Old Shaft with New Head Taylormade Drivers

[Lakeeriegolfer]

My situation is as follows.  I have played an Rocketballz 9* driver for about 8 years now and really liked the feel of it.  I thought it was time for an upgrade and (incorrectly) decided to buy a Taylormade M5 at a golf show last February.  I played it all summer and really didn't feel like it gave me much of an advantage.  Fast forward to last night and I decided to weigh the components, head and shaft, separately.  Ended up finding out that the Rocketballz head is about 192 grams and the M5=196 grams.  The stock shafts that came with each driver came in at Rocketballz=110 grams and M5=120 grams.

It would seem to me that I was more comfortable with the lighter shaft, and I am not sure if the 4 gram difference in head weight would be a noticeable difference.  I think that the 8 year technology gap is enough to warrant that any new driver would have yielded instant results.  I never went on a launch monitor so I am relying on feel, but I felt like the M5 didn't fly noticeably straighter or farther than the Rocketballz.  

I had a thought that I could possibly build a Frankenstein driver with the lighter Rocketballz Shaft and the technologically superior M5 Head and yield what I am looking for.  Is anyone familiar with this being done?  I think the adapter is the same and it would work.  My other option would be to sell the M5 and recoup some of those dollars to fund a proper fitting in the next couple months.  

[hckymeyer]

Welcome to the lottery of buying golf equipment without fitting.  This is by no means meant to be a dig, it's just the reality of finding the club that best fits your swing.  Just because something is newer doesn't mean it's automatically going to be better, and in many cases can be worse.  I still play a Taylormade SLDR driver and I've tried to replace it every year since I've had it.  It just works for me and works well.  I'm sure I'll try again this year too but I don't have high hopes.

As for swapping shafts I believe everything back to Rocketballz Stage 2 and newer can use the same adapter.  Original Rocketballz may be the older adapter that is not compatible with the M5.  You could still swap the tip, or buy another tip and switch out the one on the old shaft.  However before throwing more money at a solution that has already not worked once I would recommend going the fitting route and get yourself educated on what types of shafts and heads work best with your swing.

[57charlie]

This is exactly the conundrum I'm having. Way back in 1998, I replaced my 3 & 5 Adams Tight Lies fairway woods with the Callaway Great Big Bertha Hawkeye 3, 5 & 7 woods with Hawkeye UL Firm Flex graphite shafts. Over the years I have bought & sold numerous fairway metals in the hopes of finding something to replace them. I know the reason I haven't found the right replacements clubs yet is because I have yet to find a shaft that is comparable to the Hawkeye UL Firm Flex graphite shafts. 

 

I'm still looking, but I did pick up the new Adams Tight Lies 3 & 5 woods this past month.

[Lakeeriegolfer]

Thanks for the replies.  I think I will probably be going the fitting route this spring with the original Rocketballz as my "current driver" instead of the M5.  I probably used all my luck on buying clubs without hitting them with the rac LT irons I got back in 2006 and still play to this day.

[hckymeyer]

A couple quick fitting tips, wait a month or so after the golf season starts to go get a fitting.  It's fun to get something right away in spring, but give it a few rounds to shake the winter rust off and get in the groove before you go.  I'm not saying wait until you are swinging your best, just saying don't take 2-4 months off and then go straight to a fitting

Also bring both drivers and shafts with you.