Got rid of white headed drivers, are we going to get rid of adjustable clubs?

[Alex1975]

Hi all,


So we no longer have square headed drivers. Taylor Made now don't make a white driver. Are we going to get back to a place where we don't have to have adjustable clubs? It has been made clear over the years that we are meant to set the adjustable club at our fitting and then leave it, its not a toy to muck about with. If that's the case then with custom fitting being the last thing the OEMs have to offer as there is no more technology available within the rules, surly they are going to start to make clubs that fitters can adjust and glue.

Are they here to stay or can we get shot of them soon?

Alex

 

[Imurg]

As a fitting tool they are here to stay
Shops don't have to keep head and shaft combinations in every loft, they keep 1 head for each loft - sometimes even just one head - and a bagful of shafts.
No real reason why we need adjustable clubs.

 

[3565]

Never got sucked into the square heads, white/colour head or adjustable drivers malarkey, well the fully adjustable ones. I had the Mizuno MP 600/630 Trackman which helped but that's as far as I went. Just got a normal driver now that got fitted by an individual club fitter.

 

[bluewolf]

They should fit the head then refuse to sell anyone the tool to make adjustments.. If I see one more 20+ handicapper trying to adjust his new 913 to a draw setting to improve his massive slice I'm going to shoot the dog...:angry:

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

I think there is a place for adjustable clubs. I play a variety of courses and require different setups depending on the type. Links courses I want less loft and more run, inland courses I want more loft and carry.

 

[dufferman]

I think the white head / square head was seen to satisfy the 'new must improve my game' hunger, whereas adjustable drivers will always allow those who want to 'tinker' to get the most of their clubs. The SLDR is great for higher handicappers who may slice the ball a little more when having a bad week / month / season and therefor can adjust the driver to help fix it. Then when it gets better, or they have a lesson to fix it, it can be moved back to neutral to work for their game again.

Adjusting lofts means in windier conditions players can drop the loft to help with a more penetrating ball flight, or to help roll the ball further on longer courses.

Whether or not this actually helps or not is beyond the point - it's the idea of changing your club to suit your swing that matters.

A square headed driver was a 'fad' which has disappeared with 'newer' technology, therefor people who have / had a square headed driver will feel they're out of date when using it. Not saying everyone will change, but many will.

 

[MarkA]

I just the manufacturers would make sensible classy looking golf clubs , not ones that look like F1 cars - what's that new Ping Stripe about?
Im looking for a new 3 wood and i'm seriously thinking of not bothering as they all look so hideous and huge! the nike was the nicest head but RED ???????????

 

[bluewolf]

I think there is a place for adjustable clubs. I play a variety of courses and require different setups depending on the type. Links courses I want less loft and more run, inland courses I want more loft and carry.

Can you not just adjust your set-up/swing

 

[Westy3469]

Will there not always be ways those clever marketing sorts convince us to part with our cash and buy new kit?

Am I too cynical?

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

Can you not just adjust your set-up/swing

I already do.....it differs on every single shot

I quite often play for a low running pushy hook fade and hit a lovely blocked top shank

 

[GB72]

I think that they are here to stay but the cynic in me believes that none of these changes since the square driver have been for the benefit of the consumer.

I know they sold it on alignment but the white driver was purely so as people could see what tour pros were using TM drivers despite not being under contract. That said, I do not think this is a bad thing as it paved the way for various coloured drivers which I like and help liven up the bag a bit.

I have always believed that the adjustable driver was for the benefit of shops only. Being able to have 1 head in stock for all golfers is a massive boon. The problem is that they cost more to make and so they have to be sold as being of benefit to the golfer. I would be interested to know how many actually do change the club to fit conditions or a changing swing and how many fiddle with it a bit then stick to the recommended setting and change clubs rather than adjust for swing changes.

The square driver at least had some science behind it and appeared to be straighter. Whether it was simply a marketing tool as manufacturers had, at the time, reached the limit of what they could do within the rules is another matter. The problem was, however, that they were shorter and it is marketing based on distance that sells and so they were almost doomed to fail.

 

[3565]

Will there not always be ways those clever marketing sorts convince us to part with our cash and buy new kit?

Am I too cynical?

nope

 

[Khamelion]

Im looking for a new 3 wood and i'm seriously thinking of not bothering as they all look so hideous and huge! the nike was the nicest head but RED ???????????

