Low Loft or High Loft Drivers for Seniors

scotts33 · 2019-08-01T11:42:05+00:00

Here's my take on this topic which is always bantered about. This is a case study on my own swing with driver. 70 years old decent flexibility more so than...

Rickochet

I have been playing 12° - 16° for years mainly due to my negative AOA. And after swinging the same way for 58 years that likely isn't going to change. Just yesterday I went back to an old DTG 175 12° that I reshafted with a Diamana 40g A flex shaft and extended it to a 48"playing length. I picked up at least 10 yards over the M2 and Cally GBB Epic with great consistency and control. I hit the ball pretty low but it has great run out even in damp grass. I have always read where more carry is best because the air has less resistance than the ground but my DTG 175 seems to disprove that.

Tinker

scotts33 sounds like we swing very similar. I have been using a 10 La Jolla, 10.5 alpha or 9.5 smt Indio and can’t tell much difference in ball flight between the 3. What I have found is a good r flex works best for me. I drive pretty consistent and have a bread and butter fade to go to (don’t do great trying to draw) . Soft r or senior shafts seam to compromise hitting the sweet spot which I normally do a lot of the time.

DonM

scotts33 Right now the fairways are dry, so run out is quite good. I am not surprised you got more with less loft.

fatshot

scotts33
I'm 73, almost 74.....Hcp hovers either just above or just below 10....6'6" tall, so I'm not afraid to play my clubs a little longer, esp. with lighter components these days. My "gamer" driver is an old Integra 450 Beta Titanium, 12 degrees, with an Aldila 55 gram NV senior shaft. After experimenting with longer shafts, I've settled on 46 inches as the best combination of distance (a relative term....190-200 usually) and accuracy. I have tried drivers too numerous to mention to try to kick this club out of the bag, but it really does seem to be the most consistent.

Recently, I bought a Callaway Fusion FT-3 11 degree off Ebay. At $30 bucks, I figure it's a cheap experiment. Aldila NVS senior flex shaft, also 55 grams. The fairways at my local course are fairly firm also, esp. this time of year. I took it out today and alternated every other hole vs. my gamer. When I caught one right on the screws, I think it may be 5-10 yards longer than my regular driver. Not positive enough though
to say for sure, so I will keep experimenting......

sdandrea1

Very accurate with a Cobra MAX offset 10.5 degree driver with stock Lite flex shaft. Fast running Florida fairways favor this setup for me. In VA I use the same driver at 11.5 degree for more carry on softer fairways. No idea what my swingspeed is.

Par4QC

I'm not a believer of the 'higher the hit, the longer the hit/more loft, more distance', never have been. It's how you hit it, imo.
I used to use the 9-10 drivers, high tee, tee forward, and could hit it out there a ways. Even with bad swings. Now, I've got 7.5(mainly)-10, teed lower and back. I'm getting the same height from the latter as the former set up, but not the distance, by any means. I've tried to attribute this to age, but not completely sure. FW finds are much higher % & scores are, I'd say, a lot lower than a few yrs. ago, even when playing the back tees. Seldom have a GIR any more, but do have a lot of Pars, sometimes birdies. Would like to be several yds. longer off the tee, esp. on certain holes, but WTH? A couple weeks ago a 271 yd. drive appeared on my GPS, from my hit, after 1 of around 250. My club, my swing! Same club hit a couple of 180's that day also. jeeeeezus.

Conflicting damn game! I do feel lucky to never have the urge to drink more than a Mt. Dew.😆

DC300

Overall, I subcribe to fly the ball the furthest you can, but thats really more to do with the fact you can better controll where it ends up. I have played with many players who get a lot of distance from hitting it low and getting run out, especially on slopes and dry conditions. I say taylor your equipment to take advantage of the course/ your game. I hit my 3 wood substantially lower than my driver off the tee, I use it a lot when there is potential to get more roll and often it will net me better distance than the driver for that reason. Also, i used to play a course with one hole with such a killer down slope, I hit a middle iron to catch the slope because it put me further out than my driver did flying past it.

I dont think theres a one size fits all, but hitting the ball lower can result in more distance, if it can be controlled, go for it.

Par4QC

DC300 I say taylor your equipment to take advantage of the course/ your game.

