Successful equipment change stories?

[TheCityGame]

Having probs with my driver.

Sorry for how long this is, I bolded the point I'm really trying to ask about.

Here's my self-assigned grades:

Putting: B
Chipping: B+
Irons: A-
Hybrids: A-
4W: A-
Driver: D

I am totally happy with my swing right now. It's strong, repeatable and straight with my 60 degree through my 4W.

But, I get up on the tee with my driver, and I hate it. I hit slices, snap/trap hooks, the occasional BOMB. I have some rounds where it works all day and some where it doesn't work once. I don't know how to align the face. It feels like the same swing path produces 3 different flights. I've been trying to figure it out on the range for 2 years. I have messed with how far to stand from it, how far forward to put the ball, how high to tee it, grip changes, plane changes, EVERYTHING. Now, a lot of days at the range, I can kill the thing, straight as an arrow, but it usually takes too many warm up strokes to do it. . .I can dial it in and find the rhythm after 10 balls or so (that's also why going to see a pro at this point isn't my best option). Also, I did see a pro about this last year -- he gave me excellent swing changes, and I could hit the driver better to an extent but still not consistently.

I don't play with ANYONE -- and I mean ANYONE -- who has such a disparity between their driver and other clubs. If I hit all my clubs like my driver, I'd be a 25 handicap.

If my life depended on it, I'd play with my 4W ALL the time, but I want to be a better golfer -- I think I can legitimately get to a 3 or 4 index, but my driver is holding me back. I have better birdie ops coming in from 120 than 150. I've been making birds on par 5's when I hit driver, 4W well, but everytime that club is in my hand, I'm bringing double bogey into play.


You can offer suggestions, but basically at this point, I'm thinking about an equipment change. I think I want a higher lofted driver with a shorter shaft, so I feel more like I'm swinging my 4W. Every time I THINK I figure out this club, I lose it the next round. I don't want to feel like I've given up, but I have no confidence looking down the shaft that that club head. Hitting it is like trying to pet a dog that has bit me three times already.


Anyway. . .I'd be encouraged if I heard any stories of people who have really had success after making a change like this -- like it really was the driver's fault. I'd also be interested in hearing if you think it's completely fruitless to chase this problem with equipment. I feel like I've already put in a sufficient amount of time.


By way of example, in a very good round I played Saturday, these were my 4 drives with driver. . .

trouble left, 1 putt for bogey.
left into trees on par 5, punched out back towards tee, made a miracle bogey ( I could have hit 6 iron from the tee to where I was in 2).
left into trees on par 5. double bogey.
crushed down the middle. 2-putt birdie on par 5.

These were the holes I hit hybrid or 4W. . .
fairway, par
slight left, 3-putt bogey
fw, par
topped one straight, bogey
fw, par
fw, par
slight right, par
fw, par
fw, par
fw, par

So, I was 2 over (with a 3 putt bogey) on the 10 par 4's I hit 4W/Hybrid. I was EVEN on the 3 par 3's, and 3 over (with a bird) on the 4 holes I hit driver.

Sunday, I played a more wide open course, but still made 2 double bogeys because of terrible drives with the driver. One two-putt birdie on a short par 5.

So, the long and short of it is this: I hate my driver.

[Shipwreck]

It took me about 3 years, from the time of me getting serious, to find my perfect driver. The Titleist 905R. For some strange reason I can just hit it and hit it good. 910? Nope. Diablo? Nope. R9? Don't even think about it. For some strange reason, which is probably mental, I can just mash on that 905R.

It could also be the shaft that is hurting you as well. What kind of shaft is in your driver?

[Swingie]

Wow, completly feel for you man as thats some serious head noise going on with your driver. U definitley need to get away from a tour 9.5 driver. Get a very forgiving sqaure(cally IQ) or cheap expirement with a 44 inch shaft. I dont know why youve put yourself thru this soooo long....keep your club abd practice with it but have a gamer thats will yeild you better playable results bro until it comes around a bit.

[TheCityGame]

Shaft is Aldila "habanero" maybe? Does that sound right? It got good reviews with that Diablo edge.