I quite like the red colour of the Nike clubs, but then I couldn't careless what colour the driver or fairway wood head is as long as it is a solid colour without any distracting patterns or graphics.

The TM R1 was hideous, the new Jetspeed and Ping drivers are the same with go faster stripes on top, Yonex have got coloured borders top and bottom of the head as you look down, which are not to bad.

For me the club head should be a solid colour with a small discreet mark or manufacturers logo to show the centre point for alignment purposes, nothing else.

 

[Bratty]

I just the manufacturers would make sensible classy looking golf clubs , not ones that look like F1 cars - what's that new Ping Stripe about?
Im looking for a new 3 wood and i'm seriously thinking of not bothering as they all look so hideous and huge! the nike was the nicest head but RED ???????????

Think there's a company called Clubcrown or something, who make a transfer style wrap to go over the head of a driver or fairway wood. You could get the Nike, and then get a black wrap. Or flowers. Or skulls. The choice seemingly was endless.

 

[patricks148]

I can see the next big thing now…. The Eco friendly driver…. It’s made of wood in case you hadn’t guessed.

 

[ManinBlack]

I've used a lot of Taylormade​ adjustable drivers and don't think any of them really worked. Going back to the R7 the front/back weight adjustment didn't affect flight at all and on all since then the draw/fade adjustments have done little, if anything. In theory, they might, in a robot with a completely flexible "wrist" the possibly do, but in the hands of a golfer the grip determines the face position & I don't believe the weight movement affects things at all. The SLDR, in my experience, is different. On the SLDR you have a full 20 team movement from heel to toe. I think​​​​​​ I can see the difference but with such an unreliable swing like mine it's difficult to be sure, but there is certainly more adjustment built in. Loft adjustments are genuinely more useful but the ability to change shafts easily is the best feature and makes "try before you buy" much more practical.

 

[Deleted member 15344]

Rumours that the next TM driver will be based on the SLDR but white

 

[Alex1975]

They should fit the head then refuse to sell anyone the tool to make adjustments.. If I see one more 20+ handicapper trying to adjust his new 913 to a draw setting to improve his massive slice I'm going to shoot the dog...:angry:

I like this! :whoo::rofl:


So the draw setting will not help me release the ball....hmmm?!

 

[Darlophil]

I ditched my adjustable driver and gone for what I'm using now (Benross RIP Speed) and I'm glad I did. I had my preconceptions about adjustable drivers, that yes they made it a hell of a lot easier and cheaper to produce for manufacturers, but with some clever marketing the customers were still paying the same/increased prices.

I also had the belief that it was a little lazy from the manufacturer as they spent less time researching and targeting they're desired consumer for a particular product and a given time. I realised that it was unfair to have these judgments having not used one. So I got a nike vrs str-8 and from the 3/4 months I was using it my preconceptions were confirmed.

Why do we buy adjustable clubs? because we want to cure our slice/hook? That then is surely an issue with our swing set-up or swing mechanics. Its time for the manufacturers to stop resting on their laurels, put some decent graft into consumer R&D and produce clubs that their target market want to improve their golf.

Bit of a rant there, sorry.

 

[pokerjoke]

I think the white head / square head was seen to satisfy the 'new must improve my game' hunger, whereas adjustable drivers will always allow those who want to 'tinker' to get the most of their clubs. The SLDR is great for higher handicappers who may slice the ball a little more when having a bad week / month / season and therefor can adjust the driver to help fix it. Then when it gets better, or they have a lesson to fix it, it can be moved back to neutral to work for their game again.

Adjusting lofts means in windier conditions players can drop the loft to help with a more penetrating ball flight, or to help roll the ball further on longer courses.

Whether or not this actually helps or not is beyond the point - it's the idea of changing your club to suit your swing that matters.

A square headed driver was a 'fad' which has disappeared with 'newer' technology, therefor people who have / had a square headed driver will feel they're out of date when using it. Not saying everyone will change, but many will.

I must admit I don't really do drivers.
However my square headed driver is a very good driver.
In fact I never ever see it as square at address,all I see is it sits nicely behind the ball
and its fairly long.
I just believe that with any driver whatever the shape,just learn to hit it properly.
All this adjusting rubbish is for people that have swing flaws