We've launched the new forums! Read more here

New Shaft for Tiger?

ddec said:
Wasn't he using a Tensei White and then Matrix TPHD on the West Coast this year?
Either way, him going to a Whiteboard is not something completely new for him.
Click to expand...

Yep, he has tinkered a fair amount this season.
 
ddec said:
Wasn't he using a Tensei White and then Matrix TPHD on the West Coast this year?
Either way, him going to a Whiteboard is not something completely new for him.
Click to expand...

I believe so. Was watching replay of golf central and they made the comment he put the shafts from earlier in the season back in. They did mention the loft change from 8.5 to 9.5 as well.

I like it the he understands what he needs to improve accuracy and shows he is all in on tying to win and also get the call from fury that he’s on the Ryder Cup team. I’m a tiger fan and it’s great seeing him in this mentality


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
emart2173 said:
I believe so. Was watching replay of golf central and they made the comment he put the shafts from earlier in the season back in. They did mention the loft change from 8.5 to 9.5 as well.

I like it the he understands what he needs to improve accuracy and shows he is all in on tying to win and also get the call from fury that he’s on the Ryder Cup team. I’m a tiger fan and it’s great seeing him in this mentality


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I like that he's been making changes throughout the season. Shows a lack of stubbornness and the desire to get back to the winners circle.
 
ddec said:
I like that he's been making changes throughout the season. Shows a lack of stubbornness and the desire to get back to the winners circle.
Click to expand...

Agree. He’s mentioned several times this year in interviews that this year has been different for him. I’m hoping he gets a W in the playofs


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Jman said:
Not a whole lot of shaft endorsement money out there compared to the actual clubheads, etc.
Click to expand...

True, I was just thinking if he found, let’s say a UST Mamiya shaft and a Cobra head and this would be the “perfect” fit for him, if he would say screw it I’m using this


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
DG_1234 said:
When Tiger went to graphite, approximately 2004, his driver tempo-rhythm suffered. As the years went on it got worse.
I wonder how his performance might be if he went back to his 43.5" steel shafted 975D driver.
Or, maybe a modern driver head with a less stout shaft than what he's been swinging.
I do believe the stoutness of his driver shaft (s) is causing the driver swing tempo-rhythm issues.
Click to expand...

I could never quite understand why Tiger struggled so much to adjust to better driver technology (i.e., to a graphite shaft and 460cc head). It's clearly in large part a mental issue for him, to be sure, but he was so much more confident swinging a steel-shafted driver with a smaller head. You would think he would've figured it out in the span of almost two decades.
 
DG_1234 said:
When Tiger went to graphite, approximately 2004, his driver tempo-rhythm suffered. As the years went on it got worse.
I wonder how his performance might be if he went back to his 43.5" steel shafted 975D driver.
Or, maybe a modern driver head with a less stout shaft than what he's been swinging.
I do believe the stoutness of his driver shaft (s) is causing the driver swing tempo-rhythm issues.
Click to expand...

I think it's more that he's swinging for the fences with the driver and maintains a rhythm with everything else. If he'd just maintain that same rhythm with the driver he'd be golden.
 
FernDog said:
True, I was just thinking if he found, let’s say a UST Mamiya shaft and a Cobra head and this would be the “perfect” fit for him, if he would say screw it I’m using this


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Depending on how his contract is written that might breach it, but it sounds like before he signed any deal he did extensive testing across the board, similar to what Rory did
 
Canadan said:
That said, I don't know that these driving woes are anything more than Tiger's mental game. The way he hits driver and 3w on the range, I really don't think it's a shaft thing.
Click to expand...

All of this. It's when the adrenaline hits and he starts forcing that little bit extra, it hits the fan. Just like what happens to any of us when we're striping it on the range and then that short walk to the first tee wrecks everything you were doing right.
 
Its probably not going to hurt him, why not? Interested to see if the change in feel makes something click for him.
 
SonofSnowman said:
I could never quite understand why Tiger struggled so much to adjust to better driver technology (i.e., to a graphite shaft and 460cc head). It's clearly in large part a mental issue for him, to be sure, but he was so much more confident swinging a steel-shafted driver with a smaller head. You would think he would've figured it out in the span of almost two decades.
Click to expand...

