Help me find a new driver

[finalist]

My driver flight has consistantly become too high with very little roll. My miss is a high flight that drops right with almost no roll. With the fairways finally running I'm seeing a loss of distance, so a few days ago I went to one of those outdoor Bridgestone fitting deals looking to lower my spin.

Here are my number from that event...

 

SS: 108 (big surprise. I thought I topped out at 103)

Ball velocity: 144 (a bit lost why it's so low for a 108 ss. I use impact tape and hit the face consistantly well)

Launch angle: 15* (they say ideal is 11.5*)

Back Spin: 2757 (they say ideal is 2350)

Total distance: 250 yards (they say ideal is 279 yards)

 

My current driver is a Titleist 909 D2, 9.5*, aftermarket Kai li Stiff, 61 grams, 45.5". my index is 2.2. I can easily hit up on the ball, but getting a low flight is nearly impossible. I like to tee it high, and teeing it low doesn't do much.

 

I really like the 910D3 with the upcharged Motore Speeder VC 7.1, but I'm nervous it's not a low enough spin combo? I haven't hit on a trakman yet. That's next.

What do you guys recommend? THANKS!

[ORNJ]

unless you REALLY want to get a new driver I think the majority of your problem would be solved with a different shaft that has a lower launch.

[finalist]

Yeah the bridgestone guys kept saying I should have the x flex kai li and the 909 D2 is a super high spin head. I'm going to sell some stuff and go for a major trakman fitting.

[cide]

I had the same issue and went with a 909D3 8.5 stock voodoo stiff and I get nice low boring ball flight. Can't say enough good things about the 909D3 but the again I have not hit a 910 in fear that I will want one :-)

[MmmmmmBuddy]

What ball was giving you these #'s??

[finalist]

I gamed the stock voodoo stiff a couple years ago. It's a hook machine that requires a slow tempo for me.

 

I game a Strixon Z Star. The bridgestone guys fit me for a B330-s, but the numbers were the same. They kept saying my current set up employed a high spin head with a shaft that's too soft for me. The conclusion was to move to an X flex at min., or a whole new set-up. I'm just excited to know I have a good deal of distance to gain with a better fit.

 

After that fitting I hit a bunch of stuff.

Cleveland 310, 8.5

Callaway Tp razr, 8.5, RIP

Ping i15, 8.5

Nike VR, axiv green

Titleist 910 d3, fubuki 73 x

Titleist 910 d3, motore speeder vc 7.1 (my favorite)

 

The callaway head was very nice. Seemed hot, but too muted.

The fubuki 73 x was very nice, but maybe a hair too much for my tempo.

The D3 head is by far my favorite. I'm currently thinking D3, 8.5 with possibly an ahina, fubuki or morotore VC 7.1

 

The motore VC 7.1 felt the best, but i want to try it in an X since it's mid launch and spin

[MmmmmmBuddy]

 

 

SS: 108 (big surprise. I thought I topped out at 103)

Ball velocity: 144 (a bit lost why it's so low for a 108 ss. I use impact tape and hit the face consistantly well)

Launch angle: 15* (they say ideal is 11.5*)

Back Spin: 2757 (they say ideal is 2350)

Total distance: 250 yards (they say ideal is 279 yards)

 

My current driver is a Titleist 909 D2, 9.5*, aftermarket Kai li Stiff, 61 grams, 45.5". my index is 2.2. I can easily hit up on the ball, but getting a low flight is nearly impossible. I like to tee it high, and teeing it low doesn't do much.

 

I really like the 910D3 with the upcharged Motore Speeder VC 7.1, but I'm nervous it's not a low enough spin combo? I haven't hit on a trakman yet. That's next.

What do you guys recommend? THANKS!

 

 

 

I game a Strixon Z Star. The bridgestone guys fit me for a B330-s, but the numbers were the same. They kept saying my current set up employed a high spin head with a shaft that's too soft for me. The conclusion was to move to an X flex at min., or a whole new set-up. I'm just excited to know I have a good deal of distance to gain with a better fit.

 

After that fitting I hit a bunch of stuff.

Cleveland 310, 8.5

Callaway Tp razr, 8.5, RIP

Ping i15, 8.5

Nike VR, axiv green

Titleist 910 d3, fubuki 73 x

Titleist 910 d3, motore speeder vc 7.1 (my favorite)

 

The callaway head was very nice. Seemed hot, but too muted.

The fubuki 73 x was very nice, but maybe a hair too much for my tempo.

The D3 head is by far my favorite. I'm currently thinking D3, 8.5 with possibly an ahina, fubuki or morotore VC 7.1

 

The motore VC 7.1 felt the best, but i want to try it in an X since it's mid launch and spin

 

 

I have some thoughts...

 

You say that you play a softer spin ball now, and the BStone fellas put you in the same ball in their line, all the time telling you you needed less spin and lower launch?? Weird. I would have thought that the quickest way to reduce spin #'s would be to change to a ball that spins less off of the driver.

