How To Choose A Driver

Why am I Sharing?

Life is short, you don't have time to make all the mistakes yourself. Besides, it can be costly. So, why do I want to share precious information with you without ripping you off? Let me share with you a true story concerning the late but legendary Bruce Lee. While he was still a young man at the beginning of his martial arts career under Grandmaster Ip Man who founded Wing Chun, Bruce Lee absorbed knowledge like a sponge even when he was beaten up, he would analyse and search for answers on why different kicks hurt him differently.

When Ip Man came back from a trip, he asked an older disciple who followed him to exchange information and practise with Bruce what he learned on the trip and in turn learned from Bruce. Some days later, they would both spar. Because Bruce taught him everything he had learned, that disciple could use those moves but Bruce knew nothing as that disciple kept everything to himself and has not taught Bruce as told. The rest of the students cheered for the obvious winner but Ip Man solemnly declared Bruce Lee the winner. Everyone was shocked. Why? Ip Man explained that while Bruce had sincerely and earnestly shared and taught everything he knew to a fellow disciple, the fellow disciple saw that it was good only by keeping what he had learned to himself.

This selfishness is against the spirit of learning. He was duly expelled but Bruce later pleaded for his return. This is the spirit which I hope when given is accepted in the same spirit. Sharing of knowledge is how we ensure achievement of immortality.

How About New Clubs

Some people would say "good golfers can play with any clubs or that you can't buy a game or it's the swing that matters." They are quite right but if you want more height with your shots then you may have to change your swing or your clubs. Many social golfers may not be discerning enough to notice such changes when made. A good workman always use the right tools. You are losing strokes even before you play when you are not sure if you are most suitable for stiff or regular flex, steel or graphite shafts, bigger or smaller heads and more or less offset. Better or the right equipment can help reduce 5 strokes from your score by just giving you the confidence even if through perception as it would bring out the feel good factors and positive vibes and what's more, a definite increased in the enjoyment sector. The worst thing is to spend good money and still struggle with your clubs. The game is tough enough without having to fight your clubs.

How To Choose A Driver

At the beginning of every golf game, you get to stand at the tee box nearest to the clubhouse where all eyes are peering as several flights are waiting in line - a nightmare for all beginners. Like starting a pin-ball machine, you've got to launch the ball into play. Your objective is to place your shot where you want to hit your second shot from which means the fairway being the best place, not into OB territories, jungles or the waters. You want to hit it straight and long if possible to bring you nearer to the green and a lower score. Your confidence never fails to soar after a solid drive.

Looks - Do you like how your driver look when it sits down at address? I prefer mine to have a traditional look than those square or triangular pegs. Do you like how it sounds - loud, a thud or a sweet ring to your ears? What about alignment aid - a pointer, an arrow, crescent moon or nothing? Big or small head? If it doesn't look or feel good to you, you will not perform well.

Head Size - The bigger the head, the greater the forgiveness and I am not talking about the golfer but the club. Forgiving club heads ensure that your off-centre heel or toe hits goes just slightly off for distance and direction. New clubs today use titanium because they are stronger which in turn means a thinner face and weight saved which can be redistributed for more perimeter weighting towards the back. Such extreme perimeter weighting allows manufacturers to place precise weights - on the heels to promote draw bias shots and towards the toes for fades. When the ball is being hit, it does not discerned if it was being hit by a cheap or expensive club or who hit it and therefore, how far it should go.

Stronger metals gives a trampoline effect as it allows the thinner face a little flex for rebounds to increase ball speed. Bigger heads/thinner faces gives you extreme perimeter weighting giving rise to higher MOI (Moment of Inertia) which also means resistance to twisting and simply result in the highest forgiveness (user-friendly so to speak).

Loft - Standard specs are usually 10 degree for men and 12 degree for ladies. If you have trouble launching the ball into the stratosphere then go for one as much as a 12-13 degree. There is no shame in it but it is just your launch angle. This launch angle thingy is big in the US of A but there is no culture here to define it (lament). Remember that slower swingers need higher loft. Come on admit it, golf, especially the driver is a macho thing and you want to be seen carrying a 9 degree loft.

Due to clever marketing in play and ego to soothe, manufacturers are actually labelling as 10 degree when the actual spec could be a 12 degree for added macho effect. Tiger Woods' driving accuracy was averaging only 63% usually with an 8 degree driver and that at a swing speed of 125mph. Other pros can reach 135mph but we are no Bubba Watson, one of the longest on tour. Most social golfers and weekend hackers generate only 85-95mph in swing speed on average. In the recent memorial Tiger increased his fairway percentage from his drives by using a 10 degree driver resulting in an 88% fairway hit. Go figure. It is a mistaken belief that lowering the loft will give you greater distance. It is only so if you have a high swing speed.

