G10 10.5 degree loft -- too high?

[e-man]

Quick question. For those of you who own the G10 in a 10.5, do you feel it launches too high? I know if you don't specify the exact loft, the 10.5 degree head will come in at about 12 degrees, but I'm thinking with the right shaft to keep the spin down, that might be okay. Let me know what you think.

 

e

[SnapHooker_307]

I don't know about the G10, but I have a G5 with 10.5 degrees loft, and I have nearly hit passing airliners before. In other words, it launches the ball very high. I don't think the G10 is that much different, so I would have to guess that it launches pretty high as well. Good luck.

[ckguy914]

Without your launch monitor numbers, swing profile and among other informations, no one will ever know if the driver will launch too high for you.

 

It's like asking "is this size small shirt going to be too small for me?" without telling others your physical dimension and built.

[johnm65]

I demo'd a G10 10.5 degrees Reg shaft today at my club today. Definitely not too high for me at around a 95 mph swing. I tend to hit ball on the high side but I really liked this driver. I though it was the perfect trajectory but I want to hit it again with a different wind direction, etc. However, everyone's swing is different so you really will have to check it out for yourself.

[macglock]

Really depends on the guy....I don't find it too much loft but thats my swing

[e-man]

Thanks guys.

 

Sorry, you're right. I should have given some details. I have a very consistent 95 mph swing speed with a medium tempo. The TFC129 stiff flex seems to fit me perfectly.

 

Today at Golfsmith, I was hitting the 9 stiff in the launch monitor and getting pretty good results -- average carry around 240, total distance around 250, spin around 3,000, launch angle anywhere between 12-14 degrees. I also hit the 10.5 degree in regular flex (unfortunately, they didn't have the stiff flex in a 10.5). With the 10.5 regular, the launch angle jumped way up (like in the 16-17 degree range) and the spin leaped to around 4,000.

 

I currently have a G10 on order in 10.5 stiff (45.25), and I'm wondering whether I should have gone with the 9 degree, or, at the very least, specified a maximum loft for the 10.5 degree head. If the tolerances are off by that much, I could end up with a 12.5 degree head, and that would not be ideal.

 

I don't think it's too late for me to revise my order. Should I specify a loft? I have no idea what the actual loft on the 9 degree I hit today was.

 

e

[hardten]

I hit a fairly high ball to begin with. 61 yrs ,SS 95-105, 10 HC. I ask the same question as you since I went to 10.5 drivers from 9 ,9.5*. Anyway I have a fairly aggressive swing and have a G10 10.5* V2HL stiff. I hit the ball on a very nice mid high trajectorory with no ballooning. You should be fine and the 10.5 will be a bit more forgiving than the 9*. All this stuff about loft specification kind of makes me laugh. Drivers of all OEMs have historically been a bit over designated loft. All of a sudden its the new number in equation to be specked out. Personally don,t think it means a hill of beans to us mortals. Of course some more anal guy will surely disaggree. You should be fine with your new driver as ordered,enjoy because its a good one.

[pwrfade]

Thanks guys.

 

Sorry, you're right. I should have given some details. I have a very consistent 95 mph swing speed with a medium tempo. The TFC129 stiff flex seems to fit me perfectly.

 

Today at Golfsmith, I was hitting the 9 stiff in the launch monitor and getting pretty good results -- average carry around 240, total distance around 250, spin around 3,000, launch angle anywhere between 12-14 degrees. I also hit the 10.5 degree in regular flex (unfortunately, they didn't have the stiff flex in a 10.5). With the 10.5 regular, the launch angle jumped way up (like in the 16-17 degree range) and the spin leaped to around 4,000.

 

I currently have a G10 on order in 10.5 stiff (45.25), and I'm wondering whether I should have gone with the 9 degree, or, at the very least, specified a maximum loft for the 10.5 degree head. If the tolerances are off by that much, I could end up with a 12.5 degree head, and that would not be ideal.

 

I don't think it's too late for me to revise my order. Should I specify a loft? I have no idea what the actual loft on the 9 degree I hit today was.

