Driver Loft....(attn Greg Willis or pgapro, who have helped greatly in the past)

I finally broke 100 for the first time today, I have constantly been shooting 101, 102 for the last 4 mos. My short game has kept me from doing better. That is not my question today though....My question has to do with driver loft. I have a 10* Knight driver that I bought from Wal-Mart. My big problem is that my drives seem to go about 250-260 with no roll. I've noticed (and so have my new golf buddies) that my drives seem to balloon. I figure if I could get a lower ball flight I could be driving 280 no problem. By the way, about 80-85 percent of my drives are straight w/a slight fade. I was wondering if getting a 8.5* or 9* driver would help me on this. Also, would getting my golf swing analyzed help me even further on my quest to figure this out.....I've read that putting backspin on my drives causes this balloning effect, so would a lower degree driver help this...Your advice is greatly apprieciated...

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Next time your on the links and are having a bad day just remember you're still golfing...You could be sitting at home and listening to the nagging wife...That always puts a positive spin on my bad outings....

Hi,

A lower loft could actually make the problem even worse. Let me explain. The most common fault amongst amateur golfers is coming accross the ball with an out-to-in swing plane, thus causing the ball to slice (move left to right in the air) this out-to-in swing plane also tends to create a higher ball trajectory and significant loss of distance!

By purchasing a lower degree loft driver you are in effect trying to fix the problem the wrong way. Yes, this may cause the trajectory of the ball to be slightly lower, but it will also increase the left to right spin on the ball - giving you an even bigger slice and not just loosing you distance but probably a few extra balls as well. This is because the less loft there is on the clubface the less backspin is imparted onto the ball, but the more side spin is imparted for mis hit shots.

Address the problem at hand. Fix your slice. There are a great number of posts on the site regarding fixing your slice. Simply type 'Slice' into the search box.

Good Luck & let me know how you get on.

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Thanks

Greg Hutton
Head P.G.A. Professional
golftuitiononline.com

Pgapro, my problem isn't that I slice....My drives are 85% of the time straight, and 15% of the time have a slight left to right movement. So my shot accuracy I'm happy with. It's the height of my drives that I'm concerned with. So would changing the loft of my driver do that? I was also told by my golf buddy to get my swing analyzed (computer) before I decide to buy a new driver. Is this a good idea? What does this analysis supposed to do for you? I've never gotten into the technical side of golf, so I'm in the dark here..Thanks for any advice...As long as it's good....

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Next time your on the links and are having a bad day just remember you're still golfing...You could be sitting at home and listening to the nagging wife...That always puts a positive spin on my bad outings....

HI
Sounds like you need a driver with a high kickpoint shaft .

A lot depends upon how much and what type a driver your looking to buy. Because the hieght of the shot can depend upon the loft, the kick point of the shaft and the internal weight of the club head (wether low causing loft etc.)

So if you are keeping the same brand, shaft etc. Going down in loft should get you a lower ball flight. I do not think that I would go down all the way to a 8.5. Also keep in mind that a lot of the launch monitors seem to recomend a very high ball for maximizing distance and more loft.

I also am not sure getting your swing analysed will help, unless your testing clubs your looking to purchase to see which is the most ideal. So if your looking to make a big investment wether having someone build a driver or purchasing a name brand one, going to a place to test it and analyse it to see if it is ideal or wether a diferent shaft, loft or type of club is better for your game would be recomended.

On the otherhand paying 50-75$ to have it analysed might be better spent on getting a higher quality club and making some educated guesses on what you need.

Bob

You are probably either:
A) flipping at the ball increasing the loft to 15 degrees or worse
B) Not catching the ball on the upswing.

Try teeing the ball a bit higher and make sure that you are leaving your tee in the ground.

I just switched from a 10.5° driver to a 8° SMT Deep Bore (plays to a 8.5°-8.75°). I had the same problem you are describing "balloning" flight (my brother-in-law continuously joked that I have to phone NORAD the day before I play).

Been to the range twice and I love (that's right love) the results. The high point of my ball flight is about half the old driver. I am definately getting enough spin because even the one "worm burner" I hit actually rose over most of the ball flight.

Note also that the shaft changed from a TTDG S-300 to an Aggressive nRAGE X-stiff. The new shaft (in my "wiggle the club" opinion) is a much stiffer shaft. I would have liked to have had an Assassin II x-stiff, but this is the shaft it came with and LowPost seems to like them so I am giving it a try.

I would suggest switching just because your situation sounds a lot like mine.

I used the same Knight driver form Walmart a few years ago. It is still in my garage. My average drive was about 250 yards. My well struck drives were at the 270 yard mark. All of my drives were very high. I thought they looked great! I was inconsistent though. One drive would have a slight slice (a few yards right of the fairway) and the next might go way left with a hook. I had trouble controlling it. IF my tempo was perfect my drive was perfect.
I then switched to the Taylormade R7 quad (9.5* stiff shaft) and my consistency greatly improved and my ball flight is not nearly as high. My distance hasn't changed in an appreciable manner.
Through experimentation with other drivers at my local range I found that the biggest difference was not the loft or the high cost driver. The answer was in the stiff shaft. My average swing speed is 107 Mph with bursts to 112 mph. That said I needed a stiff shaft.
I don't care what driver I pick up, if the shaft is right I can hit it.
Hit em' straight!
Al

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I love to hit golf balls!

250-260 doesn't sound like you're having a lot of problems with your driving! I wouldn't say i drive it that far generally, but I'm not much shorter (if at all) than most of the people I play with. It's the short game you need to work on as you've already stated. However, getting your swing analysed would definitely help you get matched to a new driver. Who knows, you may find an extra 20. But it's not going to save you as many shots as 1-putting rather than 3-putting is.

Good luck.