Face - Clubs with taller faces = lower ball flight and conversely one with a shallow face increases the trajectory of the ball flight. If you are a straight shooter, get one with a square face or "neutral" but if you are a slicer (a large proportion of golfers are slicers) go for a "draw" club which has a closed face which points slightly to the left and has its heaviest weighting at the heel of the club to promote the club face squaring or a draw. It is not just for slicers as most golfers may not square properly on impact.

A "draw" club is actually always more forgiving and can be suitable even for straight shooters as most golfers do not square their club on impact in a timely fashion. If you are a hooker (hahaha, no pun intended), get yourself off the streets by using a club where extreme weight is placed on the toe. Older clubs have their sweet spots in the middle of the face due to their smaller club head size and its face according to where their CG (centre of gravity) are being located. Today's drivers are cranked to the max in all areas of size, extreme perimeter weighting, face height and length where the CG is being shifted lower and more to the back.

What this means is that the sweet spot is no longer at the same spot you will find in the older clubs. How does it translate into your play? When teeing up, ensure that you tee up higher such that the top edge of the club head is positioned in line at the equator of the ball so that you will only see half the ball above the club head. This will provide you the optimum result of hitting that sweet spot.

Length (at PGA) - It is important to note that the average driver length of PGA pros is only at 44.5 inches. Tiger's driver is at 43.5 inches with a swing weight of D4 when he was using Titleist. Why? The pros could generate sufficient swing speed of their own and they would prefer accuracy over even more distance. Be wary of manufacturers that promise you more and lots of distance with longer clubs. This is often achieved at the expense of accuracy. Longer shots into the jungle or 10-20 metres shorter but on the fairways. Do your maths.

Shaft - Slower, smoother swingers should use more flexible shafts while stronger players should benefit more from stiffer and heavier ones. Weight, flex, torque and bend point all comes into play. Higher torque makes it easier to close the face on impact. Most torques today are around 4.5-4.6. Better players may choose those that are around 3.5. When you are doubtful, go for the one with the softer flex. Usually, shafts suitable for us especially Asians weigh between 50g to 65g. If the shaft is too heavy, it slows down your swing speed. That is why TaylorMade gives you the Burner shaft at only 49g to promote faster swing speed.

There is no regulatory body to standardise golf shafts so it differs among the manufacturers but typically American shafts are stiffer than Japanese specs so be wary when buying to check if the club is an American or Japanese specs. Take note that an American spec "R" Regular is equivalent to a Japanese "S" Stiff. This is the only close estimation. Some like Callaway called it the JV (Japanese Version). Torque is basically "resistance to twisting". Very strong golfers with high swing speed plays well with lower torque as they are less prone to twisting due to the speed.

How Long Should Your Driver Be?

PGA pros' average driver length is only 44.5 inches. They have already figured out the optimum distance of their shots and how long their drivers ought to be to get maximum results - long enough but not to get into trouble. One of the most crucial aspects of how your driver performs rest with the length. Longer drivers will get you greater distances only if you hit the sweet spot every time and yet stay out of trouble. As length affects, feel, accuracy and distance, it is harder to hit the sweet spot unless you have a driver with a suitable length for you.

Many golfers swing from an outside-to-in swing path and due to this steeper descent is more difficult to get a longer distance from impact. Tempo which is very important will gets disrupted as you face difficulty to rotate the club face back to square for impact. The belief that the longer the club the greater the distance can only be true if you hit it dead centre each time and at all times. You would suffer a loss of 5 yards for every quarter inch off centre hit and an increment of an inch would result in a distance increase of 2 yards on the average. Do your maths. An easy way to gauge is that if you can hit your 3-wood as far as your driver, your driver is probably too long.

Most Tour professionals' choice is a power fade. It is more difficult to play a draw and a draw shot is golf's longest shot because on impact, side spin is imparted but on landing it is also more likely for the ball to keep up on the roll. It is not to be mistaken for a hook which is a severely wild right to left swerve. The second longest shot is a straight shot as this could only result from backspin being generated. Today's drivers give you lesser back spin so that your shots could go a wee bit longer.

A power fade is preferred by pros simply because it is a much controlled shot. They could hit it long enough on their own and a power fade gives them parachute style cushioned landing on a very safe spot. A slice is the most common problem of social golfers as it is wild and instantly launched you into trouble. This can be corrected by remembering always to swing from inside (on the back swing) to out (forward swing) added on with a "Draw" bias club.

When we played with those older drivers, you will notice that there were grooves across the faces (unbroken line grooves) and drivers used to be 9 or 10 degree. Why is that? It was because most golfers could not launch their drives and lined grooves were there to help generate sufficient back spin as back spin gets the ball quicker into the air.With today's technology and advance in metal physics, club heads are bigger due to weight saved from the face using light but stronger metals like titanium so that precise weightings can be placed at the back perimeter to increase forgiveness, higher MOI = bigger sweet spot. You will also notice that the centre portion of your latest driver face do not have lines anymore.