I picked up a Ping G15 in the pro-shop this weekend, and liked the look down the shaft. It was also a 10.5. I don't feel the need to bomb it. I can get 230 out of the 4W on my best shots. I'd like to be able to get the driver out there 260 consistently, with the good crushes 280. It doesn't make sense how crappy I hit that driver for how well I'm hitting everything else, and I really am not trying to "buy" a game.


Thing is about that Ping. . .I have about $200 in pro-shop credit there, but I don't know if they do fittings/demos. I need to look into that.

Swingie. . .maybe you're right. I think I stayed away from "forgiving" drivers when I bought that one because that usually meant that they were "hook biased" and the hook tended to be my biggest miss.

Thanks.

[tnord]

i just changed drivers about a month ago. rewind a couple years and i was hitting hand-me-down cally great-big-bertha driver from who knows how long ago. i picked up a 2007 TM Burner 9.5 stiff flex with the 50g re-ax shaft. immediately i got better with my driver, but i was still a 20+ hdcp as i had been playing for about 6mos. that was good enough to be workable for me over the next few years, but my swing has gotten better, i've been playing over 3yrs now and have probably 250 rounds under my belt. i could have a good day with the driver and belt it out there 280 pretty straight for an entire round, but the next day i'd be all over the place. i was good enough with it to get down to where i am now, a 9hdcp, but i felt like getting to the 5 i want to be this year i needed to get better off the tee.

after talking to the clubmaker dude at golfsmith, the TM fitting guy, and trying out a bunch of different drivers over a few weeks i decided i needed at minimum a new shaft. my SS was 110+ and every driver i tried with a heavier shaft i liked better. i ended up replacing my 07 with a 2010 TM SF TP 10.5 with the aldila voodoo x-flex 65 gram (might be out of an R9) cut down 1/2'' from the classifieds here. i love it. i'm more consistent with it, actually have enough feel in the club to start working on hitting the ballflight i want with the driver....high fade, draw, or low rocket. i feel like my dispersion is improved, and i've for sure picked up some distance, i bet almost half of my drives are 300yds now. that's not to say my swing hasn't gotten any better, because i've been working on it and i think it has...but the club for sure helps.

so i say do it....figure out what you want....and go get it. there are good deals to be found out there, and it absolutely does make the game more enjoyable. i've probably only played 6 or 7 rounds with this driver, but my HDCP should be dropping already Aug 1st.

PS - the G15 is a great driver, i was actually trying to find one of those to buy when i stumbled upon the one i bought.

[darby k]

i changed drivers a couple of months ago and it has been a huge change for the better, i have much more confidence. i switched from an adams speedline to a cobra s3 not like i was really outdated or anything.

[TheCityGame]

Update on this. . .

So, I borrowed a friend's R9 with 10.5 degrees of loft, recently. I instantly felt better over this club than I did over mine. Hit it great on the warm-up range, then hit it well on the course. Left two shots out to the right, but on the holes I hit it on, I made par, bogey, double, birdie, 3-putt bogey, par, par. The double was more due to trouble around the green, but my drive did leave me blocked out and I hit my second shot into a greenside bunker. Still, I shot a 76 on 69.3/130 course -- that's good for me.

Anyway. . .that R9 (and this thread) was the impetus I needed to go see a driver fitter. It was obvious to him that my shaft/head were totally wrong for me. I was launching at about 11 degrees, and take these numbers for what they're worth, but he said I was getting about 215-220 carry with about 20 yards of roll. Roughly 95-100 mph club speed.

With the R9, I was getting 225 carry or so with about 15 yards of roll.

But, I swung a G15 with 12 degrees of loft, stock shaft, and was getting about 235-240 carry with 10 yards of roll. Way more carry, and considerably more total distance. Loved the ball flight. I was already picturing some corners I should be able to cut like most of the other single digit's do at my home course. I was suspicious of the hard sell, but I told the guy up front that I had pro-shop credit somewhere else, and besides, he didn't even have any in stock.

Now, this was on a range, and I don't know how much I can trust those machines, but I could just tell from my set up position and ball flight that I'm going to like that club. I had to order one, but it's coming soon, and I think it's really going to help. Misses weren't nearly as bad as with my Cally.

