Draw or neutral driver head?

[againstthegrain]

For a player working on changing a fade/slice to draw.

Would you choose a draw head to make the L to R ball flight easier or stick to the neutral head so swing changes are easier to keep track of?

Thanks.

[lefty92]

I would take neutral and work on my swing.

 

I'm not much for clubs doing the work. Then again, if I wasn't so serious about golf, and only got out a few times a year, draw would be my choice. Unless one is willing to go through swing changes, he/she should buy a driver that will help them enjoy the game more and hit those drives straighter.

[ranesy]

Actually, a more effective method to correct a slice or a hook would be via the face angle of the driver.

I too fight the slice once in a while, usually under pressure and I have found that the easiest and quickest fix is a closed driver face. The better fix is to actually remedy the swing flaw itself but I don't get that much time to practice anymore.

 

I play a Ft3 draw driver and despite the 'draw bias' I can make the ball slice or hook by changing the face angle. Your results / opinion may be different but this has been my experience.

[XYB34A]

I guess its my age. But I want the driver to look open, like the old persimmon woods did. The Cobra x series, and the tour model of the Cleveland Hibore are two that are on the market. I really like that 3 degree open face of the HiBore, but the swingweight is just to light. The Taylormade TP drivers are not as open as either the Cobra or the Cleveland. It is your next best choice. A correct swing, be it one plane or two plane. Can only happen if your try very hard to make your right forearm touch your left forearm on your down swing. This will not happen, but you dont flip your wrists closed or leave them open that way. If you use the image of standing on one railroad track and the ball is on the other railroad track, while properly releasing the club face with one of the closed face drivers. Then you are just going to be playing out of the left rough or the left far side of the fairway at the best case scenario. An open club face also, appears too look like it has bulge and roll. Which is old school and from the persimmon wood era also. With courses lush like they are today. Then hang time is the ticket.

[anth]

I think that you first need to determine what type of slice you are hitting - as a closed face/draw bias club may not always be the answer.

 

I had always struggled with losing the driver right, and thought that a closed face/draw bias would straighten me out. But it didn't because my swing is slightly outside-to-in, and when I hit the draw biased club correctly all I would do was hit a pull hook that started left and went further left, which then led me to subconciously aim for the right side of the fairway, and when the swing was off I would just spray it further right...

 

The only real thing that will help you to hit a draw is the correct swing path and face angle. Do you currently have the correct swing path? Are you a realistic chance of obtaining this?

 

The only reason I ask is because my golf improved once I realised that my swing path determined that I was a left-to-right player. As such, a square face and neutral/fade weighting is a better option for me off the tee.

[againstthegrain]

Here is my open face driver story:

 

I went to Golfsmith for a cally demo day last year and went through the opti-fit. I wanted an FT-3 Tour(retail) head (1/2*) open because I do/did not like the idea of a closed face hampering the feedback from my shots as my swing changes progressed. So I got all fit, but elected to meet the same van and fitter the next day at a local CC. Went through the entire opti-fit again with outdoor launch monitor as I hit balls at the driving range. I ended up purchasing a 10.5 Tour head w NVS 60R, which they built in the van. So I played it, hit some good shots, but it didn't really help me much over my previous driver. This year I joined a club w a much longer course and many more dog left lefts. I wasn't playing very well and one problem area is the L-R shaped holes calling for a draw off the tee. So I took the club to my club fitter and he tells me the face is TWO DEGREES OPEN.. OMG no wonder I can't hit many good shots w that thing.

 

 

I am not looking for a closed face(for me that would be abandoning my swing changes) ....I have never been able to aim confidently with a closed face driver or fairway wood or hybrid. I just thought the draw bias (internal weighting) may make it SLIGHTLY easier to achieve the goal. In no way do I consider this a substitute for a better swing to which I am highly committed. I am now playing a Ping Rapture w proto by you Stiff and it plays much straighter and bad swings only fade now and not slice. This shaft is MUCH more suited to my swing. I am considering the purchase of a Ping G10 10.5 w Adila SVS as soon as they are available. This head has a draw or neutral bias......I guess I need to find out if the draw model is square or not before ordering it.