Spiffysprt

Your swing speed certainly does matter when selecting a golf ball! A golfer with a 95 MPH swing will benefit greatly by using a softer core ball that he/she can compress with the driver. This leads to maximum distance off the tee. A swing speed of 95 - 98 MPH determines that a perfect "sweet spot" hit with a good driver will go 240 to 265 yards if the ball is soft enough to be fully compressed by that swing speed. If the ball is too hard (like a Pro V1) it's like hitting a rock. This has been proven repeatedly with launch monitors. Golfers with that swing speed should steer clear of pro type golf balls. This does NOT mean buying the cheapest soft core ball you can find. A soft, high quality urethane cover will allow a skilled player to work the ball around the greens and in other areas of the course. With scoring irons in hand, the softer cover allows the skilled player to spin the ball when it's advantageous to do so. Makvii assumed any player with a 95-98 MPH swing is an inexperienced player that doesn't know his way around greens. He couldn't be more wrong. My measured swing speed with a driver is 95 - 98 MPH. I'm a single digit handicap and have a short game that many other players envy. I'm 65 years old and have been playing golf for 55 years. I know my way around a golf green.

Nothing is wrong with hitting a 64 degree wedge 30 yards when that is the shot that's called for. I normally max the 64 at 50 - 60 yards, but by taking a half or three quarter swing and/or choking down on the club, the 64 is my go-to club for short, controlled shots around the greens. I sometimes only hit it 10 yards coming out of a bunker with little green to work to.

95 MPH Swing (sometimes up to 100 MPH) Driver: 240 - 260 3H: 230 3i: 210 4i: 190 5i: 175 6i: 160 7i: 145 8i: 135 9i: 125 PW: 115 50: 105 54: 90 60: 60 - 75 64: 30 - 50 That's 14 clubs not counting the putter, so I have to leave one behind. It varies depending on the course I'm playing which club stays home. If these distances seem a bit long. I was a really big hitter in my youth, and am still a very accurate ball striker. Sweet spot hits always go farther.

80% to 90% of amateur golfers slice with their drivers and many other clubs. The slice is caused by many errors in the swing, but one of most common errors is "casting" the club from the top and coming through the ball with an open clubface on an outside-in swing path. This "swipes" the clubface across the back of the ball and imparts a clockwise spin (for a right handed golfer) which results in a slice. One of the training drills we teach is to separate the hands on the grip so there is a one to two inch gap between the left and right hands. This is a Ty Cobb type of baseball grip, named for the famous baseball player that gripped a baseball bat the same way. By gripping down on the grip of the club, the natural momentum of the swing pulls the right hand thru and closes the face of the club and makes the swing-path more inside-out. Using a more conventional baseball grip does the same type of thing as the Ty Cobb split grip. It closes the clubface and makes the trajectory of the club more inside-out. It really helps reduce or eliminate slicing.

I understand that the average amateur golfer has trouble hitting the sweet spot (or close to it) on most clubs. This is the exact reason for the development of clubs with cavity backs, speed slots, etc. These game improvement irons provide a bigger sweet spot. Older players (like me) learned to play with blades, since nothing else was available. Our ball striking had to be good or the ball went no where and we were rewarded by a big "rattle" coming up the shaft of our clubs. I'm trying to get the golfer of today (like my kids) to understand that you get more distance and accuracy by swinging at 80% and striking the ball on (or very close to) the sweet spot of any club, than you do my swinging as hard as you can and hitting the ball off the toe or heel of the club. I outdrive guys half my age by swinging easier and hitting the sweet spot on my driver. No question correct shaft flex helps, but the biggest distance increase most golfers will experience will be from accurate ball striking and choosing a ball that is soft enough to be compressed by the clubhead speed that you can accurately provide. You can buy the right ball, but unfortunately, you can't acquire accurate ball striking by buying a new driver, or reshafting an old one. It takes instruction from a qualified pro and practice time on the range. Boring (I admit) but effective. The equipment manufacturers will hate me for disclosing this "secret" because it doesn't sell new equipment. But plenty of people won't believe me and will continue to buy a new driver every six months as they are rolled out. BTW - I'm not immune to the hype. I just looked at a new set of RocketBladez irons. The main reason they are "longer" than most irons has nothing to do with the speed slot or the cavity back - if you look at the club loft on each iron, it is at least one club number higher than most clubs. The 6 iron on my Mizuno MP-64 is lofted at 30 degrees, while the 7 iron on the RocketBladez set is lofted at 30.5 degrees. The RB 6 iron is 26 degrees which is a lower loft than my Mizuno 5 iron at 27 degrees. So of course the RocketBladez seem "longer" than the Mizunos on a club number to club number comparison. On a loft basis the RB 7 iron = Mizuno 6 iron. The RB 6 iron = Mizuno 5 iron. HOWEVER, if you compare the RB to Mizuno on a loft vs. loft comparison, the RB has a larger sweet spot so it's better for mis-hits, but for sweet-spot to sweet-spot comparison, the Mizuno has a smoother, softer feel and the distance is the same as the RB irons. It all turns on ball striking accuracy.

You are all missing very important points. Shaft flex and club head speed, while important, are not the major determining factors in an amateur's driving distance with any club. While a theoretical maximum drive distance can be calculated using club head speed (converted to ball speed); the ball speed assumption is based on hitting the ball at the center of mass (the "sweet-spot") on the clubface and compressing the ball "to the screws". This is a reference to old actual wood drivers that had screws holding on the face plate of a persimmon wood club. Every deviation from the sweet spot whether top to bottom but especially side-to-side on the clubface will result in a significant reduction in distance. When the ball is struck at the center of the sweet spot on the clubface, the clubhead speed compresses the ball and the ball's reaction to that impact generates the ball speed. No matter how well your shaft flex is matched to your clubhead speed, even if you hit the sweet spot every time, it is all useless if the golf ball you select is too hard to be compressed by your club head speed, so that it will adequately react to the impact. When you hit the ball and it feels like you're hitting a rock, you are either using a ball that is too hard, or swinging a club with a shaft that is too stiff. Many of us "macho dudes" want to play the same golf ball as our favorite pro golfer. DON'T DO IT ! It will cost you distance - big time. I'm a 9 handicap, senior golfer with a driver swing speed of 95-100 mph. I am currently playing a RocketBallz driver (with a 46 inch - 50 gram shaft) because I can get it around faster than a heavier shafted driver (I have plenty of them at home). I am fit and strong (for my age) and can still get my driver around with good accuracy, a square clubface at impact, and hit the sweet spot 90% of the time. My typical drive is 240 yards, and it's rarely more than 265 yards. I use a softer ball for greater distance - because I can compress it fully and get max distance. I recommend that you worry less about shaft flex and kick-points and pay more attention to accurate ball striking and using the correct ball for your clubhead speed. Bridgestone has a number of different balls for various club head speeds. Check with your golf store or PGA instructor for a recommendation. I love Titleist golf balls, but my days of playing Pro V1s is past. More important than anything else - HAVE FUN OUT THERE!