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Low Loft Drivers

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JB

JB

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There is no denying that drivers are being made now to spin less and less than ever before. Do you believe we will continue to see lower lofts offered down the road as readily as they are today? Or is yesterday's norm of 9-10.5 going to become todays norm of 10.5 to 12?

I know stigma plays a major role here and will continue to, but eventually will there will be a company that want the success and are willing to sacrifice a few sales to educate right? We all know fitting is the answer, but most golf clubs are not sold that way.

Its apparent now as companies are offering more 12* options than ever before and it is less of a "look at the lady" driver than it was in years past. Sadly, that opinion was there (and still is), but with balls and drivers spinning lower than ever before, something has to give for the masses that are buying equipment right?
 
I would have thought lofting up was the way for me until I was properly fitted to my driver at 8*. I'll take that guys word for it too
 
I don't think there will be less offered, just a wider range of lofts offered. If the trends continue, every company with have an adaptor that ranges from 8-12.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
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PhillyV said:
I would have thought lofting up was the way for me until I was properly fitted to my driver at 8*. I'll take that guys word for it too
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I dont think low lofted should go away completely, just that when someone walks into a store, its not as readily available. Instead of 9 dropping to 7, we have 10.5 dropping a couple of degrees as the norm.
 
JB said:
There is no denying that drivers are being made now to spin less and less than ever before. Do you believe we will continue to see lower lofts offered down the road as readily as they are today? Or is yesterday's norm of 9-10.5 going to become todays norm of 10.5 to 12?

I know stigma plays a major role here and will continue to, but eventually will there will be a company that want the success and are willing to sacrifice a few sales to educate right? We all know fitting is the answer, but most golf clubs are not sold that way.

Its apparent now as companies are offering more 12* options than ever before and it is less of a "look at the lady" driver than it was in years past. Sadly, that opinion was there (and still is), but with balls and drivers spinning lower than ever before, something has to give for the masses that are buying equipment right?
Click to expand...

Is that not already happening to an extent? I know a few of the "pro" versions of drivers offer that delightful 8.5 loft, but aren't a lot of the mid to high handicap targeted offerings starting at 9.5 anymore?

Depending on how the tech transforms I could definitely see it happening, or at least expanding to that 13/14 range.
 
I don't think we will see less lower lofts, but I do think we keep seeing more higher lofts. Ideally, the adapters will keep getting better and we can see the gamut of lofts on a head (i.e. Nike and 8.5 to 12.5).

All I know is it makes me happy to see more embracing the benefits of loft, NO, it isn't for everyone (swing dictates), but it sure as hell helps a LOT of am's.
 
Golf Ghost said:
I don't think there will be less offered, just a wider range of lofts offered. If the trends continue, every company with have an adaptor that ranges from 8-12.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I agree with this. Think they are going to just allow people to play with what loft works best for them and then keep a setting
 
Several thoughts:

1) If companies are going to go with a single SKU driver (adjustable from say 9-13*) this might become a moot question.

2) Yes, I think it will become more difficult to find lower lofts available for the exact reasons you note. I wonder if anyone will have the temerity to go under 45" stock?
 
Agree with others, wider range offered. These days, fitters understand the golf swing better than they ever have before and as such, can fit very low spinning and very high spinning players much easier than previously with the wider loft range.

The stigma is still there though, especially with older players. I had one of my uncle's friends at his country club in Redding, CA ask me why I was playing such a high lofted driver (10.5*), and saying that I was hitting it too high and losing distance. Said I should switch to a 9.5* like him and I'd get more roll. Meanwhile I am outdriving him by about 40 yards! And I didn't even tell him the loft was actually at 11.5* with the adjustable head. :alien:
 
For me it is dynamic loft. I have a good upward strike so my 9.5* head gets me around 15* of launch.
 
After playing a bit with Flexloft by Nike, I am wondering why more manufacturers do not go the route they did unless its patented. 8* to 12* in a single adjustable hosel has to address 95% of the playing public I would assume.
 
SkiBumGolfer said:
Agree with others, wider range offered. These days, fitters understand the golf swing better than they ever have before and as such, can fit very low spinning and very high spinning players much easier than previously with the wider loft range.

