Do you still have said smoke shaft? I liked it in my demo but launched the helium easier. Now I'm launching the helium too high so I want to try it again!
The 2nd Driver Experiment
I have never played two full sized driver heads. I only had the Mini Driver for a short time. I really like to be able to hit a 3 wood off the deck to try to attack long par 5’s.
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I was able to hit the O1 off the deck at the store pretty easily. Did you struggle?
I never really tried it. It just didn’t seem practical as a fairway club. I had the lower lofted head.
is it odd to hit off the fairway?
Resurrecting this thread as I'm finally going to jump. The Arccos stats don't lie and in my last 7 rounds I've used the 3 wood exactly once. It's mainly due to my struggle with hitting fairway woods off the deck. (I'm still looking to improve that and am continuing to practice but until that happens I want a more functional club in the bag). I have another Rogue ST LS head coming. I will have one in 9 degrees which will be used in my regular length driver and a 10.5 I'll use in the shorter driver. This head has worked well for me and I plan to loft up the 10.5. For @JB @MWard and others who have done this, I have a few questions:
- What length would you recommend me starting with? My main driver is playing about 45.75 inches with an autoflex shaft and is already a lighter swingweight. Should I start this one around 43 inches?
- For swing weight, how much was that a concern of yours? I remember @JB saying his was light and it didn't bother him. Is that still the case?
- For shafts, I have 2 options as starting points. I have a UST The Attas 60gr driver shaft which worked well for me in a tour length setup previously which I can cut down. (I would likely have to add weight to the head if swing weight was a concern with this shaft combo).
Or, I have a ventus 70gr shaft I pulled from my 3wood which I could use. Any recommendations on which to start with and why?
Any other reccomendations or things I should take into consideration? Thanks in advance.. I've thought about doing this several times and am finally ready to take the plunge!!
- What length would you recommend me starting with? My main driver is playing about 45.75 inches with an autoflex shaft and is already a lighter swingweight. Should I start this one around 43 inches?
- For swing weight, how much was that a concern of yours? I remember @JB saying his was light and it didn't bother him. Is that still the case?
- For shafts, I have 2 options as starting points. I have a UST The Attas 60gr driver shaft which worked well for me in a tour length setup previously which I can cut down. (I would likely have to add weight to the head if swing weight was a concern with this shaft combo).
Or, I have a ventus 70gr shaft I pulled from my 3wood which I could use. Any recommendations on which to start with and why?
Any other reccomendations or things I should take into consideration? Thanks in advance.. I've thought about doing this several times and am finally ready to take the plunge!!
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- #511
43.5”
You can try it as is, and then add lead tape until you like the weight. Once you settle on it, remove less tape and hot melt if you choose.
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- #513
Fwiw the head matters as much. I use a higher spinning head that is not as deep. I don’t believe it works as well to have the same head or two low spin heads, etc.
Do those of you that do this find that you actually hit the second straighter? Is there enough distance difference to make it worth it? Or is it more of a shape deal? Meaning you can hit one with a certain ball flight and the second another?
I have set mine up that way before (shape). As a straight to draw guy, having one set up that basically goes high right, but/and is damn hard to turn over can be an awesome layout compliment to my usual.
Will do!! Thank you! What swing weight did you play yours at?
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- #519
It was well into the C’s, I was much too lazy to adjust it lol
I posted this picture in the Rogue driver thread showing that by using tungsten cubes meant for pinewood derby cars I can get the swing weight from C0/C1 up to around C7. @JB's reply is below which I want to discuss further in here (to not muddy up the Rogue ST thread)
I only understand the very basics of club weighting and believe that weight lower and further back increases MOI and potentially also the launch and spin. But I'm guessing that too much of a good thing could be a bad thing. What would be a better way to add weight to the head? Evenly distributing lead tape across the bottom of the head? (I certainly don't want to hit a swing weight that feels better only to make a club that doesn't perform well). Thoughts from the guys who have tried this before?
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I had a 14th spot open, so I built a 43-3/4" TaylorMade R9 driver to complement my PING G driver. It's a true fairway finder that I can still hit it for very good distance. So my setup is 2 drivers, 3w, 19-degree hybrid, 4-PW, 53, 58, putter.
I'm extremely confident with my 2nd driver (I call it shorty); it's so easy to hit, so easy to work both ways, so easy to hit off the deck, and so easy to flight high or low.
I'm extremely confident with my 2nd driver (I call it shorty); it's so easy to hit, so easy to work both ways, so easy to hit off the deck, and so easy to flight high or low.
This is exactly what I'm hoping for. What shaft did you use in it?
Weight that far back will allow for more of a dynamic loft increase which will bring up spin too which should be precisely what you’re looking for.
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I bought an Aldila VS Proto Blue 60-R shaft on eBay for $20. I usually play stiff shafts, but when I cut down a PING Rapture V2 driver several years ago, it played a little too stiff once I cut the Aldila NV shaft it came with. It's the only regular shaft in my bag, but it feels perfect.
The head I bought on eBay for $59 and I really like it (TM 460 R9, 9-degrees)
Yesterday was my first trip to the range with the second driver build. I need to get a picture of it but here are the specs:
UST TSPX Lin-Q M40X Red shaft. Previously tip trimmed for a 3 wood and then butt trimmed to play 43.5 inches.
