Best driver for low speed swing

[Fjd]

I agree that the correct shaft could be the key as pointed out by Hook DeLoft and Tony@CIC.  RickyBobby mentioned playing from the wrong tees could be the problem if it takes 3 shots to reach par 4 greens.  Don’t know where I got this rule of thumb as to what tees to play from, but it appears to work.  You take the yardage you hit your 5 iron and multiply by 35.  This gives you an approximation of the tees to use.  For example, if you hit your 5 iron 150 yds, use 150 x 35 = 5250 yds.  At my club, these gold tees are in front of the men’s “regular” white tees.  Hope this helps.

[WhoaNellie]

Here's a fun activity--multiply average drive distance in yds by 28*. The total equals the approximate yardage of appropriate tees for your game. Play from the tee box that comes closest to that yardage. If you have too much fun or make too many birdies, you can always step back a set. Septuagenarians of the world unite!

*USGA Tee It Forward formula

[Rex_D]

On 6/2/2023 at 4:41 PM, Golf Fever said:

Check out XXIO clubs if you can find them.  They are specifically made for slow swingspeeds.

I would also recommend XXIO for your short list of clubs to try. I'm a slow swinging golfer at 69 years of age and had the pleasure of demoing them at a demo day set-up here. In addition to being very light weight they also counter balance the shaft. While they might not be a match for you, they're certainly something to look at. They're really gaining a fan base around here in the Florida retirement golfing communities.

[doughall]

grateful I made it to XXIO fitting date locally some time ago

[Keith J Garvin]

It's all about the shaft... the tech across the brands is so close. But the difference between a 40g ladies shaft and a 70g stiff board is drastic

[ChuckZ]

On 4/11/2023 at 11:33 AM, AGA said:

I'm 72, so my swing speed is low. Which driver should I try

You did not mention which driver or shaft you are currently using nor how fast/slow you swing speed is.  Regardless.  Those are two things that need to be taken into consideration when purchasing a new driver plus a few other variables.  Seeing a qualified fitter that has many years experience in the field is what you need.  There are some fitting operations that are on the market that are there to fit you in the most expensive products on the market with the most expensive upgrades.  They are more concerned about the sale than the fit.  My fitter gets a lot of complaints from their customers all the time.  Will not mention any names because there are many that disagree with me.  Find a reliable fitter in your area.  Titleist and Ping come to mind based on my fitter who has been in the business over 35 years.  My I love Titleist products and lean that way.  But find a lot of guys our age, I will be 77 in 90 days, and see a lot of them playing Ping.  I would call around different pro shops in your area as ask about fitters.  The pros in the shops can steer you in the right direction.  I know that my fitter is the number one name mentioned if you call a pro in our area.  

[RickyBobby_PR]

29 minutes ago, Keith J Garvin said:

It's all about the shaft... the tech across the brands is so close. But the difference between a 40g ladies shaft and a 70g stiff board is drastic

It actually isn’t. There have been tests done by Callaway and fiend brands that show launch and spin between a ladies flex shaft all the way up to the shafts long drive competitors use only have a couple hundred rom difference in speed and very little change in launch.

Now when you out the human aspect in to things it comes down to feel And balance and how that affects the golfer and the golfers swing. Some are more sensitive than others to weight. 
 

There are multiple threads and article on wrx from very experienced fitters that dive into this as well.

 

Here is a myth dispelled by Tom Wishon in one of the articles

Shaft Myth #2 – The shaft is the most important component of the golf club

Sorry, but when you’re talking about ALL golfers, the shaft is not as important to the actual performance of the shot as is the clubhead. I’ll give you an example of when this was actually “tested and proven” in the golf industry by a huge number of golfers. Back in the early 1970s when PING golf company moved to the front of the golf industry through the introduction of their deep cavity back original Ping Eye model irons, the standard shaft installed in every set of Eye irons was a 125 gram X flex steel shaft. 

Ping’s founder Karsten Solheim used these shafts in his irons because he believed a heavier and stiffer shaft would help all golfers hit the ball straighter. Literally millions of sets of PING irons with X flex heavier weight steel shafts were sold throughout the 1970s and you know what? Literally millions of golfers liked their new PING irons more than their previous irons. Why? Because the original PING Eye irons were the very first irons with a deep cavity back design AND lower lofts than what had been the norm for irons – this meant the moment of inertia (MOI) of the Eye irons was FAR higher than any previous iron model yet designed. This in turn gave golfers such a huge improvement in off center hit performance as well as on center hit distance over the irons they previously used that this big leap forward in head performance completely overshadowed the potentially bad effects to golfers using a shaft that was too heavy and too stiff for their swing. 