I think that I'll probably miss those drives that occasionally roll out to 285 on a bone dry track, but hopefully I'll be hitting more fairways, cutting some corners and carrying some traps.

[shakey]

Can't add much to the driver debate, but I went through the same thing you're talking about with my irons. Had Nike VR Pro Combo's and sprayed them all over the course after hitting driver around 280-290 straight all day long. Got tired of missing greens and skanking shots so I ditched the irons in favor of a set of Ping i15's. Immediately started hitting five or so more greens a round. It was a welcome change.

[kiteman]

i feel you on the D for driver. that's where it's at for me. i would have shot in the 80s the other day if it weren't for the darn thing. in fact i'm convinced i probably could have shot in the 80s if i just opted to use the 7 wood all day instead. but alas, golf shouldn't work that way.

you know i went to golfsmith last weekend and grabbed several new drivers and my own and hit them all several times. i found my slice was prevalent in all of them which led me to believe my swing needed correction, not the club. then i just used their facility as a driving range for the next hour to try and pinpoint how to correct the slice. i made some great progress.

maybe give some other drivers a shot and see if the problem still persists. if it does, it isn't the equipment that needs your help.

[TheCityGame]

I'll keep this brief. . .BOOOM! I murdered this thing off the tee this weekend.

This next part is totally awesome in it's own way, but also totally embarrassing. . .The awesome part: I hit 15 (!!) greens in reg and shot a 6 over par 78 in a tournament. The embarrassing part: 39 putts. I didn't have a birdie. I had 20 yards into two flags, and 90 yards into about 4 more. No birdies.

I have never -- NEVER -- stood on a tee with a driver and felt that good about it. That was after ONE day with a small bucket at the range. Right now. . .this totally what I was looking for. Matches my eye, my swing.

Yes, yes. . .this is golf and the era of good feelings could be over on the next tee shot, but round one after the change. . .very promising. If I had my stroke around the greens, it could have been low. Real low.

[pauliepaul]

[quote name='TheCityGame' timestamp='1312824627' post='3462518']
I'll keep this brief. . .BOOOM! I murdered this thing off the tee this weekend.

This next part is totally awesome in it's own way, but also totally embarrassing. . .The awesome part: I hit 15 (!!) greens in reg and shot a 6 over par 78 in a tournament. The embarrassing part: 39 putts. I didn't have a birdie. I had 20 yards into two flags, and 90 yards into about 4 more. No birdies.

I have never -- NEVER -- stood on a tee with a driver and felt that good about it. That was after ONE day with a small bucket at the range. Right now. . .this totally what I was looking for. Matches my eye, my swing.

Yes, yes. . .this is golf and the era of good feelings could be over on the next tee shot, but round one after the change. . .very promising. If I had my stroke around the greens, it could have been low. Real low.
[/quote]

wait till the honeymoon is over and dig this thread back up :cheesy:

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

I played every weekend for several years in a group of six or so guys at the public course down the street from my house. One guy would hit driver about 200 yards, fairly straight, then hit some kind of skanky-looking mid-iron or fairway wood shot that generally missed the green by 5-10 yards. Invariably he would miss the green in the perfect place to chip it up close. Played to about an 8-9 handicap, mostly due to the occasional bad tee shot into the woods. Still, he could hit maybe four GIR in a round and still shoot 81 or 82.

He finally bought a new driver, a genuine Titanium one of about 400cc to replace the tiny-headed old steel driver he'd been using for a decade or more. From the first tee shot of the first round with the new driver he was a solid 15-20 yards longer and pretty much never, ever hit one in trouble off the tee. Down to a 6 handicap within a dozen rounds and I always thought he was probably 'bagging it a stroke here or there to keep it from going to 5. Lots of 78's and 79's instead of 80-somethings and at least once he was under par with a couple hole to play.

That was pretty much the sole weakness in his game, lack of distance off the tee and three or four bad pulls or slices per round. The equipment change was at least three full strokes when he was playing well and more than that on days his swing wasn't working. I think he paid about 100 bucks for the driver NOS in the pro shop.

[rdwoody]

[quote name='pauliepaul' timestamp='1312825676' post='3462599']
[quote name='TheCityGame' timestamp='1312824627' post='3462518']
I'll keep this brief. . .BOOOM! I murdered this thing off the tee this weekend.

