Reshaft or Reclub...

[Executive]

Should I try a new shaft or just get a new club

Good morning everyone! Long time reader, first time poster.

To give you a little background... I used to play golf for my high school and was a decent player, usually shooting high 70s to mid 80s. Once graduated, I decided to join the army and hadn't touched another club in 8 years. Now that I am out I thought it would be fun to pick up golf again since I enjoyed it so much. I didn't have my own set anymore so I borrowed from friends and noticed so much has changed in 8 years. Diver heads now 460cc and irons being de-lofted to make you think you're a long baller, etc... For the life of me I just could get back into the groove of things and had to start over from scratch. So after many times of borrowing clubs I figured I should get my own, something that's built just for me. I go to a local fitter and start swinging on the launch monitor, collecting all kinds of data and found that I was having issues getting the ball "up". Basically throwing a bunch or worm burners... he then proceeds to show my numbers:

Swing Speed: 98 mph
Avg Driving Distance: 220 (total)

After a few different head and shaft combos we found something that worked well for me. He built me an Adams Speedline Fast 10 @ 10.5* and a Fujikura ZCom BW65. The difference was night and day! My new numbers:

Swing Speed: 103 mph
Avg Driving Distance: 256 (total)
Carry Distance: 244
Launch Angle: 13.8*
Spin Rate: 3500 (it wasn't exactly3.5k I just can't remember the exact number just that it above 3.5k and below 3.6k so somewhere in that range)

Now, fast forward to today. I have been working on getting my swing mechanics back and practicing like crazy for a year now and have found a groove that works for me. But now I don't have a problem with getting the ball into the air, now I am getting too much air. So much so that when the ball does hit ground it practically dies, if there is any roll it's not much. What should I do? Get a new shaft or try a new club? I would hate to rebuild a whole club again since this one is only a year old but if anyone else out there has been in my shoes, what did you do and did it work?

TLDR;
Getting back into golf after 8 year military duty. Played in high school so i am not a total newb. Had trouble with getting the ball airborne so I got fit and had one custom built. Now my mechanics are much better and this club is giving my too much air preventing additional roll. should I try a new shaft or new club?

[Stuart_G]

Since no one else has answered, I'll give it a shot.

I'd get some new numbers with the new swing. The big question is how much you want to bring it down? Changing the shaft can only do so much and I don't know that much about the shaft you're using now. My guess would be that you'll more than likely need a lower lofted head. What I'd recommend is to go try various combinations first though.

[DaveMac]

IMO your swing / launch conditions have changed significantly over the year. The characteristics of your current driver (high launch, high spin) are now hurting rather than helping.

I think it would be more cost effective for you to have another fitting and select a new driver. I anticipate you now need less loft and a more stable shaft to optimise your launch conditions.

The new driver does not need to be anything too exotic as long as you like the looks and you can find a shaft in the stock or custom options which suits your new swing. It might be worthwhile investing in an adjustable model which will allow scope for future improvement.

Once you are set up you can sell on the Fast 10 to help with the costs.

[Executive]

If it's best to get a new club built then that's what I will do. Looks like I need to go my buddy Bo for a new fitting afterall. Thanks for all the help guys. I will be sure to post my numbers once I get the proper data collected.

[Executive]

Ok, so I went to Bo, a master club maker here in the DFW area, and got my swing evaluation completed. Here are some of my new numbers:

Swing Speed- 105
[size="2"]Ball Speed- 141[/size]
[size="2"]Launch Angle- 18.9[/size]
[size="2"]Ball Spin- 3800k[/size]
[size="2"]Carry Distance- 234[/size]
[size="2"]Total Distance- 238[/size]
[size="2"]Deviation- 7.4R[/size]
[size="2"]PTR- 1.47[/size]

[size="2"]Obviously the launch and spin were high as I thought. Bo had me change the position of the ball a bit try and min/max the numbers and it did help. But after everything was said and done i was told that i am riding a line between stiff and extra stiff. Also, due to my head being 10.5* and a mid/high spin head is only hurting me. After a rather lengthy discussion of a few options, he suggested a course of action that sounded pretty good. Since I was able to over power the shaft a little he suggested that I tip it by 1/2 an inch to tighten it up and make it play stiffer but not quite x-stiff. And to change the head out to a lower lofted club that could combat spin too. Without further adieu, my new setup.[/size]

[size="2"]Shaft: Fujikura ZCom BW65 Tipped 1/2 an inch, playing at 44.75 inches.[/size]
[size="2"]Head: Adams 9064ls @ 9.5*[/size]
[size="2"]I have to say... This is one sick puppy![/size]

Swing Speed- 105-107
[size="2"]Ball Speed- 151-154[/size]
[size="2"]Launch Angle- 13.8-14.1[/size]
[size="2"]Ball Spin- 3100[/size]
[size="2"]Carry Distance- 254[/size]
[size="2"]Total Distance- 262[/size]
[size="2"]Deviation- 7.1R-8.4R[/size]
[size="2"]PTR- 1.49[/size]

[size="2"]I don't know if these are great numbers but all I can say is that I felt great about them.[/size]

[CWB]

Shop around, lots of 1-2 year old drivers for $150-$90. with great shafts
do some research
golfworks
http://www.golfworks.com/images/art/ShaftMPF.pdf

any retailers with demo days?

I'm curious of what clubs you used 10 years ago?

the mizuno launch monitor is fun, just do it a few times at different days.