Drivers - Old V New - real game improvement

[Foxholer]

Having had almost (well, maybe half and most have been sold on) as many Drivers as Duncan, I can confirm that it's all down to the combo of the fit/fitting, shaft and forgiveness!

I'm certain I could hit my old R360 (conforming) Tour R5, FT3 Tour, Adams 9015D or any of my current Adams XTD TIs about the same distance! However, some of the shots that went a surprisingly long way last Thursday came from part of the face that a golf ball simply should never be anywhere near!

It's forgiveness that has been the major advancement in driver tech in the last 10 or so years! Out of the centre, the FT3 Tour was probably the best, but a horrible sound (donk!) and not very forgiving! But I hit more out of/near the middle with that than any of the others - simply because I had to!

I don't believe there's anything to be gained by getting the 'latest and greatest' Driver except in exceptional cases! In the TM line, the M2 seems to have been one of those! R7 Quad was a big step an R7 Limited was also a great advance (mainly because of the shaft). Others have been distinct flops!

But it really comes down to what Driver works with the particular Golfer!

 

[gmhubble]

Spent ages swapping drivers about and couldn't settle on one even up to and including the Epic - watched an online video and coincidentally found a Ping G20 for sale .... haven't looked back since - been a fab 3 months to date

 

[Rlburnside]

whats the weather like on Whalsay today?

Rained most of of night and morning very little wind but cold, went out at 11.30 and scored 36 points course is very wet.

 

[Rlburnside]

Well first round with the new Ping G400 driver, 4 drives were farther than my Benross ,2 bad drives the other 7 were around the same distance as the Benross, with 3 missed fairways.

Only one game but the distance needs to improve to justify the cost, the Ping was £349 and the Benross was £199 .

Should also add the Ping was purchased from a fitting I had.

 

[Coffey]

Rick's 5 year tests don't really show anything for me.
Hit from the middle, with the obvious exception of a couple of the Cobra drivers, gave similar results - the differences of 2-3 yards here and there aren't worth thinking about. What he can't show is the improvement in ball speed on the off centre hits.
As a Pro, he has a pretty repeatable swing and generally makes good contact - therefore the ball goes a long way etc etc.
This is where I think using Rob Potter or someone similar would show the real difference in drivers down the years. Off centre hits, variable swing speeds are going to show how clubs perform for us, not a Pro...

On the Cobra video, a couple of the drivers are real game improvement drivers, producing more spin than normal. If Rick smashes one at 110mph he's going to put mahoosive amounts of spin on the ball and it's going nowhere, hence the short carry.

I'm not really convinced that club reviews are of any use to us, with the exception of how they look and what tech is involved in the manufacture.

I agree that he needs to do some off strike testing or get Rob back in to do it as that is where the gains are with the modern equipment. But what it does show is that centered strikes are pretty consistent across the ranges.
Regarding the Cobra test, if you look at his reviews of the drivers which performed poorly in the 5 year test, he actually really liked them in the individual product review and had one of them going over 300 yards, yet in the 5 year test he was only getting like 260.

I believe that you will only notice a massive increase in distance if the club is incorrect for you. If you have been fitted for the club then you most likely will not notice much.

 

[patricks148]

Well first round with the new Ping G400 driver, 4 drives were farther than my Benross ,2 bad drives the other 7 were around the same distance as the Benross, with 3 missed fairways.

Only one game but the distance needs to improve to justify the cost, the Ping was £349 and the Benross was £199 .

Should also add the Ping was purchased from a fitting I had.

Fairways?

 

[ScienceBoy]

Fairways?

The bit that isnt sea or rock

 

[Rlburnside]

Fairways?

????

 

[patricks148]

????

did you get fitted at Fairways driving range in Inversneck?

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Rick's 5 year tests don't really show anything for me.
Hit from the middle, with the obvious exception of a couple of the Cobra drivers, gave similar results - the differences of 2-3 yards here and there aren't worth thinking about. What he can't show is the improvement in ball speed on the off centre hits.
As a Pro, he has a pretty repeatable swing and generally makes good contact - therefore the ball goes a long way etc etc.
This is where I think using Rob Potter or someone similar would show the real difference in drivers down the years. Off centre hits, variable swing speeds are going to show how clubs perform for us, not a Pro...

On the Cobra video, a couple of the drivers are real game improvement drivers, producing more spin than normal. If Rick smashes one at 110mph he's going to put mahoosive amounts of spin on the ball and it's going nowhere, hence the short carry.

