First driver

[Wilf84]

Evening all, 

 I'm relatively new to the world of golf and it's fair to say after 6 months I'm hooked. The biggest problem I'm finding is hitting my 3 wood off the tee, im very inconsistent and my pro has reccomended a driver instead of my Adams tight lies wood, I have hit the g30 and like it but was really after something cheaper but still forgiving. My pro has recommended the titleist 917 that he can do me for at half price with the new model coming out, i have no idea and would appreciate all the help I can get, 

thanks in advance wilf

[Denny Bang Bang]

I play a Ping G30 driver, and I'm very happy with.  Prior to that, I played a G15 which was nice as well.  You could likely pick up either used for a pretty good price.  And you might be able to still find a G30 new for not too expensive.

[Fishteach]

You could save yourself some money and buy something used. For example, I hit my old Titelist 675D as far as I hit the new Callaway mini-bertha driver I got for Christmas. One of the guys I play with hits his drives 15-20 yards longer than me, and he has a new Titelist driver. He tried my mini, and hit it exactly as far as he hits his new driver. New clubs don't typically offer as much of an advantage, but they are fun to desire and buy. 

[paininthenuts]

Get yourself on ebay and buy a Taylormade Burner 10.5. You won't have to spend much, and they are as good as anything you will buy now.

 

Example

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Taylormade-Burner-Superfast-TP-Driver-10-5-with-Matrix-Ozik-Regular-Shaft-1630-/252661385092?hash=item3ad3cac784:g:jUkAAOSwEzxYPyGI

Edited January 4, 2017 by paininthenuts

[Club Rat]

On ‎1‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 3:10 PM, Wilf84 said:

im very inconsistent

Using a driver is not necessary any means, remedies to improving at early stages of learning to swing clubs.
Fairway woods and hybrids would be better options until you gain confidence and consistency.
 

[Wilf84]

Thanks for the advice guys, I do like my 3 wood and it travels a good distance when I get hold of it. Tried the titleist 915 today with my pro and he says I may aswell stick to my 3 wood for another 6 months or so. Hopefully with a few more lessons I should get the consistency I need 

[paininthenuts]

2 hours ago, Club Rat said:

Using a driver is not necessary any means, remedies to improving at early stages of learning to swing clubs.
Fairway woods and hybrids would be better options until you gain confidence and consistency.
 

I would have agreed until I had a lesson from a very good pro. The same stroke applies to any club, so get it right and the ball will do the same thing but go further. Personally I can hit a ball far straighter with a driver than a 3 wood, but that's just me

[Lihu]

On 1/2/2017 at 1:10 PM, Wilf84 said:

im very inconsistent

Not just you.

Start with shorter clubs then work your way up. One hard lesson I learned is that every time you make changes to your swing, use short clubs and work your way up. Just play shorter courses or even par 3 courses. I regret not having done this when I started golf. . .

 

2 hours ago, Club Rat said:

Using a driver is not necessary any means, remedies to improving at early stages of learning to swing clubs.
Fairway woods and hybrids would be better options until you gain confidence and consistency.
 

Most people I know tend to agree with this. . .

 

19 minutes ago, paininthenuts said:

I would have agreed until I had a lesson from a very good pro. The same stroke applies to any club, so get it right and the ball will do the same thing but go further. Personally I can hit a ball far straighter with a driver than a 3 wood, but that's just me

It's harder to control a longer club at any stage of swing development. If you can get away with a shorter club, it would be better to use those. Then you can focus on the swing rather than trying to band aide every shot so it doesn't slice or hook into trees.

[paininthenuts]

5 minutes ago, Lihu said:

Not just you.

Start with shorter clubs then work your way up. One hard lesson I learned is that every time you make changes to your swing, use short clubs and work your way up. Just play shorter courses or even par 3 courses. I regret not having done this when I started golf. . .

 

Most people I know tend to agree with this. . .

