite normal for the lower lofted clubs to bunch together with slower swing speeds. I don't know the physics behind it, but I suspect it's because the ball doesn't get enough air time at lower speeds to counteract the lowering lofts.

[Phil McGleno]

I have found that my median 1 wood shot is 158 yards

You should carry a high lofted driver, a 25 degree hybrid, a 7-iron, a 9-iron, a sand wedge, and a putter and just play golf with those clubs.-At your swing speed you will not hit very big gaps between most of your clubs. They all have to fit in between what you hit your driver and what you hit your sand wedge.

[mvmac]

You should carry a high lofted driver, a 25 degree hybrid, a 7-iron, a 9-iron, a sand wedge, and a putter and just play golf with those clubs.-At your swing speed you will not hit very big gaps between most of your clubs. They all have to fit in between what you hit your driver and what you hit your sand wedge.

Right, at a slower swing it's going to be tough to see much differential between clubs.

[Rich1212]

If you only "occasionally" get a 200 yard drive, your swing speed is under 77.  82MPH club head speed with good contact should give you 225  230 air carry plus roll out.

low lofted clubs will really penalize you at slow speeds.  The do not give you enough air time to get much different distance.

Do you know what your speed is with a driver 3 wood 5 wood 3 iron?  Spin rates?

Don't let the flex of a shaft bother you.  X, R, M, A, Sr, W, L are just letters.  Pay no attention to them. Get the shaft that works for you.

Here are your choices.

1. accept what you have now

2. learn to play the ball forward with a body tilt and hold the tilt thru the swing (adds loft)

3. develop the timing of a tour pro and barely flip your wrist at contact adding loft.

4. get clubs/shafts that work for you, not against you.

The only thing that will bunch up your low lofted clubs is a shaft not working.  If your swing speed is over 80 then you should hit your 3 wood around 200 yards.  When I try and hit a X shaft driver now, it barely goes past 210.  When I hit a Sr., its 240-250. Why?  The Sr. shaft with the proper kick for me lets the shaft properly load up and transfers more energy at impact.

Go to a reputable shop, have them check your speed and match shafts to what your doing.

I'm 65 now and my swing has slowed down.   It has gone from 106 to 108 as a youngster (stiff shaft) to the mid 90s midlife (regular flex) and now around 86 87(senior flex) driver speed now.

If you don't play proper equipment fitted to our style, swing, game, you will struggle.

You provided the key indicator yourself  "I occasionally get  one over 200 yards".  Driver should go easily beyond that with any speed over 80.  I am a perfect example.  When I saw my regular flex starting to shorten up and losing distance, I changed shafts and the distances came back. A golf club shaft is not just a stick.  It is made with precise flex centered at a particular point on the shaft. It has a kick basically 3 different spots.  Low kick, mid kick, high kick and differing weight in grams.  You have a shaft problem, pure and simple. Get fitted for shafts.

I cant count the number of people that come for a lesson because they cant get any distance.  Assuming they strike the ball reasonably clean with a square club face and have a decent swing, its is the shaft 100 percent of the time.

Believe what you want but if you swing 85ish, with proper launch angles, you Driver should go well over 200, your 3 wood 200 -205 and 5 wood will play from 185 to 195.  I say proper launch angles for one reason.  The less spin you put on a ball, the farther it will air carry and roll out farther.   Check your spin rates and launch angles with your clubs while your at it.

[TimS65]

I'd have to disagree with the previous post. All the charts I've read, and my experience, point to a driver swing speed of 95 to 100 mph to get 220/230 carry (250 total). If measuring the swing speed of the irons at 80mph then that's different - there's usually around 15/20 mph difference between mid irons and driver speeds due to the difference in shaft lengths.

[Lihu]

I'd have to disagree with the previous post. All the charts I've read, and my experience, point to a driver swing speed of 95 to 100 mph to get 220/230 carry (250 total). If measuring the swing speed of the irons at 80mph then that's different - there's usually around 15/20 mph difference between mid irons and driver speeds due to the difference in shaft lengths.

He's talking about perfect contact in still air with roll and not carry only with the proper loft of maybe 13-15 degrees? Here's an [URL=http://www.golfwrx.com/296951/how-adjusting-your-driver-loft-changes-your-ball-flight/]article[/URL].

[Skenny]

Tonto, ....... interesting post, to me, because my 3H, 4W, 3W, and driver tend to bunch up around 185 - 205 yards. You are probably more consistent than me, but like you said, it does not seem reasonable. In my case (I'm 57 with below avg swing speed, 80s), I think it is attributable to a flaw (poor contact consistency, or could be partly due to something with clubs/shafts) that manifests itself more noticeably in the longer clubs due to less control of the club face. I know that "toe-hits' are part of it..... I can get relatively straight ball flight, but the toe hits don't go too far.

When I do get pure contact with the driver (maybe 2 or 3x out of 10), it will carry 220 - 225 and roll out 240 or better. Probably half of my shots have some degree of top spin, side spin, sky-spin, toe-hit, and/or heel-hit tendencies, more so on the long clubs..... not so bad they go OOB, but enough to compromise distance.

[dave s]

Tonto,

What you stated certainly sound reasonable for a player with your club head speed.  You got me by 20 years, but I see similar distance issues between my driver and NEXT longest clubs in the bag.  Here's what I'm talking about:

1. Driver goes 200-225 ... sometimes even less

2. I carry a 3-wood but only use it on a 190+ yard par 3 on my home course

3. I carry and use a TM high-launch 5w 21 degree loft that goes 180

4. #4 hybrid that goes about 170 but only use it on par 3s that are in that range

5. #5 hybrid 160-165.

When you consider the difference between driver and 5-hybrid in my bag, the differential is really only about 35-50 yards.

As others have mentioned, you may want to consider removing those clubs where no appreciable distance advantage exists.  Here's what I mean:  On par-5 holes, I'll hit driver and either the 5-wood (if I have a good lie in the fairway) or a 5-hybrid to eat up yards and get me to wedge range and inside 110, if possible.  So we're talking about 210 off the tee, another 180 down the fairway and 110 into a 500 yard par-5 green.  If I have to hit the 5-hybrid, I might be out 130 and hitting 8-iron.

No shame in removing clubs you don't hit well or that produce intended results.  Nothing worse than rolling a 3-wood off the deck for a 2nd shot on a par 5 hole.  Use that 'go-to' club that eats up yardage and gets you to your scoring clubs.

At a recent driver fitting, my swing speed was 82-85 mph.  I asked about senior flex shafts and the fitter said those shafts were recommended for swing speeds around 75 mph.  My 5-wood is a senior-flex shaft and it's the only club that I regularly leave out to the right.  And that's exactly what the fitter said I'd see with my swing speed and a move toward senior-flex shafts.

dave

[jcjim]

.You didn't mention how old your clubs are.....Many of the new drivers offer high launch shafts with low bend points and higher loft heads that will give you higher launches...14+ degree drivers are available...they could very well increase you distances...If you have a big box store most have monitors  they can help you greatly...but remember to bring your driver for a direct comparison to anything else you hit..

Then If I only had 11 yards difference between 5 clubs I would just carry the longest and the shortest...Then I would work on a longer club just under your driver to increase your 2 club distance...In other words if you can get a say 175/185 driver plus a 160/165 second club then you have approx.335/350 distance combined...

Then pick the tees you play from....to allow you to come close to the longer par 4's...

[Mike Boatright]

Don't worry about just have fun with the game. Your swinging about 50-70 mph a possible cause is your just not strong enough to swing the driver it's to heavy.