Shaft Issue or maybe swing?

[Lump]

I'm having issues with the height of my drives.

If I dial my 910 to standard settings (9.5), I hit the ball miles in the air. Now this isn't a ramping flight caused by too much spin, it just goes out high. If I dial it down to the lowest setting (8.75) It brings the flight down a little bit but I tend to hit bigger fades.

Is it best to try different shafts or should I be trying to change my swing?
(Current shafts is a RIP Stiff Red eye)

 

[CliveW]

Try teeing the ball a little lower.

 

[Phil2511]

Or move it back in your stance a bit. Might help straighten your shape as well as bring the flight down

 

[Lump]

Try teeing the ball a little lower.

Already tee it pretty low, sits in the lower part of the driver face at address.

Or move it back in your stance a bit. Might help straighten your shape as well as bring the flight down

I play my driver off the same place as my mid irons, so already pretty far back in my stance (Probably too far back in reality)

 

[drawboy]

Wrong shaft for you pal. You are a very strong long hitter, I think you should have a really good shaft fitting, hopefully that should sort you out. Strong hitters like the tour pro's end up hitting x stiff and 8-9 degree drivers to keep their flight down. You are not too far off their specs.

 

[MadAdey]

I play my driver off the same place as my mid irons, so already pretty far back in my stance (Probably too far back in reality)

Someone may pick me up on this. But if you have your driver back in your stance you are hitting down on it creating backspin is what I thought. THe reason you play mid irons from back there is to hit down onto them to compress the ball between club and ground to get backspin. But I might be wrong.

 

[Oddsocks]

I play my driver off the same place as my mid irons, so already pretty far back in my stance (Probably too far back in reality)

I wouldn't surprise me if that was the issue, it definitely is with me, I had a habit of hitting down on it slightly which caused the ball to balloon high and lose length, moving the ball forward brought my flight down loads, also, I dropped the weak stock rip 55 stiff out and put a low launch low spin shaft in which helped also.
If you check out mark cross field on YouTube, check he's video " how to hit your driver 24 yards longer "

 

[Lump]

Someone may pick me up on this. But if you have your driver back in your stance you are hitting down on it creating backspin is what I thought. THe reason you play mid irons from back there is to hit down onto them to compress the ball between club and ground to get backspin. But I might be wrong.

That had crossed my mine. It was something I use to do, the flight when doing this is so so different to how my ball goes out now. (It use to go out low and then ramp up and finally stall mid air. My flight now goes out high with a rainbow flight, but just goes very high) I make a very conscience effort to hit up at the ball.

 

[Robobum]

Nevr heard of compressing a ball into the turf - unless you are topping it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dG9hb3_blo

 

[Foxholer]

A few questions that might spark some considerations.

Is the shaft a 'Made for Titleist' one or a 'proper' one?
What weight is the shaft?
Does your screen handle reflect your stature?

I presume that you are actually getting the shaft to flex during a swing. I found that, after coming back from a broken ankle, my stiff shaft went higher - because I wasn't getting it to flex as designed - than before. A change to a Regular shaft dropped the flight!

BTW. Tee-ing it low (or back) tends to add spin, so higher flight - for the same swing!. Also tends to 'promote' fade spin. Lowering loft tends to reduce backspin thus exaggerating the effect of side-spin. COG (sweet-spot) of Driver is actually quite high on the face, so normally best to tee it high and forward, High(-ish) Launch, Low-(ish) Spin is the current fashion - where wind isn't a great consideration!

 

[Foxholer]

Nevr heard of compressing a ball into the turf - unless you are topping it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dG9hb3_blo

Er. How is this relevant to this thread?

And apart from noting that it looks like artificial grass...there aren't any divots being taken. If there was a divot - past the centre of the ball - then the head would have been descending - though, because of the loft, the ball may still not have been pushed down. Compression happens - during the 0.4 milli-secs the head is in contact with the ball. While I believe the ball should be hit with a descending blow, I don't believe it's a good idea that the ball is 'compressed into the ground' for normal shots!

