Fit me for a driver

[tommyh9991]

Alright. With all that’s going on in the world an in person driver fitting isn’t happening anytime soon and the driver I bought over the winter is killing my game.

 

facts about me

-5 handicap

-102 mph swingspeed

-AOA -2

-shot shape=straight to a 5-10 yard fade

-tempo=quick and sometimes way too

quick

 

currently playing a Taylor Made Sim 9* with a Ventus Black 7S.

i love the feel but that’s pretty much it. What is normally my strength has become my biggest weakness. In 10 rounds this year I’m averaging about 2-3 fairways a round. Rest of the game is strong. I’ve resorted to a 3 wood as of late and have returned to my normal consistent self but would really like to hit a driver again.

with the Sim my miss is a 30 yard cut now...well that’s pretty much 2 out of 3 shots now. I’ve moved the weight all the way to the heal and also added 1* of loft and not much better. What’s everyone think? Shaft too stiff? Too little loft?

most likely going to be stuck buying something on a guess. Money isn’t an issue. What does everyone think?

[WristySwing]

Without knowing anything regarding swing path, face to path, or strike point....your guess is as good as ours. My guess would be that the shaft is too heavy and is causing you to not release it properly. However that is solely a guess.

[Z1ggy16]

Before you buy anything else, turn it to upright and increase the loft by 2*. Try that and report back.

[tommyh9991]

my AOA is (-2)

my path is 3* out to in

 

for the hosel to be +2 and upright would I just move it to the “higher” +2 setting or is there a different setting that makes it more upright?

[mgoblue83]

Sounds like it is either too heavy or too stiff.

Some things to try before you buy a new shaft or driver:

Take the sliding weights out of the head completely. (Will reduce swing weight and potentially let you time it up and release it better)Choke up on the shaft an inch. (Should make it feel slightly softer) 1 and 2 together.On the range, up your swing speed a bit and see what happens. Try to aggressively release the club and see if it won't start cooperating with you.

[WristySwing]

Okay. So something about your previous driver allowed you to have a path to path or face angle that minimized this move and is why you were seeing that gentle fade. Now the SIM is much more fade biased likely than what you were using previously, that is a common thread with this driver. Adjusting the loft up will help some but it might also just turn that low spin fade into a high spin fade if you can't get that face back to square. My gut is on the shaft being a bit too heavy and stiff. The Ventus is an extremely stable shaft, it is meant to be "forgiving" so it tries to minimize oscillation and deflection as much as it can at the tip. You might not have been fit wrong as often people's swings do vary from launch monitor to the course (i.e. I'm on a monitor and someone is watching...gotta nuke this one!!!). We are all guilty of that. You may find you are okay with just a 65. Reach out to your fitter and see if they have a playability guarantee. Another option is maybe the head just is way to heavy (Swingweight).

[Howard_Jones]

For a swing thats out to in, and a tempo thats fast, i would start by going shorter and UP in both shaft and head weight, so opposite of WristySwing, i dont suspect shaft weight to be to high, (shaft wgt might be just right) but play length to long and head weight to low, but i would also tried a face angle manipulation to close up a bit more than now if you want a straighter ball flight.

[WristySwing]

But Howard, if swing weight is too high it's going to be hard to close. I don't give a hoot about his transition right now, he can't close the club. That's the most obvious answer apart from the SIM being fade biased. We still don't know what he was using before. It could have been an SFT Ping for all we know. i agree with you that in general harder loaders do better with heavy especially if they are out-in, but at this time, it seems like it could be hurting them IF the head is the correct fit. I have to assume the head is at this point in time.

[Howard_Jones]

You are right. (SW might be to high), but when we go shorter...SW drops, and more head weight DONT mean we should reset the original value, i strongly advocate NOT to do that on all occasions, so we dont really disagree at all, and going shorter makes a "need" for more shaft weight (he already got that, so as grams pr inch we go DOWN or lighter if you like), and we know that quick tempo means a need for more resistance than average during transition, and the higher Total wgt, from adding head weight after going shorter might "fix" that...i just did not explain all the details, but we cant do that either, since we have next to nothing to base it on, and i included face angle and know the SIM seems hard to square up, so i think i covered "the most", but without the details about "why and how"....if the club is "standard length", thats where i would start, since that often mean impact against the heel side who dont make it easier to prevent a fade/slice...and after going shorter, he most likely need a few grams address, then a tad more close FA from address, or a stronger grip with his lowest hand...its worth a try, and we dont have to cut the shaft to try it off. For a in to out path for a "standard length iron" player. 44.50" is IMO the absolute max play length, 44.00" might be better, and he is better of with a impact a tad toe side than heel side.

I just dont think lower shaft weight would be right if he goes shorter as he should (if he plays standard length now), and i dont have anything else than his own info about a quick tempo and in to out path to base that on.

[Howard_Jones]

@WristySwing
If this club is the "standard" SIM, its 45.75" by the USGA method, and thats at least 1.25" too long (if he plays "standard" as irons)
The shaft he plays is 77 grams uncut, and to keep the feel of shaft weight, im using 4 grams pr inch, so if he goes down to 44.50", the shaft plays equal to a 72 grams at 45.75" so we do go "lighter", but he do need some weight and "72 grams" might be good for his tempo, the same with a higher actual Total weight from some grams added to the head to compensate for some of the SW lost, but not all...

[mgoblue83]

Howard will you please explain why an in to out path should translate to a shorter driver? Also in theory if irons are 3/8ths long with an in to out path what driver length would you recommend?

[mgoblue83]

Howard will you please explain why you recommend a shorter driver for a player with an in to out path?

[Howard_Jones]

Thats a advice in general, standard length drivers is way to long for most players, so to handle it, the player needs a natural "flat" swing plane and a in to out swing path and a smoother swing than the OP tells about, and this player dont seems to have a swing like that, and it dont seems like the club "force him" into that swing either, and then we must use something that works for his natural way of swinging the club. We know that for players like this, "shorter and up in weight"works better, and he seems to have the weight (within reason), but play length is too long, and a standard SIM is way to long for most players as a start.

 

[mgoblue83]

Thank you! If I play my irons 3/8ths long and am 6'2'' is 45in driver with an in to out path a reasonable length?

[Howard_Jones]

"What ever works" is the only valid rule in the end, but 45.00" is "long", but if it too long, only you can tell based on how it works for you.

If you are in doubt, read my DIY driver tune up who is a guide to DIY fitting and tune up to get the max out of the club you got. (no advanced tools needed for testing)https://forums.golfwrx.com/discussion/909991/diy-driver-tune-up-diy-fitting/p1