Best used drivers which are forgiving for under £100?

[Lord Tyrion]

Anyone tried one of the ping g20 -30 drivers and the taylormade M2 to compare?

Yes to an extent. My son has the M2 and he can hit it miles. He can also hit miles OOB with it as well. When I have used it I can get it 20yds past any other driver I have used but I can only hit one good one in 8. The other seven go all over the palce. In effect, if you can tame it then the M2 is fabulous. If not then it is a much use as a putter off the tee.

The Pings may not get you out as far, not necessarily if you are good enough, but they tend to be easier to control and more forgiving. The title of this thread was 'best used drivers which are forgiving' so on that basis the Ping may be the route to go down. It all depends if you listen to the demon on your shoulder telling you to 'hit it further, distance is everything'

 

[AdamW]

Yes to an extent. My son has the M2 and he can hit it miles. He can also hit miles OOB with it as well. When I have used it I can get it 20yds past any other driver I have used but I can only hit one good one in 8. The other seven go all over the palce. In effect, if you can tame it then the M2 is fabulous. If not then it is a much use as a putter off the tee.

The Pings may not get you out as far, not necessarily if you are good enough, but they tend to be easier to control and more forgiving. The title of this thread was 'best used drivers which are forgiving' so on that basis the Ping may be the route to go down. It all depends if you listen to the demon on your shoulder telling you to 'hit it further, distance is everything'

Thanks for the great insight!

Ping g30 it is then!

Just need to research all these shaft and adjustment options now as i know very little about drivers.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Thanks for the great insight!

Ping g30 it is then!

Just need to research all these shaft and adjustment options now as i know very little about drivers.

Quite an important thing there is to have an idea of your swing speed. Get yourself to an American Golf, driving range with a Trackman, swing studio thingy and hit a driver, any driver. On the screen somewhere will be your swing speed. That is your starting point. Below is a copy and paste from Taylormade regarding what they go off. Now, not all Regular, Stiff etc are the same but it is a guide. Most people are in the Regular camp, bigger hitters in the Stiff camp. You are likely one or the other but without knowing you or your golf it is probably best to start with a Regular shaft unless you swing with real venom.

Don't be put off by what your swing speed is. A pro with a smooth swing will be well over 100mph even though they look slow, but you will likely be well under. I'm barely breaking the speed limit, bad back, cough cough , and have a regular. I had a stiff shaft driver starting out because a/ I did not know any better and b/ I loved the club and just wanted it. I was erratic with it, put up with it for two years, changed to a regular and am now far more steady. Not big distance but hit way more fairways than I used to.


Under 180 yards Under 75 mph Ladies
180 to 200 yards 75 to 85 mph Senior/A/M
200 to 240 yards 85 to 95 mph Regular
240 to 275 yards 95 to 110 mph Stiff/Firm
Over 275 yards Over 110 mph Tour (Extra) Stiff

Keep asking questions on here. There are some real aficianado's about shafts, clubs etc. Don't get too obsessive or worked up about it, you just need to be in the right territory.

 

[Orikoru]

Quite an important thing there is to have an idea of your swing speed. Get yourself to an American Golf, driving range with a Trackman, swing studio thingy and hit a driver, any driver. On the screen somewhere will be your swing speed. That is your starting point. Below is a copy and paste from Taylormade regarding what they go off. Now, not all Regular, Stiff etc are the same but it is a guide. Most people are in the Regular camp, bigger hitters in the Stiff camp. You are likely one or the other but without knowing you or your golf it is probably best to start with a Regular shaft unless you swing with real venom.

Don't be put off by what your swing speed is. A pro with a smooth swing will be well over 100mph even though they look slow, but you will likely be well under. I'm barely breaking the speed limit, bad back, cough cough , and have a regular. I had a stiff shaft driver starting out because a/ I did not know any better and b/ I loved the club and just wanted it. I was erratic with it, put up with it for two years, changed to a regular and am now far more steady. Not big distance but hit way more fairways than I used to.


Under 180 yards Under 75 mph Ladies
180 to 200 yards 75 to 85 mph Senior/A/M
200 to 240 yards 85 to 95 mph Regular
240 to 275 yards 95 to 110 mph Stiff/Firm
Over 275 yards Over 110 mph Tour (Extra) Stiff

Keep asking questions on here. There are some real aficianado's about shafts, clubs etc. Don't get too obsessive or worked up about it, you just need to be in the right territory.

Christ, on that basis I should get myself a senior flex!

 

[Ye Olde Boomer]

Somebody please explain to me what a "more forgiving" driver is.

My experiences do not include coming across one of those.

 

[spongebob59]

Somebody please explain to me what a "more forgiving" driver is.

My experiences do not include coming across one of those.

Basically if you don't hit the ball out of the middle/sweetspot, it will still have some distance on it. It will not correct a slice or hook.

think the term used is off centre strikes

 

[PJ87]

Somebody please explain to me what a "more forgiving" driver is.