This next part is totally awesome in it's own way, but also totally embarrassing. . .The awesome part: I hit 15 (!!) greens in reg and shot a 6 over par 78 in a tournament. The embarrassing part: 39 putts. I didn't have a birdie. I had 20 yards into two flags, and 90 yards into about 4 more. No birdies.

I have never -- NEVER -- stood on a tee with a driver and felt that good about it. That was after ONE day with a small bucket at the range. Right now. . .this totally what I was looking for. Matches my eye, my swing.

Yes, yes. . .this is golf and the era of good feelings could be over on the next tee shot, but round one after the change. . .very promising. If I had my stroke around the greens, it could have been low. Real low.
[/quote]

wait till the honeymoon is over and dig this thread back up :cheesy:
[/quote]

Amen! That's the first thing I thought about when I read the title of this thread. The good ol' honeymoon phase. The driver is the most cycled club in my bag, and it all comes back to the honeymoon. I'll test one out that I really like and be hitting dead straight and a good 20 yards past the one I'm looking to replace. So, I go out and buy one and take it to the range for a little personal time to get to know it. I can rifle through a bucket of balls just smashing it. I can hit it on a line, work it right, and work it left. I leave the range and take it out to the course for the first round and have one of the best rounds I've had off the tee in recent memory. Then, it all comes crashing down. If not the next round, usually the one after. I can't hit squat with it. I'm hitting duck hooks and killer slices. Then, I get fed up with it and severely throttle my swing back just to put one in the fairway. That usually works for another round or two, and then it stops. Next step? New driver. The process repeats itself.

Now, I won't say that it is completely fruitless to get a new driver. A lot of times, you're just so close to having it nailed down, but your problem is not the swing or even the club. It's between your ears. But, that can very well be caused by the club. If you've completely lost confidence in it, that can hurt your game more than anything. If you're completely happy with your swing, a new driver may bring that confidence to the tee box and send you on your way to becoming a scratch golfer!

[lukesmurf59]

Dude, [size="5"][b]GET FIT!!!!!!!!![/b][/size]

[jswaykos]

Haha, I checked in to add that ALL of my equipment changes have been successful for a week or so...

[mbs_paddy]

I'm the same way man. Couple weeks ago in a tournament shot 69 with 11/14 fws and 33 putts. Next day shot 73 with 3/14 fws 28 putts...

And i love my R11, its just inconsistent

[ibigler]

I couldnt hit driver for the life of me last year. So i took it out of the bag and just hit 3 wood or 5 wood off the tee. this season I felt very comfortable with my 3 wood, so i took the driver out and started driling the ball long and straight. BLEW MY MIND

[Jayhawkrx93]

I struggled with the driver for a few years then picked up a SuperTri and several hosel adapters. I put together several shafts I wanted to try and went out and hit/played until I found the right combination. (and sold/gave away the rest so I wouldn't keep screwing around)
I have the opposite problem, I am a low single digit with my driver/putter/wedge and hit irons like a hack. Have tried numerous sets and always went back to the 690.cb. Sort of like the hot but crazy chick you always end up back with at 2am. So I went less forgiving with some X Protos. So far, so good. Best competitive round in 5 years yesterday, talk about honeymoon

[MadGolfer76]

Driving has been a problem in the last two years. I went through all the fittings, took lessons, and tried nearly every hot driver that came out, plus all the iconic head/shaft combos listed here in WRX that fly under the public wire. Spent piles of cash. I got a lot longer off the tee. Like 20-30 yards in a short period of time. My overall driving never improved and actually got worse. I was blowing through fairways and my misses (even slight) were way off the map and landed me penalty strokes. Handicap went up 7 strokes into double digits, where I had been a three before this "driver quest."

Nothing improved my problems until I decided to adopt a stock shot off the tee. I went to a pull/fade, and my problems were over. I think we spend so much time trying to find "the" driver, rather than "the" shot shape. I think we need to groove a shape and then find the equipment that best compliments that shape and that makes it as easy as possible to achieve it. Distance off the tee isn't always your friend. I have given up about 10-12 yards (down to about 255'ish) with this shape as I hit it higher and it doesn't roll as much, but I look forward to the next tee shot and carving off the shape I have in my mind against the contour of the fairway. I have a very high ss and can bomb the ball, but I just don't want to as achieving my tee shape and hitting the fairway is substantially more rewarding.

We talk about "optimized" equipment in terms of matching launch angle and spin against overall ball speed and dispersion, but I think these can be illusory sometimes. An epiphany came in a previous thread where someone mentioned that when you shape shots off the tee, your landing area doubles. Before this, I was trying to hit shots dead straight and paid the price for it as I developed a double miss. I could either pull it left or hit a push/fade right. I had no confidence as I didn't know where the ball was going. My straight shots were epic, but my fairways hit percentage was only 35%. Most of that came when I game up on my driver entirely and hit fw or hybrid off the tee.

Right now, I literally cannot miss left. It may be cliche to repeat, but I aim down the left side of the fairway and let the ball cut back to the right. If there are trees down the left, I don't care. It is almost as if they aren't there. I would suggest you consider trying what I have mentioned before spending more money on gear. I learned a lot by trying different products, but in the end I have the most uninteresting driver in the bag, and am relying more on my physical setup with controlled swing to solve my problems. Also, if you haven't already, review the "new" ball flight rules. Knowing how to hit certain shots is essential. Your misses will then provide information about what went wrong, and you can correct them on the next hole or even the next shot.

Best wishes.

[npark]

Your grades look very similar as to how I would grade myself, with the exception of the Driver (now) and the 4W being flip flopped. Most new name brand drivers are going to play similar, loft being equal/constant...maybe one being marginally better for a certain swing/eye than another, but close none the less. I truly believe the difference is in the shaft however, point being, I was playing a 9.5* 9064LS with a Proforce V2 76 gram S-Flex at 44' and thought the shaft might be a little much for me at that length. So I got fitted and ended up getting a 9.5* 910D3 with a Proforce V2 67 gram S-flex at 44.5" and have never hit my driver longer and more important more consistently in my life. Good shot to good shot, I picked up ~20 yards (all from carry) and on a slight miss it is prolly closer to 30 yards. I had always been that guy that hit my irons relatively long but never felt my drives were up to par, now it is more linear. So I am not saying that this is the combo for you but rather that a good professional fitting did wonders for me and IMHO you should think about getting one. Now it is time to get a new shaft for my 910F 17*, aka, the hook machine.

[TheCityGame]

People gotta read the whole thread. . .

I *DID* get fitted. He told me my club was terrible for me.

I am all too familiar with the "honeymoon" phase. That's why this whole thread -- originally -- was asking about successful equipment change stories, for instance, the story by [b]Fourmyle of Ceres.[/b]
[b]
[/b]
That's why I was reluctant to even think about changing equipment, but I have spent SO MUCH time on this driver while really grooving my swing otherwise, that after like 2 years I finally concluded "maybe it is the equipment". A less stubborn man would have made this change 18 months ago.

Believe me, if I can hit a club well, I carry it. I have a 10 year old hybrid (from the era when people thought they sucked), and a 7-8 year old 4W. Irons are a few years old (purchased when I was a 13 HDCPi). I play with USED balls from knetgolf. You gotta realize I went from a 9º "tour" driver to a 12º "GI" driver. This is pretty drastic. After looking at that 9 for so long, the 12 almost looks like a big 3W to me.

I'll bump this in 10 rounds. I can't say that my HDCP is going to be lower for sure, but if you wanted to book it, that's where my money would be.

[Ben B]

I played a 43.5" driver in high school, went to 45" for 5 years and now I am back to 43.5" and hitting the ball like I did in high school, straight and long. I also just played with a guy who have a TM R9 that was 40". He was hitting the ball about 280 dead straight, no lie. He said was was working on getting back to a 45" driver. I ask, why in the hell would you do that when you hit the ball like that? The length was right in his wheel house, and I explained to him that 45" drivers are a waste of time because you will never hit the ball as consistent.

I would say for the average golfer, a standard driver is about 1.5" to 3" too long. In reality, you are not going to loose a significant amount of distance and your accuracy is going to improve 100%. Long story short....USE SHORTER DRIVERS!!!!

