High spin/Low spin drivers

One Planer

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Without wishing to tempt fate, it appears I've solved my issue with the driver.

I took Bob and Brians advice and worked on getting the club face square through impact as opposed to hitting a push fade.

I've put a lot of range time in with a member of our scratch team helping me out. Saturday I took driver on 4 holes and hit all 4 fairways. Took 5 wood on another 5 and hit 3 of them.

Now. The one thing i did notice with my driver was the flight i was getting was pretty penetrating I.E low. My ball position was level with my big toe (left foot) but wad still getting the penetrating flight.

My question. The shaft in the driver us the stock Mizuno Fubuki, as i understand it, us a low launch/mid launch and low spin. Would moving to a shaft with higher spin gain additional height? If so how, do higher spinning shafts affect lateral spin as well as back spin to gain height?

I'm not overly fussed at the minute as the low flight gives me masses of run on landing. Even on wet fairways we played on last week. I'm more curious as to how the different spinning shafts effect the flight of the ball (I.E do the shaft and head work together as in irons)

Any opinions/input appreciated.
 

bobmac

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What loft is your driver?
If its an average 9-10.5 deg, Id say youre getting too far in front of it and delofting it at impact
Are the rest of your clubs low too?
 

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What loft is your driver?
If its an average 9-10.5 deg, Id say youre getting too far in front of it and delofting it at impact
Are the rest of your clubs low too?

Standard 10.5* Bob.

I wouldn't say the ball flight is low with the rest of my clubs. I get a penetrating mid'ish flight, even with my 5 wood. The only club I seem to hit reall low is the driver.

I know I have a tendancy to hit down on the driver, but not enough to take a divot/bruise the turf and in a lot of cases just brush the grass on the way through.

Other factors to consider Which I should have put in th OP (Sorry):

I do tee the ball quite low. At Address I woud say you could only see the top 1/3 (If that) of the ball above the crown.

and

The impact marks that are left on the face are usually towards the middle. Should they be a little higher?
 

bobmac

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When people start asking about changing to different drivers, lofts and shafts to help cure something like too high/too low/ etc, I always cringe.
If you feel you hit it too low and you get a new driver which hits it high, what do you do when you want to hit it low?
If you have a natural penetrating flight, I would suggest you learn how to hit it high as well, then you can vary it on windy days.
If you want more height, tee it up higher and keep your head behind the ball at impact. That should help stop any de-lofting that's going on.
 

patricks148

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I have the same driver and had the same shaft in untill a few months ago.

But i found the shaft quite high launch and got next to no run, which playing on a windy links course is not ideal.

I switched to a Graff prolaunch red stiff and now get a low launch and run

so i don't think its the shaft
 

One Planer

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When people start asking about changing to different drivers, lofts and shafts to help cure something like too high/too low/ etc, I always cringe.
If you feel you hit it too low and you get a new driver which hits it high, what do you do when you want to hit it low?
If you have a natural penetrating flight, I would suggest you learn how to hit it high as well, then you can vary it on windy days.
If you want more height, tee it up higher and keep your head behind the ball at impact. That should help stop any de-lofting that's going on.

Sounds like good advice (.... As usual) Bob! I take it rasing the height of the tee encourages more of an upward swing to hit it on the up as opposed to the one I have now?

I have the same driver and had the same shaft in untill a few months ago.

But i found the shaft quite high launch and got next to no run, which playing on a windy links course is not ideal.

I switched to a Graff prolaunch red stiff and now get a low launch and run

so i don't think its the shaft

You're quite right Patrick. I was thinking along the lines of something that was written on the forum a while back about High and Low spin drivers and how they are not suited to certain swings.

Again, don't get me wrong, I'm going to persivere an work on getting a little more height as per Bob's advice, I was just curious to know if a low spin shaft/head combo was not right for me.

My turn around in my driving has been dramatic of late. I'm now getting a much straighter flight and much, much less fade. I just have to work on gaining a little more height now.
 

patricks148

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Sounds like good advice (.... As usual) Bob! I take it rasing the height of the tee encourages more of an upward swing to hit it on the up as opposed to the one I have now?



You're quite right Patrick. I was thinking along the lines of something that was written on the forum a while back about High and Low spin drivers and how they are not suited to certain swings.

Again, don't get me wrong, I'm going to persivere an work on getting a little more height as per Bob's advice, I was just curious to know if a low spin shaft/head combo was not right for me.

My turn around in my driving has been dramatic of late. I'm now getting a much straighter flight and much, much less fade. I just have to work on gaining a little more height now.

Sound like the shaft might be a bit stiff for you if its low and slicing?
 

One Planer

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Sound like the shaft might be a bit stiff for you if its low and slicing?

While the ball flight is low, it doesn't slice.

Of the 4 times I took it at the weekend just gone, on 2 occasions the ball flight was straight, just a little low.

On the other 2 occasions I had a gentle 5 yard fade that found the fairway.

I'm not the biggest hitter to be honest and probably top out at the 230 mark.
 

Twire

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I used to have the same ball flight as you with every driver I picked up. It was exactly as Bob said, I was moving forward before impact, de-lofting and hitting down. Now I concentrate on Keeping my head behind the ball (reverse K at address) until after impact, and I get a much better flight. You need to be sweeping it off the tee peg with an upward strike rather than hitting down on it.
 

patricks148

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While the ball flight is low, it doesn't slice.

Of the 4 times I took it at the weekend just gone, on 2 occasions the ball flight was straight, just a little low.

On the other 2 occasions I had a gentle 5 yard fade that found the fairway.

I'm not the biggest hitter to be honest and probably top out at the 230 mark.

but surly hitting down on the ball generates spin and that would make the ball go higher?
 
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