Hello everyone. I'm a newbie here, but just felt I had to share this.
I'm about an 18 handicap, whose been playing golf since my father taught me to play in the 70's.
I grew up on persimmon, just like most folks my age, and transitioned to medal woods as they became available. My favorite driver was the original Taylor Made "Pittsburgh Persimmon" with a steel shaft.
THE PROBLEM
In later years I transitioned to the modern drivers with over-sized heads and graphite shafts. That is when my driver woes started..... While I hit some really amazing drives with these drivers, my control completely left me. In the 15 years of trying to use these drivers I could never hit them consistently.
When I miss with today's drivers I "really" miss. My typical miss was a block right that went about 40 degrees right of target and usually ended up OB. You just can't aim far enough left to compensate for how far right I would hit it. If that wasn't bad enough, I would also occasional hook or pull way left. Some days on the driving range I would only hit drives way left or way right.
The rest of my game is fairly solid (for an 18 handicap) and I always felt I could drop my handicap by at least 5 if I could just get off the tee consistently.
The best phrase to describe how I drive the ball is "one fairway and two houses". On any given round, I could hit as many as 6 drives completely out of play.
The problem is I just couldn't "feel" the club at the bottom of the swing with my driver like I can with the rest of the clubs in my bag.
ATTEMPTED SOLUTIONS
I tried adding lead tape, but found that this produced little change.
I tried a shorter shaft (43") , which helped a little, especially as I am so short (5" 3"), but it did not cure my issues by any stretch.
Callaway 3-Deep
The closest I came to a solution was the Callaway 3-deep that Phil Mickelson used to win the British open. I got the idea from a golf pro when I explained how I liked the old Taylor Made driver and asked if there were any heavier drivers today. He said that there were not, but he suggested I try the 3 deep. The club felt very good and hit a little further than other 3 woods I had, so I began using it as my driver, even though I gave up 15-20 yards compared to my buddies. I was pretty happy with this as I kept most of my tee shots in play.
STEEL SHAFT...
Then one day a friend, while talking about my driving woes and the lack of "feel" with the driver suggested I put a steel shaft in it. To be honest, this thought never occurred to me. From that conversation I did some research and found that Tiger Woods used a steel shaft in his driver in the early part of his career and won several majors while doing so. I also learned that several pro's have gone to heavier shafts (100g or more) including Sergio Garcia. I found that my shaft was 60g, and learned that steel is typically 120g.
Since my driver was collecting dust and since steel shafts were only about $20, I decided to give it a shot.
I picked up the driver from the pro shop and the instant I held it in my hands and waggled it, I "knew" that this was the missing piece. The club "felt" just like my old persimmon and Taylor Made clubs when I waggled it.
I took it out to the range and the very first drive went right down the middle as did many of the next several.
The first time I took it out to the course, I hit several drives, not just in play, but "exactly" where I was aiming them, something I had not done for 15 -20 years. In the old days I used to aim at a bunker or a tree (or the left side of the fairway) and fade the ball off of it. Now suddenly I was able to do that again. I still missed a couple (I "am" an 18 handicap), but I kept so many more tees shot in play, and many were right down the middle. On that first round I broke 90 on a long and narrow course where I "never" break 90.
DISTANCE
I was concerned I would lose distance, but when hitting with the same guys I've been playing with for years, my drives were side by side with them. I'm sure I'm giving up some distance, but not so much that I'm concerned. I got back the 15-20 yards I gave up when using the Callaway 3-deep.
But.. even if I'm giving up a little distance, the fact that I'm putting more tees shots in play more than makes up for it in my book.
SUMMARY
I've only had the steel shaft for a short while, but can't believe the night and day difference it made in regards to "feel". For me, the driver always felt different in my hands than all other clubs, including the 3 wood. Now with the steel shaft, the drivers feels the same in my hands as my other clubs.
Getting feel back into my driver has made golf more fun to play and now I can't wait to get back on the course. I'm looking forward to see if my handicap lowers over the coming months.
ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE EVER TRIED THIS?
In my research I did not find too many guys who have tried this. Just an occasional outlier.
So the Question is.... Any other folks out there tried using a steel (or heavier) shaft to improve control for their driver
Let me know if anyone else out there has considered or tried this.