 

Looking at your LM #'s, I am struck by one glaring thing. Your Ball Speed is tremendously low for that high of a SS. (are these #'s from the Bridgestone Science Eye Monitor??) With a 108 SS, you should be achieving ball speed #'s in the mid 150's. That could be a function of a couple of different things, but until that # goes up, the total distance # is going to stay down.

I think that you might be on the right track by looking for a different driver. The Titleist heads are notorious for being a bit "slow and high" for all of the fitters at our shop. The new 910 is the choice for a lot of fellas looking to hit the ball a little straighter, but for fellas looking to hit it as far as possible, we look elsewhere.

You are a good player (2.2 index) so I think that you have an idea of what you want. I might suggest retrying the Callaway Razr X Tour with some of the other shafts that are available. This head feels very muted, but the ball speeds are off of the charts high. For Everyone. Also, look at the Speedline F11 with the RIP Alpha. Not the best looking head, but the ball jumps, and the RIP kills the spin.

Just my thoughts. Hope they help. Good luck

[finalist]

^

I was surprised by the B330S selection too. I don't know what kind of monitor they used. It's the Bridgestone traveling deal that has you hit into a net outside with the little laser boxes on either side of your ball. They watched me hit a lot of ball while warming up, and from the get go they didn't like my current driver shaft and head for me. One of the reps actually went and got his out of his car -- Callaway head with 70 gram X stiff Kai' Li. I swung it once and got slightly better ball speeds.

 

I think the low ball speed average was primarily from a few toe hits, and I believe my numbers are averages from the fitting.

 

I hit the Callaway Razr X Tour the next day and the ball even looks faster just after impact to the naked eye.

 

 

 

Is the 910 D3 significantly different than the 909 D2 as far as launch design?

[MmmmmmBuddy]

^

I was surprised by the B330S selection too. I don't know what kind of monitor they used. It's the Bridgestone traveling deal that has you hit into a net outside with the little laser boxes on either side of your ball.

 

 

Is the 910 D3 significantly different than the 909 D2 as far as launch design?

Sounds like Science Eye.

The 910 is a little better that the 909. It launches on the same angles, but with slightly lower spin.. depending on shaft and how it is set up..

The 910 is a massive improvement over the 909 IMO. I'm just not sure that given what I read above, it is the "right " driver for you.

[finalist]

Sounds like Science Eye.

The 910 is a little better that the 909. It launches on the same angles, but with slightly lower spin.. depending on shaft and how it is set up..

The 910 is a massive improvement over the 909 IMO. I'm just not sure that given what I read above, it is the "right " driver for you.

 

 

Throw out some club ideas for me to try. I'm curious and open to anything.

 

So far my favorites are:

• Adams 9064LS
  
• Callaway TP RAZR (I don't see the exact version I hit on Callaway's site. Razr composite with metal hosel)
  
• Titleist D3
  

 

Fubuki

Motore Speeder VC 7.1 ( want to hit the 7.2, I'm thinking the 7.1 is only a little upgrade compared to current shaft)

Ahina

Mizayaki (I hit the cleveland X stiff, but would like to try the black and blue)

 

8.5 or 9.5 loft with stiff 70 gram low launch shaft or x stiff with feel shaft...

 

Trakman is the only way to go at this point.

[ORNJ]

I have some thoughts...

 

You say that you play a softer spin ball now, and the BStone fellas put you in the same ball in their line, all the time telling you you needed less spin and lower launch?? Weird. I would have thought that the quickest way to reduce spin #'s would be to change to a ball that spins less off of the driver.

 

Looking at your LM #'s, I am struck by one glaring thing. Your Ball Speed is tremendously low for that high of a SS. (are these #'s from the Bridgestone Science Eye Monitor??) With a 108 SS, you should be achieving ball speed #'s in the mid 150's. That could be a function of a couple of different things, but until that # goes up, the total distance # is going to stay down.

I think that you might be on the right track by looking for a different driver. The Titleist heads are notorious for being a bit "slow and high" for all of the fitters at our shop. The new 910 is the choice for a lot of fellas looking to hit the ball a little straighter, but for fellas looking to hit it as far as possible, we look elsewhere.

You are a good player (2.2 index) so I think that you have an idea of what you want. I might suggest retrying the Callaway Razr X Tour with some of the other shafts that are available. This head feels very muted, but the ball speeds are off of the charts high. For Everyone. Also, look at the Speedline F11 with the RIP Alpha. Not the best looking head, but the ball jumps, and the RIP kills the spin.

Just my thoughts. Hope they help. Good luck

 

With my experience I do not get as much spin off the driver with the b330-s but I do with my irons. I was told because it has a harder mantel if I remember corectly and becasue of that the thing face and the light weight of the driver dont compress the ball as much....

 

am I correct in this understanding?

 

 

sorry for going off topic

[MmmmmmBuddy]

With my experience I do not get as much spin off the driver with the b330-s but I do with my irons. I was told because it has a harder mantel if I remember corectly and becasue of that the thing face and the light weight of the driver dont compress the ball as much....

