Big vs. Small Driver head

Since I started playing about two years ago, I have used a Nike titanium (model before the ignite) with a 10.5 deg. loft and a 450cc head. I have never been able to hit it consistenly and don't get a ton of distance out of it (mostly slice and pop it up). Today, during my round, I used my friend's Taylor made Burner with a Bubble shaft, which is at least five years old and has is around 350cc. I crushed it-over 300 yds with roll and had a slight draw ball flight. I used it for the rest of the round and hit great. The ball just felt amazing coming off the face. I have also tried more modern drivers (X460, SasQuatch, Cobra Speed) and dont hit that well with them. Does anyone else have a problem hitting big headed drivers? What is my problem

No mate, small headed drivers are for good ball strikers they don't need a big headed driver, my driver is a 460 head but i don't want to change because im hitting the ball very well.

you need a big head to be a big hitter.

Liam,

Big heads are better as they have a big sweet spot yet they do slow down the club head speed due to alot of resistance. personaly it all comes down to technology and it seems that every1 is going big and it is almost impossible to find new small headed drivers.

can can hit the small heads just as well as the small heads too, but when i would hit a bad shot if i were using a small head the big head i would neve notice. i use a 48" to get max distance and thanks to the big head, i don't hit too many bad shots, nowhere near as much bad shots than i would using a small head. i can conrtol a small head at 45" but the get the extra distance i use a long shaft, but supposedly accuracy is compramised, but not with this huge head (450cc) i always hit the sweet spot. i think a longer shaft is a huge advantage of big ehad drivers that nobody utilizes

You're not serious, are you?

OK - from a physics standpoint, you're correct, due to the properties of mass vs force.

From a playability standpoint, you'd never know the difference. Perfect example: Find a short driver (43.5" or 43" if you can find it). 460 cc head. Swing it in front of a radar. Now go find a 3 wood at the same length (it should be much easier). Your radar reading should be the same. Now, there's a couple of variables in this equation, namely the heavier head on the 3 wood, and that it's tough to pick the same flex in both the driver and 3 wood. But essentially, you'll see no difference in the two clubs as far as swingspeed is concerned.

Hmmm, now I've got a project. I think that Ashton will have the answer in the MS5 HW and an X1 3 wood. A couple of similar shafts, trimmed explicitly for this experiment, and same grips.

See if I can get them to deviate outside of one another, with a 4 MPH tolerance. (The reason I picked 4 MPH is that I often see a 4 MPH variance when I swing in front of my radar).

Thanks for the food for thought...

__________________
True Length Technology Fitter - www.truelengthtechnology.com
It's live! - www.ShipShapeClubs.com
PCS Class 'A' Clubfitter

A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

The reason most folks don't hit 48" drivers is that they cannot find the center of the face often enough to make it worthwhile. I myself fall into this group. While it's nice to watch the ball soar for miles when you catch it, the penalty for missing the middle is too great. I'd rather have the consistency of my 44.5" driver and consistent 250 yard carry.

i agree that the penalty is too great if you miss it, but that is what i am saying, the head is so huge now is is seemingly imposible to miss it, well, for me anways.

I agree that it's tough to whiff with a 460cc head, but it's still no easier to find the sweet spot (which, FWIW, is the size of a pinhead, no matter what your club is).

i put a lot of weight on the things you say since you are a club making expert, but the comercials say that now with the COG moved way back the sweetspot is bigger, they lying? But i try to hit the top of the face anyways to minimize backspin, so if i miss is hits the sweetwpot.

The sweetspot will always remain very small. The sweetspot is the center of gravity on a clubface. If you were to take the shaft off, you should be able to balance the face of the club on top of a pen tip or golf tee (wood or iron head). This is the EXACT sweetspot. Nowhere else on the clubface will you be able to get results like you will if you consistantly hit this exact spot on the clubface. The difference they are talking about is that off center hits will still be long and straight. It's like comparing a blade to a o/s cavity back iron. The small driver ehads you needed to hit the sweetspot, similar to the blades, otherwise poor results. The large head drivers are similar to the O/S cavity backs. There is still one sweetspot, but because of the weight distribution, off center hits will stiill produce decent results.

__________________
Gord

Quote of the month:
"It's easy to see golf not as a game at all but as some whey-faced, nineteenth-century Presbyterian minister's fever dream of exorcism achieved through ritual and self-mortification." ~Bruce McCall

Well said, and well explained, Gord. I couldn't have explained it better myself.

@Skywalker: I'm no expert. I just read a lot, and experiment a lot, and try to pass on knowledge gleaned from men much greater than I. Guys like Dave Tutleman, Tom Wishon, Tim Hewitt, Bryant Brothers, Jerry Ballard, Ted Strickland, Bernie Baymiller, John Kaufman... these guys do all the work, I just try to digest all I can. They're not afraid to have their stuff questioned, and often have a great answer ready.

The thing about clubmaking, and I'm sure Gord and a couple others can chime in on this, is that it's a complicated or as simple as you like. But it's the guys that get into it that, IMO, are going to provide better service (and ultimately, better clubs) to those seeking knowledge.

I wish I could golf as well as I can build clubs. I'd be a low-capper for sure!

__________________
True Length Technology Fitter - www.truelengthtechnology.com
It's live! - www.ShipShapeClubs.com
PCS Class 'A' Clubfitter

A new highlight: Golfing the home course on Christmas Day.

I say it too often: If it's golf club shaped, you can play with it.

For the record, I'm a club doctor, not a swing doctor.

lol


I hear to get lower backsping it is advisable to hit the top of the face (which i turn i assume that that would not be on the sweet spot) but they say the more distance you are getting from the lowback spin goes further than if you were to hit the sweet spot. so would it then be more advisable to get a lower loft and try to hit that on the sweet spot?

Is there a physics major here?? lol Impact labels and a launch monitor may be your best help on this one.

if there are then here is a site:

http://www.golf-simulators.com/physics.htm

i understand it up untill spin, not sure what that f symbal is

5/7 f v sin 0


and then bounce and roll, forget about it, neven even seen that greek E thing before. lol

and a swing speed radar. I'm pretty sure Tom Wishon had something done up with a launch mat, a swing speed radar, and impact tape. You could figure out your approximate ball speed based on where on the face you made contact. (Or, some radars can calculate ball speed for you). I don't remember how he calculated spin, though.