need some reassurance on a driver purchase..

[josef]

well, i'm new to the game.. i can hit my irons pretty well (for a newbie), but my 3 wood .. not so good. I have been wanting to get a driver, but nothing too expensive as I am still learning and will probably be hitting the ball allll over the face/head.. I really want to work on hitting my 3 wood & driver next as that is my weakest spot right now..

anyway, Edwin Watts had a huge tent sale this weekend and I picked up a driver mainly b/c it was a good deal (or so i thought..). It is a Ping G5 (w/ TFC100D Graphite) in regular flex. This is all fine and dandy except that i got suckered into getting the 9° as they didn't have the 10.5° (or more) that i was looking for.. It was $129.95 but he lowered it to $110 as he needed to get rid of it. It was a demo that he said was hit only about 3-5 times.. It looks perfect. I told him I didn't think a 9° would be best for me being new to Golf and he (a PING rep) told me that it would be fine for "As strong as you are.." (haha) .....my thoughts were 1) he's buttering me up to make a sale & 2) a $300 club for 110.. SOLD!

Anyway, can anyone tell me if I made a mistake.. I mean i don't care if I'll lose 10, even 20 yards right now.. but I shouldn't have too much of a problem getting it up in the air.. right? My first chance to hit it will be this week at the range..

i guess i just would like someone to say.. nah, it won't matter too much.. let er rip!! ... or something to that nature.. maybe it would ease my mind a bit.. haha

[Free Ballin]

What is you r normal ball flight? What I mean is do hit the ball high with your long irons and 3 wood? If you get the ball up then you will probalby need a lower lofted driver. If you have trouble getting the ball in the air then you may need the 10.5°. I have the same driver in the same loft I and still feel like I hit the ball to high.

Oh yeah, It should be fine!!! let er rip!!

Hope this helps

[josef]

What is you r normal ball flight? What I mean is do hit the ball high with your long irons and 3 wood? If you get the ball up then you will probalby need a lower lofted driver. If you have trouble getting the ball in the air then you may need the 10.5°. I have the same driver in the same loft I and still feel like I hit the ball to high.

yeah, that makes sense.. well, when i hit my 3 wood correctly, it's probably a little higher than it should be.. I just haven't been able to hit it consistently yet.. workin on that

i can't wait to get out there and try the driver out..

[Shindig]

What's their return policy? I bought my first driver - an 8.5 degree TaylorMade - under similar circumstances here. The shop had a 90-day 100% money back guarantee. Two weeks later, I returned it for a 9.5, and then returned that for the same club with a regular flex shaft (cheaper than reshafting!).

In short, give it a try for a bit, especially if it's returnable.


My understanding of it is that a higher loft will get the ball higher and reduce sidespin. If I'm right, and if those aren't issues for you, nine degrees should help just fine.

[follyforhire]

i can hit my irons pretty well (for a newbie), but my 3 wood .. not so good. I have been wanting to get a driver, but nothing too expensive as I am still learning and will probably be hitting the ball allll over the face/head.. I really want to work on hitting my 3 wood & driver next as that is my weakest spot right now..

nah, it won't matter too much.. let er rip!!

Seriously, congratulations on the new club. Take it to the range. You might find that with the increased head/face size and MOI you hit it better than you do your 3-wood. Good luck. Plus, I wonder how much difference in sidespin, launch angle, etc. 1.5 degrees in a driver can really make. There are probably folks on this site who can speak to that, but I just can't imagine the difference is anything more than marginal. Going from, say, 12 degrees down to 8, maybe... Any thoughts? And again, let er rip!

[fusioncal]

well, i'm new to the game.. i can hit my irons pretty well (for a newbie), but my 3 wood .. not so good. I have been wanting to get a driver, but nothing too expensive as I am still learning and will probably be hitting the ball allll over the face/head.. I really want to work on hitting my 3 wood & driver next as that is my weakest spot right now..

I'd choose option 1: He's buttering you up to make a sale. (Hey it's a closeout sale and everything has to go

). I'd say that a beginner should get as much help as he/she can even if that means high lofted driver. Why? Because I'd assume you don't have or haven't developed the "swing" yet. In other words, your swing is still sloppy and inconsistent, but do correct me if I'm wrong. If in fact it's true, you'd have trouble of getting the ball airborne to get the max carry distance. Furthermore, less lofted driver generally has more open face than high lofted driver. For instance, 10.5 degree has 1.5 degree closed face angle, while the 9.5 deg only has 0.5 closed face angle. 1 degree more open face usually translates to slice for beginner. My suggestions is that you should not think too much of what I've just wrote. Just keep focusing on building the swing instead of the shots. Excellent swing = amazing result. Remember it's all skill. P.S: Just let 'er rip!!

[josef]

nah, it won't matter too much.. let er rip!!

this sounds good.. thanks podnuh.

[Jaybone]

I'd choose option 1: He's buttering you up to make a sale. (Hey it's a closeout sale and everything has to go

I agree, I have hit 10.5 Drivers all of my life. I recently purchased a Titleist 907 in 9.5.While I really liked it,and hit it fairly well, I started sliceing for the first time in years/

[mtrevors]

What baffles me is that they make a 9-deg driver with a regular graphite shaft. Simply because in order to use a 9deg lofted driver you typically have to have a 100mph + club head speed (driver). But, with that kind of speed you'd think, at a minimum, you'd use Stiff graphite, if not extra stiff. I myself top out at 95 (balls to the wall) and I use stiff graphite. But honestly, if you're a newbie to the game, your biggest challenge is going to be hitting it straight

[josef]

UPDATE : i went hit the 9 degree G5 last night.. Not bad.. not bad at all. (for me.. haha). I hit it much more consistent than my 3 wood. I did realize I needed Taller tees though.. The ones I use for the 3 wood just didn't do it.. i borrowed my friend's taller ones and it all came together. I hit a couple 220 drives which was Splendid for me. Sure plenty of them were awful but hitting a couple clean ones just felt so nice.. My buddy hit with it a few times (he's just learning golf too, but he is a big boy and is naturally a Hard hitter.. but has NO short game.. haha) and he got it in the 250-260 range.. Man hitting a driver is fun..

ps. thanks for the advice everyone.. i know this club is not perfectly suited for me.. BUT given the price, I will do my best to learn to hit with it, and maybe next year I will get my swing analyzed and get something that is matched to my swing.. I figure using a slightly more difficult club may be more frustrating at first, but if i learn to hit well with it, i may become a better golfer in the long run.. i hope...