This is all anyone can do. There is no "one size fits all' in this game.

sdandrea1

Par4QC This is all anyone can do. There is no "one size fits all' in this game.

Case in point is my stupid InfoMercial The Perfect Club 21. I can't hit that thing very high but damn if it isn't deadly straight nearly ever time, with a shitTon of roll. It's actually The Perfect Club (see what I did there?) for narrow Florida residential courses. I quit carrying fw metals as this club covers me from 155 to 170.

DC300

sdandrea1 The Perfect Club was a damn good design, I carried 2 of them for a while, they flat out worked.

garyt1957

I just posted this in another thread but I kept going higher in loft and kept getting shorter. I maxed out with a 14 TM Aeroburner. I went down to an 8 Wishon and picked up 20 yards over the TM. Go figure.

JeffTilley

Just a quick question for you knowledgeable turds - if I hit a driver set at 8.5 farther than set at 9.5, is my AOA positive or negative? Point of reference - I tend to hit 10.5 very high, and usually shorter. I also tee it down a little lower than half ball. Just curious as I have no way of knowing short of taking a very long drive to get on a launch monitor.

Par4QC

garyt1957 I'm getting to where I don't care why I hit the 8* farther I'm just enjoying the extra yards.

AoA. Too much spin. Not enough spin. Shaft too stiff. Shaft too weak. Surlyn covered ball. Urethane covered ball. Club too long. Club too short. BAH!

I'm a clubfitter's nightmare. And my basement full of clubs(esp. drivers/shafts) prove it! Every time I go out, I have different drivers in the bag. I have the 1, 7.5 @ 46", that is the nuts, for me. No reason to have any others, but I still will take along 1 other every time I go. Because I don't give a shit. It's just plain fun. And I do not question fun.

JeffTilley knowledgeable turds

You should knock off that name calling. You don't know me well enough to know if I'm knowledgeable or not. 😄

garyt1957

I'm no expert but I don't think you can say your AOA is one or the other just because you hit the lower loft farther. Normally you'd think if you're hitting the lower loft farther you're swinging up, but I know for a fact I swing down with the driver and I hit an 8 farther than anything higher loft. I'm seriously considering experimenting with a 7.
Of course, then launch angle comes into play and maybe you're hitting up but your launch is too high with the 9 and better with the 8. I'm getting to where I don't care why I hit the 8* farther I'm just enjoying the extra yards.

mulegolf

scotts33 I have a Golfsmith Hi-Cor Plus driver also. In it is the Hi-Cor shaft. Not the lite silver blue original one that broke, but the second generation one that's black and blue. It's s-flex. If memory serves, I built it at 46". This driver was built back when my swing speed was 105-107 mph. It's 9.5 degree in loft. I have lost a lot of swing speed since building this driver. I now swing 80-83 mph and hit the ball a lot lower than in my better days. I have gone to drivers with 12 degrees of loft and a R-flex shaft. My current driver is a TM M2, 12 degree. I also have an M-flex (Sr.) shaft that I use if I have been having back issues. When I use this shaft, I dial the loft back to 11.5 degrees. I find it a bit crazy but I hit the 9.5 Hi-Cor just as high as I hit either version of the M2 or any other 12 degree driver I have. The M2 is my current longest driver. If I'm swinging well, with no back or knee issues, I hit it about 200 yds. I used to be able to hit my 7 degree driver off of the fairway but now need a 4 wood to get the ball up comfortably.

JeffTilley

Par4QC

Ah, a slow pooper........

johnnydoom

I’m marching to even higher loft. Used to hit 10.5, now 11.5, and just ordered a 917 D2 12 degree head that will give a range from 11.25 - 13.5. Going to hook it up to the VS Proto Par4QC sold me. Report back in a week or two.

sdandrea1

None of this fitting BS matters unless you swing consistently. Just hit the ball, go find it and hit it again. Am I banned (again)?

Yours Truly,
High Functioning Neanderthal (turd).

Rickochet

sdandrea1 Just hit the ball, go find it and hit it again, BUY NEW CLUBS, go play again.

Fixed it for ya. 😜

sdandrea1

DC300 The Perfect Club was a damn good design, I carried 2 of them for a while, they flat out worked

They still do!