How often do you adjust your driver settings?

[vandyland]

When I first got my Cobra SZ at the beginning of last year I was adjusting it constantly and I would rarely play two rounds with the same settings. Once I had a few range sessions and, really a few bad driving rounds, I settled on what felt like the "safest" setting:

Lofted up +1.5 to 10.5* (higher launch feels safer/forgiving/etc)
Heavy weight in back with dummy weight in front (again, higher launch)
Face set to standard (I fought a hook for a while so I am okay with a slight right leak on ball flight which I have currently)

Not sure if it is because I am driving it better or laziness or something else but outside of the first 3 months I had the driver, I haven't adjusted it at all and I wonder if other people have the same experience. Even on a windy day I don't usually think or want to loft it down or put the weight in the front because I am so accustomed to my current setting. Again, in the first 3 months I hit it on a Trackman with several settings and I could see how having the weight forward gave me the most absolute distance but I felt like I could lose it either way pretty easily so I just stick with the "safe" settings. 

You guys/gals doing a lot of adjusting from round to round?

[GolfSpy AFG]

4 minutes ago, vandyland said:

When I first got my Cobra SZ at the beginning of last year I was adjusting it constantly and I would rarely play two rounds with the same settings. Once I had a few range sessions and, really a few bad driving rounds, I settled on what felt like the "safest" setting:

Lofted up +1.5 to 10.5* (higher launch feels safer/forgiving/etc)
Heavy weight in back with dummy weight in front (again, higher launch)
Face set to standard (I fought a hook for a while so I am okay with a slight right leak on ball flight which I have currently)

Not sure if it is because I am driving it better or laziness or something else but outside of the first 3 months I had the driver, I haven't adjusted it at all and I wonder if other people have the same experience. Even on a windy day I don't usually think or want to loft it down or put the weight in the front because I am so accustomed to my current setting. Again, in the first 3 months I hit it on a Trackman with several settings and I could see how having the weight forward gave me the most absolute distance but I felt like I could lose it either way pretty easily so I just stick with the "safe" settings. 

You guys/gals doing a lot of adjusting from round to round?

Not sure if there is a right or wrong answer here as much as a matter of individual preference, but in my case...never!  I get fit and dial in the settings at the fitting, and then I don't touch them.  From my perspective, if my ball is doing something I don't want it to do the blame is on me and my swing, and that's where the adjustments need to happen.

[vandyland]

2 minutes ago, Getoffmylawn said:

Not sure if there is a right or wrong answer here as much as a matter of individual preference, but in my case...never!  I get fit and dial in the settings at the fitting, and then I don't touch them.  From my perspective, if my ball is doing something I don't want it to do the blame is on me and my swing, and that's where the adjustments need to happen.

Totally agree that the blame resides with the swing on bad shots but when I am hitting it well there is always that little voice wondering "could you squeeze out a little more with the weight forward without losing accuracy?" I guess I see conflicting information on how spin impacts accuracy and maybe some of this is a combination of trackman and actual playing to determine where advantages are found. As it gets drier here in Tennessee I was thinking about lofting down and I realized I hadn't touched my settings in months (a year maybe?) and wondered where other people on this forum shook out. Seems like you are at least one vote in the "set it and forget it" camp. 

[Kanoito]

I got the same driver and played with the settings in initially and haven't touched them since.

If I'm having a bad driving day, I want to know it's me and not the setting. Remove one variable.

If you are taking lessons and your driver swing is changing, then I might consider fine tuning.

[GolfSpy AFG]

3 minutes ago, vandyland said:

...there is always that little voice wondering "could you squeeze out a little more with the weight forward without losing accuracy?" 

And that's a big reason why a good fitting to really dial in an adjustable driver is so important.  Makes that particular voice go away...all the squeezing for a little more happens during the fitting.

[vandyland]

4 minutes ago, Kanoito said:

If you are taking lessons and your driver swing is changing, then I might consider fine tuning.

So that is me. I have been taking monthly lessons since last April. My swing has gradually gotten less flat and more consistent, as a result less heel strikes and strikes low on the face (my two big issues going into the lessons). 

