Mr.Peabody

I recently weakened the loft on a few clubs. For me it was a situation where the stock loft was on the lower end of where I would want to play the club, and my preferred loft was a few degrees higher. I feel comfortable delofting a club during my swing to get that kind of ball flight. But I do not feel comfortable "adding loft" with my swing. So it made sense to me to place the clubs at the upper portion of where I would want to play it, and then I could deloft it from there.

For years I would have said driver. But now I feel comfortable with it. The first big change was upgrading to a newer, more forgiving head. But another big change is I put in a 41" shaft...literally swapping it with my 7 wood of the same brand. I'm never going back. I am in the process of changing out my 7W and 9W to sub-40 inch shafts. The thing that is impacting my scores the most now is definitely not my putter. Putting is my superpower. And years of "good putting" has built up tons of confidence. I feel like I could pull someone's putter out of their bag mid-round and putt better than them with it. My wedges are impacting me the most now. And my uncle literally pulled my wedge out of my bag mid-round and was better with it. LOL

Let me be clear. I have never had tea at any height with Minnie Driver. LOL Okay, with that out of the way I will say that my tee height with regular driver is lower than most. The top of the ball is at/slightly below the top of the crown of the club. My version of "tee'ing it high" is allowing a portion of the ball to peak above the crown. I have 2 mini drivers...the R7 at 11.5 and the BRNR at 13.5. When I started using the BRNR, my intent was to tee the ball the same way that I do my driver. My dad quickly noticed that I was hitting the mini better off the deck than off the tee. That's when I started tee'ing it lower and saw better results. A normal tee height now is in the middle of the club face or slightly lower. I don't swing it like a driver. I swing it like a fairway off the deck.

I have a G440 Max driver and 7 wood. You will be happy with your decision.

This is where I am on the subject. I went to an "extreme" with my experimenting. For clarity, I am 5'8". I have a Ping G440 driver and 7-Wood. My 7W shaft is chopped down to 41". The driver and fairways are interchangeable in terms of shafts. I put the 41" 7W shaft on the driver, and the results were eye opening. My TOP swing speed went down 3mph. My AVERAGE swing speed is the same. I attribute that to the longer shaft feeling like "more work" to get to top speed than the shorter shaft. I definitely make better contact with the shorter shaft, leading to more consistent results. I also feel like I can be "on top of the ball" in the swing. That is something that I have never experienced with a driver...ever...due to the club length relative to my height. I'm not going back. My 7W shaft is staying in the driver and I am going to put an even shorter shaft in the 7W.

Here is what happened to those old TA 845's. In my family, we don't sell/trade our old clubs when we get new ones. Club(s) we spend significant time with, we keep around. They are like mini time capsules. We always have the option to pull one of the "oldy but goodies" out of the attic to put it in play, just for nostalgia sake. And sometimes old clubs can remind you something about your golf game and your swing. Another reason to keep them around is to have clubs ready to "donate" to family members who are taking up the game. When I took up golf, I mentioned that my dad gave me his "retired" TM Burner Bubble driver. He had moved on to a Big Bertha. I can easily compare the new mini-driver Burner to the Burner I had years ago...because my dad still has the original TM BB driver. When I bought the R7, I returned the Burner to my dad. My nephew is the only one that has broke that promise. Kids...amirite? LOL When I was able to purchase my first set of irons, I returned the 845's to my dad. Years later my nephew said he was taking up golf, and my dad gave him the 845's to start with. My dad was clear that the clubs needed to be returned if my nephew wasn't playing them. The kid gave up golf and sold them. My dad found out 2 years after it happened. The kid's decision robbed my dad AND ME of being able to open up those time capsules. Using my imagination, I could picture a fun round of golf with my dad. He is in his early 70's and I am in my mid-40's. I have a physical advantage AND an equipment advantage at the same time. But imagine if we could play a round with his old TA 845's, where both of us are playing out of the same bag. His clubs were built for him, and never properly fit me. We would have the same equipment. I would have the physical advantage, while he would have the "fit" and "time spent with the clubs" advantage. Awesome to think about, but can't happen now. 😔

