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Popeye

Popeye

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So the golf shop I part time at is closing. There are a mountain of used clubs of all kinds. The conversation came up about the retail end of things and the parade of golfers that have to have a new set or the latest driver. I kind of looked away as I'm guilty as hell at times. But he was saying unless it's worn out its just wasted money.
He has a near robotic swing and reached over to a brand new M2 fairway wood which was a 4 wood. He hit it 264 with a slight draw. He then proceeded to go through the bag of used clubs in descending age. A Bio Cell, a Slider, some sort of Adams, a 983? Titleist, a Callaway Steelhead, some really beat up Cobra and then he grabbed a WarBird. Every one of those clubs went within a few yards of each other with the same launch and damn near spin numbers. It started to get pretty funny. It came to a screaching halt with a Wilson 'wood' fairway wood that went 225. He proved the point that a lot of the newer and better is just BS. Sure the forgiveness has increased but not the performance on a properly stuck shot.

It got me thinking and I dragged out an old favorite
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I went to the range with a new grip and ripped it right down the middle with that pure crushed it feeling that's so missing today. I hit a dozen balls and they all went dead straight. It was 32° out so it didn't go super far but it really proved his point. I may have to play a few rounds with that driver and the matching 4 wood for the hell of it and see how I score. I had almost forgetting how much I loved the War bird.
 
Most golfers do not hit it perfectly every time.
Then add that clubs have been moved to lower spin, higher launch, while maintaining forgiveness and its night and day.

The good news is that nobody has to buy a new club, or is forced to buy a new club. Just like the iPhone 3GS still makes phone calls and gets emails. It might not do it as well as the iPhone 6S, but it works.

Choices are good for the consumer.
 
I agree, as soon as I hit every club in the center every time I'll stop getting new clubs. Plus I just like new toys!
 
JB said:
Just like the iPhone 3GS still makes phone calls and gets emails.
Click to expand...

i am giving you a golf clap right now for best analogy i've seen yet on this whole silly debate.
 
Hey! A vintage mini-driver!
 
I don't buy new clubs trying to get a lot of extra yards. I want one that will minimize the penalty on my mishit and give me a ball flight and feel I like.
 
emart2173 said:
I don't buy new clubs trying to get a lot of extra yards. I want one that will minimize the penalty on my mishit and give me a ball flight and feel I like.
Click to expand...
Wow. You want to dial down those excessive expectations, fella?:alien:
 
JB said:
Most golfers do not hit it perfectly every time.
Then add that clubs have been moved to lower spin, higher launch, while maintaining forgiveness and its night and day.

The good news is that nobody has to buy a new club, or is forced to buy a new club. Just like the iPhone 3GS still makes phone calls and gets emails. It might not do it as well as the iPhone 6S, but it works.

Choices are good for the consumer.
Click to expand...

Hands down best reply, if I could hit the ball perfect every time I'd be on the TV making lots of money, I need the newer stuff that is going to forgive me for not having a perfect swing, I don't care about distance really I want accuracy.
 
Did anyone happen to see the segment in the Arnold Palmer Invitational broadcast with the current pros hitting Arnold's old driver that he used to win majors. It looked like they were hitting it pretty well. How one approaches and equips for the game is strictly personal, it just ain't the same for everyone. At this stage of my life, it is what do I think will give me the biggest bang for my buck. Currently, I think it's best that I put the money in lessons and let techno advances accumulate for a few years before looking at new equipment. But I certainly understand the thrill of a new toy.
 
I would ask even in the forgiveness area. Are the forgiveness advances nowadays significant enough from one year to the nextt? Is the forgiveness from 4 years ago worlds apart. We know distance for center hits has basically been tapped out for some time and we then focus on mishits. And straighter mishits in themselves equates to better distance for that shot. But is the forgiveness advancing so very much in just a couple or so years or has that even slowed some vs the distant but modern past? These are not sarcastic accusations to poke at marketing hype. I don't like marketing hype to be honest but these are just honest questions of which I don't know the answer.
 
rollin said:
I would ask even in the forgiveness area. Are the forgiveness advances nowadays significant enough from one year to the nextt? Is the forgiveness from 4 years ago worlds apart. We know distance for center hits has basically been tapped out for some time and we then focus on mishits. And straighter mishits in themselves equates to better distance for that shot. But is the forgiveness advancing so very much in just a couple or so years or has that even slowed some vs the distant but modern past? These are not sarcastic accusations to poke at marketing hype. I don't like marketing hype to be honest but these are just honest questions of which I don't know the answer.
Click to expand...

Both THP Radio and THP TV have asked these exact questions over the last couple of months. Info straight from the source.
 