[null]

I have had the Ping G410 in the bag for two years now.  I used to have the weight in the toe and it lofted down one click to mitigate my hook, but made some swing changes to neutralize my swing path in in late 2019 and now play it at standard loft (9) and the weight in the middle.

[Kanoito]

5 minutes ago, vandyland said:

So that is me. I have been taking monthly lessons since last April. My swing has gradually gotten less flat and more consistent, as a result less heel strikes and strikes low on the face (my two big issues going into the lessons). 

I'm the opposite. My swing is getting flatter so instead of playing it at 9* I am lofting up to 10.5*

But then I forget what I've been training for, get too steep and send a banana into the moon.

Since you can't adjust the setting every hole, I would leave it be for a while until I can get a repeatable and desirable swing, then go tuning.

 

[RickyBobby_PR]

Once it’s set it stays that way. If the ball isn’t flying the right way it’s me and not the driver setting

[downlowkey]

I generally don’t fiddle with my normal setup. That said, I’ve dialed in the lowest launch setting a few times when the wind was blowing 40mph to help avoid double trouble.

[revkev]

I keep it where I was got to - I may fool around with it a bit on the range but on the course?  Where I was fit - my swing is very stable - I may go up and down a few MPH but I’ve had a plus two to three AoA, a tad inside out at every fitting I’ve ever had (15 plus years).  
 

What fascinates me is the differences in my fits despite that and especially which have been successful and which not.

 

The one exception to the not changing rule was when I tested the Motore last year. I needed to move the loft down a notch - hit it very well that way.  
 

My fitter last week turned the driver 1 open (lofted down.) Tells me I prefer an open club face at address.

If I were the OP, I’d ask my teacher for advice or else leave it alone from the fitting. 

[PMookie]

Rarely. I pretty much find the setting that is optimal for me and then I just leave it. With this new driver I spent some time with it in various settings as I’ve started to get outside and play. Because the fitting was indoors, the numbers can’t be completely trusted from the settings we used . I found the -1 setting for this 9* head to be pretty ideal for me. Nice launch window, good carry, great landing angle, and some roll. Once we get late in the summer and our fairways dry out, adding significant roll, I may knock it down to its lowest setting, tee the ball a little higher, and let the ball run for days!!!!

[Hook DeLoft]

I’ve started using a winter setting and a summer setting. In the winter, our course becomes VERY soft and in the summer it becomes very hard. I use higher loft in the winter for more carry because I’m not going to get much run out anyway. In the summer, I turn the loft down for less carry and hotter roll on the hard fairways. 
The downside is I have to adjust for different misses:  left in the winter and right in the summer. 

[Shapotomous]

I don't change from round to round but I also now have a summer  / winter setup.  Summer its set to square and winter is set to 1.5* closed.  It's because I can swing a lot looser in 80* weather than 40* weather!  

[vandyland]

14 hours ago, revkev said:

If I were the OP, I’d ask my teacher for advice or else leave it alone from the fitting. 

So, this is where I got my eyes opened to something very obvious to people who have been fit multiple times. I had my first driver fitting into my current driver and there are several things at play here: (1) My swing has changed quite a bit from the fitting through now (strike location on the face, spin, AoA, club path) and, most importantly (2) I was very loose when I hit my driver that day. Like an idiot, I just got into a groove and started swinging faster and faster (not out of my shoes but when you hit like 30 drives and you have a trackman display right there you start to chase it...). On the course, my driver swing is about 104 mph but in the fitting I was up around 110 mph which is not how I would swing if I had OB left and water right. So I got fit into an X-stiff Smoke shaft which in february on the course with no warmup I was probably swinging 90 mph on the first tee so that was a disaster. I now play a budget stiff shaft that I feel like I can actually bend a little bit which has been helpful. 

I like the idea of playing around with it with my coach there and on trackman. I seem to want to play with it more when I am hitting it good for whatever reason, when I'm hitting it bad I assume my swing stinks at the moment and no amount of adjusting will help. But when I am firing on all cylinders I start to wonder if I can squeeze more out of it, if that makes sense (weight forward, lofted down to like 9*).