I have to say that I am happy I found this thread! The minimalist thinking is pretty much how I learned to play golf back in the 90's. My dad handed me his old Tommy Armour 845's, TM Burner Bubble Driver and Callaway War Bird FW. No instruction or lessons. He just told me to go out and "figure out" what each club could do for me. He never explained what they were SUPPOSED TO DO. He let me figure out on my own. We had a large field behind the house that allowed me to hit balls for as long as I wanted. I could also walk the course owned by his employer for $2 per round. During the summer I would go to the course when very few people were out. I'd hit 4-6 balls on every shot, trying out different clubs and techniques. Needless to say, I eventually figured out that some clubs "worked" for me alot better than others. So I started pulling clubs out of the bag. There's no reason to make the bag heavier for clubs I will never use. Eventually my game evolved to the point where I realized that I started gravitating towards certain clubs. Even if it wasn't the ideal club for the situation, I'd rather adjust my swing to make that club work than grab a different club. Fast forward to 2025 and I am coming back to golf after spending most of the last 10 years away from the game. I didn't want to use my old Cleveland clubs that I purchased back in 2008 (they are in storage several hours away). My coworkers have gotten some good laughs at how I have built my set, because I have been doing it 1 club at a time. I have my clubs sent to work so I can sign for them. That's how they see me building my set in pieces. People in this thread will understand why. My mindset is about what each club can do for me, not what it is supposed to do...on paper. After I have spent time with the new club, it helps to give me direction on the next purchase. For clarity...my intent is to have a "collection" of clubs. Somewhere in the 16 to 20 range. I only play 6-8 at a time, but I want to have an assortment of clubs at my disposal. That way I am prepared for different courses or things that might be going on with my swing at the time. I will take you thru my journey, just for kicks. 1. I started with the ultimate minimalist setup of 4i, 6i and 8i (PXG GEN7). I already know I can get around a course with just those 3 clubs (and a putter). 2. Like alot of people, I was struggling to hit my 4i. That's when I picked up a 5 hybrid (G440) to replace it, and pulled the 4i out of the bag. This gave me a little more distance at the "long" end of the bag. LOL 3. The plan took a detour when I discovered that Taylormade had a Burner mini-driver that looked eerily similar to the first driver I ever had...the Burner Bubble. I had to have it, even if it just collected dust. Functionally the idea that a club could be a driver and a 3/5 wood at the same time was perfect for how I like to play the game. I bought the TM Burner mini-driver 13.5 degree. 4. The plan took an even bigger detour when Taylormade dropped the R7 mini-driver a month after I had purchased the Burner. The original R7 quad was the first driver I ever bought with my own money (back in the day), and my dad still plays my old R7 to this day. This was another "have to have it" moment. I was looking for ways to get a little more distance off the tee anyways, so I bought the R7 mini in 11.5. I turned the R7 down to 10.5 to use as a driver and "stinger" club. I cranked the Burner up to 15 degrees. 5. It was time to get back on track. I really enjoyed the Ping 5 hybrid, so I decided to get the 7 hybrid to pair with it. But since it was supposed to occupy the "short" end of the bag, I neutered it with a 36.5 inch shaft length. Between those 2 clubs I could take the 6i and 8i out of my bag if I wanted to, increasing my options. Knowing the intent of the club made a difference in how I ordered it, and thankfully it performed as intended. A nice swing rockets high for 140 or so yards. I can take a little off and get it down to 120 or so. I can also deloft it with a faster swing and crank it up to the 160 range. 6. I was bored in a meeting so I decided to check out the PXG site, to get some ideas. I got the "Desert Club," because the idea of a 44 degree PW with an 8-iron length shaft made out of durable material (to hit off rocks and cart paths) for only $99 seemed like a steal to me. Then I got a Black Ops 9 wood, knowing it would hold its own place in the bag from past experience with 9 woods. I also grabbed a 7 and 9 iron. I absolutely did not want to get them in the same model as my 6i and 8i (GEN7). The idea was to have a completely different performance profile. My 6i and 8i have KBS C Taper x-stiff 130 shafts. I got the Wildcat 7i and 9i with Recoil Dart 55 ladies flex shafts. The intent there had multiple layers. First, it was going to be a cool experiment to see how they performed and whether they could establish a long term spot in the bag. Second, I wanted to give myself a "whippy," easy to hit option in case I was injured or something was going on with my swing. Third, I figured my wife could use them. And last, my dad is in his 70's and turning to light, whippy shafted clubs. So I figured this would give me a head start and get over my ego about it. 7. At this point my bag is 2 mini-drivers, a 9 wood, 5 hybrid, 7 hybrid, 6i, 8i, PW. The 4i was pulled out of the bag and the 7i and 9i were still under probation. LOL I went out for drinks with a coworker and he asked me about my wedge setup. He was specifically talking about the higher lofted specialty wedges. He was the type of golfer that carries 60, 56 and 52. I told him I didn't have ANY wedges, and he laughed at me. A few days later I was buying a new putter (Cobra 3D Agera Volition, on sale) when I noticed a "wedge" was also having a flash sale. It was a Cobra King Tec X Gap Wedge (48 degree). So I bought it as a throw in purchase at $49. I am glad I bought it, because it is one of the most dependable and versatile clubs in my bag. It easily fit in the 70 to 100 yard range for me. And since it was my highest lofted club, I started using it around the green for 20 to 40 yard type shots. It works like a charm for that as well. At this point my bag is essentially "complete." I could play an entire round without feeling like I was "missing" a big piece of the bag. Prior to the Cobra GW, that's how I felt. Everything after this point is about options and having fun collecting golf clubs. I can't afford a car collection. But I can afford a golf club collection. LOL 8. I ended up with an unexpected bonus from work, so of course I bought more clubs for "the collection" with part of the money! I was starting to really love everything that Ping stood for in the G440 line, as it fit my style as a golfer. I decided to grab the G440 driver for days when I wanted to have a little more "umph" than the mini-drivers could provide. Well, I got that and more. I can't believe how forgiving it is. I bought the G440 7 wood at the same time as the driver. I've never had a 7 wood, but my dad always loved his. At this point, as you can tell, I wasn't worried about redundancy in my bag. I just wanted options. Instead of saying "I wonder how a 7 wood would fit into my bag," I wanted to put one in the bag and see for myself. 9. As my ball striking improved, I started to notice a large gap appearing between my 5 hybrid and neutered 7 hybrid. The stock shot 7 hybrid was still around 140 yards. But the stock shot 5 hybrid was growing into the 180-190 range. I decided to grab the G440 6 hybrid to fill the gap. HOWEVER...after I placed my order I was informed that there was a 4-6 week back order on the 6 hybrid. Having already spent the money, I didn't want to "wait" for my next toy to show up. Rather than make a fuss, I asked if a 3 hybrid could be sent to me instead. They said yes, and it arrived later in the week. I knew the club was a bit redundant for my bag, but it would definitely give me another option. 10. At this point I was getting a little "top heavy" with options in the mid to long end of the bag. So I decided to put some shorter clubs in the mix. I grabbed a 46 degree and 52 degree wedge (Vokey SM10). The 52 degree was to give me a higher lofted option than my 48 GW. The intent of the 46 degree was to fill the gap I had between my GW (70-90 yards) and my 7 hybrid (125-160 yards). I really loved how "point and shoot" I was with my GW in the 70-90 yard range so I didn't want to manipulate my swing to try to get it to go further. The 52 is still in play but I took the 46 out of the bag. Its too much of a players club for me right now. When I improve my consistency I will bring it back out. 11. Pulling the 46 out of my bag meant that I still had an issue between 90 and 125 yards. And in reality it was a bigger gap than that. As my ball striking improved, it made it tougher for me to "only" go 125 yards with my 7 hybrid. The starting point was closer to the 140 range at this point, giving me a gap from 90 to 135-ish yards. I noticed too many of these shots on the course were coming up to ignore, so I picked up a PXG GEN7 PW to add to the mix. 12. One of my coworkers who I talk golf with is from Ireland. He is absolutely obsessed with flighting the ball low, and the idea of owning something like a 9 wood is baffling to him. I practiced flighting all of my clubs low, just in case I needed that skill at some point. Well, I needed it sooner than I thought. We were being treated by another company to a golf outing on a windy, ocean side course. I managed to make it work with a combination of low flighted 6i and 7 wood. But I felt like I needed a new option for those types of shots. My PXG 0317X driving iron is scheduled to be delivered today. 🙂 If it works out, its another club that can hold multiple spots in the bag.

