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How much BS are we being fed by the big brands?


cp.vanvuuren

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Yesterday I played a round with some friends and my wife joined us. She is not a regular golfer but used to play field hockey at college level. Her swing is flat an short with excessive hand action. Naturally she hits a power draw and because of this I designed a custom club specifically for her. It's a driver with 16 deg loft and a shortened shaft (41 inch). I 3D printed the head from ABS and stuck a decent Uniflex shaft in there.

 

The whole day she just looked so comfortable hitting this club, so on the 18th I asked her if I can try it out.

 

My swing was in the groove the whole day with my driver. I first hit my own driver and proceeded to hit my longest drive for the year on that hole by quite some distance. I then tried her driver and crushed it as well. I hit both clubs as good as I possibly can.

 

The end result... My $500 Titleist 915 driver ended 7 yards further down the fairway than a $8 printed driver with a $40 shaft. Taking the shaft length into account, the performance is pretty much on par. How is that even possible? Plus, the printed driver is 40g lighter and much easier to control. Are we being suckered into spending thousands of $'s on imaginative gains??

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amazing.

 

I assume the OEM's clubs comply to various regulations about COR etc... which your beautiful club doesn't?

PXG Gen 2 X MCA Diamana BF
Callaway Epic 15* GD AD I
Callaway Epic Hybrid 20* GD AD I
Mizuno JPX 900 Forged/ Hot Metal Combo 5-9
Ping Glide 2.0 46/50/54/58
Scotty Cameron Circa 5
Bridgestone BX

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I think you just ruined The Solheim family’s Christmas

Ping G400 @ 10.5° (Ping Tour 65S)

Ping G400 5 wood @ 16.5° (Ping Alta CB 65S)

Ping G410 7 wood @ 20° (Ping Tour 75X)

Titleist 818H2 @ 22° (PX 6.0)

Ping i210 PowerSpec 5-U (DG S300)

Titleist SM7 54° F / 60° K (DG S200)

Ping Heppler Floki

Titleist ProV1x/AVX

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Reminds me of Daly’s white composite Kevlar Cobra back in the day.

 

Solid and bulletproof so he couldn’t collapse the face. Sweet marketing.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=john+dalys+white+cobra+driver&prmd=isnv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjE6c2hg6ffAhUk8YMKHXepBK0Q_AUoAXoECBMQAQ&biw=1024&bih=627&dpr=2#imgrc=WlHvKu5VISt7BM

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Reminds me of Daly’s white composite Kevlar Cobra back in the day.

 

Solid and bulletproof so he couldn’t collapse the face. Sweet marketing.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=john+dalys+white+cobra+driver&prmd=isnv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjE6c2hg6ffAhUk8YMKHXepBK0Q_AUoAXoECBMQAQ&biw=1024&bih=627&dpr=2#imgrc=WlHvKu5VISt7BM

I remember talking myself out of the compoaite Yonex drivers back then, like hitting a narshmellow.
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amazing.

 

I assume the OEM's clubs comply to various regulations about COR etc... which your beautiful club doesn't?

 

So your comment made me think. I need to test COR and compare the 2 clubs. The videos in the link is what I came up with.

 

The results shows the 3D printed driver actually has a much lower COR than the Titleist.

Titleist 915 Release Height 40 CM Head depth 11 CM Effective drop height 29 CM Recorded Bounce Height 34 CM Effective bounce 23 CM COR 79.3%

3D printed driver Release Height 40 CM Head depth 11 CM Effective drop height 29 CM Recorded Bounce Height 28 CM Effective bounce 17 CM COR 58.6%

 

3D Driver:

 

Titleist Driver:

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I remember talking myself out of the compoaite Yonex drivers back then, like hitting a narshmellow.

 

The Yonex ADX all graphite heads?? I played one for a while. Still have one in the basement I think. Had to be very careful about hitting clean balls. Grit and sand tore up the face big time.

 

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1. The stars aligned, you got lucky.

2. Iʻm jealous, i canʻt even find the flashlight on my i phone.

3. Make that club in Honolulu blue, my wife will buy one.

 

1. Agree. That's why I'm going to try to replicate it :-)

2. Your handle makes me jealous so we're even.

3. I did a Royal Blue one for 6 year old today. Came out pretty sweet....

 

mattdriver.jpg

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Yesterday I played a round with some friends and my wife joined us. She is not a regular golfer but used to play field hockey at college level. Her swing is flat an short with excessive hand action. Naturally she hits a power draw and because of this I designed a custom club specifically for her. It's a driver with 16 deg loft and a shortened shaft (41 inch). I 3D printed the head from ABS and stuck a decent Uniflex shaft in there.

