Exciting New Golf Equipment 2011/2012 - Driver
Recently golf has been terrible. I am not talking about the disruption from lightning and rain. My clubs are not behaving and I banished them to the store room and released those from the store but they too are not behaving so I find myself putting the clubs in rotation so much I ran out of clubs to play just like a poorer EPL soccer team that ran out of players. May be the clubs need a new player. The economic climate did not help so buying any new golf clubs seem like an unlikely neccessity.
The Show Must Go On
I should not be saying these things because I know there will be a crowd forming at my front door waiting to golf with me as you can get some pocket change easily. No matter if the economy is good or bad, the weather inclement or the golf is bad, the show must go on and life must go on. Here's Queen:
My heart is breaking but my smile still stays on. I'll soon be turning round the corner now. The show must go on. Face it with a grin and never giving in. On with the show. I have to find the will to carry on.
Well drive for show and putt for dough. The most exciting golf equipment has got to be the driver as it is about power and distance and built like a sports car. It is not surprising that manufacturers are selling the long game. The old steel face club has a thicker and heavier face so they can't expand on it till they introduced titanium which is stronger but lighter so they could make the face thinner and the weight saved is thus distributed to the back and the perimeter on a bigger head to help you reach the sweet spot more frequently. Having achieved that, they started fiddling with flight path, trajectory, movable or adjustable weights to play a fade or draw. This is about engineering to the max to stay within the PGA rules.
The golf market is a multi-million dollar one and having a boast of being no.1 in this or that product is like a licence to print money. "The No.1 Milled Putter On Tour", "# 1 in PGA Tour!", "No. 1 Wedge In Golf", "No. 1 shaft for Drivers", " # 1 Irons", "Most Wins In PGA Tour", "No. 1 Ball in Golf". Number One Wood, No. 1 Hybrid".
But all these does not add quality to your game. You can't get Tiger's clubs and begin to play like him. Sometimes, we may even need to look away from the big boys and to find lesser brands and most importantly what works for you.
So what is the latest and interesting things to come? They have already toyed with less spin (you need more spin to get the ball up but less spin to go further).
Latest Development
The golf driver is the most engineered, most regulated, the longest and lightest in the bag. The latest development on golf drivers is to continue to sell you the long game. Tiger used to play with a 43 inch driver. The average length of a driver in the PGA Tour was only 44.5 inches. The pros who have hit millions of balls knew that they could hit longer with a longer shaft but they will have to compensate with less control meaning dispersion and accuracy would be sacrificed. Up to now, perhaps their average length may have just gone up to 45 inches.
The average driver length in the market today is easily 45.75 inches while clubs like the TaylorMade SuperFast Burner goes up to 46.5 inches. Among some who custom-made their shaft a few may have increased the shaft length to 48 inches as 48 inches is the maximum length allowed for a driver. Now think and ask yourself if your shorter iron is easier to use or your much longer driver. If your driver is as long as the flag stick can you square it on impact on the sweet spot? Which is easier to hit and which has less dispersion - your 5 iron or your 9?
Engineers and manufacturers found a few other ways to make your shots go further on top of using titanium, more perimeter weightings, less spin, etc. What else can they do? (1) Increasing shaft length and overall club length with a more forgiving club head. (2) Lightening the weight of the shaft, club head and grip for an overall lighter club. (3) Introducing loft and lie angle adjustments. Maybe one day a combination of all.
What's Interesting in 2011/2012?
The golf market is a multi-million dollar one and having a boast of being no.1 in this or that product is like a licence to print money. "The No.1 Milled Putter On Tour", "# 1 in PGA Tour!", "No. 1 Wedge In Golf", "No. 1 shaft for Drivers", " # 1 Irons", "Most Wins In PGA Tour", "No. 1 Ball in Golf". Number One Wood, No. 1 Hybrid".
But all these does not add quality to your game. You can't get Tiger's clubs and begin to play like him. Sometimes, we may even need to look away from the big boys and to find lesser brands and most importantly what works for you.
So what is the latest and interesting things to come? They have already toyed with less spin (you need more spin to get the ball up but less spin to go further).
Latest Development
The golf driver is the most engineered, most regulated, the longest and lightest in the bag. The latest development on golf drivers is to continue to sell you the long game. Tiger used to play with a 43 inch driver. The average length of a driver in the PGA Tour was only 44.5 inches. The pros who have hit millions of balls knew that they could hit longer with a longer shaft but they will have to compensate with less control meaning dispersion and accuracy would be sacrificed. Up to now, perhaps their average length may have just gone up to 45 inches.
