Faldo says driver size should be reduced.

[ZenGolfer]

Interesting read: https://www.golf-monthly.co.uk/news/should-the-driver-size-be-reduced-faldo-speaks-out-and-twitter-reacts-195568

Everyone knows my thoughts on this one: limit driver size to 190cc and put the emphasis back on ball striking instead of just swinging as hard as you can.

[PlaidJacket]

39 minutes ago, ZenGolfer said:

limit driver size to 190cc and put the emphasis back on ball striking

I usually think of ball striking when discussing iron play but hey, if a 190cc driver floats your boat - go for it. I'm going to play what I like too which happens to be a 460cc head driver. I like having choices. Doesn't everyone?  

[ZenGolfer]

I usually think of ball striking when discussing iron play but hey, if a 190cc driver floats your boat - go for it. I'm going to play what I like too which happens to be a 460cc head driver. I like having choices. Doesn't everyone?  

I'm with you. I just dont agree with some who seem to think it would ruin the game. I honestly think the answer is just to grow the rough and narrow the fairways. You want to play bomb and gouge? Cool. Good luck findung your ball, much less hacking your 2nd shot out of 4"-6" deep rough.

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[RickyBobby_PR]

3 hours ago, ZenGolfer said:

Interesting read: https://www.golf-monthly.co.uk/news/should-the-driver-size-be-reduced-faldo-speaks-out-and-twitter-reacts-195568

Everyone knows my thoughts on this one: limit driver size to 190cc and put the emphasis back on ball striking instead of just swinging as hard as you can.

You realize the pros his 150cc woods 300+ yards. 

[ncwoz]

I think we should revert back to hickory shafts, and force the players to fabricate their own clubs out of whatever material and means they can find. And play with wiffle balls too

[Eagleputt2008]

Interesting read: https://www.golf-monthly.co.uk/news/should-the-driver-size-be-reduced-faldo-speaks-out-and-twitter-reacts-195568
Everyone knows my thoughts on this one: limit driver size to 190cc and put the emphasis back on ball striking instead of just swinging as hard as you can.

Let the boys play! I think it’s just fine to have the big drivers. Granted they have much more forgiveness in these new drivers but they can get out of play quickly with h the speeds they are producing. I like watching golf when they can bomb drives and have lightning speed greens. In terms of playing, that’s one of the best feelings on the course is smashing a driver down the pipe. There is so much talk about pulling back some advancements that have been made, that will just come with time. But in order to keep more folks playing the game and getting new people to try it, I don’t think pulling things back would help.


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[RI_Redneck]

Like RickyBobby said above. They already hit small headed 3ws 300+, so reducing the driver head will only change things marginally. I still think conditions should become course specific instead of Tour specific. I remember reading an article a while back where a pro was commenting that his sand play ability was much lower, now, than what it was in College because the traps are conditioned the same on most of the courses they compete upon. In college, they were almost all different and he had to know how to play each type of sand. Imagine if they didn't have ball spotters and a gallery to tromp the rough down. Fairways that were inconsistent and greens that varied from course to course. In other words, play the same conditions we play.

BT

[TR1PTIK]

Club head size isn't likely to do much harm to professional golfers - they're already good ball strikers and capable of consistently finding the center of the club face. It will hurt developing amateurs and recreational golfers. Agronomy is the only good solution I see for the professional game. Bifurcation is a distant second.

[Golfspy_Lukes]

Faldo loves hearing himself talk. Worst golf announcer there is. 

[Shankster]

Leave it at 460.

Who cares how far they hit it. In the end they still have to get the ball on the green and make the putt.

I used to be in the “reduce the driver” crowd, but honestly it doesn’t matter. I mentioned in the random thread about skateboarding... I haven’t skated in nearly 20 years, but all of the brands are till around, and the technology hasn’t changed a whole lot.

460cc drivers have been around for the same amount of time, tech has gotten better every year.

Let DJ, Bubba, G. Wood hit those bombs. People enjoy it. And right now is not the time to be talking about rolling the driver back... look at B.A.D. And his 200+mph ball speed... he’d figure out a way to do it with a 190cc club too.

But give more options, like 300-460cc

[TR1PTIK]

41 minutes ago, jlukes said:

Faldo loves hearing himself talk. Worst golf announcer there is. 

I can respect the accomplishments he achieved on the course as a golfer, but he is ignorantly out of touch with the modern game. I get so sick and tired of him spouting off about how he would play a shot or make a suggestion that he could have avoided some error a current tour pro makes because he's just that much more knowledgeable or something. I don't know if he is actually the worst, but he could very well be my least favorite.

[TR1PTIK]

9 minutes ago, Shankster said:

Leave it at 460.

Who cares how far they hit it. In the end they still have to get the ball on the green and make the putt.

I used to be in the “reduce the driver” crowd, but honestly it doesn’t matter. I mentioned in the random thread about skateboarding... I haven’t skated in nearly 20 years, but all of the brands are till around, and the technology hasn’t changed a whole lot.

460cc drivers have been around for the same amount of time, tech has gotten better every year.

Let DJ, Bubba, G. Wood hit those bombs. People enjoy it. And right now is not the time to be talking about rolling the driver back... look at B.A.D. And his 200+mph ball speed... he’d figure out a way to do it with a 190cc club too.

