Thoughts? Shaft? Or ball?

[Jay McFarland]

So I sent Bridgestone an email about my low carry/total yardages for my swing speed, and I got a response back.  I can do a little better with my smash factor, but not just a ton. Looks like a new shaft is in order. Or a different ball?

 

Backstory:

I gave up the game 13 years ago, and when I was playing I had a lower ball flight, and always wanted a higher flight. Fast forward 13 years and I start the game again with what feels like the same swing, and now I have a noticeably higher flight. Same swing, same clubs, same balls.

I did the Bridgestone ball fitting and got back their recommendation along with the pertinent data. My carry/total yardages seemed a little low for my calculated swing speed, so I sent them an email asking if it seemed off to them. This was their reply.

 

 

[Mr. 82]

Don't overthink it too much.  Their ball recommendation and online fitting tool was spot on for me.

[Jay McFarland]

I need to bring my launch down by 2 degrees at least.

[null]

Shaft is not the answer.

Simple answer. Loft. 

Lower the loft on your driver by at least 1 or 2 degrees. 

What driver head are you using? 

[Jay McFarland]

7 hours ago, jlukes said:

Shaft is not the answer.

Simple answer. Loft. 

Lower the loft on your driver by at least 1 or 2 degrees. 

What driver head are you using? 

ADAMS Speedline LS 6404 in 8.5*

[null]

1 hour ago, Jay McFarland said:

ADAMS Speedline LS 6404 in 8.5*

Great driver, but center of gravity properties have changed a lots since that driver came out. CGs are now lower and it helps reduce spin. 

You should go to a local big box store and try some stuff out. 

There are even some used drivers you can find for a song that could really help. 

2016 Taylormade M2 immediately comes to mind. 

Ping g400 or g400 lst would be worth a look 

Throw in cobra f8+ as another great low cost option 

 

[Jay McFarland]

4 minutes ago, jlukes said:

Greathouse driver, but center of gravity properties have changed a lots since that driver came out. CGs are now lower and it helps reduce spin. 

You should go to a local big box store and try some stuff out. 

There are even some used drivers you can find for a song that could really help. 

2016 Taylormade M2 immediately comes to mind. 

Ping g400 or g400 lst would be worth a look 

Throw in cobra f8+ as another great low cost option 

 

Don’t I need to raise my CG to lower my flight?

 

”For every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction...”

[null]

1 minute ago, Jay McFarland said:

Don’t I need to raise my CG to lower my flight?

 

”For every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction...”

No. Raising cg would lower launch but really ramp up spin. 

You probably should start with a 9 degree head and then loft it down if it's still launching a little too high 

[Jay McFarland]

Had a little free time(couldn’t sleep), so I decided to try an experiment. Since that trackman session, I have been disturbed about the 16* launch angle from an 8.5* driver. I have always had a 3*-5* upward swing with my driver...ALWAYS, but I’ve also always had only slightly higher launch angle than the loft of my driver face(7.5* driver-9.5* launch etc.). This told me that the shaft I was using in this driver was too soft. The shaft is an ALDILA RIP ALPHA 60 Stiff, so it’s a really good shaft, and I didn’t want to just chunk it. So I pulled the shaft and tipped it 1”, and reinstalled it. I also added 1/2 a swing weight of lead tape on the sole, but right up front as close to the face as I could. Those two things “SHOULD” bring the launch down. But by how much, I don’t know.

More to come.

[SmoothG]

On 2/12/2020 at 3:06 AM, Jay McFarland said:

Had a little free time(couldn’t sleep), so I decided to try an experiment. Since that trackman session, I have been disturbed about the 16* launch angle from an 8.5* driver. I have always had a 3*-5* upward swing with my driver...ALWAYS, but I’ve also always had only slightly higher launch angle than the loft of my driver face(7.5* driver-9.5* launch etc.). This told me that the shaft I was using in this driver was too soft. The shaft is an ALDILA RIP ALPHA 60 Stiff, so it’s a really good shaft, and I didn’t want to just chunk it. So I pulled the shaft and tipped it 1”, and reinstalled it. I also added 1/2 a swing weight of lead tape on the sole, but right up front as close to the face as I could. Those two things “SHOULD” bring the launch down. But by how much, I don’t know.

More to come.

Has this worked out for you?