The average driver length in the market today is easily 45.75 inches while clubs like the TaylorMade SuperFast Burner goes up to 46.5 inches. Among some who custom-made their shaft a few may have increased the shaft length to 48 inches as 48 inches is the maximum length allowed for a driver. Now think and ask yourself if your shorter iron is easier to use or your much longer driver. If your driver is as long as the flag stick can you square it on impact on the sweet spot? Which is easier to hit and which has less dispersion - your 5 iron or your 9?
Engineers and manufacturers found a few other ways to make your shots go further on top of using titanium, more perimeter weightings, less spin, etc. What else can they do? (1) Increasing shaft length and overall club length with a more forgiving club head. (2) Lightening the weight of the shaft, club head and grip for an overall lighter club. (3) Introducing loft and lie angle adjustments. Maybe one day a combination of all.
What's Interesting in 2011/2012?
I am not saying you should buy all these but you may wish to check them out as they are interesting and it may work for some of you so find one that is most suitable to your needs.
Callaway Diablo Octane
Cleveland Launcher Ultra Lite - Miyazaki C Kua shaft (not watermelon) as Miyazaki is owned by the same parent company SRI sports who bought over Cleveland.
Cobra Long Tom
The Long Tom is exactly four foot long that is 48 inches, the maximum allowable length of a golf club and at only 269 grams. It works on the premise that I espoused above - light weight and long shaft to promote distance. Is Long Tom an honest fellow or just gimmicks? Will it give you jaw-dropping distance or more frustrations. Well, you will definitely be long and if you are standing at 6ft 6ins, you'll have a bit more accuracy. It is not for everyone and I wonder what the swing weight is like? The Burner at 46.5 inches is already too long. Your swing weight from D1 to D2 is okay but if it goes to D5 you may have some problems and beyond D5?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4oylcqfuyE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfFTovS-R00
The Long Tom is exactly four foot long that is 48 inches, the maximum allowable length of a golf club and at only 269 grams. It works on the premise that I espoused above - light weight and long shaft to promote distance. Is Long Tom an honest fellow or just gimmicks? Will it give you jaw-dropping distance or more frustrations. Well, you will definitely be long and if you are standing at 6ft 6ins, you'll have a bit more accuracy. It is not for everyone and I wonder what the swing weight is like? The Burner at 46.5 inches is already too long. Your swing weight from D1 to D2 is okay but if it goes to D5 you may have some problems and beyond D5?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4oylcqfuyE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfFTovS-R00
Ping G15 and G20 - Ping always get rave reviews for their clubs and the G15 was a top performer in reviews. The G20 released recently may again be a favourite. Ping technology are advanced and brilliant but they are the opposite of TaylorMade. While TaylorMade flaunt their bells and whistles on the outside of the club making all their technologies visible, Ping hides theirs all inside. What makes Ping special is that they have always come out with a driver that both high handicappers and low handicappers like. Although they have the i series and Rapture, it is the G series that has been scoring. Ping does not offer adjustability in their drivers they just make them hit straight. If this is what you want, it it one of those you must try.
TaylorMade R11 - Although the all white matt crown with a black face made it unique and does not glisten in the sun, I still find it odd and it will easily be soiled. However, it is a very good driver with lots of bells and whistles. Good if you love tinkering with clubs like some of you love tinkering with cars. Just take note that too much tinkering can cause you further confusion but once you have learn what is your best settings, bingo! Bang!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SRgeTICN_4
Taylormade R15 - While Ping name their series by incremental of 5 like G5, G10, G15, G20 TaylorMade jumps their by 2 i.e. R5, R7, R9, R11 but they will skip R13 and go straight to R15. The 2012 exhibition in Orlando will probably be in January before official release of many new stufss by February and may be these new gadgetries will reach our shores by April. It is to be called the "Super Mega Quad". This one will have 15 adjustable screws! One day you can tell your golf mates that your screw is loose and they will understand. Is this the real or false R15? Is it a hoax?
It looks a combination of the SuperQuad and R5-R11. It looks a person with 3 ear studs one each ear and added studs to the nose, brows and lips. It also looks like the guy from "Hell Raiser". May be you can just set up and the club will swing itself. There'll be no more space when the R17 comes along, so perhaps they will give you screws and a wrench to screw your head and neck to your shoulders, screw your elbows and wrists.
Titleist 910 D2 - This is the only one that offers you independent settings for lie angle and lofts. Not only that, you can adjust them independently. How cool is that and I like it all in black from crown to face. I also like it that it is the only driver at only 45 inches. Lie angle means I can set up for something that is correct and proper for me while loft means I could explore if I can play a default 10.5 degrees better, if not I can go to a lower 9.5 degrees which not everyone can handle depending on your natural swing speed or finally go up to 1.5 to 12 degrees. Not many golfers know that many out there actually needed more loft to go further and finally a shorter club of 45 inches will help you hit the sweet spot more often. I am having an inclination for this one.
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