Are We Being Conned

[Deleted member 16999]

Some maybe aware I was looking for a Taylormade R7 Quad Driver a few weeks back for a “project” at the club.
Anyway, we/I ended up with 2, the one I bought was £20.00 plus £8.00 p+p off Facebook.
Had a play with it in the simulator and found it was decent to hit and was getting some decent measurements from it, so much so I decided to take it on the course.

Well after 10 Rounds I’m averaging, according to Game Golf, 241yds and over 50% fir.
I have even driven our 10th twice with drives over 300yds, downhill, wind assisted.

My current driver is the Callaway Rogue Sub Zero and has been in my bag 15 months and this averages 230yds and an accuracy of fir also over 50%.
Plus in the 15 months I’ve had it I’ve never driven the 10th.

The R7 was launched in 2004 and has a 400cc head. Both clubs have a Regular shaft same length, slight difference in weight.

Is modern technology giving us the results we want?

Currently it’s staying in my bag, at least until the fairy dust wears off, but it really has confused me.

 

[robinthehood]

Club tech has moved little in 10 years , iron lofts are stronger, that's it really. My mate has splashed out on a set of pxg as some one told him it will knock 5 shots off his game .

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Club tech has moved little in 10 years , iron lofts are stronger, that's it really. My mate has splashed out on a set of pxg as some one told him it will knock 5 shots off his game .

Thought it had moved a bit more in 15 years though.

 

[Scozzy]

Imo there's no doubt the industry is extracting the bodily fluids.The last decade in particular has seen drivers that do everything except drive you to the course and yet is anyone reaally improving their scores? Are hcaps coming down on average for Joe public because they bought a 450£ driver ? Practising other areas of your game is one thing but the thirst for new driver tech is boring me now.If half the claims were true we'd all be single figures

Get fit for what suits you,end of

 

[Beezerk]

I’ll give you £25 for it 😂

 

[Orikoru]

I can't really speak from experience but I see a lot of people saying being fit for your clubs is more important than having the new tech. So it could just be that for you the R7 is coincidentally a better fit, despite how old it is?

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Imo there's no doubt the industry is extracting the bodily fluids.The last decade in particular has seen drivers that do everything except drive you to the course and yet is anyone reaally improving their scores? Are hcaps coming down on average for Joe public because they bought a 450£ driver ? Practising other areas of your game is one thing but the thirst for new driver tech is boring me now.If half the claims were true we'd all be single figures

Get fit for what suits you,end of

Got fitted for me Rogue, Handicap dropped 5 shots (gone back up 1) in last 12 months.
Starting to think there’s sorcery at play.

 

[pendodave]

Does anyone really think they go further since the cor was legislated for in 200x??

As for the old one going further, a couple of things that occur to me - 400cc head might be more aero efficient, current course conditions (at least where I live) are really firm and bouncy, so drives are going a long way, especially down wind.

I also find that the older TM drivers make a really nice thump noise, which encourages me to swing it faster for some reason!

 

[Deleted member 21258]

I found all the talk about maximising how far you carry a driver, be very mis leading.

Reason being is depending on course and conditions you play in, maximising carry does not maximise length of drive. As an example I have lost about 10 yards in carry on my driver by going to a lower lofted club but out on the course the flight is more controllable in the wind and drives are typically at least 10 yards longer depending on how firm the fairways are and thickness of green is.

The difference between the drivers I have hit from over the years and comparing them, is fairly marginal for me, and this goes from a TM 360 Ti(around 2000 iirc) though to 2016 M2. Much more dependant on strike than driver head. Also I am slower at swinging a 460 head than a smaller 360 head by 2-4 mph....

So what I am trying to say is I agree with you.

 

[GB72]

Watched one of Rick Shiels videos where he compared the last few years of Ping drivers. The oldest one he tried (G40 I think) matched the latest model and outperformed all the ones in between. Said it also felt better and easier to hit than any of the subsequent releases.

 

[patricks148]

They were great drivers, had one myself but it broke and was replaced with a newer model, which wasn't anywhere as good as the R7.

one of the guys i know still uses one

 

[Crazyface]

I can't really speak from experience but I see a lot of people saying being fit for your clubs is more important than having the new tech. So it could just be that for you the R7 is coincidentally a better fit, despite how old it is?

I was thinking this

 

[Depreston]

They’re all a bunch of snake oil salesmen

 

[Deleted member 1147]

Were you using your Cally over winter? Could it be that has skewed the average as you've only been hitting the R7 in decent (warmer & drier) conditions. Plus, if the sample size is pretty small those two anomolies of hitting the 300 yd green haven;t been ironed out with a bigger data set?

Or, the R7 is just a better driver for you

 

[IanM]

Conned? Not as much as the folk who spent a fortune going to the Baku-beyond yesterday...

I am not sure heads have changed hugely in ten years, but the right set up works wonders!

Square heads are the next new big thing, you wait! ...... what, they've been and gone?? Triangle anyone???

 

[Bxm Foxy]

Watched one of Rick Shiels videos where he compared the last few years of Ping drivers. The oldest one he tried (G40 I think) matched the latest model and outperformed all the ones in between. Said it also felt better and easier to hit than any of the subsequent releases.

He went as far back as the G20, which was right up there. Nowt really between any of them.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Were you using your Cally over winter? Could it be that has skewed the average as you've only been hitting the R7 in decent (warmer & drier) conditions. Plus, if the sample size is pretty small those two anomolies of hitting the 300 yd green haven;t been ironed out with a bigger data set?

Or, the R7 is just a better driver for you

No doubt the 10 rounds v 15 months is not a fair comparison, the 10th is playing with my head more

Thought it would be fun to use it once, just have to wait and see how long it lasts.

 

[Scozzy]

Got fitted for me Rogue, Handicap dropped 5 shots (gone back up 1) in last 12 months.
Starting to think there’s sorcery at play.

Well done 💪 like I said get fitted which you did 😃 I still stand by my post and think you'd be lonely in a queue of people who dropped 5 shots in a yr due to the latest driver being thaaat much better than the one you used previously...
Good add for custom fitting 👍

 

[Swinglowandslow]

Funny that this post comes up just at this time. A couple of days ago I went to the club for a late afternoon knock and bumped into an ex colleague who I hadn't seen for 10 Yrs or so.
We went round together and he was returning to the game, which was apparent when I saw his clubs.
However, on the tee he hit long and straight, and somewhat curious , I looked at his driver.
It wasn't a persimmon but it was that size. Unbelievably small headed and was 9.5 loft. ( I forget the make). It was ancient, really- But, blimey, did it hit the ball well. I know that he hit it, but you know what I mean. It did make me think then and there about the very question raised here. ..?
I mentioned the size of it compared with my Cobra, and he told me that a mutual acquaintance had loaned him his modern driver, but he preferred his own, i.e. this little metal head.

It certainly made me think, and then ,lo, a few days later I see this thread.
You know what? When we play again I'm going to have a few drives with his club. I await results eagerly 😀

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Well done 💪 like I said get fitted which you did 😃 I still stand by my post and think you'd be lonely in a queue of people who dropped 5 shots in a yr due to the latest driver being thaaat much better than the one you used previously...
Good add for custom fitting 👍

4 shots plus 1 in Annual Review.
Obviously cut wasn’t all down to just my Driver, still very happy with it, just confused by the R7, every time I take it out I’m expecting it to fail.