Callaway Rogue ST LS 10.5 degree head lofted up 2 degrees and in the Draw (upright) position.
Quick note: I sliced a finger a couple weekends ago requiring stitches so I haven't swung a club since before that. I warmed up at the range starting with wedge and worked my way up through 5 wood. My swing was rusty but not as bad as I feared. I then moved to my normal driver (Rogue ST LS 9 degree driver with Autoflex shaft playing just shy of 46 inches). The first few swings were ugly but then I started hitting some decent shots with the occasional really good hit. I saw the ball go both left and right (my main miss is to the left but occasionally pushed out came across one). I felt like the shots were an example of what I see on an average day at the range and why I lose confidence at times due to the dispersion and contact all over the face.
It was then time for the second driver. When I first set up it felt weird. I was much closer to the ball and the swing felt a bit more upright. I was constantly finding the center of the club (occasionally high on the face) and it had a high ball flight. (The Autoflex shaft launches high in my main driver and this seemed about the same height but I do want to get numbers on a launch monitor). The one complaint is that the hit felt really weak. The ball flight was decent but I couldn't feel the head in the swing and the sound at impact didn't sound right. This was with the factory weight in the back of the head which I measured playing around C0 swing weight. With this configuration I saw potential but was not necessarily sold.
I had taped up 3 of the tungsten cubes which fit in place of the stock weight and brings it up into the C7-C8 swing weight range. I immediately felt the difference in my practice swing. I set up to the first ball and absolutely ripped it. The feel and sound were great and it was a much harder feeling hit. The ball flew a touch higher but looked to be a fine ball flight for the course. I hit 20+ balls and every one hit between 2 poles at the end of the range which are about 40ft apart. I've never hit that many balls with that tight of a dispersion and zero mishits. I had a few iffy swings in there yet the results were solid. I cannot wait to get this to the course to see how it performs on course.
It is a higher flight with the weight on the back but I can either experiment with lofting it down or using lead tape closer to the face so all the weight isn't at the back. But before I tinker In going to play it and I might leave it alone as it was so easy to hit. It appeared to give up some distance against the good balls with the longer driver but the dispersion alone makes it a no brainer. And @JB, thank you again for getting me out of my head. I don't need to chase any particular swing weight as this feels great and is performing great. Any movement in weight from this point on will only be if I see something in the launch monitor numbers which suggests I need to move the weight around in the head for spin/ ball flight. I'm kicking myself for not doing this last year when I was pondering it.. my tee game is costing me a lot of shots according to Arccos and this could really help bring my handicap down!
UST TSPX Lin-Q M40X Red shaft. Previously tip trimmed for a 3 wood and then butt trimmed to play 43.5 inches.
Callaway Rogue ST LS 10.5 degree head lofted up 2 degrees and in the Draw (upright) position.
Quick note: I sliced a finger a couple weekends ago requiring stitches so I haven't swung a club since before that. I warmed up at the range starting with wedge and worked my way up through 5 wood. My swing was rusty but not as bad as I feared. I then moved to my normal driver (Rogue ST LS 9 degree driver with Autoflex shaft playing just shy of 46 inches). The first few swings were ugly but then I started hitting some decent shots with the occasional really good hit. I saw the ball go both left and right (my main miss is to the left but occasionally pushed out came across one). I felt like the shots were an example of what I see on an average day at the range and why I lose confidence at times due to the dispersion and contact all over the face.
It was then time for the second driver. When I first set up it felt weird. I was much closer to the ball and the swing felt a bit more upright. I was constantly finding the center of the club (occasionally high on the face) and it had a high ball flight. (The Autoflex shaft launches high in my main driver and this seemed about the same height but I do want to get numbers on a launch monitor). The one complaint is that the hit felt really weak. The ball flight was decent but I couldn't feel the head in the swing and the sound at impact didn't sound right. This was with the factory weight in the back of the head which I measured playing around C0 swing weight. With this configuration I saw potential but was not necessarily sold.
I had taped up 3 of the tungsten cubes which fit in place of the stock weight and brings it up into the C7-C8 swing weight range. I immediately felt the difference in my practice swing. I set up to the first ball and absolutely ripped it. The feel and sound were great and it was a much harder feeling hit. The ball flew a touch higher but looked to be a fine ball flight for the course. I hit 20+ balls and every one hit between 2 poles at the end of the range which are about 40ft apart. I've never hit that many balls with that tight of a dispersion and zero mishits. I had a few iffy swings in there yet the results were solid. I cannot wait to get this to the course to see how it performs on course.
It is a higher flight with the weight on the back but I can either experiment with lofting it down or using lead tape closer to the face so all the weight isn't at the back. But before I tinker In going to play it and I might leave it alone as it was so easy to hit. It appeared to give up some distance against the good balls with the longer driver but the dispersion alone makes it a no brainer. And @JB, thank you again for getting me out of my head. I don't need to chase any particular swing weight as this feels great and is performing great. Any movement in weight from this point on will only be if I see something in the launch monitor numbers which suggests I need to move the weight around in the head for spin/ ball flight. I'm kicking myself for not doing this last year when I was pondering it.. my tee game is costing me a lot of shots according to Arccos and this could really help bring my handicap down!