How do you know where sweetspot is?

I changed from a Ping G10 driver to a G15. I have definately lost 10 to 15 yards of length. However, a couple of drives went to my G10 length yesterday. I was wondering if the G15 sweetspot is in a different place. I was thinking of trying a lower tee as I do not know where the main sweetspot is supposed to be.

Bri

Hello Bri,

The sweet spot on a G15 is the centre of the grooveless area on the clubface that looks like a 'V' . You would probably get best results by hitting the ball in the centre of the region that lies between the second and third groove down from the top, with a slightly upward angle of attack.

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Good morning Brian, Brian.

There are actually TWO sweetspots on the face (and they've been diverging since drivers have started growing past ~320 cc). The first is the geometric sweet spot - the one Brian is pointing out - the middle of the face where COR or CT is the highest. The second is the intersection of CoG's - the "point of percussion" so to speak. This is highly deceiving to the feel player where these sweetspots are divergent; as solid strikes don't go as far as 'worse feeling strikes' as they miss the sweetspot.

And in modern drivers with standard bulge and roll, we're learning that there's more distance to be had from actually missing the geometric sweet spot higher on the face, as this increases launch angle while reducing spin as a result of vertical gear effect.

As for testing sweet spots, you can only really test for the intersection of CoG. The preferred method is to take the head off, then balance the face on a small point - a common nail with the tip ground off, a ball point pen with the head removed, that kind of thing. You need a ridiculously expensive machine to test for COR - or a launch monitor and impact tape to see where your best launches are coming from.

But once again, feel isn't necessarily real in the world of golf. I know it's not really helpful, but it may help explain things.

Of course, the other contributing factor may be length (are your drivers the same length?) or shaft flex (guaranteed they're not the same, even if they're the same make and model if the G10 is a few years old the shaft mandrel has most definitely been replaced).

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Interesting as usual chaps. Could you explain CoG please. It is new to me. Also it could be the shaft. I am using a Regular on G15 it used to be a Soft Regular on G10.

Bri

CoG - Center of Gravity

Miff

A low tech approach is to hold the club in your left hand near the club head with the face upper-wards and with the right hand drop a number of balls from about 12" all over the face until you find the spot that it bounces higher.

As I found, this identifies the sweet spot quite satisfactorily but sadly does nothing to help you hit it when you swing

That's a good tip. Will have a bash at that later.


Bri

Well that has got me back half of the distance that I lost. I was using the pink castle tees. Today I used the white slightly lower ones. I got a lower more penetrating trajectory and a bit more distance. Still not as far as the G10 though.

Bri

The other consideration is that your G10 may have simply been hotter.

.830 is the COR limit. However, everything is made to a tolerance so as not to go over that limit for production gear. In plainspeak, your G10 may have been closer to the max than your new driver.

Yep, could be that I suppose. What do you think about the shaft difference. G10 soft regular, G15 regular. Anyway I hit all fairways today or first cut so very happy overall.

Bri

It could be that the G15 is just stiff enough to rob you of some spin or perhaps kick through impact that's impacting your ball speeds, yes.

This is where getting on a launch monitor with both drivers would be helpful.

Why did you move from the G10?

Well, I fell for hype and reviews etc.

Bri