I can assure you, with my eyes closed, my hands can tell you whether I'm hitting a recent club or a much older one. And they're so much more forgiving these days.
 
rollin said:
I would ask even in the forgiveness area. Are the forgiveness advances nowadays significant enough from one year to the nextt? Is the forgiveness from 4 years ago worlds apart. We know distance for center hits has basically been tapped out for some time and we then focus on mishits. And straighter mishits in themselves equates to better distance for that shot. But is the forgiveness advancing so very much in just a couple or so years or has that even slowed some vs the distant but modern past? These are not sarcastic accusations to poke at marketing hype. I don't like marketing hype to be honest but these are just honest questions of which I don't know the answer.
Click to expand...
SLDR -> R15
I found the mishits to be about 8 yard longer off the toe and 4 or 5 yards off the heel. Same max distance.

Seems like the M2/M1 might have pushed it a little farther. I know I hit gunners M1 and gave it back to him after 3 shots other wise I probably would have bought one with the money I don't have.
 
They're allowing us to hit further. It's the spin numbers. One of the reasons I hit my 6 iron as far as I do has to do with its loft and spin. I'd bet it spins about 2000 rpm less than the corresponding bladed 6 iron partly because of stronger loft and partly because of the trampoline effect of the club face from the cavity back.

Same with your drivers. If you compare a driver from about 2012 to say that Cobra King with the big port in it, the 2012 will probably give you a spin around 2800 rpm, but the new top line Cobra driver will give you a comparative knuckle ball at 1700 rpm. This means further in the air and more roll.

I'd say about 4 years is the shelf life for a driver and about 7 years for irons.
 
rollin said:
I would ask even in the forgiveness area. Are the forgiveness advances nowadays significant enough from one year to the nextt? Is the forgiveness from 4 years ago worlds apart. We know distance for center hits has basically been tapped out for some time and we then focus on mishits. And straighter mishits in themselves equates to better distance for that shot. But is the forgiveness advancing so very much in just a couple or so years or has that even slowed some vs the distant but modern past? These are not sarcastic accusations to poke at marketing hype. I don't like marketing hype to be honest but these are just honest questions of which I don't know the answer.
Click to expand...

It definitely is. Look at ball speed retention, spin rates for off center hits. I also,don't think distance has been maxed out on center hits.
 
i just replaced my driver, my previous was a cleveland launcher 460.. and its like 10 years old maybe more?? I hit it good, i just had no reason to change until i thought why not.
Now ill be gaming a ping g that i bought from the thread starter.
 
The OLD Big Bertha! Man that's a blast from the past! I think I've had every iteration of that line up in my bag at one point! They all hit well, no doubt, but with the new tech an minor miss won't show as much as it would with that one.
 
JB said:
Most golfers do not hit it perfectly every time.
Then add that clubs have been moved to lower spin, higher launch, while maintaining forgiveness and its night and day.

The good news is that nobody has to buy a new club, or is forced to buy a new club. Just like the iPhone 3GS still makes phone calls and gets emails. It might not do it as well as the iPhone 6S, but it works.

Choices are good for the consumer.
Click to expand...

I agree that choices are good and there are more today than ever before. At the same time, no one is forcing anyone to buy new or not buy.
 
Check out how similar is size and over all shape the two Big Berthas are.
Big Bertha circa 1998 msrp of $300 trade in value as of today,,,,,, $3.32....
Vs Big Bertha Alpha 16° circa 2015 mrsp,, strangely enough,,,,, $300

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Funny how they haven't drifted that far from the original and other than having a much shallower face, they are pretty close to the same size.
 
They have drifted apart in a few other huge ways including the materials used.
Not a whole lot of composite crowns way back when.

But another example of good news for a consumer. If they think they are fine with that original, they can pick it up on the cheap.
 
I found something interesting from Bridgestone golf and their J series drivers. Don't know if others are doing this nor how new this is....but what they have on their driver face is what they call a milled surface. They claim the tiny groves stops the ball from sliding up the face and therefore creates less spin whch of course relates to more distance and probably less dispersion as well. But this sort of goes against the assumed logic that groves add spin. They say the ball slipping up the club face produces more spin vs having the club grab the ball better. General logic would say that slipping is not spinning but grabbing is rolling and spinning. But in a vid I watched said its been tested to generate (ithink) about 200 to 300 less rpms by actually not allowing the slippage. I would guess the grabbing of the ball is just barely enough to find a happy medium between a quicker release vs sliding up the face and then perhaps actually produce less spin and also now that I think about it....no energy spent sliding and therefore perhaps more energy transferred to the ball.

IDk but found this one a bit different yet interesting. forgive me if this is nothing new.
 
OP brings me right to my thought after today's round and WITB thoughts... I love my bag right now! Sure I'd like a newer driver but for the most part I see no good reason to change.
 
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