Quote:
Originally Posted by BrianW  Does this mean that most golfers are playing with drivers that have too little loft and too long a shaft. If they had drivers with shorter shafts and more loft they might like them and would also benefit from the larger head size with it's off center hit forgiveness. Quote:
Originally Posted by bdbl Yes. 
I had my shaft reduced to 44" and am hitting the ball much better. I also suspect that an extra degree or two loft would help too. | |
Yes is the correct answer, by and large. There are rumours circulating around the net that Tiger has shortened his driver to 44" or 43.5" and simply didn't tell anyone in an effort to keep it in the fairway. The OEMs have been building longer drivers and more upright in an effort to 1) get you to stop slicing and 2) give you more clubhead speed and theoretically more distance. However, with the more upright lie we now get pull slices and inconsistant contact due to the extra length. Now, the stronger you are and the slower you swing the more length you can handle - you can physically handle the forces pulling on the club.
The other issue is loft (and I'm not talking about Lack Of F***ing Talent) - almost universally, the loft stamped on the bottom of your OEM clubhead is 2° strong of the loft you'll find in the middle of the face. In fact, I had a guy in the shop the other day for a spec-check. He had a Wishon 949MC driver that he said was handpicked to 8°. He then said that he put a protractor to it and swore the loft was 10°. So I slapped it in my gauge and sure enough, loft of the middle of the face was 9° - just like it was stamped on the bottom. So I let the client have a little rant about how Wishon was no better than the next guy. Then I measured face angle, and kept the numbe to myself. Next I measured his Cobra L4V X (stamped 8°) that was 10.5° in the middle of the face, and measured it's face angle as well.
Then I proceeded to inform him that the Cobra was square - so it's loft at impact at the middle of the face was 2.5° more than what he thought he was hitting.
Then I told him the Wishon was 1° open, giving him an effective loft of 8° at impact, just what he asked for.
So, long story short, your 10.5° OEM driver does have 10.5° of loft - about 1/4" off the bottom of the face. Where you're hitting it best is probably closer to 12°.
But, it says 10.5 on the bottom - so you seem like the Tour beast!
It leads me toanother favourite story - I shaft up an Aggressive nRAGE 65 S for a guy. As I'm profiling the shafts, I notice I've got a 65 S that actually profiles with the R's. So I put a little tape on it and set it aside. Later, I get the first guys' buddy come in, wanting the same shaft his buddy has. I take some specs and know that the S is too much - but he insists he hits S flexes only. So I give him this 'special S', and send him on his way. He absolutely loves it. See? I can play the OEM game, too. LOL