 

e

 

In my opinion I would not go with those numbers off the 10.5 you tested - and going from a regular to a stiff shaft is not going to make that big a difference on the launch and spin - it should bring it down - but not as much as you need - now the real delimia I think is you have no idea if that 10.5 you were hitting as a 10.5 or a 12 degree head in reality - and the 9 you liked could have been a 10 in reality - if you were hitting the 9 well - you should get that demo back in your hand and have them test the actual loft of the club - then you place your order through the Ping WRX group and specify for them to digitally measure the loft of the head they are sending you and specify what loft you want - then you dont care if it shows up and has a 9 or a 10.5 stamped on the head - you know you got the loft you wanted and needed -

 

I would intercept that order and take a step back and get some better confirmations of exactly what you need - and order 'exactly' that from the WRX dept - otherwise you are going to have a club in your hand that you are not 100% committed to - and will be 'back in the market' with your check book open again. Just some thoughts...think I recall you just went through this with a HyperX - take a step back on this order and just make sure you know what was performing well for you in demo - and get those exect specs ordered - good luck with it.

[BankerGolfer]

Definitely stay with the 10.5*. I tried both 9* and 10.5* in a TFC reg flex and found the 10.5* to have the perfect middle-to-high trajectory. I think too many amatuers think their trajectory is perfect when it is really on the low side and all they are doing is sacrificing distance.

 

After 3 rounds at the Masters (going back today again), I can say that the pros ALL hit their drivers with a high trajectory. My god, Tiger's drives have the height of a PW (but travels about 290 yds). Thats why you hear the announcers say on TV that he hit a another "towering drive". One pro i saw hit a low boring drive but he was about 30 yds behind the high ball hitters in his group.

[e-man]

On the one hand, I agree with hardten. All this business about specifying loft is kind of silly for us mere mortals. I mean, for years, I've played various Callaway drivers in 10 degree flex, and I've had no idea (nor cared) what the actual loft was. It seemed to fit me well, so I stuck with it.

 

Now, if all manufacturers deliberately misstate the loft on their clubs to make it seem as if we're hitting something with a stronger loft than we actually are, well, then, okay, no problem. However, if Ping is exagerrating it more so than other manufacturers, that could be a problem.

 

Pwrfde -- you're right, I did just go through this situation with the Hyper X. With that club, the issue with the loft was the opposite problem. It seemed that the club played very true to loft or maybe even a little stronger than stated.

 

Here's the thing. If I intercept the order and end up going with the 9 degree head, I would definitely need to specify at least 10.5 degrees of loft because I would not want anything less than that. I can't be sure, but I think the 9 degree I demoed was probably somewhere around 10.5-11 degrees given the angle at which I was launching.

 

In an ideal world, I would get the 10.5 degree head and the loft would be no more than 11-11.5 degrees. I don't need to digitally specify a number, but I would want to make sure that it's not wildly off (like in the 12.5-13.0 range).

 

So, what should I do?

 

e

[hardten]

Obviously I can,t tell you what loft you will end up with ,however my guess would be around 11.5-12* worst case. I remeber about 3 years ago taking in a TEE 10* and 905R 9.5* (when getting fit for a reshaft) and the TEE was 11.5 and 905R around 10. Not much help but I haven,t again seen a problem with my G10 10.5*. It is about the same traj as my Burner TP 10.5*.

[e-man]

Obviously I can,t tell you what loft you will end up with ,however my guess would be around 11.5-12* worst case. I remeber about 3 years ago taking in a TEE 10* and 905R 9.5* (when getting fit for a reshaft) and the TEE was 11.5 and 905R around 10. Not much help but I haven,t again seen a problem with my G10 10.5*. It is about the same traj as my Burner TP 10.5*.

 

Thanks Hardten. I appreciate the advice. I just don't want to overthink this more than I already have. The part that concerns me is that if you don't specify, it's pretty much luck of the draw. Then again, though, I guess with every driver I've ever owned it's always been luck of the draw. Maybe I'll call Ping tomorrow and ask for their advice. If they can guarantee me that the loft will be somewhere between 10.5 and 11.5 (or at the very least, less than 12), I'd be okay. But if there's a chance it will be greater than 12 degrees, I think I may have to intercept the order and specify a little tighter tolerance.

