Long distance driver for compromised senior

[Covert]

On a golf course two days ago I got paired with a 70-year-old (I’m 73 with a recent lower back injury, which has significantly reduced my driving distance). He was driving about 220, twenty yards further than I was, with my Covert II regular flex driver. He offered to let me take a swing with his Cleveland, ultra-light, 40 gram shaft, senior-flex Launcher driver, and I hit the ball 220. It felt like the club was doing all the work, magically. His club measured 1 ½ inches longer than mine, at 25”. Amazed, I tried to buy the club, but found that it is obsolete, and anything I might find used online probably wouldn’t have all the specs. Does anyone know what current club might be as closely comparable? Or should I just buy any top brand, lightweight, senior-flex driver and have the shaft extended?

Secondly, is there anything to shaving the face for extra flex and spring? I’m not competing in tournaments so that I don’t worry about cheating a little with equipment. Reaching greens in regulation with shorter approach shots are paramount to me.     

[Marty2019]

If you drive the ball 200 from the forward tees (sometimes called "senior tees"), your approach shots should be somewhere between 80 and 140 yards on a par 4.   That seems like a pretty short approach shot.   Do you play from the forward tees?   How short do you want your approach shots to be?  

[chilepepper]

Sounds like your doing pretty good if you ask me. But......why don't you hit some driver/shaft combos on a shop monitor and see what improvements you come up with over your present club. 

[Lagavulin62]

I'm not understanding the 25" part. You mean 45?  

There are a lot of component heads from decent manufactures that are not in compliance if you want to go that route. Then you can just buy the lightweight shaft and have your local shop put it together at the correct length. 

I think that would make more sense than trying to find your specs and psying a gazillion dollars for it. You have already hit and know what works so just match that man's driver. 

 

[Club Rat]

I'm going to take a stab at saying you should look into either Junior or Lady's drivers.

Typically they are lighter weight with softer shaft flex and lighter weight head components

Also, the grips are smaller which could help you produce a tad bit quicker swing speed.

6 hours ago, Covert said:

shaving the face

I know I have run across a company who list services on EBay that does machine/milling of club heads in Phoenix.

[WUTiger]

7 hours ago, Covert said:

Secondly, is there anything to shaving the face for extra flex and spring?

Sure is. The major manufacturers and the component makers both love it! It weakens an already thin modern face, and increases the chances you will cave in the head.

[Club Rat]

31 minutes ago, WUTiger said:

increases the chances you will cave in the head.

Not very likely for the OP.
He's and older gent who most likely has a very low swing speed.
He could benefit having the club modified by shaving the face a tad.
I doubt he would damage the club.

The guys in Phoenix know the limitations and have the proper equipment to preforms the necessary modifications.
 

[70sSanO]

You have a couple of choices...

You can test out a number of lightweight drivers and pick one that will most likely work as well or maybe better.

Or you can get the Cleveland driver.  But you do need to know the driver XL270, XL290 and the shaft used.  eBay or other internet sources can supply the driver head (but complete driver) then get the same shaft, even if used, and build the same driver.  It was released in 2010 so it isn't that old.

But if you want a suggestion on a lightweight driver... Wilson D200.

John

[baller7345]

You could try the Cleavland CG Black new.

http://www.pgatoursuperstore.com/cleveland-mens-cg-black-driver/00000000567.jsp

Its an extremely light weight driver and is designed for slower swing speeds.  Though it isn't the same driver he had, I'd say it might be a close approximate.

[Covert]

Thank you all for the advice. To Marty, there are par-four holes from the senior tees on courses I play that are over 400 yards. Somewhat miraculously yesterday I reached the pin on 406-yard hole with my second shot, but most of the time I fall short and of course any shortening of approach shot distance helps.

And, Yes, Lagavulin, I meant to write 45”, not 25. Thanks for catching that.

After playing I stopped at Golf Galaxy and they had new Nike Vapor Fly drivers on close-out sale, because of Nike getting out of equipment. With an additional discount, I bought one with a senior flex shaft for under $130, and I left it there to have the shaft extended 1”. I tried it on their launch monitor (I think the equipment might be called) and it outdrove my Covert, with its regular flex shaft, by about eight yards, but the grip was too small in diameter for my hands, causing me to close the club face slightly and pull left. I am also having a fatter grip put on it. Then I will talk to Phoenix about slightly milling the face before repairing to Florida to play golf over the winter. I am also considering seeing a chiropractor, with some trepidation that my back could be made worse. I stupidly, and unnecessarily, screwed it up quite badly with a very aggressive twisting motion with weights at the gym trying to strengthen the hip snap toward driving further. I have end-stage degenerative disc disease in it, and have totally replaced both shoulders and both hips, and have had two knee operations, due to bad, congenital arthritis. I’m fighting a quixotic, uphill battle against age and infirmity.    

[70sSanO]

Glad you found a driver.  And I applaud you for your perseverance to overcome your health issues.

John

[Showboat12]

12 hours ago, Covert said:

Thank you all for the advice. To Marty, there are par-four holes from the senior tees on courses I play that are over 400 yards. Somewhat miraculously yesterday I reached the pin on 406-yard hole with my second shot, but most of the time I fall short and of course any shortening of approach shot distance helps.

