Question about my Driver

I hit a 2007 model TM R7 425 driver with MWT and as a golf novice I would like to ask some questions.

Let me say I have no intention of swapping this driver for any other. I almost always hit dead straight with it with not even a hint of draw or fade. Distance is around 220-230 carry and trajectory again I think is fine.

Not knowing a great deal about shafts, flex etc I have some observations when hitting this club that lead to me to ask these questions.

The shaft fitted is stock AFAIK... TM Fujikura Flex S 65 RE AX Mid Tip. I can hit this club all day keeping a little in reserve (not trying to hit the cover off the ball) and the feedback I get is exactly that. I am always left with the feeling the club has plenty more to give. Which I presume is a good thing. However there have been occasions where I've wanted to for want of better words, test the limits of this club by trying to swing harder but I'm left with the exact same feel from the club. I understand golfers such as myself can fool themselves into thinking they can dramatically increase their SS at will so I'm cautious of believing I actually do. All I can say is at times I physically cannot swing any faster/harder, yet the feel remains identical and the distance I hit from these flat out swings is the same as well.

It's not necessarily a complaint I'm making here (heck, I can't complain) but I'm just trying to understand what's going on here.

Normally swinging harder is not producing more club head speed, as more arms are used rather than creating lag by a turn.
Hope that answers your question.

Thanks JB. I failed to mention my swing is lacking the lower body oomph.
So are you saying concentrating on loading my swing more with the lower body and working on lag will get me more towards the 'feeling' that I'm testing the limits of the club?

Double said:

Thanks JB. I failed to mention my swing is lacking the lower body oomph.
So are you saying concentrating on loading my swing more with the lower body and working on lag will get me more towards the 'feeling' that I'm testing the limits of the club?

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Hard to tell, but in my opinion, yes.

I don't want to sound pedantic and I've got nothing to prove, but I think this 'feel' is key to my swing developing. I always 'know' straight away if I've hit a good one.

Double said:

I don't want to sound pedantic and I've got nothing to prove, but I think this 'feel' is key to my swing developing. I always 'know' straight away if I've hit a good one.

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IMO, if you're hitting the center of the face with these strikes and it's going 230 (meaning you struck it fairly decently) I'm not sure what you're expecting to change. Clubs like that (I have an R9 that I think reacts similar to what you're describing) always have that similar pop to it. If you catch the center it's going to feel fairly effortless. Unless you can add a very significant amount of club head speed I don't think the club will actually feel like it's reacting much if at all differently. This is just my experience with very similar drivers.

cbaker2882 said:

IMO, if you're hitting the center of the face with these strikes and it's going 230 (meaning you struck it fairly decently) I'm not sure what you're expecting to change. Clubs like that (I have an R9 that I think reacts similar to what you're describing) always have that similar pop to it. If you catch the center it's going to feel fairly effortless. Unless you can add a very significant amount of club head speed I don't think the club will actually feel like it's reacting much if at all differently. This is just my experience with very similar drivers.

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Hi CB,

I guess that's the point. I don't want to lose the feel... but I do know I need to work on my swing technique and by the answers so far, there are no concerns about the shaft I'm using and I'm hearing my that my 'take' on this club is in line with what you guys would expect.

Appreciate your comment.

Every time I see another golfer try to get that extra 10-20 yard carry it ends up shorter. At least with me I "feel" like I come in steeper and more "at" the ball than my regular swing which is always bad. I swing within my means, trying to go outside of that is just asking for trouble on the course.

I wasn't looking to pick up any extra distance, my question was more about the feeling from the shaft as I currently hit and what I might expect as my swing improves. I realise the implications of swinging at 100% and it is sound advice. Thank you.

I think that will be hard to say. You could have an easy transition now and get faster with a more aggressive transition, you are going to have to completely different feels of the shaft. So hard to say what you should expect from the shaft feeling. That said my guess would be as you improve with power and swinging thru the ball you will feel it load more. Have you been fit for your driver and shaft? Shafts are a personal preference and can help gain confidence and yards!

No I haven't been fit for this driver but I've tried several that I just could not hit for the life of me. With the one I currently use things fell into place and I hit it ok and straight 99% of the time.

What I'm picking up from reading and the responses here more and more is to rely on the feedback from the club and use this as the indicator that the club is beginning to load more as my swing hopefully improves. In reality I guess I was asking if the feeling from a properly loaded swing would be so drastically different to what I currently have. If I'm understanding this correctly it probably isn't.

Many thanks

Perhaps why you're not getting any farther by hitting harder is because the amount of spin on the ball is killing whatever distance you should have been gaining by hitting harder.

I'm not a big fan of hitting harder, it usually leads to bad results for me. Maybe what you're looking for is the snap, which is good contact with the ball at your highest acceleration point.
I noticed you're still gaming something from 2007. Not that it's a lock, but I think you'll get better results in distance and forgiveness getting a club past 2012.

That said, I have some friends who still game with an R5 and an ERC 2.