 

The whole day she just looked so comfortable hitting this club, so on the 18th I asked her if I can try it out.

 

My swing was in the groove the whole day with my driver. I first hit my own driver and proceeded to hit my longest drive for the year on that hole by quite some distance. I then tried her driver and crushed it as well. I hit both clubs as good as I possibly can.

 

The end result... My $500 Titleist 915 driver ended 7 yards further down the fairway than a $8 printed driver with a $40 shaft. Taking the shaft length into account, the performance is pretty much on par. How is that even possible? Plus, the printed driver is 40g lighter and much easier to control. Are we being suckered into spending thousands of $'s on imaginative gains??

 

I've been saying the same for years. Speedfoam???? Turbulators ????

 

Some designs do push the barriers but oh so many are just placebos.

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Well done! And the answer is yes. Kind of. We are not being suckered into buying the latest and greatest, we want to do it! And more expensive means better so we want to spend even more. We've suckered ourselves into asking the OEMs to deliver new and more expensive just so we can convince ourselves that we have the best...

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So many people spend $500+ on new drivers every year that they don't hit any better than the one they bought the year, and may even hit it worse... :swoon:

 

And yet, they continue to buy into the latest marketing hype and whatever 'gimmicks' the OEM's are selling!.... :rap:

 

The annual 'Driver Purchase Ritual' is 'both funny and sad' at the same time, but it's their money to spend....so people will do whatever (they think) will make them happy I suppose!... :tongue:

 

However, at some point, the application of some sound logic and perhaps a bit more testing of both the head and the shaft would help many make better buying decisions. For when to comes to drivers, too many people just seem to go 'marketing hype crazy'... :crazy:

 

Perhaps this little 'reminder' of how success with the driver 'should be measured' can be of help:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The proper way to measure success with the Driver comes down to (2) factors:

 

1- Does the new driver increase your Driving Distance Average?

2- Does the new drvier increase the percentage of Fairways Hit?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

To say it another way, at some point you should be able to settle on a modern driver that delivers the most consistent distance and accuracy, rather than one that you may hit 'longest drives' with, (on best strikes), but you also mishit often, or miss too many fairways with!.... :yes:

 

Being a 'sucker' for 'OEM marketing hype' is not likely to improve the numbers on the scorecard!... :no2:

 

 

:golfer:

[b]What's in Bobcat's Bag? (Showing more than 14 clubs due to options)[/b]

Driver: TM 2015 9.5* SLDR-C - 45.5" Miyazaki Kusala Black 61s (tipped 1/2")
Fairway: TM Tour-iussue V-Steel 15* 3W - 43.25" Fujikura 757 Speeder Stiff
Hybrid Fairway: TM Rescue Fairway 15* '3-Strong'- 42.75" Fujikura VP-90 Stiff
Hybrids: TM Rescue-Mid TP's 19*(3H) & 22*(4H) - Fujikura Vista Pro 90 Stiff
Driving Irons: TM TP UDI's 16* (#1) & 20* (#3) - KBS C-Taper Lite 110 Stiff Shafts
Irons: TM 2015 SLDR Irons (5-8i only) - KBS C-Taper Lite 110 Stiff Flex Steel
Hybrid Wedges: Cleveland 2011 Niblicks - 42*PW /49*DW / 56*SW - Stock Steel
Wedge: 2011 Cleveland CG-16 Black Pearl 58*/8* (SW/LW) - Stock Steel Shaft
Putter: Bettinardi BBX-81 Blade - 35" Bettinardi Stock Steel Putter Shaft
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Interesting thread! I looked at some of the clips that you posted on Youtube. The one where you interview the guy with the Volvik cap, what golf course is that?

Callaway Rogue Max LS Driver, 9 degrees, Tensei Blue shaft

Mizuno ST180 5 wood

Ping G425 Max 7 wood
Srixon ZX4 4 iron
Srixon ZX5 irons 5-PW, Nippon N.S. Pro Modus 3 Tour 120 shafts

Cleveland RTX6 48* wedge

Cleveland Zipcore 54* wedge
Cleveland RTX 58* full face wedge
Nike Method Core Drone 2.0 putter 34"
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Of course it is BS. If the claims were true, accumulating the better-faster-farther hype, we'd be hitting 700 yard drives by now. They are in the business of selling golf clubs, so they are doing their job. Falling for it is our decision. Most of us know that newer equipment only helps if it fits you better than what you replaced. I can switch between my PING ZING Blondie driver & K15 driver, Eye 2 irons and G400 irons and still shoot my best scores. The difference is in club selection, feel and flight.