But give more options, like 300-460cc

I come from a BMX background and granted modern BMX bikes have benefited from lighter components and new design philosophies, the tricks performed today exceed that of previous generations because of training and access to better facilities. Golf is no different IMO.

[zrumble]

The only argument I could listen to regarding reducing driver size has nothing to do with distance, and everything to do with consistency across the face. Always hear the older guys talking about when you absolutely had to hit it “on the screws”. The ball is also more forgiving now than past generations. Changing those things will not have much of an impact on the pro game because they hit it so pure most of the time anyways. It will hurt amateurs who want to play and enjoy the game with the little practice time they have. 
I do agree with the above comments about making the course faster and narrower, or stop clipping the fairways so they’re more consistent than a carpet. Reduce the water use and let the course get a bit shaggy. Let the rough grow, and rake the sand with your foot on the way out. 

[COmedic]

I appreciate his thoughts but I don’t play with many (any) guys who have the game or their driver mastered. It’s a fun game that needs to continue to appeal to younger generations to survive. Let the kids hit bombs and enjoy the game as we get to!

[Blueberry_Squishie]

I'm in the camp of wanting to see the professionals do extreme feats. Rolling back equipment limits them from doing so. I love seeing a tournament winner shoot -24 for the week as much as seeing another tournament like this year's Honda Classic where the winner shoots -6 for the week. In each situation, the golfer that has played the course in the fewest strokes has won. Golf is one of those great games where there is more than one way to succeed.

[03trdblack]

I bet Faldo walked 10 miles to school uphill both ways in the snow when he was a kid too. Stay off my lawn Nick! 

[jaskanski]

I like it how pros in the twilight of their careers suddenly want to to change the game that gave them their glory. Jack Nicklaus was equally vocal about his reservations on equipment, but that didn't stop his company from selling oversized clubs, titanium drivers and distance balls a long time ago either. Let him within sin guys....

Anyhoo...it's been well established that equipment is a small part of the how and why golf balls seem to travel further these days - it's a combination of a lot of things. The driver has never been lighter, stronger or scientifically more optimised than it is today, but by the same token golf courses have never been so manicured and tricked up for TV and pros, sports science has never been so instrumental in fitness and technique, computer ball flight analysis has never been so widespread and (elephant in the room) the money at stake has never been higher. So obviously, the "level playing field" has shifted to the ones who have the most to gain - and it's not just the players. It the whole industry that revolves around it. 

Sure, you could get all the tour pros to use a persimmon driver with a steel shaft and a balata ball in a Tourney on a tight course with slow fairways and fast greens - but joe public doesn't want to see joe pro playing like a chump on prime-time TV. That's the fact of the matter.

[NRJyzr]

This is posted from the perspective of someone who doesn't believe there is a distance problem....

I like the idea of going smaller with drivers.  It's not going to take away the distance they hit the ball, other than possibly diminishing the average a bit due to the occasional mishit.  What it will do is drastically cut down on the MOI of the drivers, which is a large component of tee game accuracy in the modern game, IMHO.  

Ever notice on a telecast, commentary will be about a pro using a fairway wood to better move the ball laterally off the tee, on holes where it may be necessary.  Remember how we're all told as beginners to hit a 3 wood instead, because the greater loft makes it easier to hit straighter?  Those two conflict, and the difference is the enormous MOI of the modern driver.  Again, IMHO.

Doesn't need to be persimmon, though I might like seeing that, too.  Just go back to 200cc, or 225cc, as a maximum driver displacement.  For the pros, of course.

Or maybe make them all play SLDRs.  LOL

[RickyBobby_PR]

2 hours ago, NRJyzr said:

This is posted from the perspective of someone who doesn't believe there is a distance problem....

I like the idea of going smaller with drivers.  It's not going to take away the distance they hit the ball, other than possibly diminishing the average a bit due to the occasional mishit.  What it will do is drastically cut down on the MOI of the drivers, which is a large component of tee game accuracy in the modern game, IMHO.  

Ever notice on a telecast, commentary will be about a pro using a fairway wood to better move the ball laterally off the tee, on holes where it may be necessary.  Remember how we're all told as beginners to hit a 3 wood instead, because the greater loft makes it easier to hit straighter?  Those two conflict, and the difference is the enormous MOI of the modern driver.  Again, IMHO.

Doesn't need to be persimmon, though I might like seeing that, too.  Just go back to 200cc, or 225cc, as a maximum driver displacement.  For the pros, of course.

Or maybe make them all play SLDRs.  LOL

Drivers are designed for lower spin these days and pair that with a ball that is designed to spin less and go straighter even for the pros the ability to drastically move a ball side to side is reduced unless you are someone like Bubba who changes his setup to hit the shots his eyes see. So for a pro having a wood in their hand gives them a club with more spin and allows them to shape the shot easier.

For amateurs the added loft helps make it easier to hit as does the shorter shaft. Same principle with why amateurs tend to hit their shorter irons better than their longer irons.

 

 

[TR1PTIK]

5 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Drivers are designed for lower spin these days and pair that with a ball that is designed to spin less and go straighter even for the pros the ability to drastically move a ball side to side is reduced unless you are someone like Bubba who changes his setup to hit the shots his eyes see. So for a pro having a wood in their hand gives them a club with more spin and allows them to shape the shot easier.

For amateurs the added loft helps make it easier to hit as does the shorter shaft. Same principle with why amateurs tend to hit their shorter irons better than their longer irons.

^^^Accurate^^^