Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Make A Change Instead Of A Large Purchase - That IS The Question

I have been struggling with consistency with my driver for about six months now. What I'm struggling with most is locating the center of the club. The difficultly lies in not having a good feel for where the head of the club is in relation to body movement and rotation. I just don't have any feel for the clubhead. Actually, this has been going on ever since I was fitted for a new 46-inch driver. 

Rather than going into the name brand of the driver, I'll just list the physical characteristic of the problem child (I don't want anyone to think it is the manufacture's fault or that I think it's a bad driver). I think the problem lies in the fit of the club to the operator. I've always had my driver fit at exactly 45-inches at 9 degrees and D8 for as long as I can remember. In my excitement to get a new driver, I was convinced that a 46-inch driver might provide a little more distance. I'm not convinced that this true any longer. But hey, I got a great price on this piece of experiment. Anyway, the specs on the longer driver are as follows: 

        - 46-inch shaft 

        - 59-gram weight UST Helium Stiff Shaft

        - 460 composite head

        - Lamkin Crossline Superlite Grip

        - Swing weight D2 (I think? I could not prove it with the feeling I get. Horrible! Way too lite. I should weigh it for myself, just to know the real numbers) 

What I'm finding is that on occasion, when I find the middle of the club I can carry this club about 275 yards (about 5 yards longer than my old dependable driver) but the dispersion consists of pull hooks, push draws, and in an attempt to control it - fades! With my old 45-inch titanium-headed Cobra driver, my stock shot was about a 3-yard draw. My old Cobra always just felt great, an old friend and someone I could depend on. But now, with the longer and lighter driver, I find myself pulling a 2-iron or a 3-wood when one or the other is in the bag due to the poor performance with the driver. I've tried a couple of other drivers recently and true them when set to my old spec. It's not the driver, it's the fit and the inability of the operator to adjust to the increased length and lighter weight.


 

I really don't want to buy another driver this year! But riding the Dragon with this driver is not fun! Since I sold the old Cobra I'm thinking of modifying what might be a super driver in someone else's bag! Looking at my options here, I could cut down the 46 by an inch but this would make the club swing weight even lighter. For every quarter inch I take off the shaft I'm reducing swing weight by about 2 swing weights, making this an even more unwieldy monster! The big issue here is, I'm looking at having to add 16-20 grams of weight to the bottom of a club that has no adjustable weight port on the bottom of a 460 head - just to get it back to the original swing weight. Ouch! Can I put that much lead tape on the bottom of the club? It would be a messy-looking mutt, to say the least. 

Rather than using the lead tape, I probably should pull the head and go the weight insert route. I could also probably find a super, super light grip to reduce bottom-weight requirements.  Looks like this money-saving idea of mine is turning into a project! The only saving grace to the project is, I have all the equipment to do it. I can do all the work myself but do I want to? I just don't want to invest another $300-500 dollars on a new driver! I don't know what the expense and time requirement of sending it to the manufacturer for a refit is, but this might be an option as well. 

I guess there is a moral to this story. Don't get caught up in the latest and greatest trend. It will cost you money and enjoyment of the game. I should have gone with what works for me, not the recommendation on the fitter who worked with me for a couple hours. Let me know what you think? 

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