[revkev]

14 hours ago, Hook DeLoft said:

I’ve started using a winter setting and a summer setting. In the winter, our course becomes VERY soft and in the summer it becomes very hard. I use higher loft in the winter for more carry because I’m not going to get much run out anyway. In the summer, I turn the loft down for less carry and hotter roll on the hard fairways. 
The downside is I have to adjust for different misses:  left in the winter and right in the summer. 

This is so funny to me - I also noticed a similar response - of course both of you are correct - what's funny is that its the opposite for us in Florida - late winter/early spring is when our courses are dry and play fast and firm - the rest of the year its wet/wetter/wettest.

 

 

[silver & black]

I get it where I want it and leave it.

[DiscipleofPenick]

Every so often I'll try and change it, but after a few rounds I always go back to where my fitter set it.

[tyryska]

I don't current play an adjustable driver. Is it worth it have have one that is adjustable?

[RickyBobby_PR]

3 minutes ago, tyryska said:

I don't current play an adjustable driver. Is it worth it have have one that is adjustable?

Getting fit to find the best club for your swing is where the value is.

As has been noted in here most people don’t adjust theirs and especially once they have a setting that fits their swing.

 

[revkev]

9 minutes ago, tyryska said:

I don't current play an adjustable driver. Is it worth it have have one that is adjustable?

This truly depends on you - with your handicap your swing probably doesn't vary much so if you were fit for your current gamer in the past 3 years or so you're good.  The benefit to something adjustable is that its far easier for the guy fitting you to customize you club if you are a seasoned player or if your are a beginner its easier for that club to grow with you. 

[Perkmd]

Having the adjustability is nice, but like most, I set and forget. You don't change what is working well. I do love the ease of swiping out shafts that comes with drivers that have an adjustable tip. I just contact my locate club maker request a shaft with the correct tip for my driver and swap it. I have done this in the past since I like 1" over standard shaft in my drivers.

Edited May 21, 2021 by Perkmd

[M. Parsons]

I know this probably has more to do with shaft selection, but I tend to hit my driver very high...more times than not anyway.  So, I set my driver to the lowest setting shortly after I got it, and haven't touched it since.  I know this could bring more of the right side into play for me, but for me, that's not a bad thing.

[GolfSpy BOS]

I have it set to what was best at my fitting.  At the range and at the simulator I have tried the different settings, the original one is what I always end up at by the end of the session so that stays in the bag for actual rounds.  I'd have to have a consistent miss caused by that setting before I would think about needing to adjust it.

[Headhammer]

Never. I took a couple lessons last year to improve my driving and I was a bit disappointed that the pro was not at all interested in my driver head settings. I hit a very low trajectory drive and when I asked about changing the loft he said just leave it alone, we will get you more distance by improving the efficiency of your swing.

[Kenny B]

1 hour ago, Headhammer said:

Never. I took a couple lessons last year to improve my driving and I was a bit disappointed that the pro was not at all interested in my driver head settings. I hit a very low trajectory drive and when I asked about changing the loft he said just leave it alone, we will get you more distance by improving the efficiency of your swing.

Changing the loft a degree or two might not have much of an effect if your swing doesn't get to a good impact position.  If that was last year, has his lessons improved your trajectory?  

[Headhammer]

7 hours ago, Kenny B said:

Changing the loft a degree or two might not have much of an effect if your swing doesn't get to a good impact position.  If that was last year, has his lessons improved your trajectory?  

Well I hit a couple moon balls today, but for the most part no-still hitting them on a rope.

[juspoole]

Very rarely - I'll find a setting they tweak to in a fitting and usually leave that until I have a few rounds where I'm off.  It will take a lot for me to actually adjust.  Even though my normal drive is a fade and a draw setting could straighten me out a bit, I don't like seeing a closed face at address.  Right now I'm in neutral with a little added loft.

[Middler]

Almost never, I tend to buy drivers with as few adjustments as possible. I dropped the loft on mine from 10.5* to 9.5* but it didn’t make much difference in length and my trajectory looked fine at 10.5* so I put it back after a few weeks. I also set it to draw bias for while, but it didn’t make any difference that I could tell, so I put it back. I’m skeptical the hosel adjustment adapter does much anyway. I’ve never changed the weight.