Driver advice (unlike mono217, i realy do need help)

[Nikki]

Looking around on DG, and seeing the cleveland hibore xl tour for 63 quid, i was wondering if anybody could give me more info on it.

I have a quite vast clubhead speed and a fairly natural swing (only have problems with posture) And i am looking for a driver with stiff shaft (or even possibly x-stiff), due to very high 25 yard draw with my 6 iron wich goes 164 yards (cant even measure drives (driving range too small or hitting too inconsistent) and looking for something rasonbly sized (440 cc is big enough).

At the moment i have a very cheep driver (Ram fx ti 400 cc 10 degrees, reg flex wich i have trouble hitting straight).
And so i am looking for a decent driver at a reasonable price .

In the Netherlands every driver (A brand) costs at least 200 euros.

At this moment i have about 80 euros (enough to buy the cleveland tour driver including shipping).

Can anybody tell me if i should or shouldn't buy this driver (and with the gold or red shaft).

Any advice is welcome (please be polite though)...

 

[TonyN]

I personally dont beleive this is a question that can be answered, because I beleive in the powers of custom fit.

FWIW I would only ever buy a driver 'off the shelf' if I knew the make up of the shaft/head was very similar to what I had been fit for, and it was cheap enough that if it didn't work, I wouldn't be too much out of pocket.

Is there anywhere you can go and demo the club? Local driving range?

 

[Macster]

Nikki : So difficult to say what may or may not suit you, without a Custom fitting session.
I recently had the pleasure of being fitted at Titleist for a 909D2 (thx to GM )
and the difference in Shaft performances was quite noticeable.
With their help, hopefully I can find more consistency in fairways hit, time will tell.
However, with only 80Euros, your options are perhaps limited.
Can you borrow a club or at least have an extended test before you buy ?

I bought my Ping G5 'off the shelf", 10.5* with a stiff Aldila shaft, and it has been good for me, with the occasional slip.
Was looking to sell it for £70, but tempted to keep it anyway.
No idea whether it would suit you tho.......

Try as many as you can before parting with your cash.

 

[Tommo21]

Nikki, no need for that heading. Anyway, to draw 164 yards with a 6 iron isn’t overly long and talking about X stiff means you need to get sorted on a monitor real quick. Most driver these days are more than 440cc.

 

[brendy]

Nikki,
A 25 yard bend on a 6 iron isnt really classed as a draw (its worse than that!), As bad as this sounds, please take it as a positive and go to a pro and get him/her to sort your swing out.
Its far too easy for me or anyone else to say, sod brand new, go and get your hands on a regular or firm Callaway driver as they are easy to hit, reasonable shafts and make a nice noise. Get to the heart of the problem.

I still believe anyone who has good health, 2 arms and two legs (hands and feet included) can make a decent swing, its all about habits and knack. You learn to talk, walk, sing,run,hammer in nails without whacking your hand (nice random one there!), you had to learn it all, why not learn from a pro on how to put a decent swinging effort at a little ball? If you think outside the confines of what you already know then its possible, if you are content to hook the ball 165 with a 6 iron then buy a cally!

Tony, Im not as pro custom fit as yourself, I think CF is for robots who can mundanely run the same swing millimetre perfect every time. As long as the shafts arnt too firm or too soft and you arnt dragging the heels on each shot then you should be able to present a good shot. Saying that, if I do well this season, I might become a hypocrite and look into it, should my swing become more consistant. (fingers crossed it will!)

 

[Macster]

Nikki: As Tommo says, I doubt you need X-stiff - perhaps Stiff.

164 is a very easy 6iron for me, and I have a smooth tempo with a clubhead speed of 100mph (Driver), and I have a Stiff shaft with a slightly softer tip in my 909D2.

Why dont you go for a Fitting and see what they advise ?

 

[TonyN]

Brendy, each to there own but when I was C/F I didnt have a repeatable swing. It was similar but certainly not repeatable.

My FTI driver with Fujikura shaft would not carry 200 yards no matter how well I hit it.

As soon as the pro got me hitting a lighter/ soft tip shaft, the ball was soaring past the 200 to the 230 carry with ease.