I'm not really convinced that club reviews are of any use to us, with the exception of how they look and what tech is involved in the manufacture.

Good points. I agree that if you repeated these tests with Rob Potter (actually haven't seen him do much testing at all for a while, maybe Liam from GolfVlogs UK instead or Andy from Teeuplo?) I doubt that the same models would come out on top.

 

[Rlburnside]

did you get fitted at Fairways driving range in Inversneck?

No the fitting was in Sussex

 

[Golfmmad]

Had my new driver now for about 6 weeks, the Epic. I thought that if I was going to spend that amount of money I'll take advantage of all the technology. I tried the Taylormade M2, Ping G400 and the Callaway Epic.
The best numbers were from the Epic by far.

I'd lost confidence with my 8 year old Taylormade Limited so it was time for something else. I'm certainly hitting it straighter and finding more fairways and when hitting out of the middle it definitely goes further by between 5-20 yards. And as others have said on this thread, even mishit off the toe and heel drives go further!

Just as an aside, my Brother RLBurnside, used the same fitter as myself. And the best numbers by far for him were with the Ping G400. We have the same swing speed and distance, well, he hits it slightly further but I was surprised that the Epic wasn't for him.

Has it improved my game, well the first comp was the October Medal, I shot a gross 86 - nett 63 off a 23 handicap, with a cut to 21. Last Stableford comp had 34 points. So more consistent I think and looking forward to Mondays November Stableford.

:thup:

 

[Rlburnside]

:cheers:I still remember you beat me by a yard For the prize for the longest drive at our comp.:angry:

Always said we are just about the same distance but I was more consistent, untill you got the Epic.

 

[NWJocko]

Depends how you define "game improvement", i.e. are you all about distance or hitting fairways/consistency of distance?

I'm a little bit of a tinkerer with clubs so have tried loads over the years....... Longest driver was an Adams 9016 (or something like that) but a bit like the SLDR, you miss the centre of the club face and it's 4 iron distance at best. But when you caught one it was outrageous.

Got an M2 when they first came out and kept it for 18 months or so, very forgiving but, in my hands, a bit wayward as it always felt a bit light.

Had a G400 LST for a couple of months now and, longest for longest, probably similar to M2 if even a bit shorter but my consistency in terms of short and long is incredible. Feel so confident with it that plays a huge part so hitting it every chance I get now whereas I was shying away from hitting driver.

That said, I loved the G5 and G25 drivers and could easily still play either and doubt my scores would change that much!!

 

[Hobbit]

I get what people are saying about getting someone like Rob Potter to see how well a club performs on off centre hits but isn't that also adding in a variable that could skew some of the numbers? Did it spin up at xxx or was it an off centre hit?

I'd rather take a variable out of the equation, and then when I try them make my mind up on how it flies for me.

 

[inc0gnito]

I bought a Titleist 913 D2 and couldn’t hit it. Sold it to a friend and bought a TM RBZ stage 1. Couldn’t hit it either then worked on my backswing. This improved my hits but didn’t like the sound or feel from the RBZ or the height. Much too high. So I went and bought another 913 D2. Felt much much better and hit it straighter and lower. #beginner #stillspendingtimeinthewoods

 

[bernix]

i am still using my 9 year old G10 driver and cannot say that i am shorter than my mates using more recent or the newest drivers. but maybe i would be longer or more consistent with a modern driver. that's why on tight driving holes i always use my 3-wood (2013 Cally RAZR fit)

 

[garyinderry]

i was playing my old titleist 910 driver this summer but one day had a try of my mates tm r15. noticable by eye difference in spin and on good hits about 15 yards carry.

any time we were out i couldn't resist asking him to share his driver with me until i got an upgrade.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

i am still using my 9 year old G10 driver and cannot say that i am shorter than my mates using more recent or the newest drivers. but maybe i would be longer or more consistent with a modern driver. that's why on tight driving holes i always use my 3-wood (2013 Cally RAZR fit)

I use a G10 - love it - and hit the ball as far if not further than most of my peers - and I am definitely one of the straightest - despite many having much more recent gear. I bought this driver about 8 yrs ago for £50 from my club pro (it was his driver) and I have absolutely no wish, need or desire to change it.

 

[patricks148]

I use a G10 - love it - and hit the ball as far if not further than most of my peers - and I am definitely one of the straightest - despite many having much more recent gear. I bought this driver about 8 yrs ago for £50 from my club pro (it was his driver) and I have absolutely no wish, need or desire to change it.

a metal driver... surely that' cheating...:rofl: