Distance or accuracy?

[pasta 21]

Hello everyone, so i got fit for a driver, and i am a very tactile person. With this amazing sport of golf everything matters, touch, feel, sound etc....so after trying 6 different drivers it came down to two.  Callaway maverick max 66g stiff and ping g410 plus 75g stiff. The maverick i hit longer but less accurate than the g410plus.  It was a little more erratic, but more yards is what we all want, right?....do you go for the longer club, struggle and try to get more accurate? Or do you take the more accurate and try to make it go farther? 

[Shankster 26,347]

What was the difference in distance? If it is 5 yards, take the accuracy all day. 

[tony@CIC 18,559]

Same here, it the distance is nominal I'd take the closer dispersion. I just went through that this past summer with iron fittings - ended up with the irons that gave me more accurate shots. On the other hand if you're getting 20+ more yards, well.......


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[pasta 21]

19 minutes ago, Shankster said:

What was the difference in distance? If it is 5 yards, take the accuracy all day. 

On average it was 10-15 yards but accuracy was an issue because the misses on the callaway were worse and the ping g410 it was more manageable.  

[fixyurdivot 10,605]

I'm with @Shanksterand @tony@CIC, unless your consistently seeing 20+ yards, definitely accuracy.  Did your fitter discuss shaft length and more specifically using a shorter one?  

[pasta 21]

2 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

I'm with @Shanksterand @tony@CIC, unless your consistently seeing 20+ yards, definitely accuracy.  Did your fitter discuss shaft length and more specifically using a shorter one?  

No we didnt go over length, we did shaft weight, and driver heads. This was the first pro shop i liked in the time i have been playing golf. He did my irons and i have been happy with them.

[fixyurdivot 10,605]

Club shaft length, and more specifically the discussion that they are too long for most players, has my attention.  Admittedly much of this has come from my recent reading of Tom Wishon's book but also from discussions on this forum. That the majority of professional tour players are using shorter driver lengths speaks volumes.  They seem to know that the extra 5-7 yards isn't worth the trade for hitting from the rough or in the tree lines.  My current experiment choking down on my standard length G410P is yielding positive results; more FIR's and lower scores.

[pasta 21]

49 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

Club shaft length, and more specifically the discussion that they are too long for most players, has my attention.  Admittedly much of this has come from my recent reading of Tom Wishon's book but also from discussions on this forum. That the majority of professional tour players are using shorter driver lengths speaks volumes.  They seem to know that the extra 5-7 yards isn't worth the trade for hitting from the rough or in the tree lines.  My current experiment choking down on my standard length G410P is yielding positive results; more FIR's and lower scores.

How much are you choking down on it?

[Shankster 26,347]

How big was the miss?  10-15 isn’t something to leave on the table... but if that extra 10-15 puts you behind a large oak tree 15 yards deep in the rough... that’s an extra iron or not into the green on well struck shots.

Being a terrible driver myself both accuracy and distance wise this year I would choose to be in the fairway and have an extra club into the green.  My iron play according to arcos sucks, but I don’t think it represents my actual game... it has my driving as a +1 right now I think and my irons at -11.5... not seeing this myself.

Ultimately, the choice is yours.  But I would see if you can’t find some sort of middle ground with the Mavrik and a different shaft possibly?  

[fixyurdivot 10,605]

31 minutes ago, pasta said:

How much are you choking down on it?

About 3/4".  When you watch both men and women tour pros, it is very common to see them choked down on clubs.  This makes me wonder if they're shaft lengths are the newer standards or not?

[pasta 21]

2 minutes ago, Shankster said:

How big was the miss?  10-15 isn’t something to leave on the table... but if that extra 10-15 puts you behind a large oak tree 15 yards deep in the rough... that’s an extra iron or not into the green on well struck shots.

Being a terrible driver myself both accuracy and distance wise this year I would choose to be in the fairway and have an extra club into the green.  My iron play according to arcos sucks, but I don’t think it represents my actual game... it has my driving as a +1 right now I think and my irons at -11.5... not seeing this myself.

Ultimately, the choice is yours.  But I would see if you can’t find some sort of middle ground with the Mavrik and a different shaft possibly?  

With the maverick i didnt hit any down the middle even with a fade or draw.  The ping felt more solid. I did try the maverick with different shafts and it didnt help with the erratic dispersion. I had an taylormade r1 up until 2 years ago and i got rid of it because no matter what i did i couldnt keep it on the fairway. I havent used a driver in that time, im trying to lower my score and give myself better scoring opportunities.  

[Shankster 26,347]

Well, from that I would pick the PING all day long.  I had a G and it was the most accurate driver I’ve ever played.  Sold it like an idiot.

[fixyurdivot 10,605]

1 minute ago, Shankster said:

Sold it like an idiot.

If we all had a $1 for each time we've heard this .  We are the fish and the OEM market groups the fishermen.  The elixir that is distance is their crankbait... or the perfect dry fly.

[pasta 21]

8 minutes ago, Shankster said:

Well, from that I would pick the PING all day long.  I had a G and it was the most accurate driver I’ve ever played.  Sold it like an idiot.

I never really gave ping a thought because i really dont like the feel of their irons even when it was flush.  But their driver is winning this battle, the only thing that i dont like are the speed bumps in top but that is not a deal breaker.

[pasta 21]

13 minutes ago, fixyurdivot said:

About 3/4".  When you watch both men and women tour pros, it is very common to see them choked down on clubs.  This makes me wonder if they're shaft lengths are the newer standards or not?

No matter which one i get i will try this, its a great idea because i dont believe he is doing anything with length.

[Tom the Golf Nut 3,426]

I would go with the Ping. You will eventually hit it further. The only Ping I have in the bag is the driver. Best I have hit to date. I have the G400 and I hit this longer and straighter than many others that I have played. Accuracy matters.

[CarlH 5,281]

I'm with Tom.  I also game a G400 (and it's also the only Ping I have in my bag).  I tend to keep this one in the fairway far more often than I do with other drivers I've used or tried out.

[Shankster 26,347]

1 hour ago, pasta said:

I never really gave ping a thought because i really dont like the feel of their irons even when it was flush.  But their driver is winning this battle, the only thing that i dont like are the speed bumps in top but that is not a deal breaker.

I would agree.  The irons are an acquired taste.  I generally dislike callaway, but hit a Mavrik myself recently.  I was impressed, but I just can’t get over my aversion towards their brand... it goes way back.

[CarlH 5,281]

One other comment regarding your two choices.  Try different stock shafts with each driver.  The correct shaft for your swing coupled with the head will be much more telling.  You have almost 10 grams difference in shaft weight between the 2.  That can make a difference in the quality of your strike.

[pasta 21]

1 minute ago, CarlH said:

One other comment regarding your two choices.  Try different stock shafts with each driver.  The correct shaft for your swing coupled with the head will be much more telling.  You have almost 10 grams difference in shaft weight between the 2.  That can make a difference in the quality of your strike.

We did 5 different driver heads and started eliminating based on my feedback and the actually hit. Then between the those two we played with different weight shafts.  It felt more solid with the ping and more controlled.  I do have a fast transition from backswing to downswing.