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Help with Drivers of the past decade

SuperStroke
That post

That post

aka GolfOrElse
Albatross 2024 Club
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The last driver I bought was probably close to 15 years ago. A Callaway Warbird i think. I sold my old clubs when I quit playing around 2010. I’ve been back at it this year and gaming my dads old set, some old Founders Clubs. The driver in this set isn’t great and the shaft is Sr flex.

It’s time for an upgrade but I’m on a budget. Ideally I would love to find a decent mordernish driver for around $150-250. I have no idea what I’m looking for. My usual driver swing is a 30-40 yard slice. I’m not sure if it’s my swing or the noodle I’m swinging that’s causing issues.

I’ve been seeing the Taylormade M3 ‘draw’ drivers but it kinda seems like buying one of those would just be a bandage to a problem that needs addressed. Am I wrong about that do these things actually work?

Thanks for any guidance or suggestions!
 
Lots of guys that lose the ball right rave about the Callaway B21 driver. You may be aboe to track one down for a nice price.

Or see you you can find a Ping G400 Max in good shape. Such a great driver.
 
Btw, if you have a PGA Superstore nesr you, you can do a “Tour Van” driver fitting for $50 and see what works well for you on a GC4 launch monitor. This may help you get a good idea of what will be a good choice.
Come back here and tell THP and everyone can help you track down something similar for a good price…
 
DNice26 said:
Btw, if you have a PGA Superstore nesr you, you can do a “Tour Van” driver fitting for $50 and see what works well for you on a GC4 launch monitor. This may help you get a good idea of what will be a good choice.
Come back here and tell THP and everyone can help you track down something similar for a good price…
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I will look into the tour van idea. I’ve never seen one but hopefully there is one around Cincinnati somewhere.
 
Although I hesitate to suggest buying a club to fix the swing…The Ping G400 SFT may be up your alley. Here’s one on eBay at a solid starting price. G400 Maxs can be found as well for that price. Have to look around some though. Search for Driver on eBay then use the Filter function. Driver/Flex/Brand/Price/Make an Offer.
If they have Make an Offer as an option it usually means they are ready to sell it.

The best way of course is to pick a day to drive to a good sized golf store ie PGA Tour Stop ect and browse their used section. Can demo it right there in the store. And talk to the employees. Deals can be made on used clubs. Can’t hurt to ask!! Good luck!

1991DF4D-4625-4DD4-A052-AC4BF25A98AC.jpeg
 
Under your circumstances I would be looking for the following to find a driver that will work for you.
  • Access to a launch monitor
  • Try before you buy sources for clubs
  • A driver with a lot of adjustability, since you won't be doing a full brand-agnostic fitting
It also would help us to help you zero in on some drivers to try to know some things about your game.
  • What is your swing speed?
  • Describe your typical shot shape?
  • When you hit it well, what distance are you getting?
  • What's the big miss that shows up with your current driver?
  • What is the clubhead and shaft make/model/specs. on your current gamer driver?
  • How tall are you and would you consider the length of your arms and legs average, long or short for your frame?
  • If you've been on a launch monitor what were the typical specs for swing speed, ball speed, smash factor, AoA, launch angle?
  • What is your budget for your next driver?
Any of this data you can provide will help us be more on target with suggestions.
 
The Callaway Preowned site has some good deals. Just bought a Mavrik Max driver to try for awhile.
 
Welcome back to the game!

In your price range, and based on my experience - I play one - I would try a Ping G400 Max to see how it works for you. But I would not stop there. I'd try as many drivers as you can in your price range. Some lesser-known brand may work really well for you, and the club "everybody" is playing may not suit you at all.

That's about all I could add to the sound advice and suggestions offered in the rest of the thread.
 
Find a modern forgiving driver, don’t chase distance. Like most here have stated, try to get fitted or find a store with at least a launch monitor so you can see what works for you and what doesn’t. Ping makes outstanding forgiveness drivers. I just bought a G425 Max, and although I may be losing a little distance compared to other drivers, I’m finding more fairways with it. It’s a keeper.
 
leftshot said:
  • What is your swing speed?
  • Describe your typical shot shape?
  • When you hit it well, what distance are you getting?
  • What's the big miss that shows up with your current driver?
  • What is the clubhead and shaft make/model/specs. on your current gamer driver?
  • How tall are you and would you consider the length of your arms and legs average, long or short for your frame?
  • If you've been on a launch monitor what were the typical specs for swing speed, ball speed, smash factor, AoA, launch angle?
  • What is your budget for your next driver?
Any of this data you can provide will help us be more on target with suggestions.
Click to expand...

