Spooky

Your experience (with your "natural" swing) validates what is discussed in the LAW's. You've learned (through trial and error) what works for your body. Teachers who don't take differences of physical characteristics into account do a great disservice to their students. They try to cram everyone into a "one size fits all" swing. In the end, you can't escape your shape...

The club is effectively a 2 wood....So it makes perfect sense that your best drive and his should be about 10 yards apart...The difference is how often he finds himself in play, vs in the woods, or worse...

A bit of a late response to your question, but I haven't been on here in awhile. I got the GX-7 in early April of this year. It's been a great investment in my game...I love it so much that I bought the 5 and 7 woods in July and the IRT-5 hybrid in October. These clubs have made a huge difference for me and won't be coming out of my bag in the foreseeable future.

None other than Dr. Jim Suttie states that all players (including professionals) are either better with their irons OR with their wedges and woods. This is due to the angle of attack. Given the statement about your dramatic iron game improvement, I would venture a guess that you're trapping v.s. sweeping the ball and therefore have a steeper, more V shaped swing. I know you don't want to shelve the driver, but at a 20+ handicap, what can it hurt? Hit it down the middle and play your game. If you need further encouragement, research the great Corey Pavin. He hit his 3 wood nearly as far as his driver but with much greater accuracy. I have put the driver away and gone with a 2 wood equivalent (the GX-7). If I absolutely zeroed my driver and then did the same with the GX-7, I'd be within 7-10 yards of my driver shot. I'm willing to sacrifice that tiny bit of distance to improve my # of fairways in regulation (nearly a 50% improvement). Just food for thought....

I own both the "driver" and the 5 & 7 fairway woods. None of which are leaving my bag anytime soon. I've had great success with the driver both off the tee and off the deck. Long par 4's are reachable in 2 much more often for me, as my drives are in a lot better place to start with and I now have the confidence to go after it with my second shot. I've hit a few par 5's in 2 as well and when I don't, I'm often within wedge range.

While relating that to a fellow player, he said 'that's why I also like watch the LPGA, many of them have great tempo and surprising distance.' Where many of the best PGA players all but jump out of their shoes swinging at the ball - somehow staying in balance/control. Food for thought... Women are generally LEVERAGE players, due to their size and strength and flexibility levels. As such, their swings are usually rotary, symmetrical, and nice to watch. They're tempo driven. Golf swings for men come in a wider variety of shapes and styles, based on their physiques. There are LEVERAGE players (think Steve Stricker), WIDTH players (JJ Henry comes to mind) and ARC players (Mickelson or Couples are good examples). All of them have different sources of power. Couples swing is so pretty to watch and effortless, because his hands wait up there a long time as his hips shuttle to the left to create the room for them to drop. He gathers his power slowly- like a plane taxiing down the runway in preparation for takeoff. Guys like J.J. Henry are slashers. They don't have the same degree of flexibility as Couples, and rely on short, fast swings, with alot of muscular effort.

Still loving mine. It took me a few swings to get the knack of hitting it off the deck, but once I got one pure, I haven't looked back. I hit it further, longer and more accurately than my 3 wood.... I've decided to pull the trigger on the fairway woods as well...Will report back with my results

The best club in the world won't fix a bad swing....But a solid and well designed one, placed in the hands of people it was designed for, can make a big difference.

Seems a lot of work v.s. spending $199 on a club with a 60 day, money back guarantee.....and I can attest that the GX-7 works well off the deck. I've never been able to hit a driver off the deck.

Hello Mark. I've had no issues with the club or customer service. I know there were some initial delays getting the club out the first couple months of the year, due to heavy demand and back orders, but I believe that's been resolved. I just ordered the fairway woods on Sunday and tracking says to expect them this Friday (pretty good, considering Monday was a holiday and I'm sure they were slammed with orders over the weekend). I don't think I've heard anyone complain about the quality of the club and everyone seems in agreement that it's sharp looking. The one thing I would recommend is to buy a package of 48 mm step down tees. I've found them on eBay cheap and they last forever. I've found these to be the perfect height for the GX-7. No guesswork.

Dittos, Spullin

I noticed the same thing... I'm expecting the fairway woods later this week and believe they will be just as impressive.