Thanks!!!
I'm about an 18 handicap, whose been playing golf since my father taught me to play in the 70's.
I grew up on persimmon, just like most folks my age, and transitioned to medal woods as they became available. My favorite driver was the original Taylor Made "Pittsburgh Persimmon" with a steel shaft.
THE PROBLEM
In later years I transitioned to the modern drivers with over-sized heads and graphite shafts. That is when my driver woes started..... While I hit some really amazing drives with these drivers, my control completely left me. In the 15 years of trying to use these drivers I could never hit them consistently.
When I miss with today's drivers I "really" miss. My typical miss was a block right that went about 40 degrees right of target and usually ended up OB. You just can't aim far enough left to compensate for how far right I would hit it. If that wasn't bad enough, I would also occasional hook or pull way left. Some days on the driving range I would only hit drives way left or way right.
The rest of my game is fairly solid (for an 18 handicap) and I always felt I could drop my handicap by at least 5 if I could just get off the tee consistently.
The best phrase to describe how I drive the ball is "one fairway and two houses". On any given round, I could hit as many as 6 drives completely out of play.
The problem is I just couldn't "feel" the club at the bottom of the swing with my driver like I can with the rest of the clubs in my bag.
ATTEMPTED SOLUTIONS
I tried adding lead tape, but found that this produced little change.
I tried a shorter shaft (43") , which helped a little, especially as I am so short (5" 3"), but it did not cure my issues by any stretch.
Callaway 3-Deep
The closest I came to a solution was the Callaway 3-deep that Phil Mickelson used to win the British open. I got the idea from a golf pro when I explained how I liked the old Taylor Made driver and asked if there were any heavier drivers today. He said that there were not, but he suggested I try the 3 deep. The club felt very good and hit a little further than other 3 woods I had, so I began using it as my driver, even though I gave up 15-20 yards compared to my buddies. I was pretty happy with this as I kept most of my tee shots in play.
STEEL SHAFT...
Then one day a friend, while talking about my driving woes and the lack of "feel" with the driver suggested I put a steel shaft in it. To be honest, this thought never occurred to me. From that conversation I did some research and found that Tiger Woods used a steel shaft in his driver in the early part of his career and won several majors while doing so. I also learned that several pro's have gone to heavier shafts (100g or more) including Sergio Garcia. I found that my shaft was 60g, and learned that steel is typically 120g.
Since my driver was collecting dust and since steel shafts were only about $20, I decided to give it a shot.
I picked up the driver from the pro shop and the instant I held it in my hands and waggled it, I "knew" that this was the missing piece. The club "felt" just like my old persimmon and Taylor Made clubs when I waggled it.
I took it out to the range and the very first drive went right down the middle as did many of the next several.
The first time I took it out to the course, I hit several drives, not just in play, but "exactly" where I was aiming them, something I had not done for 15 -20 years. In the old days I used to aim at a bunker or a tree (or the left side of the fairway) and fade the ball off of it. Now suddenly I was able to do that again. I still missed a couple (I "am" an 18 handicap), but I kept so many more tees shot in play, and many were right down the middle. On that first round I broke 90 on a long and narrow course where I "never" break 90.
DISTANCE
I was concerned I would lose distance, but when hitting with the same guys I've been playing with for years, my drives were side by side with them. I'm sure I'm giving up some distance, but not so much that I'm concerned. I got back the 15-20 yards I gave up when using the Callaway 3-deep.
But.. even if I'm giving up a little distance, the fact that I'm putting more tees shots in play more than makes up for it in my book.
SUMMARY
I've only had the steel shaft for a short while, but can't believe the night and day difference it made in regards to "feel". For me, the driver always felt different in my hands than all other clubs, including the 3 wood. Now with the steel shaft, the drivers feels the same in my hands as my other clubs.
Getting feel back into my driver has made golf more fun to play and now I can't wait to get back on the course. I'm looking forward to see if my handicap lowers over the coming months.
ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE EVER TRIED THIS?
In my research I did not find too many guys who have tried this. Just an occasional outlier.
So the Question is.... Any other folks out there tried using a steel (or heavier) shaft to improve control for their driver
Let me know if anyone else out there has considered or tried this.
Thanks!!!
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