 

Buying a new driver just shouldn't be this hard. I'm sure part of it (if not all of it) is that I'm making it too hard.

 

e

[hardten]

Never a bad idea calling the company. Before I buy sticks ,which I do a lot, I always call on anything I want clarification on. I don,t like using the word anal but it fits like a glove a LOT of guys when it comes to equipment. I am somewhat fussy but not nearly as bad as many who take specs to mandane absurdity. I say this because when making one of my calls to the various OEM companies ,the rep and I have a good laugh over it. Your question is a straight forward basic one that makes sense to call and ask.

[e-man]

Never a bad idea calling the company. Before I buy sticks ,which I do a lot, I always call on anything I want clarification on. I don,t like using the word anal but it fits like a glove a LOT of guys when it comes to equipment. I am somewhat fussy but not nearly as bad as many who take specs to mandane absurdity. I say this because when making one of my calls to the various OEM companies ,the rep and I have a good laugh over it. Your question is a straight forward basic one that makes sense to call and ask.

 

 

Okay, I'll call tomorrow and ask. I placed the order at Golfsmith on Thursday afternoon. I assume it didn't hit the Golfsmith system until sometime on Friday, so the earliest the order would have reached Ping would have been sometimes on Friday. I doubt they've begun to assemble the club yet, but I guess anything is possible.

 

Here's the thing. I have no idea what to ask. I mean, if I ask them what the actual loft of the club will be, I assume they'll tell me that it will be anywhere between 10.5 and around 12. What's my response? I have no idea what the actual loft was of the two clubs I demoed (the 9.0 and the 10.5), so how on earth am I supposed to specify the optimal loft for me? Do you see where I'm coming from here?

 

e

[mantan]

Call Ping, beleive me - they will help you out.

 

I ordered my G10 from Golfsmith (burning gift cards) and the sales guy had no clue about digital lofting. He kept saying that Ping couldn't promise an actual loft even though Ping had told me the week before that they could. I had absolutely no faith that my order had been placed correctly. I was able to talk to a Ping Rep and make sure the order contained EXACTLY what I wanted (44.5 inch 10.5 actual loft with a D2 swingweight.)

 

They confirmed my order information on the Ping tag was exactly how I described it to the CSR.

[e-man]

Call Ping, beleive me - they will help you out.

 

I ordered my G10 from Golfsmith (burning gift cards) and the sales guy had no clue about digital lofting. He kept saying that Ping couldn't promise an actual loft even though Ping had told me the week before that they could. I had absolutely no faith that my order had been placed correctly. I was able to talk to a Ping Rep and make sure the order contained EXACTLY what I wanted (44.5 inch 10.5 actual loft with a D2 swingweight.)

 

They confirmed my order information on the Ping tag was exactly how I described it to the CSR.

 

 

Thanks, Mantan. I have no doubt that Ping will help me, but the problem is that I have no idea what to tell them. I hit both the 9 and 10.5 degree demos, but I have no idea what the actual loft on the clubs were. So, that being said, I have no idea what I would tell Ping in the way of loft. Working backwards, I know I want at least a 13 degree launch angle, which means I need at least 10.5 degrees or so of loft. The problem, though, is that I have no idea what the actual loft of the clubs I was hitting.

[mantan]

Call Ping, beleive me - they will help you out.

 

I ordered my G10 from Golfsmith (burning gift cards) and the sales guy had no clue about digital lofting. He kept saying that Ping couldn't promise an actual loft even though Ping had told me the week before that they could. I had absolutely no faith that my order had been placed correctly. I was able to talk to a Ping Rep and make sure the order contained EXACTLY what I wanted (44.5 inch 10.5 actual loft with a D2 swingweight.)

 

They confirmed my order information on the Ping tag was exactly how I described it to the CSR.