And, Yes, Lagavulin, I meant to write 45”, not 25. Thanks for catching that.

After playing I stopped at Golf Galaxy and they had new Nike Vapor Fly drivers on close-out sale, because of Nike getting out of equipment. With an additional discount, I bought one with a senior flex shaft for under $130, and I left it there to have the shaft extended 1”. I tried it on their launch monitor (I think the equipment might be called) and it outdrove my Covert, with its regular flex shaft, by about eight yards, but the grip was too small in diameter for my hands, causing me to close the club face slightly and pull left. I am also having a fatter grip put on it. Then I will talk to Phoenix about slightly milling the face before repairing to Florida to play golf over the winter. I am also considering seeing a chiropractor, with some trepidation that my back could be made worse. I stupidly, and unnecessarily, screwed it up quite badly with a very aggressive twisting motion with weights at the gym trying to strengthen the hip snap toward driving further. I have end-stage degenerative disc disease in it, and have totally replaced both shoulders and both hips, and have had two knee operations, due to bad, congenital arthritis. I’m fighting a quixotic, uphill battle against age and infirmity.    

Could you provide a bit more detail on the additional discount that brought this club from the sale price ($149) to the price you purchased it for ($130)? I planned on stopping into that same location this upcoming weekend and have been eyeing the same club...

[Covert]

The club was on sale for $149.98, then the store gave me an additional $20 discount at the cash register, without me knowing it was available to me. We had gotten a coupon sent to the house, which they could have applied, even though we didn't have it with us, but my wife, Lynn thinks that was for only $10. We had also before signed up for something called "Scorecard" at the store, under my wife's name, which I think applies some kind of discount. So the $20 off might have been a combination of the two discounts. You could phone the store and ask for Gerald, who walked me through trying, buying and modifying the club, and ask him what the $20 discount was about that was given to Covert Harris on Saturday. Good luck, it's quite a deal.     

[Showboat12]

3 minutes ago, Covert said:

The club was on sale for $149.98, then the store gave me an additional $20 discount at the cash register, without me knowing it was available to me. We had gotten a coupon sent to the house, which they could have applied, even though we didn't have it with us, but my wife, Lynn thinks that was for only $10. We had also before signed up for something called "Scorecard" at the store, under my wife's name, which I think applies some kind of discount. So the $20 off might have been a combination of the two discounts. You could phone the store and ask for Gerald, who walked me through trying, buying and modifying the club, and ask him what the $20 discount was about that was given to Covert Harris on Saturday. Good luck, it's quite a deal.     

Appreciate this - thanks!

[Covert]

1 hour ago, 70sSanO said:

Glad you found a driver.  And I applaud you for your perseverance to overcome your health issues.

John

Thanks a lot, John. It's a great pleasure to walk various beautiful courses, meet great people, and play the game. I'm not going to go down easy. :)

[Covert]

I thought I would post an unexpected and exciting result with my senior flex shaft, extended one inch, on my new Nike Vapor Fly driver.

I had been hitting my standard flex, standard length, Nike Covert driver only about 200 yards since I hurt and stiffened my back. Initially, my new driver didn’t allow me to drive any further, which was disconcerting. Then, standing on a range, I got an intuitive feeling regarding going more square-to-square and widening my arc, by moving my right elbow away from my body further on the uptake, and cocking and hinging my wrists much more than I had been, so that the shaft was further around back than parallel with the ground. Then when I swung, I purposely whipped the club head, following after my hip turn, by snapping my wrists. The result was astounding, adding 50 yards to my erstwhile golf course drive. And swinging extra hard, I hit a couple even further.

I was told by the pro at the driving range that such a shaft and swing combination is high risk, high reward, of course meaning it can result in longer drives but with less control. I’m sure that such a tactic is written about, but I hadn’t seen it addressed like I was doing it. I have a hope now that if my back ever gets better I can have some great fun showing off to my fellow septuagenarian playing partners this winter in Florida, even if I sacrifice a stroke here and there due to wildness off the tee.  

[Hacker James]

"wide and deep".  You don't want to over do either, but you do want to do both. I am not sure I would incorporate the "whip" action, but then again, its a matter of interpretation. I swing much faster since using a particular training aid that gets me to swinging through the ball rather than hitting at it.

[Covert]

3 hours ago, Hacker James said:

"wide and deep".  You don't want to over do either, but you do want to do both. I am not sure I would incorporate the "whip" action, but then again, its a matter of interpretation. I swing much faster since using a particular training aid that gets me to swinging through the ball rather than hitting at it.

What do you mean by "deep?"

Thinking of snapping a whip stops you from thinking about hitting the ball, which does indeed limit distance; you are just whipping the club with the ball in the path, as they say.

Before I hurt my back I was getting extra distance by using Wilson Ultra 500 distance balls off the tee. For my approach shot, I would then swap one for a high-quality ball that would stop on the green, which of course is totally against the rules, except for practice and fun rounds. The Ultras just keep on rolling.

I don't have much time left, as age really takes one down, so I am putting my all into distance drives this coming year. I'll take a couple of lessons by a couple of different pros in Florida to see if maybe I can learn an additional "trick" or two. I'm wondering if I should have added two inches to the shaft, as I seem to be able to control the one inch extension okay.