 

It's harder to control a longer club at any stage of swing development. If you can get away with a shorter club, it would be better to use those. Then you can focus on the swing rather than trying to band aide every shot so it doesn't slice or hook into trees.

But drivers have larger heads and thus larger sweet spots, which more than makes up for the longer shaft. Anyway, I always grip down on the  driver. 

[Lihu]

Just now, paininthenuts said:

But drivers have larger heads and thus larger sweet spots, which more than makes up for the longer shaft.

Maybe, but from what I understand, the sweet spot is really just a spot. The consequences of a mishit might just be a bit less dramatic now on the larger heads?

The issue is maintaining a decent club path. That is going to be harder with a longer club no matter what. You'll probably just end up hitting farther into trees than with a shorter club.

 

Just now, paininthenuts said:

Anyway, I always grip down on the  driver. 

That's one way, the other is just to just shorten the shaft?

[Kalnoky]

3 hours ago, paininthenuts said:

Get yourself on ebay and buy a Taylormade Burner 10.5. You won't have to spend much, and they are as good as anything you will buy now.

 

Example

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Taylormade-Burner-Superfast-TP-Driver-10-5-with-Matrix-Ozik-Regular-Shaft-1630-/252661385092?hash=item3ad3cac784:g:jUkAAOSwEzxYPyGI

+1. This was my first driver also, I paid about $50 USD w/ headcover. I still have it and still practice with it. I have no plans to get rid of it.

You can save all the extra money for more lessons, those will help more than new clubs - guaranteed. 

[Wilf84]

My mate who plays of the same as me has swapped his 3 wood for a g30 driver and is nearly always straight with it, I was just wondering if a forgiving driver might be a better option, and if so has anyone got any thoughts on an older driver

[Ernest Jones]

1 hour ago, paininthenuts said:

But drivers have larger heads and thus larger sweet spots

 

That's not true. Sweet spots don't have a "size". 

[Lihu]

16 minutes ago, Wilf84 said:

My mate who plays of the same as me has swapped his 3 wood for a g30 driver and is nearly always straight with it, I was just wondering if a forgiving driver might be a better option, and if so has anyone got any thoughts on an older driver

I have no idea how much better the G30 is than the G25, but it seems like you can get a bunch of drivers pretty cheap. To be perfectly honest, there isn't much difference in performance in older drivers. Maybe you can get a 12 degree G10 for under $75 or less?

If not limited to Ping, you can get pretty much any club in R flex then cut off 3 inches or something like that? Pretty much get anything you think looks good to you then work on your swing.

[paininthenuts]

15 hours ago, Lihu said:

Maybe, but from what I understand, the sweet spot is really just a spot. The consequences of a mishit might just be a bit less dramatic now on the larger heads?

The issue is maintaining a decent club path. That is going to be harder with a longer club no matter what. You'll probably just end up hitting farther into trees than with a shorter club.

 

That's one way, the other is just to just shorten the shaft?

Yes, but it makes it harder to sell the club when it's time comes.

[Lihu]

6 hours ago, paininthenuts said:

Yes, but it makes it harder to sell the club when it's time comes.

I wouldn't worry about that, you'll likely get only 1/4 what you paid for any club.

It's very possible that anyone needing the same club should be swinging a shorter shaft anyway. . .

[Wilf84]

Thank

Thanks for all the advice guys, I have found a ping g25 in mint condition for peanuts, it's a 10.5 loft, would this be suitable or would I be better with a 12 loft, 

thanks again wilf

[Lihu]

23 minutes ago, Wilf84 said:

Thank

Thanks for all the advice guys, I have found a ping g25 in mint condition for peanuts, it's a 10.5 loft, would this be suitable or would I be better with a 12 loft, 

thanks again wilf

You're working on your swing and not trying to get maximum carry distance. Just get something that you can hit a reasonable distance. Worry about club fitting when that matters to you.

If you started off saying I'm rich and starting to play golf, I would recommend getting fit every 3 months or something ridiculous like that. . .