Why? The aim was to reduce back spin for longer shots. How do they do that without making it more difficult to launch the shots? They gave you 0.5 degree increase in loft. Hence, today's drivers comes in 9.5 degree or 10.5 degree as compensation thus making your shots further with sacrificing your optimum launch. On top of this, most brands increase their shaft length to increase distance since their clubs are now friendlier. They even make them lighter shafts to increase your swing speed. 45.75 inches is now a common benchmark. They are selling you a long game. It is better to know these intricacies before you commit yourselves. The TaylorMade 2009 Burner's Japanese spec driver is at 45.75 inches while their American version comes in at an incredible 46.25 inches but then these may just be what some golfers wanted. How do you know for sure that a long stick is not the best solution? Next time at the green, pull up the flag pole and use it in simulation as if hitting a ball. You will get the drift.

Swing Speed and Launch Angle

Every golfer has their own and different launch angle which depends on their swing speed. Lower loft may not be necessarily better or make you a lesser mortal. In the 80s to the 90s, many made assumption that the lower loft resulted in shots that were farther. Golf scientists and engineers discovered that to maximize distance, the club should launch the ball at higher angles. It is critical that driver loft must match swing speed of the individual. The slower your swing speed, the more loft you will need. If you swing speed is 80-90mph, it may be wise to use a driver with up to 12-13 degree loft. See the below to have a sound and clear understanding:

At a Swing Speed (SS) of 70mph with Lofts (L) at 11/15/19 degree, your Launch Angle (LA) at 12/15/18, you will yield a Carry Distance (CD) of about 145/154/156 yards.

At SS of 80mph with L at 9/11/13 degree, your LA at 10/12/13, you shall yield a CD of 174/181/185 yards.

At SS of 90 with L at 9/11/13, LA at 10/12/13, you shall yield a CD of about 206/211/213.

At SS of 100, L at 8/9/10, LA at 9/10/12, you shall yield a CD of about 231/234/236. At SS of 110, L at 7/8/9, LA at 8/9/10, you shall yield a CD of about 254/256/257. There you go!

History

I started my first serious driver with a Nickent Genex not so well-known at the time but my flight mates would be all trying it out by the second nine as it hits plenty long. It is forgiving and comes at a length of 46 inches. Founded by Michael Lee (Taiwanese American), he fought the big boys of golf and made a name for himself later in PGA circles and also by getting John Hoeflich on board as he is club designer. John was credited with making Tommy Armour 845 irons famous and who later joined Titleist creating the successful DCI irons and finally TaylorMade Rac irons and wedges series. He is one of the most successful club designers in the last 40 years. Now all Nickent clubs are designed by him.

Then I heard about TaylorMade, a company founded by Gary Adams in 1978, an expert in and the father of metal wood technology. (TaylorMade was sold to Adidas in 1997.) He started a company called Founders Club and was battling cancer in the 90s but recently just died most unfortunately after a long illness. He was just 56. He was the inventor of metal woods. All of you out there playing your fairway woods or hybrids and enjoying it should observe a minute's silence to pay our respects for the man who gave us his creation to enjoy. Where others wrapped up their technology inside the club, TaylorMade marketed their products with MVT (Movable Weight Technology) as you can see all the screws, bolts and nuts technology on the outside. Before all this, I got me a R5 with a regular flex and loft of 9.5 degree Japanese specs. This is a very lovely club which I still keep to this day. Very easy to play with and nice to look at. At 450 cc and 45 inches and a swing weight of D1, it is a club that you can play anytime anywhere.

I have a brief flirtation with a 10 degree Ping G5, another lovely club but it came fitted with an Aldila shaft which was not quite suitable for me. A 10.5 degree TaylorMade Burner followed but the stock shaft was not only too light but has too much flex and too long. Then along came the Ping G10. There is no way you are going to remove this one from me. It is the world's best driver! (See my other blog.) I'm now toying with a TaylorMade Burner (2009) at 9.5 degree with a stiff shaft but at an incredible length of 46.25 inches - the longest there is out there. The G10 is a forgiving driver but you still need a decent swing with it while the Burner is one with the highest MOI just like point and shoot but the shaft is very light at 49g with a very light grip of 41g and a total weight of around 299g and a reported swing weight of D4.

I haven't really given it a good round but it was going a bit right which means I suspect the club is just way too long for me. I had it cut by half an inch as every quarter inch reduced, you bring the swing weight down by one swing weight. It should now be D2. Wrong, the club fitter measured it at a staggering D5 which amazed even him. He even told me that the tape that glued the grip was a special thin one so much so that when he used a regular tape the swing weight shifted by half to one point so that the supposed D3 was like D2 to D2.5. The Burner has been highly rated by Golf Digest. Maybe I will let it go cheap as 49g still feels too light for me.

Can we buy a game? It depends. If you have some solid fundamentals, didn't have time to train and practise as much as you like but a few dollars to spare, knowing what is suitable for your game and getting them right can be a catalyst to improve the lot and in the worst case, to heighten your pleasure at the very least. After all, golf is a game for people who do not have enough frustrations at work.

Is this tantamount to breaking the magician's code?

Golf as in life, play as it lies!