'Thee' club

[Chieflongtee]

Year after year you hear and read claims about new clubs hittting it farther than the competitors' model. Component and OEM alike. Geek and SMT have gorillas at the other end of the stick. Nike claims that their new STR8 hits it farther than the R9.
On top of that you have the low spin launch angle claim.
We all want to hit further and straighter. Is there really any truth to their claim?
Can a club really hit it further than the other? By how many yards?

[fundonny]

I can say that to me it appears I hit the Burner driver longer then then my old 425. 5 to 10 yards I'd say. But I don't have any stats to back that up.

[Chieflongtee]

Did you change your swing? Were the lofts on both clubs exactly alike? Was one club lighter/longer than the other?

[fundonny]

Yes, swing has changed, loft stayed the same but the shaft is a different weight and flex.

[Marcos]

Used to play a reg.R5 driver 10.5 for the past few years and could not hit it over 200 yrds.This year I got a R5 TP model 10.5 with reg. Diamana shaft 83gr.I now hit this 15 to 20 yrds consistantly longer.I have to say that i have 20 gr.of weights in the head and this shft is heavier for sure than most shafts.To me its the weight.It feels more like a 3 wood and i can actually feel the head of the club going faster through the ball than all my other drivers.Not sure if the TP head adds any extra yards,and my launch seems about the same as my other drivers.Enjoying this club very much so.Glad I did not sell it at the beguining of the year when it was cold and i did not see any diff.

[Bravesox]

I used to have the 09 Burner 9.5* Stiff and sold it to get the R9TP (418cc) 8.5*X-stiff. The good guys at GT in the NE Calgary let me hit my R9 compared to one of their 09 Burner 9.5*stiff...dont forget before i say this that 1-9.5* compared to 8.5* and 2- Stiff compared to an Xstiff....now that i have gotten used to the R9 the numbers were close but the stiffness and less loft were most likely the difference...400 less rpms on spin, ballspeed was 4 to 5 mph faster with the r9 and yardage was roughly 9 to 12 yards more on the same/simular launch angles. BUT i for one dont beleive these numbers are accurate...but consistant numbers is all i was looking for, for comparing the 2. I have no doubt the 09 Burner would be as good if not better with the same shaft/loft. and it is also more forgiving...i threw an R9 460 9.5 stiff on there and you would not belive it but it wasnt even close to the 09 Burner but the numbers were the same almost the whole way across the face.

[jvincent]

For clubs of the same measured loft on the same shaft perfectly struck, there will be no statistically significant difference between any clubs from the last 4-5 years.

Where the differences will start to show up is on off-center hits since off center performance can be heavily influenced by the face/head design.

In my case, I will never switch from Wishon drivers because of the GRT face. For someone who misses low on the face, which I tend to do more than any other miss, there is no better technology.

[Chambokl]

Nike claims that their new STR8 hits it farther than the R9

I think it says it all right there. You always try to beat the best!!

[Kona Golf]

I can say that to me it appears I hit the Burner driver longer then then my old 425. 5 to 10 yards I'd say. But I don't have any stats to back that up.

Not sure about now but the burner was originally released at 46" long. Extra length adds extra yards!

[sharkhark]

i own the burner 09 version and must admit i hit it longer than others in past, but i am also a bit scattered in pattern, more than other drivers in past, as i am known as short but accurate. likely due the silly length of the club, it is 46.25....i find it a bit hard to control at times.
i must admit i hate the nike str8 or whatever its called, for looks, but at the TO demo day i hit it into a net and could tell it was silly easy to hit nice shots, my buddy had equal dislike of looks and equal impressed reaction to the impact feel.
may have been into a net but any decent golfer can tell a good from a bad impact and swing and the nike gave many very excellent impact impressions.

[Section Thirty One]

i own the burner 09 version and must admit i hit it longer than others in past, but i am also a bit scattered in pattern, more than other drivers in past, as i am known as short but accurate. likely due the silly length of the club, it is 46.25....i find it a bit hard to control at times.
i must admit i hate the nike str8 or whatever its called, for looks, but at the TO demo day i hit it into a net and could tell it was silly easy to hit nice shots, my buddy had equal dislike of looks and equal impressed reaction to the impact feel.
may have been into a net but any decent golfer can tell a good from a bad impact and swing and the nike gave many very excellent impact impressions.

I found the same thing with the Burner... hit it very high and very long, but was erratic due to the extra shaft length. (I currently play a Titleist 907D2 @ 45" vs. Burner @ 46.25")

As for the Nike, I hit one at our clubs demo day and with an NV was probably the nicest driver i've tested. It wasn't necessarily much longer than the D2, but it was scarily consistent.