[Kevie Ray]

[quote name='Ben B' timestamp='1312894111' post='3465506']
I would say for the average golfer, a standard driver is about 1.5" to 3" too long. In reality, you are not going to loose a significant amount of distance and your accuracy is going to improve 100%. Long story short....USE SHORTER DRIVERS!!!!
[/quote]


R9 460
43.75"
Nunchuck Shaft

Never hit anything better!

[bub72ck]

Now that you have "your" driver you need to think of it that way. It's not something off the shelf it was built for you. Now that you have the proper tool you need confidence in it. Every time you pick it up you know where it's going.

[gallier_golf]

[quote name='bub72ck' timestamp='1312973084' post='3469264']
Now that you have "your" driver you need to think of it that way. It's not something off the shelf it was built for you. Now that you have the proper tool you need confidence in it. Every time you pick it up you know where it's going.
[/quote]

This is how I feel, just have a hard time dropping the coin.

[kellyb]

I went through a driver problem earlier this year. I had a driver that I only hit well about 3 times per round. I switched to my new driver(diablo octane tour) and I love it. Forgiving, and I feel confident. My last 3 rounds, 74, 73, 73. I feel like I'm going to hit the fairway now. I didn't have that confidence til I picked up this club. Just reshafted it with a v2 and have more confidence since I've taken the right side away(left handed). So a club can have an impact, especially a club that gets you into a fairway instead of pitching out of the trees.

[JLo_73]

Your post inspired me to get refitted for my driver yesterday as I have been battling the same issue. If I could just keep the ball in the fairway, scores and handicap would come down. Been using a Matrix Code 6 that I was fitted by Hot Stix for about 18 months ago. Loved the feel of a good shot but spent too much time chasing the ball down the sides of the course. Fitting at Roger Dunn yesterday led me to finding out that spin was too high and launch angle as well. Hit the Razr Hawk Tour with Ka'lill which felt great until i saw the price tag of $599. Having spent $700 on TEE CB3 with Matrix Code 6 last year, i opted to get driver reshafted. Club Fitter suggested V2 as a lower cost option and reviews that I have read (including kellyb) suggest that it might be a better fit. Playing a few times over the next week, looking forward to seeing how it works. Good luck

[Drumdog]

I changed from an FT-5 to an R-11....instant success !
Accuracy went up by about 20% and gained almost 20 yards in distance.

[TheCityGame]

Just for posterity sake. . .
I said I'd get back to this thread once I had a few rounds under my belt. I've played 8 rounds since I made the change, and my driving has simply never been better.

One of the first rounds I played with this club, I had 3 birdies and an eagle. This was an easy course, and I put up a 76 with a couple of shaky par 3's.

Then, I kind of hit a slight putting/chipping slump and while I was still stroking it off the tee, I wasn't scoring great (82-84 on a pretty easy course).

But, this Wednesday I went out and played a stellar round. I shot 2 over par with 4 birdies (two were long putts, but I also missed two birdie putts inside of 4 feet). That was 3 shots better than I've ever shot over par. I hit 50% of fairways, but was totally in play on all my misses. I had an eagle putt on one par 5, and went back to back to back birdies for the first time in my life (one was a par 3, the other two used my driver). 61% GIR. I don't think that round was even feasible with my old driver. Not only am I taking bogies out of play more often, I'm bringing negative numbers into play.

I also had a round where I hit 15 GIR's on a 6300 course and still shot 78 because I had 39 putts that day!!!

So, basically since I've had it, I've had a 74/76/78. And, low 80's on two TOUGH courses (both 6500 ish) with slopes in the low 130s.

More than anything, I've been able to focus on short game so much more since I got the driver figured out.

Due to those rounds, my HDCP has dropped from 7.2 to 6.7 as of the last adjustment. Not bragging, or looking for kudos. . .just writing the final chapter of the club change story.

And, I'm not saying the Ping G15 is the right club for you. But from my perspective, if you're really -- honestly -- hitting your whole bag well, and your driver is giving you problems, it might be worthwhile to look into a fitting and make a change.

[acquadiice]

i was also having driver problems.

i was very inconsistent with my r9 ST / 73x WB combo and changed over to a 975D / x100 combo and everything is perfect now.