New Driver........

I'm in the market for a new one, I know the loft and I know the shaft, through several sessions on a launch monitor so I'm not looking for custom fit advice, but more about clubs with decent feel, sound, looks, how it sits etc etc.

Knock yourself out with suggestions.

How can you know the shaft without choosing a head? All combinations of the two will perform differently together. The first piece of advice to take on board might be to drop the preconception that you know what shaft and loft you need.

As to the head, I guess it depends on whether you think adjustable head technology is a desirable feature?
Out of interest what prompted the need for a new driver so early in the season?

Yes Mac, I do know that. I know the head loft I want through numerous iterations/testing/custom fit with various manufacturers etc, and it always works best with the same shaft for me. Basically I was just making sure that no one said "make sure you get custom fit"

Why do I need a new driver? My driver is now 4 years old and I'm a bit tired of the look of it now.

I tried many different clubs just before christmas to give myself a treat as a reward. I tried everything from the TM White headed eyesores to Nike VR etc.

In the end I found all the adjustables a pointless waste of money and settled on the new Ping G20 driver, admittedly this was not custom fit but I found it sits beautifully behind the ball. Plus unlike the adjustables to work the ball I simply make the adjustments myself and work the ball and the driver repsonds accordingly.

The other thing I found is on off centre hits the dispertion of the ball is exceptional and still on the fairway 9/10 times and distance loss is again minimal. But this is just my opinion hope you find somthing that suits you best.

I'm not fussed about the adjustability, as changing clubhead dynamics will alter the suitability of the shaft etc.
Had a look at the G20 the other day and I do like the shape and it's now very cheap.

If you like the G20 you should also look at the g10, the heads for them can be easily ound alone.

The price of the G20 I have to admit I found fantastic as not only did I feel the driver was best suited to me I hadn't considered the price and was happily surprised at how little it cost compared to other major brands. IMO Ping certainly onto a winner by producing clubs of equal quality to the other brands at a fraction of the price.

The G20 head is actually quite significantly different from that of the G10, it's slighty (evero so that is) larger, colour is different and the G20 sits square to the ball whereas the G10 sits slightly toe open about 1degree (found this out from various pros and internet searches as well as at the place of my purchase) The face is also thinner and less weight in the head too.

Mac, I'm in the market for a new driver, not one which is outdated and superceded. Cheers though.
Always liked the G10, but it's even older than what I'm replacing.

What is your current driver?

Callaway Ft-5 9 deg.

Is there any evidence that would support the notion that driver technology has advanced in the last 5 years in terms of making a difference to the outcome of the player’s shots?

Perhaps not in length (i'm not interested in this) but perhaps forgiveness and workability.

I wouldnt mind a go of the Callaway RAZR Hawk driver. Have you tried it? Suppose it would be still similar to the FT5.

Quite like the FT line of Callaway drivers, have 2 FT-3 tours but they are a bit too unforgiving for me. My G10 serves me better. Has there been a recent Ping Rapture release? Not sure... that would be another Ping option though.

So, does anyone know how drivers have been made more forgiving on off centre or open/closed faced shots over the last 5 years?

If so then by what percentage on average is your accuracy improved?

Mav on the other side speaks highly of the G20, although I agree the Callaway RAZR FIT looks really nice.

Super

Why would you trust anything those urchins on the other side tell you?

McLaren wrote:Super

Why would you trust anything those urchins on the other side tell you?

What is this otherside! I've seen many mentions of it.

Think of it like a new branch of a religion, for some reason people think they know better yet actually fall foul of much worse. Actually that is a bad example as in my opinion all religion is bad??

maybe it is a little like dark energy, no one really understands it? Actually that would make it sound a little too interesting.

basically someone threw the toys out the pram over some commets I made about a dog which was tied to the back of a Porshe.

Fader, it's a parellel site to which Mac is opposed. It's housed by people once (and many who still are) from this Parish.

It was about over officious moderation on this board, not about Mac's fondness for dragging dogs behind his Porsche.

super_realist wrote:Fader, it's a parellel site to which Mac is opposed. It's housed by people once (and many who still are) from this Parish.

It was about over officious moderation on this board, not about Mac's fondness for dragging dogs behind his Porsche.

