Driver Loft - 9 or 10.5*

Hacker111

Looking for some advice. Buying a new driver, G15 seems the one, great club, had it out on demo and loving the results. Question is loft I drive the ball really high.. my ball goes way up with little or no roll..into the wind is a mare.

I know its the way I swing but the loft of driver and shaft has to play a part. I hit a 10.5* and out of 14 drives on course I did not hit 1 poor drive... killed a number of them and confidence with the club is high, so much better than past few months. However, my flight is so high compared to playing partners I feel I'm just throwing yards away. My average drive is 240 yrds.

The other option with G15 is 9*, is this too low/difficult to hit/lead to slices etc


Cheers

ssbob

240 yards is a decent strike mate, I would not be too displeased with this for an average.......top pro's are only averaging about 280 yards..............

Best thing you could do is get fitted for the club to see which best suits.

G1032

1.5 degrees isn't going to make that much of a difference. As you said yourself it's probably the way you swing the club.
Try the 10.5 with a lower lauching shaft. That may help a small bit, but if you hit it as high as you say with a 10.5 the 9 isn't going to hit it a whole lot lower.

L.O.F.T

Hacker111 wrote: »

I hit a 10.5* and out of 14 drives on course I did not hit 1 poor drive... killed a number of them and confidence with the club is high, so much better than past few months

This is your answer. Confidence in the club is huge. You have it be careful about changing.

Hacker111 wrote: »

However, my flight is so high compared to playing partners I feel I'm just throwing yards away. My average drive is 240 yrds

240 Yards is solid. What you have to do now is get your greens in regulation up to match your fairways in reg and then your going to see that handicap fall. Whilst length from the tee is desirable you will find that playing from fairways is key to making pars and birdies.

Hacker111 wrote: »

The other option with G15 is 9*, is this too low/difficult to hit/lead to slices etc

It's not a huge difference at all. The difference and length you are striving for will only come from a shaft to lower your flight and take spin off your drives. Try some different shafts in that driver head you like and see will you gain some extra yards. Get your self to a demo day with Ping or local pro to see is there anything a different shaft can do for you.

Fore Iron

Try a high kickpoint shaft (or low flight shaft - same thing) with the 10.5 degree and see how you get on. That should help to keep the spin down a little while you will still feel confident over the ball.

I think most people don't realise just how high you need to launch a driver to get the optimum distance. Ideal launch is a lot higher than you think. If you are finding the ball balloons into the wind then that is a spin issue alone. You still can have a high launching flight that will penetrate into the wind if it has the right spin.

The ideal driver launch is pretty darn close to the ideal launch with a 3 wood believe it or not!!

(edit)

Actually just looking into it a little further it turns out the average driver launch is closer to that of a 4 or 5 iron. The 3 wood should really be launching a good 2 or 3 degrees lower for optimum distance.

Here is a website quoting trackman figures for PGA and LPGA (closer to the average amatuer male) golfers. So don't underestimate just how high you should be launching that driver!!

Link

Hacker111

Thanks for all the replies guys, much appreciated....

so basically 10.5* probably the head to use but maybe try a lower flight shaft for a Ping like the Aldila Serrano (no extra cost) or even Pro launch Red (45 quid more)

L.O.F.T

Hacker111 wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies guys, much appreciated....

so basically 10.5* probably the head to use but maybe try a lower flight shaft for a Ping like the Aldila Serrano (no extra cost) or even Pro launch Red (45 quid more)

If possible try them first as they will all react differently to your swing speed. What might be recognised as a low flight shaft may not do the job for you.
My example would be that I tried 15 shafts + at Foregolf to find a suitable shaft for my driver. It's €50 euro for the fitting to find a suitable shaft where you can go through any combination of shaft and head types.

BoardsMember

What LOFT suggests is right. I went to ForeGolf too, just for a driver fitting. It's not cheap but you know that what they give you or recommend for you is based more on fact and science than having a good feeling with the driver when you have taken it out for a go. And it is all about the shaft really, the loft & head type really pale as regard importance compared to the importance of the shaft.

I have lost count the number of times I have borrowed a club, and decided it was the best thing since sliced bread, only to find that I couldn't hit it out of my way after the honeymoon period. Get fitted for it, get the facts and figures, and shop accordingly. Then if you go through a poor spell with the driver you know it is your own issue, and you dont need a new one - so its a money saver really (this argument does not work on wives, I have learnt to my cost).

who_ru

BoardsMember wrote: »

What LOFT suggests is right. I went to ForeGolf too, just for a driver fitting. It's not cheap but you know that what they give you or recommend for you is based more on fact and science than having a good feeling with the driver when you have taken it out for a go. And it is all about the shaft really, the loft & head type really pale as regard importance compared to the importance of the shaft.

I have lost count the number of times I have borrowed a club, and decided it was the best thing since sliced bread, only to find that I couldn't hit it out of my way after the honeymoon period. Get fitted for it, get the facts and figures, and shop accordingly. Then if you go through a poor spell with the driver you know it is your own issue, and you dont need a new one - so its a money saver really (this argument does not work on wives, I have learnt to my cost).

so how much have you spent trying to get the right shaft? and what's different about it to a 'normal' one?

BoardsMember

I got a Taylor made R9, paid 420 at the time I think. Pricey, as I said. But the shaft delivers the head just right for me. It is stiff-ish all the way down, no low kck or whatever. To be honest, I'm not as informed as the above posters, the reason I got fitted was to be sure I got a shaft that suited me and felt right. A lot of the tech stiff goes over my head, but it's very interesting all the same!

PhilipMarlowe

Similar lack of knowledge/interest in the tech side of things but the right shaft is pretty crucial IMO.
I went to a TaylorMade demo last night and had a few scelps at the R11. The first one I was given had a whippy shaft (marked stiff) and I had no confidence/trust in where the head was or if it was even attached to the club in the swing.
Anyway, long and short of it was I was more comfortable with a (high-quality?) Mitsubishi Diamana Kai'li 60g shaft which was married with a 10.5 degree head (needed the higher loft head because the shaft is penetrating enough I think).

Moral of the story is to try out (or get fitted) for several combinations and see what works *for you*. If I was going to purchase I'd go for a fitting to further fine tune and compare.

alxmorgan

I have an R9 Supertri. Say I was to get fitted what price range are you talking for shafts. I know they may vary wildly but ballpark ?

thanks