Older LD heads ?

[vietnameeh]

I’m on the quest to hit 190 ball speed 

 

and want to try a lower lofted head to see 5-6*

 

I noticed there are a lot of bang, geek, maybe brute heads that are very affordable

 

i have no plans to do long drive becAuse I’ll get smoked but I’ve been speed training and hit 183 ball speed on GC quad 

 

so was curious how far I could take it with LD driver 

 

Are the newer LD stuff much better than the older stuff ? I see krank and callaway are the only players now 

[BSTRONG1313]

So I don't think you are actually going to see much of an increase in ball speed from long drive heads. I actually lose efficiency switching from in my callaway LD head compared to my Ping G410. The biggest difference in LD heads is that they are reinforced and so sometimes that means a slightly thicker face and so slightly slower ball speeds. The lower lofts are generally used so you can launch it higher with your swing but keep your spin low. 

 

Getting a longer shaft will absolutely help increase ball speed though if you can hit it well.

 

There are a few other tricks you can use with your equipment to get your club speed up. Go light on your head (so remove any weights), get a lighter shaft but use a lightweight grip to get your swing weight back up to where you want it. My LD driver weighs less than 285 grams but is an E1 swingweight. Of course this is all for just speed and distance. I would never use this when playing actual golf. 

[vietnameeh]

I may have had too many drinks this july 4th....

 

I woke up to a USPS notification for delivery of a krank driver lol

[PEI_Golfer]

On 7/8/2021 at 3:47 PM, vietnameeh said:

I may have had too many drinks this july 4th....

 

I woke up to a USPS notification for delivery of a krank driver lol

Nah, they are fun to play with and you can find older gear for pretty cheap.

 

I always liked the look and feel of the Bang DCT and had a 5* and a gamer 10* head.  Another cooler one with same shape but harder to find would be like a 9016D head.  Just the LD version of the 9015D which has a mile long page thread here.

[Jasonfish_02]

LD heads aren’t made any different, just lower lofted. A low lofted Cobra, Cally or any other brand isn’t “reinforced”. Your smaller component companies krank, bang,  smt are usually made closer to the CT limit which in general terms will produce higher ball speeds. 
 

reach out if interested as I have some good older LD heads sitting around 

 

 

[clevited]

On 10/9/2021 at 9:02 PM, Jasonfish_02 said:

LD heads aren’t made any different, just lower lofted. A low lofted Cobra, Cally or any other brand isn’t “reinforced”. Your smaller component companies krank, bang,  smt are usually made closer to the CT limit which in general terms will produce higher ball speeds. 
 

reach out if interested as I have some good older LD heads sitting around 

 

 

 

I know I have come across more than a couple long drive pro's discussing their LD specific driver heads and mentioning their reinforcement so they last more hits and so they only have to bring a handful of drivers to an event rather than a bunch.  I also recall at least two (Jamie Sadlowski for sure) mentioning that the face was thicker and eluded to efficiency being less because of that.  Doesn't mean all are  but I do believe LD heads would more likely be reinforced and therefore potentially less hot out of the box vs a modern playing driver. Case in point,  I have an XR16 LD head and that thing has taken a beating.  Had multiple playing drivers that have caved in or cracked with less balls hit.  Also, from what I can tell, my XR16 LD head is indeed less hot than my playing driver heads were.  Its not a ton but its noticeable.  2 mph less ball speed would be my best guess based on my Trackman sessions.

[Jasonfish_02]

Cut them open and you will find that a LD head isn’t made any different from the OEM version in a higher loft. 

[clevited]

On 11/13/2021 at 6:25 AM, Jasonfish_02 said:

Cut them open and you will find that a LD head isn’t made any different from the OEM version in a higher loft. 

 

Have you cut some open?  Would be interesting to see if you have.  If you have cut any open, have you measured the face thicknesses, crown thicknesses with a micrometer and compared?  Do you know what alloy is used in one head vs the other?  All I know is what I have heard Jamie Sadlowski and one or two other past long drive pros say.  Maybe only their specific heads were "reinforced" and the LD heads that were markets/are marketed are not any different, I don't know.  It just leads me to believe that maybe there is, or was some structural differences with some LD heads. 

 

I do know Bryson had a long drive specific head which had a face made out of a supposedly stronger titanium alloy to handle the abuse better.  There is an article floating around out there where that was mentioned.

[Jasonfish_02]

I’ve broken enough LD heads open to know there’s no difference in face thickness or structural designing inside compared to a retail OEM offering. If they start adding structural support the weight starts climbing quick. 
 

Bryson and Kyle’s heads might have had a different alloy used for the face but the rest of the driver head remained the same except for the loft. Their heads however we’re going flat in about 30 swings from what I’ve been told by other competitors there