Most forgiving driver for a beginner

Cona

I recently got a loan of a mates driver which came as part of a cheap set of clubs. Played a few rounds with it and I was hitting it really well, as I imagine that it was very forgiving with a large sweet spot. Bought myself a new driver recently which I am struggling to hit consistently straight at all...I was much straighter and prob ever further with the cheapo driver

So, that being said, is there any driver that you would consider one of the most forgiving, large sweet spot driver out there? Looking for something cheap.

ps I know that becoming a better player helps, but for a beginner I need the driver to be going straighter as otherwise my overall game suffers

GreeBo

shorter shaft, more loft, biggest head you can get.

alxmorgan

GreeBo wrote: »

shorter shaft, more loft, biggest head you can get.

I'd agree. 460cc head, get the club adjusted to 44 inches max, 10.5 minimum. Forgiving clubs would be for example Ping K15....or have a look here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYLyGF6jheQ&list=UUZelGnfKLXic4gDP63dIRxw

Rikand

Most forgiving driver ?

A 3 wood.

dan_ep82

Rikand wrote: »

Most forgiving driver ?

A 3 wood.

I don't carry a 3W anymore, even on bad days I could hit my driver better. If I was slicing the driver I always seemed to do the exact same with the 3 wood

If I can't hit the driver well I usually hit the hybrid:)

What was the driver you were hitting in the first place and what driver did you buy?

Wombatman

Rikand wrote: »

Most forgiving driver ?

A 3 wood.

Myth.

The average player is no more accurate with a 3 wood than with a driver.

Or, to put it another way, is just as inaccurate with a 3 wood as with a driver

BigChap1759

Wombatman wrote: »

Myth.

The average player is no more accurate with a 3 wood than with a driver.

Or, to put it another way, is just as inaccurate with a 3 wood as with a driver

I agree, if I'm swinging poorly I still have confidence that I'll get more on the ball with a driver than 3 wood simply due to the size!

GreeBo

Wombatman wrote: »

Myth.

The average player is no more accurate with a 3 wood than with a driver.

Or, to put it another way, is just as inaccurate with a 3 wood as with a driver

Based on what?

More loft and shorter shaft means its easier to get airborne and hit straight.
More loft means less movement of the ball in the air.
Less distance traveled means the ball is less likely to end up somewhere you don't want it.

Do you agree that a wedge is easier to hit than a driver?
Its the exact same logic.

BigChap1759

Cona wrote: »

I recently got a loan of a mates driver which came as part of a cheap set of clubs. Played a few rounds with it and I was hitting it really well, as I imagine that it was very forgiving with a large sweet spot. Bought myself a new driver recently which I am struggling to hit consistently straight at all...I was much straighter and prob ever further with the cheapo driver

So, that being said, is there any driver that you would consider one of the most forgiving, large sweet spot driver out there? Looking for something cheap.

ps I know that becoming a better player helps, but for a beginner I need the driver to be going straighter as otherwise my overall game suffers

Can't go wrong with Ping G series - could pick up a G5/G10 fairly cheap - regular shaft and 10.5 or 12 degrees loft

http://www.adverts.ie/drivers/ping-g5-driver/6450425

http://www.adverts.ie/drivers/ping-g10-driver/6229249

BigChap1759

GreeBo wrote: »

Based on what?

More loft and shorter shaft means its easier to get airborne and hit straight.
More loft means less movement of the ball in the air.
Less distance traveled means the ball is less likely to end up somewhere you don't want it.

Do you agree that a wedge is easier to hit than a driver?
Its the exact same logic.

Except that it's a much smaller head by comparison which plays a part in confidence to hit when over the ball

charlieIRL

I can't hit my 3 wood consistently to save my life but am very confident with my driver. Also in the last few months the amount of wayward drives has drastically decreased. On par 5's its driver then 5 iron for me.

GreeBo

BigChap1759 wrote: »

Except that it's a much smaller head by comparison which plays a part in confidence to hit when over the ball

I dont really think that makes that much of a difference, a driver has always been harder to hit than a 3 wood, the length of the shaft and the lack of loft are the real problem.

I have no problem with using a driver, but for a beginner with issues I recommend as much loft as you can get and as short a shaft as you can get.

Nothing wrong with 13* driver for example.

Wombatman

GreeBo wrote: »

Based on what?

More loft and shorter shaft means its easier to get airborne and hit straight.
More loft means less movement of the ball in the air.
Less distance traveled means the ball is less likely to end up somewhere you don't want it.

Do you agree that a wedge is easier to hit than a driver?
Its the exact same logic.

Advantage of bigger head overrides all of these. But.....


More loft and shorter shaft means its easier to get airborne and hit straight.
Tee it high and hit up with a driver.

More loft means less movement of the ball in the air.
Driver ball flight is higher than three wood because of actual loft when tee and hitting up are considered.

Less distance traveled means the ball is less likely to end up somewhere you don't want it.

But when it does end up where you want GIR chances better. Small varience here in any case.


Do you agree that a wedge is easier to hit than a driver?
Its the exact same logic.

Ask a high handicapper to hit shots off the fairway with a 60 degree wedge and then off the tee box with a driver then ask which club is easier to hit. Driver is easy to hit because the conditions are always the same. Flat tee box, no rough or side\up\down hill lies, consistent tee height.

Anyway the main point is that the 3-wood is similar to hitting the driver. That is why it was suggested. The wedge is totally different. It's a silly over simplification on your part and not the same logic.

Driver - 3 wood. Apples and Apples.
Driver - Wedge. Apples and Kumquats

GreeBo

Wombatman wrote: »

Advantage of bigger head overrides all of these. But.....


