Getting Fit For A New Driver Or Shaft

[Ohthehumanity]

Hey Everyone,

I was playing with a couple of buddies on the weekend and these guys were out driving me and I couldn't figure out why? I was using my Ping g driver with a regular Alta 55 shaft that I had cut down to 44 inches, but I have not been getting much pop out of this driver ever since I bought it off the rack at Golftown, and had them fit me to it over the other Ping drivers (I didn't try any other brand because I wanted to stay loyal to Ping).

I tried my buddies club which is an old R7 with a stiff shaft and a regular length, and I was hitting as far as he was. It got me to thinking about upgrading my driver, but then I thought I should go and get fit and look at a shaft change, so I am off to Modern Golf on Saturday.

I wanted to see if you guys thought I should just strictly look at a shaft change for my fairly new Ping G or should I go all in and look at every other club which would probably be a lot more expensive than the shaft change plus the fitting fee?

 

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance.

[grantec]

The R7 was a great driver, but technology wise the Ping G driver head should out perform it hands down all else the same. I'm not familiar with the Alta shaft, but Ping normally has pretty good stock shaft options that fit their clubs well. I'd say you're either not lining up the Ping G head on the sweet spot, or something about the shaft doesn't fit you.

Just based off what you said, I'd say the 44" length likely isn't helping your distance, but should help your contact and accuracy (which usually benefits distance). A well struck, center of the club face drive on a 44" shaft should perform better than an off center strike with a longer shaft (better energy transfer, etc). The R7 shaft was probably 45" or 46" and if you caught it flush you could have been getting the benefit of the slightly longer travel distance that generates that little bit extra club head speed and therefore ball speed, but on average, you should hit your Ping more consistently (and therefore longer) with a 44" length vs. 45"/46" and all the extra technology. 

Again, I'm not familiar with the Alta 55 exactly but 55g driver shafts are very light, higher launching, and better suited to slower swing speeds with really smooth transitions. If your swing already generates a higher launch, or you have a really quick tempo, etc, you probably aren't getting the optimal launch and leaving yards in the air. 

I'd take the G into a different fitting center and ask to try a few of the other shaft options - see if you can find a real club fitter, not the kids at Golftown. Try a few combinations of 55/65/75g shafts in R and S flex and see which generates that nice medium ball flight, consistent distance (ie. not necessarily longest), with least deviation from target line. 

Also, don't necessarily move away from the 44" length. I've built myself 43" drivers and still been the longest in the group. I went back to "standard" lengths when my ball striking/swing got more consistent but have been toying with cutting down one of my newer drivers and gaming it to see if I notice any improvements in consistency.

All that said, I've demoed a few of the Ping G drivers before and hated them - something just felt off and I couldn't hit them consistently. I found a lightly used i25 and love it. I think the PWR75 Tour Stiff shaft that's in it is a bit much for me sometimes, so am looking for the PWR65 S shaft to see how it does... but the head is probably top 2 I've ever hit to this day. All my favorite drivers have been a more traditional shape with minimal distractions. Maybe you have a mental block to spaceship drivers like I do. 

[Adam C]

Take your driver with you and hit it against some current stuff on a launch monitor. See what the differences are (ball speed, launch angle, spin). It could be the shaft but hard to say without knowing the specs on each shaft you reference. Doesn't sound like you ever really hit the Ping well so it probably makes sense to look to other brands.

Other thought, when they cut down the Ping did they add weight to the head. That inch you cut off would drop the swing weight at least 5 points. Might want to check the swing weight and see if it's too light. I think the standard R7 came in at D2.

[Ohthehumanity]

Thanks for the reply Adam. I did get the swing weight back to about a D1 I think. I put a different weighted screw in the head. 

 

It it just feels like there isn’t any pop in it and I felt more juice in my buddies older driver. Placebo effect? Maybe, but I hope to figure this out because hitting drives only 230-240 isn’t what I used to drive before.