Of course, we know today that playing with too heavy and too stiff of a shaft can rob the golfer of clubhead speed and shot consistency and make the feeling of impact become “dead and boardy.” But the point shown by the PING example of the 1970s is that if the clubhead’s improvement is great enough for the golfer over what they used to play, the shaft does not have to be accurately fit for the golfer to still realize significant game improvement.

[golfgame]

3 hours ago, golfgame said:

Move to the Sr tee's, don't let an ego get in the way.

I might add that I am 84 yrs old at least twice a week.  I play from our Sr tees that range from 5200-5700 yds.  I can reach all the greens in regulation.  Moving up removes tension from the game as well as making the game enjoyable.  I find guys here that should be moving up but giving up strokes and egos get in the way.

[WiTerp50]

On 4/11/2023 at 5:19 PM, AGA said:

Thank you tony@cic ! Your experience is very useful. I will be near Miami next June and I will look for a fitting location there. If someone who reads this post can recommend someone to do a fitting, it would be helpful.

It depends of course, but in par four, usually my third shot is inside the 80 yards. I'm shooting many woods at the driving range to improve distance and direction. Always the same. But it helped me a lot.

I’m only 73.  Getting fit for driver is no longer optional for us geezers. Nothing stock will work. In my case, my club head speed didn’t gain enough with a TSR-1 driver and 40 g shaft. Too much spin.  The point being no one empirical solution for all of us.  Another course option is a hybrid routing, moving to the forward tees for the longest holes. If your course would set up the slope ratings, that would promote that. Consistent GIR+1 shots greater than 20-30 yards is hard. 
If your average drive is 200 or less yards, then 6000 yards is too far. 5400-5600 would be more fun. 

[golfmule]

On 6/2/2023 at 3:41 PM, Golf Fever said:

Check out XXIO clubs if you can find them.  They are specifically made for slow swingspeeds.

This sure worked for me. I was also 72 when I was looking for a new driver. I decided to try XXIO but didn't want to (wouldn't) pay the price for a new one. I decided that I wanted an XXIO Prime driver and found that the price for a new one at that time was $849. I started searching for one on line and found one that was described as used but in excellent shape and looked almost new. I actually found it on ebay and it was just $268. I decided to try buying it. It came directly from Japan and I was pleasantly surprised that it did indeed look almost new. The only scratches I found were to the bottom of the club and they were minor in nature. I headed to the course and soon found that the XXIO Prime driver was extremely easy to hit and not only did it give me back some height to my drives it also gave me back some of the yards I had lost, between 20 and 30 yards in fact. Two years later I bought a whole set of irons, hybrids and a 4 wood the same way and have never regretted buying XXIO's. By the way, if you don't want to spring for XXIO Prime, which can be very expensive if you buy new, you can buy XXIO 11 or XXIO 12 which cost less. They are excellent too but aren't quite as light in weight as the Prime version. I had switched to Sr. shafts in my clubs before this but if you want a comparable feel you should get R-flex in XXIO clubs as their shaft flex is lighter that our normal clubs. If you have a fairly smooth swing you will benefit for playing XXIO clubs. Another good club for us senior golfers is the Honma brand (also from Japan). I recently bought a Honma X-1 driver I have only hit it a couple of times yet, it could be a good option as well. So far I like my XXIO Prime better though.

 

[Fred Mitchell]

1 hour ago, WiTerp50 said:

I’m only 73.  Getting fit for driver is no longer optional for us geezers. Nothing stock will work. In my case, my club head speed didn’t gain enough with a TSR-1 driver and 40 g shaft. Too much spin.  The point being no one empirical solution for all of us.  Another course option is a hybrid routing, moving to the forward tees for the longest holes. If your course would set up the slope ratings, that would promote that. Consistent GIR+1 shots greater than 20-30 yards is hard. 
If your average drive is 200 or less yards, then 6000 yards is too far. 5400-5600 would be more fun. 

I am 61 but had a lot of surgeries and have some nerve damage so I went with the Ping H/L [ lightweight version] and using a ball that gave me enough iron spin was to much spin at 10.5 on the driver, I dropped it to 9.5 setting and the extra spin from the ball moved the flight back up some for me , its a work in progress but its worth considering for you as well.