Two months with the GX-7 in my bag and not only am I keeping it, but I just ordered the matching fairway woods. I'm sold.

Good deal...I've had far more good shots than than bad with it. My bad shots are generally much straighter and further than a mis-hit driver.

Amen

Best of luck, Spullin. I've been very happy with mine and it sounds like we're getting around the same distance with it (2 wood). The set up adjustments (ball position and tee height) are crucial to consistent contact with this club. I bought some 48 mm castle/step down tees on EBay and they've proven to be the perfect height for it. That eliminates one variable.

From what I understand, it's pretty hassle free...but to each their own...I believe you're partially correct in your assessment of who the target audience is...I'm a 20 handicap, who was once as low as a 13. Lack of play and the resulting swing woes have ballooned me to a 20.....But even so, the club works for me. It helps to make me happy and happiness keeps me in the game...

Why not just send it back and get your refund?..Spending $200 on a "starter driver" seems expensive, from my perspective.... That all said, I'm very happy with my GX-7. I've got 10 rounds in with it so far and it isn't leaving my bag. They tell you right up front that it isn't going to win in a head to head distance competition with your driver. The point is that you'll hit it an acceptable distance (think 2 wood), but will be in play a lot more than with your driver. That's why they tell you to do the "averages test". Play a full round with your driver and measure EVERY driver shot (even the ones you dribble off the tee or slice into the nearby pond). Then play the same course with the GX-7 and measure your distances. That's what they mean when they say you'll be "consistently longer" with the GX-7. If you're like me, your distances with the GX-7 will be averaged as longer than the driver. If you can keep your driver in play on most every hole, then the GX-7 really isn't for you anyway. You aren't the target audience.

I bought a 100 pack of 48mm plastic castle tees on eBay for less than $4-shipped. They're the PERFECT height for the GX-7 and should last me forever.

So, my body is a hodgepodge collection of parts. I have shorter, muscular legs, a larger chest and rib cage and somewhat limited upper body flexibility (endomorph body). My arms however, are quite long for my body (35.5" sleeve length). At 5'10" tall, my wingspan (arms held out at shoulder level) is wider than I am tall (ectomorph arms). My golf posture is more bent over than "standard" so as to give my arms room to clear my chest (think Isao Aoki). That posture, combined with my longer arms, has my hands falling naturally to a place on the grip that's about 2" down from the butt. I know from research, that choking down effectively stiffens the flex of the shaft. With a driver swing speed of 92 mph, I'm in the "Regular flex" range. What I'm wondering is, could I possibly benefit by going with lighter flex shafts to offset the stiffening I'm causing by choking down?...My shot trajectories are mid-high, but I wonder if I would get more kick (and therefore more distance) by going this route? Thanks for the help.

I don't think there's anything "wrong" with my driver....but the proof is in the pudding....The fact is that I hit this club more consistently, and with a greater degree of accuracy than the driver. The distance difference between a perfectly struck driver and this club isn't notable enough to override that.

Well, I'd consider it a con were it not for the money back guarantee (verified easy by posters here on the Sand Trap and elsewhere) and the fact that it's working for me... : )

After 5 rounds with the GX-7, I'm keeping it. I played a variety of courses in Florida this week and found it very easy to hit and a heck of a lot more reliable than my driver. Average distances were squarely between my driver and 3 wood and I found a lot more fairways than I normally would with either of those clubs. I really like the sound, feel and trajectory. I also had several chances to hit it off the deck on long par 5's and hit great shots about 50% of the time on those. The ones I didn't hit great were still out there. I can see this club staying in my bag for a long time.

As a guy in his early 40's who got his golfing start in the early 90's, this is a topic near and dear to me. I game a 3, 5, & 7 wood. The hybrid craze has caused alot of people to believe that they are somehow superior to fairway woods. What I have learned is that some people are better woods players (flatter, sweeping swing) and some are better hybrid players (steeper, more iron like angle of attack). My swing is short, flat, fast and bursting. So fairway woods seem to bring the best results for me. It's all individual...based on swing and body type. That all said, the 5 wood is probably the least used club in my bag; mainly because I don't often find myself in that specific range on thr course. My 7 wood, on the other hand, sees alot of action; as it covers 2 clubs worth of space in my bag. My 3 wood sees a bit too, on par 5's and tight par 4's.