 

 

Thanks, Mantan. I have no doubt that Ping will help me, but the problem is that I have no idea what to tell them. I hit both the 9 and 10.5 degree demos, but I have no idea what the actual loft on the clubs were. So, that being said, I have no idea what I would tell Ping in the way of loft. Working backwards, I know I want at least a 13 degree launch angle, which means I need at least 10.5 degrees or so of loft. The problem, though, is that I have no idea what the actual loft of the clubs I was hitting.

 

I feel your pain. I was between lofts, but with no way to measure the demo - I had to take my 'best guess' of what the clubs were and what I needed. I went with a 10.5*, but in retrospect I wish I would have gone with a 11 or 11.5. I still launch my good drives medium high with a ton of carry, but a think I could have squeezed out a better launch angle erring on the side of more loft.

[e-man]

 

So you have a head stamped 9 degrees that was digitally measured at 10.5 degrees?

 

Here's the thing. I'm thinking 11-11.5 degrees would be perfect. Anything over 12 would be too high. I wonder if they'd be able to guarantee me an 11-11.5 degree actual loft on a head stamped 10.5 degrees.

[mantan]

 

So you have a head stamped 9 degrees that was digitally measured at 10.5 degrees?

 

Here's the thing. I'm thinking 11-11.5 degrees would be perfect. Anything over 12 would be too high. I wonder if they'd be able to guarantee me an 11-11.5 degree actual loft on a head stamped 10.5 degrees.

 

Yep, my 10.5* is stamped 9*. Based on the conversation I had with a couple of CSR's, they have just about every loft in the range. I think they'd have no problem getting you a 10.5* that actually played 11 or 11.5.

[e-man]

 

So you have a head stamped 9 degrees that was digitally measured at 10.5 degrees?

 

Here's the thing. I'm thinking 11-11.5 degrees would be perfect. Anything over 12 would be too high. I wonder if they'd be able to guarantee me an 11-11.5 degree actual loft on a head stamped 10.5 degrees.

 

Yep, my 10.5* is stamped 9*. Based on the conversation I had with a couple of CSR's, they have just about every loft in the range. I think they'd have no problem getting you a 10.5* that actually played 11 or 11.5.

 

I'll call them first thing in the morning and then I'll post up what they say. I guess it might cost me an extra $20, but so be it. I'd rather know for sure than take a chance and end up with 12+ degrees of loft with a launch angle that's too high.

[e-man]

Just did a search and found this:

 

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/index.php?sh...al+loft+request

 

To quote one of the posters:

 

"Here is the reply I received from Ping on this topic.

 

 

You asked:

If I order a G10 Driver, and request a shaft length of 45", and wish to maintain a D3 swingweight, how do you adjust the head to arrive at the requested swingweight? Also, if I request a 10.5 Loft, will I receive a TRUE 10.5 Loft?

 

We replied:

We would use a slightly heavier head, use a slightly heavier tip weight and possibly put more giloo inside the head. As for the loft, if you order a 10.5 head, the loft will usually be around 11 to 11.5 degrees. If you want an actual loft of 10.5, you would need to have your authorized PING retailer request a digital loft of 10.5 (may use a 9 degree head to achieve this loft). Asking for a specific digital loft adds a MSRP of $8.50 to the cost of the driver."

 

So maybe I don't need to specify anything. According to Ping, if I order a 10.5 head, the loft will usually be between 11 and 11.5 degrees. Hmm . . .

[mantan]

Just did a search and found this:

 

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/index.php?sh...al+loft+request

 

To quote one of the posters:

 

"Here is the reply I received from Ping on this topic.

 

 

You asked:

If I order a G10 Driver, and request a shaft length of 45", and wish to maintain a D3 swingweight, how do you adjust the head to arrive at the requested swingweight? Also, if I request a 10.5 Loft, will I receive a TRUE 10.5 Loft?

 

We replied:

We would use a slightly heavier head, use a slightly heavier tip weight and possibly put more giloo inside the head. As for the loft, if you order a 10.5 head, the loft will usually be around 11 to 11.5 degrees. If you want an actual loft of 10.5, you would need to have your authorized PING retailer request a digital loft of 10.5 (may use a 9 degree head to achieve this loft). Asking for a specific digital loft adds a MSRP of $8.50 to the cost of the driver."

