Adjustable driver (better to turn loft down or up)?

[Elmer]

I am in the market for a new driver. Although I may end up settling for a used, newer model driver.
I am currently using a 2008 taylormade, reg flex 10.5 driver.
I have a 16 degree launch and I get the ball well into the air. 
I am driving the ball on average of 260, but get very little to no roll.
My thought was to go to a 9 degree driver for a bit of a lower trajectory.
Is it better to buy an adjustable driver at 9 degrees, or 10.5 and just turn it down?

I would go to my local golf shop and ask, but I feel like they are mostly salesman or young golfers who work at the shop just to get a discount. 

[ZappyAd]

I think it will depend on the club maker.  I have a 10.5' Ping G30 which I adjust up to 11.5' - I believe this gives it a slightly more draw bias/ closed look (not sure if that is just my belief or reality) but it works really well for me.  Going down in loft is supposed to make it more fade biased.  I guess different manufacturers are going to be different in that regard and some might have a draw/fade adjustment that is independent of loft.  

As always though there probably isn't going to be anything better than trying them out in person (which will take even more time what with all the loosening and tightening of hosels!)

Edited February 8, 2017 by ZappyAd

[Gary Kay]

I would buy the driver with the loft you desire. The reason is that with most adjustable drivers when you add loft it closes the face, when you reduce loft the face of the club opens. As a result the club become draw or fade biased. Some setup/address corrections maybe necessary as a result. Buying the club at the stated loft means it's neutral at that setting. Due to this, it's best to test the club and loft you desire on a monitor to make sure it provides the desired results. 

[iacas]

I think that you should worry less about roll and worry more about your total yardage, and carry yardage. If you're averaging 260 with 16°, you probably don't want to lower the launch too much.

Most people's optimal height with a driver is higher than they think.

[Hacker James]

I am not a huge fan of adjustable drivers. While they do offer options and can be more or less tailored to your specific needs, once the setting is made, there would be no reason to change and in fact, can not be done during a round of play. Tom Wishon, prefers fixed lofts also as he discusses on his web page. Why pay for features you would not be using more than once?

I hadn't really thought about the aspect of changing loft also changes the bias. That being said, there are many who tout the virtues of adjustability and I have had no personal experience other than MWT as was offered in some of the drivers put out by TM (R-7, e.t.c.).

Edited February 8, 2017 by Hacker James

[Jeremie Boop]

5 minutes ago, Hacker James said:

I am not a huge fan of adjustable drivers. While they do offer options and can be more or less tailored to your specific needs, once the setting is made, there would be no reason to change and in fact, can not be done during a round of play. Tom Wishon, prefers fixed lofts also as he discusses on his web page. Why pay for features you would not be using more than once?

I hadn't really thought about the aspect of changing loft also changes the bias. That being said, there are many who tout the virtues of adjustability and I have had no personal experience other than MWT as was offered in some of the drivers put out by TM (R-7, e.t.c.).

The main benefit I see to being able to adjust a driver is that it can be "refitted" to adjust for changes to your swing. Say you buy a driver at the beginning of the year. Your swing is slower, and you tend to hit it low and in the heel. In this case you can adjust for more loft and maybe move the cg more back and into the heel to adjust for these things. Later in the year you increase your swing speed and get your strike pattern more center and just above the midline. You can have that same driver re-adjusted to reduce the loft a little and move the cg back to the middle of the face. 

Now, I am well aware that isn't how it normally works, and that most of us with adjustable drivers will fiddle with them way more than we should. I'm just saying that adjustable drivers make sense if you actually use them in the correct way.

[Elmer]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

I think that you should worry less about roll and worry more about your total yardage, and carry yardage. If you're averaging 260 with 16°, you probably don't want to lower the launch too much.

Most people's optimal height with a driver is higher than they think.

I hit the ball really high, could be from the tee height to putting the ball up in my stance.

I am a little content with ball flight and carry, except on windy days.

But the chance to replace a new club offers a chance to improve.

I know a couple of people who rave about the adjustable clubs and the opportunity to "dial" them in!

[JxQx]

Hitting the ball high isn't necessarily a bad thing nor is not having a lot of roll. Hitting the ball 260 with little roll is better than hitting it 250 but 20 yards of that being roll out. Definitely get a fitting, that will ensure you get the most out of the club.

side note: I recently tried out some new drivers and the best drives I hit were in the area of a 15-16 degree launch angle.

Edited February 8, 2017 by JxQx

[iacas]

2 hours ago, Hacker James said:

I am not a huge fan of adjustable drivers. While they do offer options and can be more or less tailored to your specific needs, once the setting is made, there would be no reason to change and in fact, can not be done during a round of play. Tom Wishon, prefers fixed lofts also as he discusses on his web page. Why pay for features you would not be using more than once?

The cost that an adjustable hosel adds to a driver is negligible. It's pretty simple tech, really.

And people's fits aren't always permanent. Sometimes they adjust the loft as they get lessons or otherwise change or improve.

