Reshafting a Gamer or New Club

[whiskey golf]

I've been thinking about getting a custom fit driver but I'm having a hard time justifying it because it will most likely cost $400+. Another thing is that I'm hitting my current gamer pretty well and I've hit some good drivers but nothing that completely calls me to buy. I'm hitting every fairway except for maybe 1 or 2 per round but I'm seriously lacking distance and it's costing strokes because if the hole is 400+ yards, I'll still have at least 200 out and then the holes turn into par 5's for me. I know this distance issue is mainly with swing speed but I feel like my distance ratio to my long iron to driver is not proportionate, if that makes sense. Anyways my questions are-

 

- Is there a proper way to get fit for a shaft alone to put into a gamer club?

- Is buying a new driver the way to go?

- Have you had this experience and if so what are your results?

[JBones]

If your current gamer is new enough, you could probably go to a fitter and try different shafts in a demo to get the right one. Being properly fit isn't cheap; the setup that was the beat fit for me was pushing $950.

 

For what a fitting experience SHOULD be, go to the Forum Members Review section and read my My Driver Fitting Experience thread.

[whiskey golf]

Being properly fit isn't cheap; the setup that was the beat fit for me was pushing $950.

 

Are you talking about the driver alone or does that price include the fitting for where you went?

[JBones]

That's just for the head,shaft, and build; it was $75 for a full wood fitting.

[RoverRick]

I had a buddy that just had his 62nd birthday three weeks ago. So his present to himself, was to go get custom fit. He spent over $1500 and got new Rocketbladez, RBZ2 hybrids and fairway metals, and reshafted his Cameron Kombi so that it was 2* instead of 4*. He kept his driver R9 Super Tri but reshafted it. After 3 weeks adjustment, and I just played 27 holes with him today, he shot exactly the same as he did before.

 

He loves the clubs but if you ask me he spent a bunch of money with little gain. The putter is something that really made a difference. Of course this is winter and we had 45* and 20+ mph winds and the fact that he scored his normal and I scored above normal should be taken into account.

 

I put a new shaft (Talamonti) in a TItleist 905R and was driving it better than most brand new ones. However, I had promised that head to a friend of mine long ago and he asked about it again so I put in a shaft for him and sold it.

 

I was then in the market for a new head to go with the shaft. I also had a R11. While I was slow to come on board with the adjustable drivers, I am a huge advocate of them now simply because they are so easy to change the shafts. Of course you have to buy the sleeve but I got the R11 so that I could adjust the loft. And I also put this Talamonti shaft in the R11.

 

I still was in the market for another driver, but one with a black head. I decided on the R9 Super Deep. So I will have 2 heads and 4 shafts and they are all interchangeable.

 

So, I realize I have been blabbering here but I would recommend a third option. Instead of blowing $400 or more on a new driver, or instead of spending one or two hundred putting a new shaft in a driver you can buy on EBay for less than $50. Find a newer but used adjustable driver like R9 or R11 or Titleist 910D or something with adjustable loft and weights etc, and a shaft that fits you. Either hit them at the store. Or buy one off the ebay.

[hckymeyer]

I'd the fitting itself if definitely worth it. Usually $75-$100 for a driver/wood fitting and a lot of the time they will put all or a portion of the fitting cost towards anything you buy from them based on their recommendation.

 

Once you've been fit though you can save some money by purchasing pulls and used clubs that are the same as what you were fit into. You might find a different head that works better for you, a different shaft in your current head, or completely new head/shaft combo. The issue with not getting fit is that you are just throwing darts at map with no idea if you are headed in the right direction.

 

There is nothing that says you have to go spend $500+ on a new driver after your fitting, but you will/should come out of it with a good idea of what will work best for your game. Then you can choose to save some money and DIY it with used clubs/shafts or pull the trigger on something new and shiny. Either way you will have peace of mind that what you get is the best fit for your game.

[GolfSpy WD]

So, I realize I have been blabbering here but I would recommend a third option. Instead of blowing $400 or more on a new driver, or instead of spending one or two hundred putting a new shaft in a driver you can buy on EBay for less than $50. Find a newer but used adjustable driver like R9 or R11 or Titleist 910D or something with adjustable loft and weights etc, and a shaft that fits you. Either hit them at the store. Or buy one off the ebay.

 

Love the anecdote, but +1 to the point

 

It can be very exciting to try out new clubs and get custom shafts, but if you play around with the trackman flight optimizer page, you'll notice unless you generate 150mph+ swing.