While the large 400CC plus driver heads due offer a few positive factors, one of the downsides is that large of a head does make swinging with a good smooth tempo and rhythm more of a challenge.
I think the last time Tiger displayed his best rhythm-tempo was the 2006 British Open, where out of 72 holes, he only swung driver one time. With driver out of the mix his tempo-rhythm was about perfect all 4 tournament rounds.
If Tiger were to go back to his 43.5" steel shafted 975D it would be interesting to watch his driver swing.
 
DG_1234 said:
While the large 400CC plus driver heads due offer a few positive factors, one of the downsides is that large of a head does make swinging with a good smooth tempo and rhythm more of a challenge.
I think the last time Tiger displayed his best rhythm-tempo was the 2006 British Open, where out of 72 holes, he only swung driver one time. With driver out of the mix his tempo-rhythm was about perfect all 4 tournament rounds.
If Tiger were to go back to his 43.5" steel shafted 975D it would be interesting to watch his driver swing.
Click to expand...

Honest Q, how does it make swinging with tempo a challenge? I'm legitimately curious.
 
MWard said:
All of this. It's when the adrenaline hits and he starts forcing that little bit extra, it hits the fan. Just like what happens to any of us when we're striping it on the range and then that short walk to the first tee wrecks everything you were doing right.
Click to expand...

i guess what i don't understand is why that same adrenaline isn't present when he's hitting irons and wedges? i don't know if the stats bear it out, but man i feel like his irons and wedges are dialed in right now. but to dan's and your point, his swing on the range is MONEY with driver, and often looks very different during the round.
 
Jman said:
Honest Q, how does it make swinging with tempo a challenge? I'm legitimately curious.
Click to expand...

I guess the best way I can explain it is by comparing a 200CC 3 wood to a driver head more than twice that size. The larger head size naturally breeds a "hit it hard" instinct.
That said, I've noticed most amateur players rarely swing 3 wood off of a tee box. And on internet forums it's common to read posts where a player claims he "hits his driver straighter than his 3 wood". I think the reason for this is that when a player only tees up a 3 wood once in a blue moon it looks strange to him at a address, and he definitely carries over the hard effort swing he is accustomed to using for his driver, so it doesn't work.
But I think if the player left driver at home and played a round of golf , by the 4th or 5th tee box he will have adjusted, taken the "hit hard" mentality out of his swing, and start to see good 3 wood tee shots.
And after that experience, going forward instead of playing driver off of 13 or 14 tee boxes every round, he might find that his swing tempo-rhythm improves from adopting the habit of swing driver off of
only 5 or 6 tee boxes, per round, 3-wood off of another 5 or 6 tee boxes, and maybe 5-wood , hybrid or driving iron off the other 2 par 4 or par 5 tee boxes.
 
c.a.eleric said:
i guess what i don't understand is why that same adrenaline isn't present when he's hitting irons and wedges? i don't know if the stats bear it out, but man i feel like his irons and wedges are dialed in right now. but to dan's and your point, his swing on the range is MONEY with driver, and often looks very different during the round.
Click to expand...

The only thing I can think of that makes sense to me is you hit wedges to a certain number and at a certain trajectory. You hit driver to hit the damn thing as far as possible.
 
c.a.eleric said:
i guess what i don't understand is why that same adrenaline isn't present when he's hitting irons and wedges? i don't know if the stats bear it out, but man i feel like his irons and wedges are dialed in right now. but to dan's and your point, his swing on the range is MONEY with driver, and often looks very different during the round.
Click to expand...

He like many pros isn’t going all out oneveryiron swing because they are trying to control distance and spin so things are a bit more under control and therefore not adenaline affected
 
KEV said:
I don't know if that's the issue, Tiger has never been great with driver in hand. Other TM staffers seem to do alright with it which brings me back to it being a Tiger swing issue.
Click to expand...

Its mental. He has a fear of going left and always has. This is where the stinger came about....Haney coached him to do it so he could at least get off the tee and have a chance. But Tiger being Tiger never wanted to be behind the pack.
 
