Question about driver

Hi all, i been using my regular shaft driver for sometime and i can carry ard 220-230m (relax swing). Nw that i have changed to a Stiff shaft driver, distance carry only around 200-205m (force or relax swing)

Is it becoz :

a) Club speed too slow?

b) i need to change the way i swing in order to handle a stiff driver?

The reason why i changed to a stiff cause i heard it can gain more distance but now it turn out to be otherwise.

Any one can enlighten me?

Thks.

230m carry? or you mean with roll? cuz if not thats a lot of air time, easily lower tier PGA tour drive average.
eitherway, it means your shaft flex is too stiff, that when your clubhead meets the ball, your shaft is already completely straightened. its like hitting with a 0 flex pole, no multiplier effect.
get fitted properly to maxmise your force transfer.
cheers!

chemicalpro wrote:

230m carry? or you mean with roll? cuz if not thats a lot of air time, easily lower tier PGA tour drive average.
eitherway, it means your shaft flex is too stiff, that when your clubhead meets the ball, your shaft is already completely straightened. its like hitting with a 0 flex pole, no multiplier effect.
get fitted properly to maxmise your force transfer.
cheers!

my driver shots normally dun roll much cause its always very high...am using a 10.5 degree.

so u mean its my swing is it?? too slow huh..

Or just switch back to a regular shafted driver and ur long again!

Birdman wrote:

Or just switch back to a regular shafted driver and ur long again!

tats easy but i am just curious why can i hit further with a stiff.... i mean since i already bought one.......

my swing speed is around 103-105.

something is wrong...or maybe mine is a old man's swing...

well I'm using a 9degrees driver, S-Flex Grafalloy Prolite HL shaft +0.75" in length
perhaps you should consider a lower lofted driver? or maybe try a more shallow swing plane? a lower tee-ed ball?
good luck!
cheers!

chemicalpro wrote:

well I'm using a 9degrees driver, S-Flex Grafalloy Prolite HL shaft +0.75" in length
perhaps you should consider a lower lofted driver? or maybe try a more shallow swing plane? a lower tee-ed ball?
good luck!
cheers!

hmm.... ok thanks for ur tips...i will try out tomorrow.

or a heavier ball
just kidding =)

ahdan78 wrote:

tats easy but i am just curious why can i hit further with a stiff.... i mean since i already bought one.......

my swing speed is around 103-105.

something is wrong...or maybe mine is a old man's swing...

ahdan78, what you're trying to do now is fit your swing to the club when it is much easier the other way around. Golf is a difficult enough game as it is already, even the pros with grooved swings get themselves fitted with equipment that best complements their swings. Do yourself a favour and get ur swing measured on a launch monitor to remove your doubts at the very least.

And your swing speed is hardly that of an old man, just to put you at ease.

same problem....hit with a stiff (my stock shaft has a sticker stating its 253 cpm) , only carry 190-200m (but only for 60% of the shots). Took my work mate's regular flex (more like A flex) also 190-200m.

Suspect my ideal flex is somewhere in between...but too poor to go for fitting these days

Have to say though, i cannot hit the 'journey across the driving range' slice even if i want to. At worst a fade bordering on a slice. But a lot more hooks.

as for lower loft, give it a try if u can try it for free, nothing worst than the idea stuck in ur mind for months"what if i hit a 8.5?" Latter one day due to lack of sleep u will end up buying an expensive driver which u dont need, on Ebay (or two in my case).

now I am itching to try a 7.5 just for fun.

maybe fix the swing before fixing the clubs
could be a timing issue if you're spraying it everywhere but straight
keep the variables minimal, then adjust from there
good luck!

Most balls nowadays are designed to spin less with the driver and more with the wedges, unlike the balata balls of old which had high spin with either club, necessitatiing the use of lower lofted drivers to keep the ball from ballooning. With today's balls lower spin, the move is towards higher lofted drivers to achieve optimum launch angle.

Take it from the world's number 1 golfer who said this during the US Open earlier this year.

Tiger Woods talks driver loft at Bethpage Black

"As far as my driver is concerned, as we all know, loft is your friend. The reason why you hit a 3-wood straighter is because it has more loft, and that helps. My release has changed over the years, and I just need a little bit more loft now. It's working out and I'm driving the ball more efficiently. I still have the same power, but I just need the loft now.

"When I first came out here on Tour, I used a 6.5° driver, and now I'm up to 10.5°. Jeez, I'd hate to see what I'm going to hit when I turn 40. I wonder how that's going to be. Maybe a 46" driver, with about 15° of loft.

"But you know, it is what it is and technology has changed and the ball doesn't spin as much as it used to, and you have to have a little bit more loft than you used to play."

The stiffer the shaft does not necessarily mean that you will hit longer. If that is the case, why don’t people use XXXXXXX…S shaft to hit and blow the course away?

I think the misconception here comes in when you see people with a ‘S’ Shaft hitting longer than one with a ‘R’ Shaft. I will first explain this in as layman terms as possible as I am not familiar with your technicality level in this sport that we all hate to love.

Basically the faster that one can swing the club, the stiffer the shaft should be so that it can keep up with the speed that it is being swung and the head will be able to remain square on impact if everything else falls in place. A mismatch in the stiffness of a shaft will result in a wide dispersion or shorter distances. This match of swing speed and shaft stiffness can be accurately measured by a clubfitter with the usage of a launch monitor and other club fitting gadgets. The clubfitter will also act as a doctor, review and asses the information that he has on you, your club and finally prescribe you what to use. If your swing is stable and consistant, by then you should be able to see results almost immediately.