[RickyBobby_PR]

2 hours ago, WiTerp50 said:

I’m only 73.  Getting fit for driver is no longer optional for us geezers. Nothing stock will work. In my case, my club head speed didn’t gain enough with a TSR-1 driver and 40 g shaft. Too much spin.  The point being no one empirical solution for all of us.  Another course option is a hybrid routing, moving to the forward tees for the longest holes. If your course would set up the slope ratings, that would promote that. Consistent GIR+1 shots greater than 20-30 yards is hard. 
If your average drive is 200 or less yards, then 6000 yards is too far. 5400-5600 would be more fun. 

Have you tried an actual fitting with a good fitter? Age and swing speed aren’t deferents in getting a club that works for one’s swing. 

[Keith J Garvin]

4 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

 But the point shown by the PING example of the 1970s is that if the clubhead’s improvement is great enough for the golfer over what they used to play, the shaft does not have to be accurately fit for the golfer to still realize significant game improvement.

The last paragraph proves my point. The difference between today's drivers across brands is negligible, at best. It's a matter of choice <high vs low spin, more/less loft> where the difference between brands models has more effect than low spin driver versus low spin driver. 

 

I could equally say the head makes no difference if your going from a wound ball to a modern 4 piece cast ball. Doesn't matter what you hit a modern ball goes farther. 

Swing a 70 gram stiff vs a 40 gram ladies shadt on a LM and tell me there no difference in club head speed alone, much less all the other metrics. 

Heck, throw four wraps under the right hand and tell me it's no difference?,

<eye roll> 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RickyBobby_PR]

9 minutes ago, Keith J Garvin said:

The last paragraph proves my point. The difference between today's drivers across brands is negligible, at best. It's a matter of choice <high vs low spin, more/less loft> where the difference between brands models has more effect than low spin driver versus low spin driver.

The last paragraph doesn’t prove your point. It is summed up in the last sentence that the shaft doesn’t have to accurately fit the golfer to see significant improvement.

There are differences in todays clubs that not every club of the same type works for every golfer. Where cog is at will play a role in how well it works for a golfer especially vcog in irons.

[RickyBobby_PR]

14 minutes ago, Keith J Garvin said:

Swing a 70 gram stiff vs a 40 gram ladies shadt on a LM and tell me there no difference in club head speed alone, much less all the other metrics

This is the human factor of things and where finding the right balance comes in. The weight and balance are what impacts speed, launch and spin.

something else for you to read

https://forums.golfwrx.com/topic/1860305-shafts-when-to-change-and-when-to-tweak-lofts/

 

[Keith J Garvin]

5 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

The last paragraph doesn’t prove your point. It is summed up in the last sentence that the shaft doesn’t have to accurately fit the golfer to see significant improvement.

There are differences in todays clubs that not every club of the same type works for every golfer. Where cog is at will play a role in how well it works for a golfer especially vcog in irons.

Then get the right shaft onto the club and it'll be that much better...

[Kenms3762]

Sometimes a 3 wood is a better option than a driver. Many slower swing speed guys hit the 3 wood further and straighter than their drivers. Something to consider.

[PB420]

At 75 I too was looking for a driver. Had a cobra and a callaway rogue both 10.5 but just did not perform as I expected. Went to a PXG fitting and now have an 0211 gen5 driver and love it. Do have to say that I truly gained yardage after purchasing that driver

[WiTerp50]

9 hours ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

Have you tried an actual fitting with a good fitter? Age and swing speed aren’t deferents in getting a club that works for one’s swing. 

TPI in Carlsbad. What I ended up was a TRS-2 with a Hzard Red shaft. My point was a lightweight head and shaft may help many older golfers but getting fit takes the guesswork out of the equation. With a “terminal” swing speed, the greater mass of the TSR-2 scored more ball speed worked better, for me. 

[NCBrownie]

I'm 66 yrs old.  Recently went to Global Golf in Raleigh, NC for a driver fitting.  Global Golf has a big online site focusing mostly on pre-owned clubs but also sells new equipment too.  They have a retail store next to their warehouse 10 minutes from my house.  I wanted an upgrade to my Ping G30 with a regular flex shaft.  I tried both the Ping G425 and Taylor Made Stealth with "senior" flex shafts.  No way I was going to pay $600 for the latest release of either club.  Both clubs were 10-15 yards longer then the G30.  Then the fitter had me hit a new Ping G400 with a senior shaft.  Same distance and accuracy of the G425 and Stealth.  Price with the discount that day was $220 plus tax.  However I traded in my G30 and a set of Taylor Made Burner irons so my out the door price was $46 (including a new grip)! 

Maybe you can get the driver you want at a much lower price is you don't require the latest product release.  Global Golf has a great return policy is you are not in the Raleigh area.