 

Are you taking orders on the 3D driver heads? :taunt:

  • Callaway Rogue Draw 10.5*
  • The Perfect Club 21
  • Callaway XROS 64
  • PING Eye 2 BeCu 7 - SW
  • PING Kartsen Craz-E
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I believe heads for the last 8 years or so are the same distance wise. They have however made them straighter on shots hit off the heel and toe by quite a bit. Some of the newest TM stuff and Ping heads really eliminated the toe sniper

 

The money should be spent on finding the right shaft fit ... weight, flex, swingweight, kickpoint

 

By the way, so impressed with your 3D work. Cool post of the month !!!

 

How large is that head you made for your wife?

 

Are you an engineer sir?

Ping G400 LST 11* Ventus Black TR 5x

Ping G400 3w 15.1* GD AD IZ 5x

Ping G400 7w 19.5* Ventus Red 6x 

Ping G425 4h 22* Blueboard HY 80x

Ping i210 6i & s55 7i - PW Steelfiber 110s

Ping Glide Wrx 49*, 54*, 59*ES, Tour W 64* SF 125s

EvnRoll ER9
 

 

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I believe heads for the last 8 years or so are the same distance wise. They have however made them straighter on shots hit off the heel and toe by quite a bit. Some of the newest TM stuff and Ping heads really eliminated the toe sniper

 

The money should be spent on finding the right shaft fit ... weight, flex, swingweight, kickpoint

 

By the way, so impressed with your 3D work. Cool post of the month !!!

 

How large is that head you made for your wife?

 

Are you an engineer sir?

Hey look, somebody who actually understands the market. What a novelty.
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... Every year OEMs produce clubs that are better than the previous generation. You really have to be ignorant if you don't believe this, and some here certainly have their head buried in the sand. The question is how much better and will it help you? Improving MOI by 3.7%, dispersion by 2.1% and a gain of 1.13 yds isn't going to make much difference if any different at all, in most people game or their score. I can gain or lose 5-10 yds in any round for a number of reasons, from not enough sleep to just being out of sync on any given day, as well as those days when everything flows and the game just seems easy.

 

... There is a hole that I play with my wife where I have to walk back about 80 yds then 80 yds right back to her tees and the hole is severely uphill, so most days I just hit from her tees using her driver. I have hit some massive drives, higher than normal and they just carry forever. So I did an experiment and shafted one of my drivers with another Tensei Blue L Flex shaft. I still hit a few of those towering drives, but hit many more drives all over the course. I think taking just one swing and not needing distance from the ladies tees enabled me to take a nice controlled swing. But having that same driver the whole round from my tees where distance is necessary, the experiment fell apart. So yea, equipment makes a difference but how much varies for every individual. New clubs are definitely "better" but it may take 3-5 years of improvements before those changes show up in your game or score. And even then, there is no guarantee.

Driver:       TM Qi10 ... Ventus Velocore Red 5R
Fairway:    Cobra Aerojet 3/5 ... Kai'li Blue 60R
Hybrids:    Ping G430 22* ... Alta CB Black 70r
                  TM Dhy #4 ... Diamana LTD 65r

Irons:         Titleist T200 '23 5-Pw ... Steelfiber i95r
Wedges:    Vokey 50*/54*/58* ... Steelfiber i95r
Putter:       Cobra King Sport-60
Ball:            2023 Maxfli Tour

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So many people spend $500+ on new drivers every year that they don't hit any better than the one they bought the year, and may even hit it worse... :swoon:

 

And yet, they continue to buy into the latest marketing hype and whatever 'gimmicks' the OEM's are selling!.... :rap:

 

The annual 'Driver Purchase Ritual' can be 'both funny and sad' at the same time, but it's their money to spend....so whatever makes people happy I suppose!... :tongue:

 

However, at some point applying a bit of sound logic and perhaps a bit more testing of both the head and the shaft would result in better buying decisions. For when to comes to drivers, too many people seem to go 'marketing hype crazy'... :crazy:

 

Perhaps this little 'reminder' of how success wih the driver is measured would be of some help:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The proper way to measure success with the Driver comes down to (2) factors:

 

1- Does the new driver increase your Driving Distance Average?

2- Does the new drvier increase the percentage of Fairways Hit?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

To say it another way, at some point you should be able to settle on a modern driver that delivers the most consistent distance and accuracy, rather than one that you may hit your 'longest drives' with, (on best strikes), but also mishit often, and/or miss fairways with too frequently.... :yes:

 

 

:golfer:

 

Totally agree, Bobcat. The best way to improve your driver skill is to pay the initiation fee at a club with super-wide fairways.

G400 Max 9* Ventus Red 5X, SIM Ventus Red 6X 

Callaway Mavrik 4 (18*) - AW (46*) Project X 5.5

Vokey SM4 50* SM5 56*

Cameron Phantom 5S

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