All that is said above is just general description and rule-of-thumb talk. Of course out there, you will get some weird-dos that have slow swing speed but because of how they work the club, they need lower lofts and extra stiff shafts to work the ball up.

If you are still not convinced by what I said above, I will give you even a simpler perspective. Given the MILLIONS of golfers worldwide, do you really think that there should only be 3 types of swing speeds differentiate by 3 kinds of shaft types; R, S and XS? And would all ladies just have 1 kind of swing speed and all should be using ‘L’ shaft?

I can deliver part 2 of my thesis here if there are interested people out there who want slightly more technical. What makes me qualified? Heehee… read this thread. A summary of the shafts I have gone through so far.

UST V2 Proforce: 3 shafts
Fujikura: 1 shafts
Diamana: 2 shafts
Graman: 3 shafts

And I have more on the order book. Akan datang.

Yes, MC, we want to hear it. Please give us the part 2.

ahdan78,
Just like every one else have said, the shaft stiffness should go hand-in-hand with your swing speed. There is such a thing call tempo. If you try to out do your tempo because you need to get to a higher swing speed, that is almost always the cause of disasterious shots. And it takes years of practise to improve the swing speed with the right tempo.

Continuing from the MILLIONS golfer part, this is where it gets really dry.

Stiffness of a shaft is measured by the units of CPM (cycles per minute). This can be determined by a frequency reader that most good clubfitters have. The adjustment of the resonant frequency of a club is the determination of how stiff a shaft will be.

Because every golfer is unique in their own way on their own tempo and swing speed, that is why it is important to tune or fit the shafts that is specific for you.

Tempo? What is tempo? I am only hitting a ball why must you suddenly associate some musical timing element in?

Imagine your golf swing now. You take it back, you unwind, you hit it and you follow through. Let break it up to 3 parts,

1. Address to the top of the back swing. 6 o’clock to 9 o’clock.
2. Back swing to impact. 9 o’clock to 6 o’clock.
3. impact to follow through. 6 o’clock to 3 o’clock

This is tempo. The speed and twist that each person brings back to 9 o’clock to the speed they bring down to 6 o’clock is all personal and very different. You also have to remember that how much twist each person has is also different. Not everyone can swing like John Daly, can we?



Some people take it back real slow, and then bring it down fast. Some people are just fast all the way.

First of all, this tempo already determines how much torque you want to have in the shaft. And again, I explain that torque of the shaft refers to how much torsional twist is the shaft capable of. From your take back to impact, you are twisting to close the club face, right? See! The shaft must also have variable torque to cater to the different people out there.

We all have differing swing speeds as well. You definitely cannot expect Petite Miss Boomz to have the strength and agility to swing as fast as maybe Jackie Chan can, right? So then again we have different flexes of shafts again to cater to the different people out there. Something which I am sure all is already familiar with is that the faster that one is able to swing, the stiffer is the shaft needed to make sure that the impact point stays optimal.

The flexibility of the shaft is the main engine of the shaft. Imagine clamping down your driver with a vice on the grip, then go to the head and pull back on the hosel area and don’t let go. The tension that you feel now is the energy that makes the ball go. of course when you coupled this with your own swing that is what really makes the ball fly as far as it does.

But getting the right flexibility to match your swing speed is the key to maximizing your drive potential. But pls do not forget the fundamentals that how far that you can hit is limited to how you are as a golfer; with a swing speed of 95mph, do not even think that you can hit 300m drives. The key words here is maximizing your drive potential.

All this said and done, best to go down to a clubfitter to see how it should be done.

mUAr_cHEe wrote:

Not everyone can swing like John Daly, can we?

Thanks MC. And not everyone can dress like John Daly too. kekekeke.

Wah.. got shaft thesis.... steady!

Cheem leh.... tempo determines how much torque you want to have in the shaft?

Anyway, your next paper should explain a little about bend profile, kick point, weight..etc.. stuff I hear ppl talking about.
For shaft/swing fit, besides speed, tempo, I think you should add to your thesis :
Transition : how much force/speed between the end of the backswing and the start of the downswing.
Wristcock: early or late. This will affect the bend profile and hence the flight control/characteristics of the shaft ?

The master has spoken...

ehh.. this one need u leh... i only can bluff eat so much only.

btw. nice photo on fb.

the QUANTUM MECHANICS of a golf swing..

all knee before the great grandmaster !!!

I cannot help but feel that I am being suanned here.

MC, dun feel this way lah...... At least you write out what you know and share it.

A job well done!!!

but do let me know if i have explained wrongly. the last thing we need is a newbie to 'walk fire, go into devil' because of my ill-advice.

Nobody suan u lah..
Good to share share.... shaft/fitting/golf... never ending..we're all learning from one another.

Birdman wrote:

ahdan78 wrote:

tats easy but i am just curious why can i hit further with a stiff.... i mean since i already bought one.......

my swing speed is around 103-105.

something is wrong...or maybe mine is a old man's swing...

ahdan78, what you're trying to do now is fit your swing to the club when it is much easier the other way around. Golf is a difficult enough game as it is already, even the pros with grooved swings get themselves fitted with equipment that best complements their swings. Do yourself a favour and get ur swing measured on a launch monitor to remove your doubts at the very least.

And your swing speed is hardly that of an old man, just to put you at ease.

thanks birdman...i think u are right...fitting my swing to the club.