My experiences do not include coming across one of those.

It's a driver who won't pull a gun on you if you cut them up at the lights

 

[Robster59]

It's a driver who won't pull a gun on you if you cut them up at the lights

Crikey, some people won't let it lie!

 

[Colonel Bogey]

From my VERY recent experience I'd go and get fitted. ie. Go to a reputable place that has an indoor driving range where to hit balls into a screen and that shows you EVERYTHING about your swing (speed / spin / smash factor / follow through THE LOT. And one where they can swap and change the shafts until they get you close (you will never be perfect) to how you want the ball to behave.
EG:- I've sacrificed achievable distance (20 yards of) for better accuracy, ie HITTING THE FAIRWAY EVERY TIME. Aparrently I swing the club at 90mph achieving 96mph on one blow, but the shaft that worked (for what I wanted) was a ladies shaft. According to the monitor I was getting 230 yards with 20 yard roll meaning 250 yards with a dispersion of 20 yards either way sometimes dead straight.
What do you want? Random hits going God knows where? Or a driver with shaft that bops you on the fairway EVERYTIME!!!!!

PS Tried on the course and it works as per the monitor. Money well spent. Do not chance it. Get properly fitted and set up. Cost? £170! Worth every penny !!!!!!

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Christ, on that basis I should get myself a senior flex!

I would only have shaft options in pink and purple ?. It seems a bit severe, did someone from this forum set those figures?, but maybe we need to suck it up and trust them?

 

[AdamW]

From my VERY recent experience I'd go and get fitted. ie. Go to a reputable place that has an indoor driving range where to hit balls into a screen and that shows you EVERYTHING about your swing (speed / spin / smash factor / follow through THE LOT. And one where they can swap and change the shafts until they get you close (you will never be perfect) to how you want the ball to behave.
EG:- I've sacrificed achievable distance (20 yards of) for better accuracy, ie HITTING THE FAIRWAY EVERY TIME. Aparrently I swing the club at 90mph achieving 96mph on one blow, but the shaft that worked (for what I wanted) was a ladies shaft. According to the monitor I was getting 230 yards with 20 yard roll meaning 250 yards with a dispersion of 20 yards either way sometimes dead straight.
What do you want? Random hits going God knows where? Or a driver with shaft that bops you on the fairway EVERYTIME!!!!!

PS Tried on the course and it works as per the monitor. Money well spent. Do not chance it. Get properly fitted and set up. Cost? £170! Worth every penny !!!!!!

If I get fitted i will have to buy a new driver though which costs a lot? Or can they fit used clubs at American golf?

 

[robinthehood]

If I get fitted i will have to buy a new driver though which costs a lot? Or can they fit used clubs at American golf?

Well most modern drivers are adjustable so there will be a lot you can change yourself

 

[spongebob59]

The G30 is adjustable and you can buy other shafts to slot in.

Theres no point in getting fitted unless you have a reasonbly repeatable swing IMO.

 

[Robster59]

Another one to consider is the Callaway XR16. I've found mine to be pretty forgiving and available for less that £100.

 

[stevench]

I still think the Ping K15 is the most forgiving driver out there.
Failing that any G series and you wont go wrong

 

[pool888]

Had a Ping G30 and really liked it, got a Ping ladies shaft cut it down and passed it onto my daughter who still plays with it. I bought the newer G series driver but never liked it near as much as the G30 for some reason, maybe the stock G30 shaft just suited me better than the stock G one. Long driver if struck well and much more chance of it hitting the fairway or staying in play than the Taylor Made R1 it replaced.

 

[Peristrephic]

Just checked this Launch scan tool https://bestobd2scanners.com/launch/ and I am so comfortable and satisfied with its features. After trying so my brands I finally found a compatible obd2 scanner for my car. You can also check it on this review.

 

[pendodave]

If I get fitted i will have to buy a new driver though which costs a lot? Or can they fit used clubs at American golf?

You can do a lot yourself with access to the right equipment and a bit of research.
Most pros/ranges who have a trackman or gc2 will hire it out. There's a lot of information in the public domain about which combination of launch, spin and strike gives the best distance for any particular swingspeed. Just fiddle around with the settings and bob's your uncle.
Of course, unless you are a reasonably good golfer you might not learn a lot. Strike is very important, and often not particularly well controlled by us choppers. That being the case, any ping g series in a regular shaft and at least 10.5 degrees of loft will almost certainly work. Plus you'll be able to resell at a minimal loss if you don't like it.

 

[duncan mackie]

M2 - enough adjustability to tweak, masses of shafts to play around with when you have that urge...

 

[dronfield]

I recently bought a used Ping G series driver from pro shop on Ebay for under £100.
Absolutely delighted with it - best driver i have ever owned, and very forgiving on off centre strikes.

Rich