It might have been from the point of view of those no longer here very much/at all. I disagree. It was very childish though.

Re. the driver S_R. What about the differing head characteristics? You can't really go solely on loft etc. Some are deep, low CoG. Some are more forward and not as deep. Etc etc. That said, I don't think it makes very much difference as long as you like the look of its setup to the ball on address. Titleist 910D2 and D3 (think I prefer the D3) look good to me but I can't justify splurging the cash on one.

What Mac was asking about whether drivers had changed much in 5 years was a question I was thinking about. I have a TM R7 Draw which is about that age and I've started to wonder whether I should change it. I had a new shaft put in last year.

twoeightnine wrote:What Mac was asking about whether drivers had changed much in 5 years was a question I was thinking about. I have a TM R7 Draw which is about that age and I've started to wonder whether I should change it. I had a new shaft put in last year.

It's an interesting point. I think the clubface zone where you have reasonable forgiveness and therefore still reasonable distance on a mishit has got bigger by a decent bit. You also have higher MOI in a lot of the newer clubs so I guess they're less prone to having their faces knocked open/closed on a mishit. On the flip-side, I seem to find the 460cc heads quite difficult to square at impact sometimes given their inertia so I quite like the smaller (and usually older) drivers. I also prefer a slightly smaller look to them at setup; looks more compact and 'solid' to me. If I like the look I tend to hit it better with less worries about where it's going.....usually!

If you hit the ball pretty consistently in the centre, I don't think there's much that's changed in a decent while. Certainly re. distance, there's only one CoG on a club so if you hit it it's likely that that old(ish) Titleist 975D, assuming the same shaft setup, will go as far as a nice new R11 (or whatever). I quite like the challenge of a less forgiving club (whatever it is) as I've always thought it makes more sense to work on getting a swing capable of a repeatable, centre strike. As I find less and less time to get any practice in these days, the idea of more forgiving clubs is becoming more attractive however!

NBS, thanks for that. I understand where you are coming from with the challenge of hitting a better club. Sometimes I practice with a 30 year old blade that I have. Its a 5 iron that goes about as far as a modern 7 but boy do you get focussed on hitting the sweetspot!

I have seen certain 460cc clubs that fit my eye better, generally they seem to hide their size better when looked at from above. The new TM RBZ looks much worse than the R11s but both are 460.

I suppose what I am wondering is whether I am losing out for putting the same swing on mine compared to new. I am also realistic that it needs to be good off centre. I already have a relatively short shaft as I favour accuracy over distance but if I can get both....

NBS - Have you seen this http://www.tourspecgolf.com/Yonex-2011-EZONE-TYPE-380-Driver-Ryo-Ishikawa-Model-1

Yonex are selling it as a limited edition driver much for the reasons you give above about having the feel to square up a smaller headed club.

It's the E-Zone Ryo Ishikawa ltd edition, comes in a 380 CC headsize.

Think I'll stick with my G20

Fader wrote:NBS - Have you seen this http://www.tourspecgolf.com/Yonex-2011-EZONE-TYPE-380-Driver-Ryo-Ishikawa-Model-1

Yonex are selling it as a limited edition driver much for the reasons you give above about having the feel to square up a smaller headed club.

It's the E-Zone Ryo Ishikawa ltd edition, comes in a 380 CC headsize.

Think I'll stick with my G20

Looks quit sweet although, given how Ryo's game has gone to pot recently, I'm not sure how good an investment it'll be!

One of my partners tries the G20 out last week inconsistent as you might expect first time couple of screaming hooks but he stuck it on one of the par 4s off the tee and missed a 8 footer for eagle.have to say the longest ball ive ever seen him hit in 15 yrs.Tempting at reasonable money

SR

I have a Titleist 909 and really like it. Quite a "traditional" head shape albeit 460cc [I think]. Given that the 910 is now out, you may get one of the 909s at a decent price.

I certainly can't fault it to date.

Cheers !

I tried a tm r11s at the weekend. It seemed to go about 10 yards more than my r7. I don't like the look of it though. If the head was black I'd buy one.

George,
Need your wisdom in the Fantasy Game . . . . .