Plus, if you like a driver, you can buy it and be reasonably sure you can fit it to your swing without necessarily having to do a full fitting with a bunch of fixed-loft drivers, then trusting that you'll get the same actual loft setting as what you tested.

[acerimusdux]

13 minutes ago, iacas said:

The cost that an adjustable hosel adds to a driver is negligible. It's pretty simple tech, really.

And people's fits aren't always permanent. Sometimes they adjust the loft as they get lessons or otherwise change or improve.

Also, in addition to making it easier to adjust loft and lie, it also makes it easier to change out shafts. You just order a new shaft installed into the appropriate adapter.

You aren't supposed to make changes mid-round, but you could easily make adjustments to shaft as well as loft or face angle depending on what course and conditions you are playing that day.  Maybe you are playing a tight course that day, and it's been rainy so the ground is soft, for example. So you put in a shorter shaft for more control and dial up the loft a bit for more carry.

Nice option to have, anyway.

[Hacker James]

yah, I guess I am a little quick to pass judgement, especially, since I have not even hit an adjustable hosel driver.  I am a dinosaur however.

[Buckeyebowman]

On 2/8/2017 at 11:12 AM, iacas said:

I think that you should worry less about roll and worry more about your total yardage, and carry yardage. If you're averaging 260 with 16°, you probably don't want to lower the launch too much.

Most people's optimal height with a driver is higher than they think.

Exactly! What is your clubhead speed with the Driver? If you don't know, I'd suggest you find out. This will give you a baseline to navigate from. I've maintained for years that many amateurs over estimate how fast they swing the club, and how far they really hit the ball.

On 2/8/2017 at 1:27 PM, Jeremie Boop said:

The main benefit I see to being able to adjust a driver is that it can be "refitted" to adjust for changes to your swing. Say you buy a driver at the beginning of the year. Your swing is slower, and you tend to hit it low and in the heel. In this case you can adjust for more loft and maybe move the cg more back and into the heel to adjust for these things. Later in the year you increase your swing speed and get your strike pattern more center and just above the midline. You can have that same driver re-adjusted to reduce the loft a little and move the cg back to the middle of the face. 

Now, I am well aware that isn't how it normally works, and that most of us with adjustable drivers will fiddle with them way more than we should. I'm just saying that adjustable drivers make sense if you actually use them in the correct way.

Yet, research has shown that most golfers who buy an adjustable Driver never adjust it! They just play it at the "Neutral" position.

[Jeremie Boop]

10 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Yet, research has shown that most golfers who buy an adjustable Driver never adjust it! They just play it at the "Neutral" position.

That's not surprising really, but that doesn't change what I said. The benefits to having the ability to adjust is still a good for those who would actually use it for the negligible added cost. I know I revisit how my driver fits throughout the season.

[Marty2019]

I bought a used adjustable Taylormade driver for $85, set the draw/fade bias to neutral, adjusted the loft all the way up, to 12.5 degrees, and I love it.   I am not very big or strong, but when I hit that thing on the sweet spot, the ball really flies.  And usually pretty straight.  I just take a big old flat baseball swing at it, and that's that.  It's by far the most forgiving club in my bag. 

But I have a question.   Is it true or not that the more loft a club has, the less likely it will be to impart side spin to the ball?   Reason being, the more loft on the club, the more back spin, therefore less side spin.  True or no? 

 

 

[Buckeyebowman]

I'd say in general that's true. It's harder to draw or fade a pitching wedge than a Driver. Of course other things enter into it, your swing shape, clubface at impact, clubhead speed, and even the type of ball you use. We all remember Bubba's miraculous wedge off the pine straw at Augusta, but very few people are capable of hitting a shot like that!

And many instructors that I have read and listened to advocate a higher handicap amateur, especially with a Driver speed of 100MPH or less, to get more loft on their Driver.

[Typhoon92]

I'd go to the store, grab the driver in both the 10.5 and 9 degree.  Get one of the wrenches and adjust them every which way and decide which head gives u the looks you want.

I don't know what you're hitting now or what u are looking at for a new head...also the degrees of adjustability up or down.

[Elmer]

On 2/9/2017 at 10:12 PM, Buckeyebowman said:

Exactly! What is your clubhead speed with the Driver? If you don't know, I'd suggest you find out. This will give you a baseline to navigate from. I've maintained for years that many amateurs over estimate how fast they swing the club, and how far they really hit the ball.

Yet, research has shown that most golfers who buy an adjustable Driver never adjust it! They just play it at the "Neutral" position.

I can never remember my speeds, when I have gone and hit on a tracker.
I know both my ball speed and club speed are over 100.
for some reason 109 sticks out in my head.

[Hacker James]

48 minutes ago, Elmer said:

I can never remember my speeds, when I have gone and hit on a tracker.
I know both my ball speed and club speed are over 100.
for some reason 109 sticks out in my head.

Better than me.  I am like Ernie Els. He is smooth as silk. I am as slow as molasses.

Edited February 13, 2017 by Hacker James