DG_1234 said:
I guess the best way I can explain it is by comparing a 200CC 3 wood to a driver head more than twice that size. The larger head size naturally breeds a "hit it hard" instinct.
That said, I've noticed most amateur players rarely swing 3 wood off of a tee box. And on internet forums it's common to read posts where a player claims he "hits his driver straighter than his 3 wood". I think the reason for this is that when a player only tees up a 3 wood once in a blue moon it looks strange to him at a address, and he definitely carries over the hard effort swing he is accustomed to using for his driver, so it doesn't work.
But I think if the player left driver at home and played a round of golf , by the 4th or 5th tee box he will have adjusted, taken the "hit hard" mentality out of his swing, and start to see good 3 wood tee shots.
And after that experience, going forward instead of playing driver off of 13 or 14 tee boxes every round, he might find that his swing tempo-rhythm improves from adopting the habit of swing driver off of
only 5 or 6 tee boxes, per round, 3-wood off of another 5 or 6 tee boxes, and maybe 5-wood , hybrid or driving iron off the other 2 par 4 or par 5 tee boxes.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't you want the club that gives you the most room for error, strike-wise? The driver does that with a larger face/higher MOI. Maybe cut it down and play it at a higher loft for forgiveness, but the driver is going to have more margin for error if it's fit well.
 
mpeterson said:
Wouldn't you want the club that gives you the most room for error, strike-wise? The driver does that with a larger face/higher MOI. Maybe cut it down and play it at a higher loft for forgiveness, but the driver is going to have more margin for error if it's fit well.
Click to expand...

My opinion is that the 460CC heads are designed to be played at 45" give or take .5".
I understand some players, including on Tour, have gone down to 44" or less. But getting the head weighting of the modern driver heads heavy enough (to play at 44") gets tricky. Mostly though, I think the 450CC plus heads just look too large and out of balance when paired with a shorter shaft.
As for the MOI stuff, I think a 3 wood , due to both the head size and shaft length, is consistently easier to square at impact than is a 400CC plus size head. So, while 450CC has the MOI, I think it also harder to consistently square at impact.
In general terms I think all the large head , improved MOI designs, whether it be putter, iron model, or driver, are a bit harder to square at impact. But their size and MOI forgiveness hides a slight mishit, meaning the distance and accuracy is not much different from a ball struck purely, so it likely makes good sense to play the large head forgiving designs.
 
DG_1234 said:
My opinion is that the 460CC heads are designed to be played at 45" give or take .5".
I understand some players, including on Tour, have gone down to 44" or less. But getting the head weighting of the modern driver heads heavy enough (to play at 44") gets tricky. Mostly though, I think the 450CC plus heads just look too large and out of balance when paired with a shorter shaft.
As for the MOI stuff, I think a 3 wood , due to both the head size and shaft length, is consistently easier to square at impact than is a 400CC plus size head. So, while 450CC has the MOI, I think it also harder to consistently square at impact.
In general terms I think all the large head , improved MOI designs, whether it be putter, iron model, or driver, are a bit harder to square at impact. But their size and MOI forgiveness hides a slight mishit, meaning the distance and accuracy is not much different from a ball struck purely, so it likely makes good sense to play the large head forgiving designs.
Click to expand...

1) I doubt the tour van guys have any issues getting swing weight and/or feel dialed in for the pros
2) I doubt that your pros have issues squaring up a club and if they miss the sweet spot it isn’t by much to the point that spin and speed will be affected.
 
Easier to hit. More loft with a high bend point / butt stiff stable shaft. Well see some BIG carry's!
 
Dangit Tiger! I just switched from the Diamana to the Pro Orange. Based on early returns (I.e. I sucked yesterday) I'll be switching back. A man could go broke trying to play the same shafts as Tiger ?. Luckily I already have his latest.
 
Will be interesting to see the spike in bay listings for the Tensei Pro Orange.

Also, guessing the price of Orange drops to the level of other Tensei Pro shafts. Not sure why it is almost 25% more anyways other than the fact that Tiger, Rory etc were gaming Orange.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top