The stigma is still there though, especially with older players. I had one of my uncle's friends at his country club in Redding, CA ask me why I was playing such a high lofted driver (10.5*), and saying that I was hitting it too high and losing distance. Said I should switch to a 9.5* like him and I'd get more roll. Meanwhile I am outdriving him by about 40 yards!
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Interesting you should mention older players and lower lofts. I do wonder how they affect the market. For those of us who grew up with persimmon (or maple block in my case), a 9* driver was high loft. The COG in those heads was low and of course a balata ball creates an amount of spin that I never can convey to younger players. The ballflight was completely different and sometimes you just wanted the ball on the ground sooner because of the high spin. When I did fittings, I could almost never convince players from that era to even consider 10.5, much less the 12/14 or even 16 degrees they needed to maximize launch with the new equipment.
 
fupresti said:
After playing a bit with Flexloft by Nike, I am wondering why more manufacturers do not go the route they did unless its patented. 8* to 12* in a single adjustable hosel has to address 95% of the playing public I would assume.
Click to expand...

I didn't like because I had to adjust my hand position to get the head/face to sit how I like - never got comfortable with it.
 
I think that as manufacturers continue to manipulate the internal weights to reduce spin, lower lofted drivers will become the exception. I don't think they will be eliminated but the big box stores will probably only handle them as special orders. IMHO!!
 
I don't foresee 9.5 degree drivers going away. the 8.5 degree and lower drivers I already think have been diminishing.

~Rock
 
To capitalize on the uniformed golfer, you will continue to see higher lofted drivers because that is what marketing/commercials are telling them they need or what their buddies are gaming. I think you will see the lower lofts (9* and below) become special order and not readily available off the rack at your local brick & mortar or green grass facility
 
I was shocked that I was fit into a 9 degree driver. Was that my swing, or a combination of my swing and the launch of that particular head? I have no clue, but what I do know, is that if I walked into Golf Galaxy as a run-of-the-mill consumer without a proper fitting, I'd be looking for that head in a higher loft. So if others are also buying into the higher loft drivers, and the OEMs cater to the demands of the consumer, I can absolutely see this shift happening.
 
I do most see less of the lower lofts offered in stores but do think more higher lofts will be offered.
 
I don't think any driver loft goes away, I think more companies will just start selling adjustable drivers from 8.5-12 or whatever they will need. In a couple years, I believe nearly every driver/fairway/hybrid sold will be adjustable.
 
Like others, I don't see the lower lofts going away as much as I see the higher lofts becoming more popular. I think Taylormade did a great job with their #LoftUp campaign last year of starting to tear down that stigma of higher lofts being a "lady's driver".
 
When I went to the PGA store recently I was getting fitted for a driver and he said don't worry about the loft, I told him I really could care less what loft you give me as long as it works. He said to me thank god, 80% of the people I fit argue with me about going with a lower loft and even after I tell them what would be best they still buy the lower loft. I think for that reason you won't see it go anywhere for a while cause the public right or wrong still want to buy them. It's funny though that if you look on places like ebay you will find a lot more 9* big berthas than 10.5* and I attribute that to people buying the wrong club in the first place.
 
I might be an anomaly, but for me, raising loft actually increases my spin, but doesn't really increase my launch angle. Thus, anything above 10.5 really doesn't help me - this was the case even with low spin heads like the SLDR
 
I already see less and less 8.5° drivers available in my local stores. Low lofted drivers are still a good option for people who love playing those big cuts (helps lower dynamic loft some). As for in the future? I say we probably start moving towards a 10° and 13° with 1.5° up or down as the only offerings.

Makes the most since for the stores shops. This covers 9.5°-14.5° and also gives an 11.5° with a closed or open face (adjusting -1.5° on the 13° opens face, +1.5° on 10° closes face).
 
Like some have said, I think it will be that a wider range of lofts be offered. I hope that the lower lofted heads remain though.
 
I have always used low lofted drivers and my current driver for last few years is a 7.5 degree ZL Encore. Biggest thing I notice playing most of my golf on a course next to the sea is that the whole high loft low spin does not work well when you end up with a number of holes playing into a strong wind. I can hit a SLDR 10.5 slightly further than my current driver in still or downwind conditions but the loss of distance on holes into the wind hurts my game overall compared to the small gains on the other 50% of holes.
 
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