Same with my X20's with true temper uniflex wedges. I did have a more repeatable swing when I got rid of these but the difference in carry lentgh was as much as 30 yards with the 6 iron.

Vig seen me play the x20's and he now see's me play the Mizuno's with nippons in. He would tell you the difference is immense!

The fact that Mizuno had about 200 different spec 6 irons made me a firm beleiver!

 

[Robobum]

Don't want to sound flippant here, and I agree with the others, but 164 with a slinging hook 6 iron.......did you remember to take the headcover off??

 

[brendy]

Haha robobum that made me smile!

Tony, when it comes to finding kit that works, go for it, I wont poohoo CF I just don't think any handicapper REALLY needs it.
BTW, Mizuno have 200 fittings because it makes them look better on paper to go to when you want a fiddle, it wouldn't be much fun if you could have any model as long as it was the same as every other. (think ford model T)

 

[Macster]

Brendy - NO offence, but I really think your views on CF are 'head in the sand' kinda stuff, the difference between shafts is considerable I can assure you.
Ive seen it first hand when trying things with both Ping & Titleist, so its not BS.

Maybe its best for someone with a reasonably consistent swing, but I am sure it can help anyone find a more consistent strike.

For example - does a 'scratch' player need CF ??

Well, on the day I was at Titleist coutesy of GM, one of the other lads there was scratch I think I am right in saying, and think when the feature hits the Mag soon, they didnt have a shaft on site that was stiff enough for him !
Having found the right one, I think he was seeing significant increases to his carry, and I mean significant .

How do you know a standard set/club is the right loft & lie for you if you dont get fitted ?

Sure, if you want to have to 'adapt' to any given club, thats fine, but you arent maximising your golfing potential, and in my mind are limiting your improvement.
Perhaps why so many Golfers stay stuck on high handicaps, and wonder why they dont improve.

 

[TonyN]

Chris, that post has been stuck in my head for the last 4 months, how did you get it out

C/F was the difference between me shooting consistent 95's to consistent 85's. With the right bats, I now feel single figures is within my grasp with a little hard work. Gimme 12 months to sort the putting out and I wreckon i'll be there!

Playing with off the shelf clubs, it was never going to happen!

 

[Macster]

Tony: A bit of hard work on the practise ground will always help, but personally I dont ever put too much pressure on myself as I tend to tense up which is detrimental to scoring well.
Relax, enjoy, and dont go ape when things go astray, and your H/C will come down.......thats my philosophy.

I;m just reading Bob Rotella's 'Golf is not a game of perfect" and its a great read.......think everyone should read it if you havent already.
Could definitely be worth 2/3 shots to ANY of us

 

[Nikki]

Thanx a lot for the replys.

I'll think i will go to my pro and ask for advice.

Until then i will be hooking those six irons...






but that hopefully won't be long.

(I just don't really have time for that at the moment,****** exams)

 

[Doh]

Tony.

Having played with you several times i have no doubt that you are doing things right for you and now that you have joined a proper club you will be playing off single figures within two years at the most.

How low you get will depend on how much work you put in, knowing you that will be a lot.

 

[TonyN]

£10 in the post rick!

 

[brendy]

I;m just reading Bob Rotella's 'Golf is not a game of perfect" and its a great read.......think everyone should read it if you havent already.
Could definitely be worth 2/3 shots to ANY of us

I have a copy of this winging its way to me from Amazon also, cant wait to have a read.
I don't have my head buried in the sand when it comes to custom fitting, I have already posted here saying that I might even try it some day but at the minute, my ap2's non custom fitted are doing me great. I understand the marginal benefits of CF but it would not chop 10 shots of a person using normal clubs, to save 10 shots they must be hickory shafted or something.

 

[RGuk]

Tony.

Having played with you several times i have no doubt that you are doing things right for you and now that you have joined a proper club you will be playing off single figures within two years at the most.

How low you get will depend on how much work you put in, knowing you that will be a lot.

Two years? pah.....less than that.....if I did it in 18 months, you will beat that (Tony).

Now, what was it I used to do??? oh, yes, practice.....(I wish I had the time)....