I haven’t had access to a launch monitor. I did play a simulator at Dave and busters a few weeks ago and it had a few metrics. From the picture of the screen - Ball speed 120, Carry 200, Launch angle 13. I’m not sure how accurate those numbers are or if they help anything.

Typically my good shots either go dead straight or fade a little.
Big miss is 30-40 yard slice.
I have no idea the specs of this Founders club driver. It’s probably 15 years old and has a 13° face and SR flex shaft.
Im 5’9” and I’d say arms seem average wrists just inch or so below waist level.
Budget is $150-200.
I know I won’t get something very new with that budget but that’s ok.

Jason89er said:
Although I hesitate to suggest buying a club to fix the swing…The Ping G400 SFT may be up your alley. Here’s one on eBay at a solid starting price. G400 Maxs can be found as well for that price. Have to look around some though. Search for Driver on eBay then use the Filter function. Driver/Flex/Brand/Price/Make an Offer.
If they have Make an Offer as an option it usually means they are ready to sell it.

The best way of course is to pick a day to drive to a good sized golf store ie PGA Tour Stop ect and browse their used section. Can demo it right there in the store. And talk to the employees. Deals can be made on used clubs. Can’t hurt to ask!! Good luck!

View attachment 9019980
Click to expand...
I would likely pull the trigger right now if not for the 12 deg loft. The one I'm gaming is 13 and I'm trying to dial it back a bit.

I too think finding someplace to hit them is going to be best. I'd rather not drive to Columbus for the PGA Store but I've got a Golf Exchange close to me and I think they have a hitting bay. I'd just like some input on what I should be hitting.
 
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That post said:
I haven’t had access to a launch monitor. I did play a simulator at Dave and busters a few weeks ago and it had a few metrics. From the picture of the screen - Ball speed 120, Carry 200, Launch angle 13. I’m not sure how accurate those numbers are or if they help anything.

Typically my good shots either go dead straight or fade a little.
Big miss is 30-40 yard slice.
I have no idea the specs of this Founders club driver. It’s probably 15 years old and has a 13° face and SR flex shaft.
Im 5’9” and I’d say arms seem average wrists just inch or so below waist level.
Budget is $150-200.
I know I won’t get something very new with that budget but that’s ok.
Click to expand...
First there is some good news with the information you could provide.

At 5'9", average length arms for your height and a 120 MPH ball speed, you probably want to look at a 43-44 inch shafted driver with a regular flex and around 70g shaft, and a clubhead that has an adjustable loft at 10.5 degree nominal loft with at least a +/-1 degree adjustment. There are a lot of 5-10 year old drivers out there with those specs and at your price point.

The bad news is that if 120 MPH ball speed is correct, you are about maxed out on distance at a 200 yards carry. You need to pick up some ball speed to get more from your driver. You didn't know your smash factor. An average around 1.50 is what you want. If you are able to get on a launch monitor and find it's averaging significantly below that getting better center contact and/or a more forgiving club will help.

You'll probably pick up a few more yards from a regular flex shaft and your 30-40 yard slice may go away IF it is caused by keeping the club face loaded through impact. But there could be other causes for the slice. Not enough information to know.
 
leftshot said:
First there is some good news with the information you could provide.

At 5'9", average length arms for your height and a 120 MPH ball speed, you probably want to look at a 43-44 inch shafted driver with a regular flex and around 70g shaft, and a clubhead that has an adjustable loft at 10.5 degree nominal loft with at least a +/-1 degree adjustment. There are a lot of 5-10 year old drivers out there with those specs and at your price point.

The bad news is that if 120 MPH ball speed is correct, you are about maxed out on distance at a 200 yards carry. You need to pick up some ball speed to get more from your driver. You didn't know your smash factor. An average around 1.50 is what you want. If you are able to get on a launch monitor and find it's averaging significantly below that getting better center contact and/or a more forgiving club will help.

You'll probably pick up a few more yards from a regular flex shaft and your 30-40 yard slice may go away IF it is caused by keeping the club face loaded through impact. But there could be other causes for the slice. Not enough information to know.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for the info. Now I’ll know what kind of driver to hit when I go to Golf Exchange and use their bay.