 

am I correct in this understanding?

 

 

sorry for going off topic]

I might defer to someone who fits Bstone balls all day, but the fellas put me into the B330-s, and I do not spin anything.

[finalist]

I think the ball theory is that the B330s will spin less for me off the driver than the B330. The B330 will spin more unless you really have a very fast swing speed. It's confusing, but I guess all balls perform differently depending on your swing speed. Tour balls that are marketed as lower spin may actually be high spin if you have a certain swing speed.... I think it's something like that.

[RookieBlue7]

For your swing speed and ball speed, you actually need more backspin to keep the ball from falling out of the air. With that ball speed (which BTW, your smash factor is really low at 1.33), you ideally want around 2,800 RPM's of backspin to maximize carry and roll for you. You'd also need your launch angle between 13 and 15 degrees. At the 13 degree launch angle, less backspin will yield more roll. At the 15, more backspin will result in longer carry and less roll. It depends on if you want roll or carry, but net yardage will be relatively the same. The question now becomes what are your conditions normally? Are you playing more target golf where the fairways are sloping a bunch and you need more carry, or are you playing in windy conditions where roll is your friend? Generally, if you're playing in the wind, though, you can get away with a higher launch angle, for more carry, and lower the spin rate so you maximize that carry and get around 10 yards of roll. If wind isn't an issue, it then becomes what do your normal courses demand? Are you needing to carry trouble and have very little roll so that it doesn't roll off a sloped fairway? If so, raise the launch angle and drop the spin rate. Want a good marriage of carry and roll? Raise launch slightly and raise spin. Do you want maximum roll? Lower the LA and spin. It really depends on what you're after.

 

That said, the 909 is a slow, colder face. It's not going to give you as high of smash factor, thus less ball speed. Their 910 series is a lot hotter than the 909, but you better hope that they've got a shaft at the fitting cart that works for you, because you can only buy shafts from Titleist with the tips on them unless you want an aftermarket Surefit tip.

 

There are other options out there, as well, depending on what you're looking to do. Want to lower spin, I'd look at Adams. The 9015d is a classic head that's notorious for being hot and low spin. If you want their newest offering, the 9064LS is the way to go there, as it's a redesigned spin on the 9015d.

 

TMag's R9 Superdeep is also a low spin head, for TMag.

 

We could go on an on for days describing heads that are suitable for lowering or raising spin. The shaft, however, is the critical factor here, and the easiest way to control both launch and spin. You're not going to find a high launch/low spin shaft. That combination doesn't exist, sorry, but it really doesn't exist in a true low spin form. There are lower spinning high launch shafts, but the spin is still up there. If you want that, go to a higher lofted head with a low launch shaft and low spin shaft and head. That's the only way to raise launch angle and lower spin. Good choices for lowering spin are as follows:

 

Diamana Whiteboard

 

Mitsubishi Rayon Fubuki Alpha

 

Matrix F7M2 LTD

 

Matrix Ozik TPHD (most expensive shaft out there though at $1k)

 

Talamonti PD (Phil, the owner, is clearing these out on eBay at $25-$30 each, and they're great)

 

UST Mamiya AxivCore Tour Green

 

Fujikura E300 series

 

Heavier weight UST ProForce V2

 

Fujikura Fit-On Max 70 series

 

Fujikura Rombax 6Z08, 7Z08, 8Z08

 

Fujikura Motore Speeder 6.2 and 7.2

 

Diamana ahina

 

Aldila R.I.P Alpha

 

Aldila NV Protopype

 

Aldila Cinnamin

[ninetails]

I'm not sure if this applies but I gained at least 5 mph in their ball fitting set up also. I've always been in the low 100s range and I averaged out at 107 or 108, topping 110 couple times in their set up.

 

I did the fitting at my local golf galaxy and I warmed up in GG's zelocity set up. I was getting my usual SS numbers. I go to the ball fitting set up and it jumps 5-10 mph. It didn't make sense. Then again maybe my few reading in my earlier set ups were inaccurate?

[finalist]

I'm not sure if this applies but I gained at least 5 mph in their ball fitting set up also. I've always been in the low 100s range and I averaged out at 107 or 108, topping 110 couple times in their set up.

 

I did the fitting at my local golf galaxy and I warmed up in GG's zelocity set up. I was getting my usual SS numbers. I go to the ball fitting set up and it jumps 5-10 mph. It didn't make sense. Then again maybe my few reading in my earlier set ups were inaccurate?

 

 

That makes since. I've been on many different LM from Trakman to GG's and I'm always 100-103. Which explains ball speed in the 145-150 range. I played yesterday and my drives measured, via GPS, 255 to 279 depending on a subtle breeze.

 

I still think I need a lower flight so I can swing normally into the wind without having to hit a punch drive that can go left if it's not timed right. I plan on another Trakman fitting at Haggin where I can see the whole flight.

[GolfSpy Tim]

my head is spinning from reading all of the feedback. this is making me more and more excited to go get fitted and see how much all of this information affects my game.