 

http://www.flightscope.com/index.php/Technology-Explained/trajectory-optimizer.html

 

Some numbers for example:

 

(0 yards altitude, 15* spin axis)

 

Ball Speed 140mph (fairly typical of 100mph swing speed)

2300 spin: 229 yards

3700 spin, 13* LA: 218 yards

= +11 yards

 

Ball Speed 150mph

2300 spin, 17* LA: 253 yards

3700 spin, 13* LA: 239 yards

= +14 yards

 

Ball Speed 170mph

2300 spin: 298 yards

3700 spin, 17* LA: 276 yards

= +22 yards

 

Point being that there are improvements to be had if you have a terribly fitting set, but even then they aren't enormous unless your swing speed is very high.

[Mr_Theoo]

I had my current driver shaft fitted for me this past Nov. It was done by Ultimate golf, formerly Lotus Golf. They had a device that measured how you swung the club in terms of backswing, release, ect. then it gave you a CPM range you should be in for your swing. I defineltly saw major gains with this because I was playing the stock shaft in my Nike VR_S and was slicing everything even on dead center hits. After i got the new shaft installed it fixed the awful slice and brought it back to my normal fade. So i guess what im saying is it is possible to be fit just for shaft alone to work with your current driver.

 

I do know for my next driver i am going to golf ect. to be fitted just because i want to avoid having to go that route again unless completely necessary and id like to try a shorter shaft to see if i can get a little more accurate while keeping my distance.

[Kanoito]

I had the same problem. The distance ratio between driver, 3W and 4 iron weren't right.

 

4 iron - 195 yards (total distance)

3W - 220 yards

driver - 230 yards!?!?

 

My problem was too much spin on the driver. I could see the shots going way too high and then dropping like a rock. I also knew about the spin problems, because I went to a driving range with Trackman ($15 for 1 hour) and took a look at the numbers 4000-6000RPM was crazy.

 

Then came to MGS, asked for lower spin heads and shafts and SuperTuna recommended the Adams Speedline Fast 12 LS with the Fubuki alpha. That thing really kills spin for me (sometimes too much) but it definitely provides a more boring trajectory.

 

Went to Trackman again and total distance increased to over 250 yards. That sounds like an upgrade for me! How much did I pay? I got the driver new from eBay for $120.

 

With all those new uniloft driver, I went to a golf show thinking perhaps I could get a few more yards. Tried the AMP Cell and Covert and they were no upgrade against my Adams. So why change?

 

Hope that helps!

[BK in TEXAS]

I know this distance issue is mainly with swing speed but I feel like my distance ratio to my long iron to driver is not proportionate, if that makes sense.

Makes complete sense. I was looking over some numbers in Golf Digest a year or so ago and there were a LOT of guys with the same issue. I.E....175 yard 6 iron and 210 yard driver. I had a similar problem a few years ago too.

 

My problem was...which may not at all be yours...I was setting up (and swinging) much different than with my irons. Since correcting that.....everything is much more proportional.

 

May not apply to you....just throwing it out there.

[fozcycle]

I know what you mean.....last year while taking lessons from GolfTec, it was suggested that I use a higher degree driver as my swing speed is only 87-95 mph....with my current driver at 10.5, I was only hitting about 7/14 fairways. I bought a used 12* Cobra S2 and used it for awhile. I then tried a Cally FTiz 11* with a Project X 5.0 shaft.....While my distance was not terrific, my drives were in the fairways.....6 months later, I picked up a Project X 5.0 shaft off ebay (Diablo Octane pull)It was a .350 shaft and the driver head was .335. The guy said he could do it but could not guarantee it. he said it may snap......I said I don't have a 110 SS so go ahead. I had it put in my Powerbilt AFO WMD driver (10.5* with Fujikura shaft).....Wow! Now I have more distance 215 - 240 and I am in the fairways.

 

Now I usually hit at least 11/14 fairways.

 

Sometimes you just get lucky.

[TMAdidas]

For shafts, you can usually go to your local fitter.

[MattF]

There is nothing that says you have to go spend $500+ on a new driver after your fitting, but you will/should come out of it with a good idea of what will work best for your game. Then you can choose to save some money and DIY it with used clubs/shafts or pull the trigger on something new and shiny. Either way you will have peace of mind that what you get is the best fit for your game.

 

That's the route I'm going to go with my fitting. I'm going to get the fitting done and question the fitter about specs rather than X club and DIY my driver.