 

[Phil2511]

Nevr heard of compressing a ball into the turf - unless you are topping it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dG9hb3_blo

Interesting video. See how much the ball slides along with the putter instead of rolling.

 

[Robobum]

Er. How is this relevant to this thread?

I'll leave you to re read the posts within the thread - shout me if you are struggling with any words NIA

 

[Lump]

A few questions that might spark some considerations.

Is the shaft a 'Made for Titleist' one or a 'proper' one?
What weight is the shaft?
Does your screen handle reflect your stature?

I presume that you are actually getting the shaft to flex during a swing. I found that, after coming back from a broken ankle, my stiff shaft went higher - because I wasn't getting it to flex as designed - than before. A change to a Regular shaft dropped the flight!

BTW. Tee-ing it low (or back) tends to add spin, so higher flight - for the same swing!. Also tends to 'promote' fade spin. Lowering loft tends to reduce backspin thus exaggerating the effect of side-spin. COG (sweet-spot) of Driver is actually quite high on the face, so normally best to tee it high and forward, High(-ish) Launch, Low-(ish) Spin is the current fashion - where wind isn't a great consideration!

I believe the RIP shafts are the real deal in the 910 range and its a 60g shaft. I think I'm loading the shaft enough, my ss when fitted was right on the edge of stiff/xstiff.

I think it maybe time to get a session on a launch monitor, my ss may have increased since losing some weight and having more room in my swing.

 

[Kellfire]

My first thought when I read the ball position was the same as those above... Move it forward a bit and make sure you're sweeping it away.

 

[Foxholer]

I believe the RIP shafts are the real deal in the 910 range and its a 60g shaft. I think I'm loading the shaft enough, my ss when fitted was right on the edge of stiff/xstiff.

I think it maybe time to get a session on a launch monitor, my ss may have increased since losing some weight and having more room in my swing.

Shaft flex may still be less than 'Stiff'.

If you were quite solid, with SS nearing 'X' then it's possible/likely that the 60gm shaft is too light, which can have similar effect to shaft that is too soft. Heavier shaft tends to be more stable, lower flight (even at same speed) and lower torque.

Weight loss can actually be bad for the golf swing! Remember what happened to Monty's swing when he lost a lot! I know 2 other fairly solid guys (Rugby forward material) who's rhythm/sequencing got all out of kilter when they lost (quite a bit - 20 pounds or so - of) weight. These were big hitting guys for whom heavy (85gm) shafts were appropriate.

Notice how all the above is 'likely/tends' etc. There's much more to selecting the right shaft than just SS - though it's a good place to start!

 

[JustOne]

The ball never gets trapped, squashed, squished, jammed or compressed between club face and ground - they are all just expressions.


To the OP, I can't see how 3/4 of a degree is going to make that much difference to any golfer. I'd have thought off your h/cap you'd have an idea whether or not the shaft is suitable to your swing. Bubba uses something like a 6 degree driver but hits up at 7 degrees, there are plenty of pros using 10.5 drivers and hitting down or level with them. If you just don't like the feel of the shaft then try a different one, else I'd suggest it's something to do with an irregularity in your swing, especially when you've tweaked the settings.

Example,.... I took my mates lovely white driver and told him that I'd set the face closed... he couldn't hit it for toffee even though I'd actually not changed it.

 

[Phil2511]

My first thought when I read the ball position was the same as those above... Move it forward a bit and make sure you're sweeping it away.

Lump , I play the driver from just forward of centre due to my size.

If you have lost weight and are now turning and possibly swinging much freer and likely faster then it could be a shaft issue.

But alternatively a visit to a pro might help just as much.

 

[sawtooth]

I believe the RIP shafts are the real deal in the 910 range and its a 60g shaft. I think I'm loading the shaft enough, my ss when fitted was right on the edge of stiff/xstiff.

I think it maybe time to get a session on a launch monitor, my ss may have increased since losing some weight and having more room in my swing.

I have the same shaft same 9.5 degree driver. I hit a low/mid trajectory and happy with the distance. Perhaps double check where your ball is positioned, maybe its more forward then it looks?