My current setup is...7W...9W...3H...5H...7H...6i...8i... To me the 9W is its own beast and nothing else can compare to it. It goes so high and is so easy to hit. I use it when I want to make sure I am sticking to the green at 170 to 190. Whenever I have a chance to use it, a big smile comes over my face. Distance wise its similar to my 5H, but completely different ball flight and ease of use. And my 5H is pretty easy to use, so that tells you how insanely easy the 9W is. I have been working on flighting the 9W down. If I ever get a knack for it, the 5H can come out of the bag. It probably won't, but I would have the option. My 7W and 3H compete with eachother a bit in terms of distance. The 7W is easier to get height and distance, while the 3H is easier for me to hit straight. So my miss with the 7W is right to left, while my miss with the 3H is front to back. I have both in the bag right now for 200+ yard shots, to give me flexibility in that decision making process. If I am trying an aggressive approach shot to stick the green from 200+ out, I will use the 7W. But if a right/left miss will get me in trouble, I can't use it. That's when I go with the 3H. My 7W and 9W are not alike. The 9W is a reliable 170-190 high flying club that does what it is supposed to do nearly every time I use it. The 7W goes 200-230 for me, with a right/left dispersion that I have to take into account when using it. The 7W easily replaced 3W/5W for me. But there is no comparison between 7W and 9W for my game.

I have bought 3 putters so far this year, and I already know a 4th is on the way this fall. I also have an unusual amount of clubs in the 41 to 48 degree range. 🤣

I love my G440 Max. I have it in 9 degree. I literally laugh while watching some of my bad strikes fly thru the air. The ball has no business doing what it ends up doing. This gives me so much confidence to swing faster, which easily makes up the distance gap the club has vs other options. That's my experience, YMMV.