Never thought loft would make such a difference

[Mr_T]

As you can see in my sig I own a Callaway FT-3 with 10 degrees loft, haven't been getting on too well lately with it, anyway after work yesterday I wanted to go out and hit some balls but I didn't have my clubs, so I used one of the trial clubs in the shop, which was a Diablo Octane Black in 13.5 degrees... wow! what a difference, the ball flight difference is huge, much, much higher, and with no real loss in yardage compared to my FT-3, the other thing I noticed was consistency, out of 60 balls I duffed 1 shot... the level of performance in my opinion was astonishing... at this point I would like to point out I am not changing, theres no way I can afford to chop and change every few months! Just thought I'd share my experience as I never thought the loft would have such a big impact

 

[bluetoon]

13.5 degs, aint that a 3wood?

 

[Fyldewhite]

Had a 13 degree driver for 5 years. Best I've ever had. More loft = less side spin = straighter. It's not rocket science really.

 

[Flarkey]

used to have a Donnay 12 deg driver (£25 from sports direct in 2005) which I could hit pretty well most of the time. Once at the driving range I tried a used 10.5 deg Ping G10 driver and wow, couldnt believe the difference a good club makes, and even with the lower loft it gave me a much higher ball flight trajectory and about 40 extra yards carry. and I also couldn't believe how forgiving the club was.


I didn't buy the club there and then and regretted it for weeks after. Trawled ebay for about a month until i found one the same that I could pick up locally. Got a great condition one for £75 and have been driving like a demon ever since!

 

[Bash]

I've struggled with 10.5 deg drivers (Last one an R9) and have gone back to my trusty old Nike Dymo HL (13 deg). I found the same; much more consistent with higher loft Nike and rarely hit it further with 10.5 deg.

 

[CMAC]

Maybe it's the shaft?

 

[Monty_Brown]

Also, don't underestimate the importance of the shaft in this. When I got into the game in the early 90s, the top pros all used ridiculously straight-faced drivers - we're talking 7* for many of them. But these days the shaft technology has advanced so much to influence launch angle and spin rates, that they can afford to use more loft, say 9.5 or 10*, which is more forgiving.

Get the right shaft in the driver to control the flight and we can all use a more forgiving loft.

EDIT: X-post with Darth. Great minds....

 

[Imurg]

The low loft drivers worked because the Pro had the swing speed to make it work.
Head design has changed too. Most launch high with lowish spin.
So most Pros these days will have a highish launching head with a low launching shaft to counteract the launch angle.
Us mere mortals may need a bit more help, especially if we don't have the swing speed to get the ball in the air. Hence the high launching heads/shafts.
It's been banged on about for years - get more loft. A 9 iron is easier to hit than a 3 iron. OK it's shorter but the main reason is more loft. Put a 9 iron head in a 3 iron shaft and you'd hit it better more often than the ordinary 3 iron.
As long as the ball doesn't balloon due to the high loft/high launch then you'll only get better results.

 

[Wayman]

I've got a 8.5 degree driver and when I tested the 10.5 I actually hit the 8.5 better strange I no but it's what works best for you

 

[Shaunmg]

I recall reading an article some time ago saying the right driver loft for an individual is determined by club head speed. Not sure of the nitty gritty now but recall it had graphs with launch angles relating to club head speeds, all a little complicated. In a nutshell It claimed the average amateur used a driver with not enough loft. The article went on to criticised manufacturers pushing the 10.5 degree loft, when 12 or 13 was more suited to the average amateur with 80/90mph club head speed

 

[Oddsocks]

Im 100% behind its shaft over head, my old ping driver was a 8* and i hit that higher than my current 9.5* TM burner and my older 10* cally.

 

[Mattyboy]

Lets not forget that the loft as stated on the club head is likely to be inaccurate.

I got hold of some top brand drivers around three years ago and tested them for loft on a machine. My conclusion was that to guess the actual loft of a driver, add around 1 to 1.5 degrees to what it said on the head!

Agree re the shaft as well.

 

[Khamelion]

When my mate got his driver fitted, he tried 3 different shafts, now I knew all about the shaft weight and at the time he tried 60, 65 and 70 gram shafts, in both regular and stiff flex. All good so far, but the fitter then went on to tell us about the kick point, the lower part of the shaft, the 6 to 8 inches from the hosel up over can remain quite stiff or can be quite whippy with a lot of flex.

That last bit I did not know.

So I'm guessing, if you swing fast 110mph plus, then a stiff shaft is what you require, but you then have to think about the kick point, would a loose tail to the shaft help or hinder you.

While the loft of the driver may help get the ball launched higher, the kick point of the shaft will go a long way to helping as well, as will an individuals swing style.

When compared to my playing partner, if we were to hit the same 7 iron, I could guarantee I will hit the ball higher, it will travel near enough the same distance, but it will be higher.

 

[RGDave]

I recall reading an article some time ago saying the right driver loft for an individual is determined by club head speed. Not sure of the nitty gritty now but recall it had graphs with launch angles relating to club head speeds, all a little complicated. In a nutshell It claimed the average amateur used a driver with not enough loft. The article went on to criticised manufacturers pushing the 10.5 degree loft, when 12 or 13 was more suited to the average amateur with 80/90mph club head speed

Spot on mate. I've been on 12 degrees for years, and am currently enjoying a 13 degree Mizuno model. My widest miss today was 4 yards off the fairway, and my average was plenty long enough to reach all but two holes.
Not bad (a 78) for a fat git with a tortoise swing.

 

[Region3]

Agree with all the others that have said the shaft has as much (if not more) to do with the launch than the angle of the face.

It's not just about the launch angle though, you need the right amount of backspin on the ball.
Too much and the ball will balloon, too little and it won't stay in the air for long enough. The faster the club head speed, the less you need help from the face and shaft to create spin.