More loft and shorter shaft means its easier to get airborne and hit straight.
Tee it high and hit up with a driver.

Thats not an argument or even a counter point, its a catch phrase.
If your name's not down you're not getting in.

Wombatman wrote: »

More loft means less movement of the ball in the air.
Driver ball flight is higher than three wood because of actual loft when tee and hitting up are considered.

What does higher flight have to do with it?
More loft means more spin in the plane you want to ball to travel.

Wombatman wrote: »

Less distance traveled means the ball is less likely to end up somewhere you don't want it.

But when it does end up where you want GIR chances better. Small varience here in any case.

This is irrelevant, we are talking about someone who is having problems hitting the driver and you are talking about GIR opportunities after a good driver?
If there variance is so small then why do we have both clubs?

Wombatman wrote: »

Do you agree that a wedge is easier to hit than a driver?
Its the exact same logic.

Ask a high handicapper to hit shots off the fairway with a 60 degree wedge and then off the tee box with a driver then ask which club is easier to hit. Driver is easy to hit because the conditions are always the same. Flat tee box, no rough or side\up\down hill lies, consistent tee height.

What has hitting a ball off the fairway got to do with what club to hit off the tee?
If the driver is easier to hit then why do most golfers struggle?

Wombatman wrote: »

Anyway the main point is that the 3-wood is similar to hitting the driver. That is why it was suggested. The wedge is totally different. It's a silly over simplification on your part and not the same logic.

Driver - 3 wood. Apples and Apples.
Driver - Wedge. Apples and Kumquats

I don't think you have really answered any of my arguments there to be honest, just dismissed them.

Its not an over simplification, its a demonstration of how length of shaft and lack of loft make it more difficult to hit the ball where you want to.

Wombatman

The argument: 3-wood is yields better results off the tee than driver.

Support points of three wood:
Shaft a little shorter so a little easier to hit straight.
Loft a bit less so slice\hook shots will be a little closer to target line. Please remember that it is still quite easy to slice\hook a three wood.

Support points of driver.
Easier to hit sweet spot than three wood because of bigger head. Therefore a lot less likely to scuff, sky, top, or shank.
Goes further when hit correctly.

So the probability of your 3 wood being closer to you target line is a little higher than that of your driver, but one will mis-hit their driver a lot less often and will obviously get more yardage with the driver.

So let's look at some likely numbers for beginner based on my argument

---

3-Wood Driver
Mis-hit off the tee (top, sky, sh@nk etc)

---

30% 20%
Avg. Yardage

---

170M 210M
Hook\slice into trouble on good 'launch'

---

20% 25%

Which is better?

Sean_pop

Cona wrote: »

I recently got a loan of a mates driver which came as part of a cheap set of clubs. Played a few rounds with it and I was hitting it really well, as I imagine that it was very forgiving with a large sweet spot. Bought myself a new driver recently which I am struggling to hit consistently straight at all...I was much straighter and prob ever further with the cheapo driver

So, that being said, is there any driver that you would consider one of the most forgiving, large sweet spot driver out there? Looking for something cheap.

ps I know that becoming a better player helps, but for a beginner I need the driver to be going straighter as otherwise my overall game suffers

Ping seem to be the most forgiving driver out on the market.

I would echo Greebo opinion "shorter shaft, more loft, biggest head you can get".

Typically drivers nowadays come standard with 460cc head as that is the maximum they can be

GreeBo

Wombatman wrote: »

but one will mis-hit their driver a lot less often and will obviously get more yardage with the driver.

So let's look at some likely numbers for beginner based on my argument

---

3-Wood Driver
Mis-hit off the tee (top, sky, sh@nk etc)

---

30% 20%
Avg. Yardage

---

170M 210M
Hook\slice into trouble on good 'launch'

---

20% 25%

Which is better?

I'd love to know where your figures come from, and also why there are millions of posts about problems hitting the driver compared to the 3 wood.

6.8M hits on "problems hitting driver"
2.3M hits on "problems hitting 3 wood" which includes hitting off the deck.

Also the question isnt "which is better" its which is easier to hit, of course if you can hit both as well then you should hit a driver for the distance.
A 3 wood is easier to hit consistently than a driver is the argument btw.

Wombatman

GreeBo wrote: »

I'd love to know where your figures come from, and also why there are millions of posts about problems hitting the driver compared to the 3 wood.

6.8M hits on "problems hitting driver"
2.3M hits on "problems hitting 3 wood" which includes hitting off the deck.

Also the question isnt "which is better" its which is easier to hit, of course if you can hit both as well then you should hit a driver for the distance.
A 3 wood is easier to hit consistently than a driver is the argument btw.

The reason there are more searches on driver is because the driver is hit more often. Some days we go out and never hit a 3 wood. Most days we go out and hit the driver 14 times (15 or 16 for some ) If the hit counts above where weighted based on the swing frequency of each club by amatures, it would become clear, developing your very own point, that the three wood is 'harder to hit'.

Also it is the big dog, and guys want to hit it well for the macho factor. Hence even more skewing on the driver web hit stats.

Wombatman

Wombatman wrote: »

The reason there are more searches on driver is because the driver is hit more often. Some days we go out and never hit a 3 wood. Most days we go out and hit the driver 14 times (15 or 16 for some ) If the hit counts above where weighted based on the swing frequency of each club by amatures, it would become clear, developing your very own point, that the three wood is 'harder to hit'.

Also it is the big dog, and guys want to hit it well for the macho factor. Hence even more skewing on the driver web hit stats.

The debate is a little academic anyway, because it's possible to buy a 'driver' with a shaft and loft comparable to a 3 wood, but with a nice big head on it.

That's what I play with and it's what the OP needs.