How much does driver technology really matter?

[Pretzel]

1 hour ago, saevel25 said:

I don't keep driver shafts between drivers. Why should I? If I buy a new driver I rather get fit for that driver and have a shaft that matches the profile of that driver. In the end, putting an older golf shaft in a newer driver might just not work well. 

This is a good point. While I tested the drivers head to head with the same shaft to isolate the performance of the clubhead, I also got fit into a different shaft for my new driver that performed even better than the old shaft/new driver combo. 

The new clubhead performed better in terms of launch angle and ball speed, which meant that I could benefit even more from a lower spinning shaft. Hence the reason I switched to a different shaft, as well as a club. Different characteristics of a clubhead will require different shafts to pair with them. For example, the very low spinning SLDR head would be best paired with a shaft that provides a higher launch without negating the low spin effects of the clubhead.

[newtogolf]

3 minutes ago, Pretzel said:

This is a good point. While I tested the drivers head to head with the same shaft to isolate the performance of the clubhead, I also got fit into a different shaft for my new driver that performed even better than the old shaft/new driver combo. 

The new clubhead performed better in terms of launch angle and ball speed, which meant that I could benefit even more from a lower spinning shaft. Hence the reason I switched to a different shaft, as well as a club. Different characteristics of a clubhead will require different shafts to pair with them. For example, the very low spinning SLDR head would be best paired with a shaft that provides a higher launch without negating the low spin effects of the clubhead.

That's interesting cause I know a lot of experienced golfers who swear by a specific shaft and no matter what driver head they buy they have their favorite shaft installed on it.  

I would think with all the adjustments available on driver heads today you could make any head work with a shaft you know works for your swing.  

[Pretzel]

28 minutes ago, newtogolf said:

That's interesting cause I know a lot of experienced golfers who swear by a specific shaft and no matter what driver head they buy they have their favorite shaft installed on it.  

I would think with all the adjustments available on driver heads today you could make any head work with a shaft you know works for your swing.  

You can, but you can also find a shaft that works better in many cases. Previously I had a shaft that generated more spin, because I found that the G10 head launched lower than the G30 head. When I had a higher launch to begin with, I was able to optimize my launch conditions with a shaft that is lower spinning. I couldn't do that previously because the launch was too low to benefit from lower spin numbers.

I don't really swear by any specific shaft, but I do have a preference for low torque shafts. My previous driver has a shaft (Proforce V2 Tour x-flex with a torque of 1.8, my current shaft (BiMatrix x-flex) is a 2.0. That's just a personal thing though, it's not based on performance, just how the shaft feels to me. I also haven't purchased any of the super expensive Tour AD shafts or the like, since to me the feel doesn't justify the cost (especially on a college-oriented budget).

The best numbers I've ever gotten from a shaft were from a Blueboard with a Titleist head, but for some reason that clubhead had lower ballspeeds for me. I like the feel of that shaft too, but it's too expensive for me.

[cooke119]

I personally think a lot of it is hype. I play with a Cobra S3 (which came before to Fly-Z; Amp Cell and probably a number of other "upgrades" but I still hit the S3 as far and as straight as all the guys I play with. Again, the old saying "its the Indian not the arrow." But I, like a lot of other people love new candy. I've tried many new drives over the years, but I always go back to the S3, I guess I'm just use to it.