 

So maybe I don't need to specify anything. According to Ping, if I order a 10.5 head, the loft will usually be between 11 and 11.5 degrees. Hmm . . .

But for a few bucks wouldn't you want to be absolutely sure..... :good:

[e-man]

Of course. Better to be sure.

 

Here's the other thing that just occurred to me. I specified 45.25 inches and D3 swingweight (because the stock swingweight is D3). I was reading another post that talked about the fact that off-the-rack G10s can be anywhere between a D1 and a D3 swingweight. I specified D3 because I was under the impression that that was the stock swingweight, but if there are variances between the off-the-rack clubs and demos, again, I would have no idea what I was hitting in the simulator.

 

This shouldn't be this hard.

[mantan]

I always think of swingweight as a personal preference than a fitting parameter. (My own Holiday Inn express opinion!) After all, we all demo clubs with all sorts of swingweights and can hit them fine. You can get fit on a stock set of D0 Ping irons, but know that you'd want a different swingweight for clubs that were your gamers.

[e-man]

True. I've always played 45" drivers at D2 swingweight. The D3 Ping demos (assuming they were, in fact, D3) felt good to me, so I ordered it at D3.

 

I'll let you know what Ping says tomorrow.

[e-man]

Okay, I just talked to Ping.

 

They basically told me what I already knew, but here's a summary. If you order a 10.5 degree head, you will most likely get something in the range of 11-11.5, however, it's possible that you will get something as high as 12. They try to keep tolerances to within a degree, but 1.5 degrees is not unheard of. If you want something in the range of 11-11.5, you need to specify (for an upcharge of $8.50 -- which, honestly, in my opinion, although it's not much money, if you're going to the trouble of special ordering a club, this is something they should just toss in for no charge).

 

They told me that if I specify 11 degrees, I will definitely get a head stamped 10.5. They also said that if I specify anything less than 11 degrees, it will most likely be stamped 9 degrees. That tells me that the potential varation could be as high as 2 degrees, which means that a 10.5 head could be as high as 12.5.

 

I'm calling Golfsmith when they open this morning and asking them to revise the order to specify a digital loft of around 11.25 degrees. That should be fine.

[hardten]

Glad to see you got squared away. Reading thru these post along with responding reminded me of a very good friend of mine who I also play golf with. The guy is probably a 1 or 2 HC and has been for 25 years and he is 45. He is not the equipment nut I or many here are. I remember him playing a Callaway driver probably 10 years ago which back at the time had the terrible flimsy stock shaft and I couldn,t believe it was marked 11* on club. God knows what the real loft was. He usually playes a 9 or 9.5* driver. He couldn,t even remember were he got it.Anyway I never remember him missing a fairway with that damn thing. Actually he doesn,t miss many fairways with anything. I am really not making any point here but regarding driver lofts I always think back to that. If any point a lttle higher loft may not be a bad thing. Enjoy your new stick.

[bunkerbound]

This thread is making me a little nervouse- i order a 12* g10- which will be here today- Im hoping that I dont have a 460cc 3 wood on my hands.......

[hardten]

You have a charmed life if that is your biggest concern.Really don,t be worried,your driver will be fine. This G10 loft business is taking on a life of it's own. If you hit moon balls it will be the swing not the driver.

[e-man]

Just got back from Golfsmith. I hate to add fuel to the "loft" fire, but I did a complete about-face here.

 

On Saturday, and again today, I was hitting the 9 degree head with near perfect launch numbers for my swingspeed (95 mph): 13-15 degree launch angle, 2,800-3,200 spin, 235-240 total carry, 250-255 total distance. Just to be sure, I grabbed another 9 degree stiff off the rack and taped it up and hit it. Sure enough, same results.

 

While in the simulator, I called Ping, and they confirmed that virtually every 9 degree head they produce is actually 10 degrees. So, armed with that information, I custom ordered a G10, trimmed to 45.25, D3 swingweight maintained, and digitally lofted to exactly 10 degrees.

 

This is what fit me. Everyone has a different swing with different launch characteristics, so just take this for what it's worth (i.e., not a whole heck of a lot).

 

e