Hopefully they have a tracker so that I can get some more data. If I do I’ll post it here. I’m going to try and get theretomorrow
 
I’m new here, but this sounds so familiar to me. I just got back into the game and was swinging older clubs from my father in law. Had a pretty big slice. There’s great advice here! I’ve been doing trial and error for weeks now. I’m no expert but here’s what I’ve found so far:

1. I found some great drivers under $200 on Facebook market, eBay, sidelineswap.
2. Covid and inflation has made prices go up significantly on used clubs!
3. If you slice and buy an adjustable driver (I highly recommend) buy a lower loft. (Like 9-10 degree). This is worth explaining because it took me a lot of research without having access to a swing bay.

If you reduce loft on the hosel adapters it opens the club face a bit. You can counter this a bit with the lie adjust to the draw bias settings.Taylor made, callaway, and Ping all do this I believe. Raising loft actually closes the club face (which can help with slice if your face is part of the problem). I bought a 9* Callaway Rogue for $160 and have put it on Draw bias and am testing back and forth between 8* and 10*. I launch the ball high enough but am trying to get club face and spin optimized for distance and accuracy. This has more to do with my my swing consistency, but the club being optimized to you definitely helps! Hope this helps. If not disregard, just my experience. Good luck!
 
Hi @Josh_Ward welcome to THP and thank you for the advice. I’m going to go to a store with a launch monitor today to see if I can hit a variety of drivers before I pull the triggger on one. I’m not quite sure how that works and if I need to pay them any kinda of fee to use their bay/technology if there is a fee hopefully it’s not too expensive.
 
@leftshot Ok, I just got back from Golf Exchange they had a trackman there so here are the numbers from a few different drivers.
AD3118BA-DF94-49C7-9C42-45A6A00BD2E1_1_105_c.jpeg92FA3120-7267-4B16-9FBD-4DDAD98B42FF_1_105_c.jpeg36F67DC2-AC88-45B9-B812-CB747D6F8F75_1_105_c.jpeg


Everything I hit was a night and day difference in feel and distance compared to the driver I've been using. I'm beyond excited to get a new (to me) driver now. It's such a drastic difference.
 
After hitting the Ping G425 SFT pretty wel today I found a G400 SFT on Facebook for $150 so I just got done driving 2 hours to the middle of Indiana to buy it.
 
Just got back from the range after hitting my new (to me) G400 SFT. Happy to report I'm seeing the same results as the G425 SFT if not just a bit more of a consistent ball flight.

I'm very happy with my new driver. Thanks again to all that helped participate in this thread!
 
That post said:
Just got back from the range after hitting my new (to me) G400 SFT. Happy to report I'm seeing the same results as the G425 SFT if not just a bit more of a consistent ball flight.

I'm very happy with my new driver. Thanks again to all that helped participate in this thread!
Click to expand...

I played the G SFT for several seasons. It was a very good driver. It was very accurate for me. I believe that you can't go wrong with an Ping SFT driver. I hope you continue to see success with it.
 
That post said:
Just got back from the range after hitting my new (to me) G400 SFT. Happy to report I'm seeing the same results as the G425 SFT if not just a bit more of a consistent ball flight.

I'm very happy with my new driver. Thanks again to all that helped participate in this thread!
Click to expand...
If you get anything like the Trackman data, you are looking at 20-40 yards longer with your good strikes and finding a lot more fairways. That would put a smile on any player's face.
 
Jason89er said:
Although I hesitate to suggest buying a club to fix the swing…The Ping G400 SFT may be up your alley. Here’s one on eBay at a solid starting price. G400 Maxs can be found as well for that price. Have to look around some though. Search for Driver on eBay then use the Filter function. Driver/Flex/Brand/Price/Make an Offer.
If they have Make an Offer as an option it usually means they are ready to sell it.

The best way of course is to pick a day to drive to a good sized golf store ie PGA Tour Stop ect and browse their used section. Can demo it right there in the store. And talk to the employees. Deals can be made on used clubs. Can’t hurt to ask!! Good luck!

View attachment 9019980
Click to expand...

I was going to say what Jason has already said. Any of the Ping SFT drivers would be a good starting point.


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AverageJoe said:
I was going to say what Jason has already said. Any of the Ping SFT drivers would be a good starting point.


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Click to expand...

I should have read the whole thread before I replied haha. I am currently hitting a G425SFT and couldnt be happier with its results. I sold my Ping G400 a few years ago and kicked myself for until this G425. Enjoy!


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