The reason there are so many drivers up for sale


Hi from San
Carlos,

Adjustable drivers
dominate the golf world.
Random testing of
adjustable drivers is a waste of time.
This article describes a
new, more precise method for fitting adjustable drivers.
Fitting for Angle of
Attack and Swing Path

Last week Bill* came in to
the Golf Lab for a Driver Fitting. He brought a driver that
he borrowed from a friend. He hit the driver well and could buy it for a song
but wondered if there was anything better.
Bill is 61 years old with
a good swing - grooved as a kid playing all summer for several summers. Then
he took forty years off to build a career and raise a family.
He is "coming back to
golf".
Fitting for Loft:
Determine Your Angle of Attack

There is no mystery in
driver fitting. A player makes his swing and propels the ball at a certain
speed, launch angle and spin rate.
There is no chance in the
laws of nature. At 61 and swinging driver at 95 MPH Bill can reach maximum
ball speed of 142 MPH if he makes solid contact. That gets him 235 yards at
optimal 17* launch angle. Very respectable.
Bill's borrowed driver
said 9.5* on the sole plate. If the optimal launch angle is 17* and the driver
loft is 9.5* there's a gap of 7.5*. A 9.5* driver does not get to 17* without
help.
For Bill to help his 9.5*
driver get to 17* he needs to hit up on the ball at a 7.5* angle. In golf
lingo, that's a "positive angle of attack".
The only players who come
close to a 7* upward angle of attack are Professional Long Drive
competitors.
Alas, most amateurs hit
down on the ball with their driver. Bill started the day with a level angle of
attack. He "just never thought about how to put the driver on the ball."
First step in a driver
fitting is to measure the player's own driver head for true loft and face
angle. I want a precise measurement. One degree matters.
Bill's 9.5* driver is
actually 12*. The face angle is 1* closed. That's probably your first
surprise. How could measured loft be so different from the number stamped on
the sole plate?
Second step in the driver
fitting: Bill hits his driver with the Flightscope radar launch monitor
looking on. We need to know launch angle and angle of attack. Not too bad.
He clobbered his drives 225 but with little control.
The 12* driver delivered a
14* launch angle. Bill practiced a 2* positive angle of attack - a good
players frequently make quick swing changes to achieve desired results. But
Bill was still 3* low on launch angle. Could we get another 10 yards with a
little more driver loft or continued adjustment of attack angle?
Alas, Bill was finished at
2* upward angle of attack. It is unrealistic for an amateur to expect a
positive angle of attack of more than 4*. Bill helped all he could.
Why not a 15*
driver?

Until now, most driver
fitting has focused on shafts. Finding the right shaft is important but
adjustable drivers makes matching the driver head to a player's swing just as
important.
A week never goes by a
player doesn't say "I hit my 3 wood as far as my driver. What's with
that?"
Now you know why. The
player who is above average with a 95 MPH swing speed needs a 17* launch angle
for maximum distance. He makes a free swing with his 3 wood from a tee with
15* of loft. He catches the ball slightly ahead of center so his launch angle
is 2* upward. Perfect 17* launch angle. The 3 wood matches driver distance.
And it looks better in the process.
Very few manufacturers
make 15* drivers. High loft drivers are very effective for seniors, women and
juniors. You can test one at the Golf Lab.

Fitting for Face Angle:
Determine Your Swing Path

The starting point is
desired ball flight.
Several years ago the
Stanford Women's golf team had excellent players who were "strong for their
size".
They needed all the
distance they could get. They wanted soft draws with maximum run
out.
They all developed nearly
perfect 4* inside-out swing paths.
That's a good starting
point for a player who wants similar results.
Matching Driver Face
Angle with Swing Path

The perfect driver face
angle for the Stanford women was 2* closed. Their goal was distance and they
didn't need fades.
By the "Nine Laws of Ball
Flight" a draw occurs when the swing path is inside out and the face angle is
closed to swing path but open to the target line. A 4* inside-out swing path
and 2* closed face angle produces a perfect draw.

The 2* closed face angle
put the face angle in the correct position at impact without manipulating the
club. That's the ultimate goal behind matching face angle to swing
path.
If the Stanford women were
stronger and needed fades to curl around doglegs, a square face angle would be
more versatile.
Players who prefer a baby
fade need an outside-in ("cut") swing. A 1* or 2* outside-in swing path is a
good model. That same 2* closed face angle risks a pull with an outside-in
swing path. It's hard to hit a soft fade with a closed face driver.

Players who want to play a
fade might find an open face angle driver to be just the ticket that allows
them to straighten out their swing path - promoting less sidespin for
straighter shots - and still get the fade from the open face angle.
And you always thought
that open face drivers were for hookers.
Now you know why true loft
and face angle are important fitting details.
How Do We Know True Loft
and Face Angle?

We measure.
Here's a picture of our
precision loft and face angle measurement gauge. It was once trusted on the
Callaway Tour Van to give their staff players accurate readings.




There is a video on
www.Devotedgolfer.TV that shows the current loft and lie gauge in the Callaway
Tour Van. It is a precision digital instrument that cost a small fortune. It
shows how much Callaway cares about precision measurement.

In the Callaway Tour Van -
and every other Tour Van - they measure the loft and face angle of every driver
head. No Tour Pro would waste his time hitting a driver that did not match his
specifications.
The first step in driver
fitting is to measure the loft and face angle of the driver you're testing.
There are very few precision measurement gauges in Northern California. If you
stop by the Golf Lab we'll measure your current driver no charge. Be prepared
for a surprise.
The Problem with
Adjustable Drivers

I favor Taylor Made for
custom fitting. The universal adapter for all TM models is the reason. Any
shaft with a Taylor Made adapter fits any Taylor Made driver. My personal
favorite is the R9 - (2009). I like the black color and the full
adjustability. Drivers that are three years old are just as "hot" as recent
models.

Players who own Taylor
Made drivers have access to over 200 shafts for testing from the Golf
Lab.
Don't trust the loft
number on the bottom of your R9. The average Taylor Made R9 driver that we
tested over the last several months is at least 2* off in measured
loft.
9.5* drivers average 11*.
10.5* drivers average 13* and 11.5* drivers average 15*.
We found no drivers that
measured less than stated loft. Random testing of other brands suggests that
all drivers measure higher than stated loft.
Depending on the model of
driver you're playing - there is a near certainty that the loft is at least 1*
more than you think and could be 3* or 4* more degrees than marked.
That's a risky reality if
you're trying to understand your swing.
Where Have We Seen This
Before?

When Eli Callaway made his
first deal to buy graphite shafts from Aldila - he demanded a
change.
Aldila changed all
"regular" shafts to "stiff". Eli was an astute marketer. He knew players
wouldn't buy the best flex for psychological reasons so he changed the
specifications.
Callaway's signature
method was copied by every other manufacturer.
The logical conclusion is
that the Big Manufacturers know that players can't be trusted to buy a driver
that really fits.
Is that what Taylor Made
is doing? Were the final instructions on the mega-million piece driver order
to "be sure to miss it high?"

Are All Drivers
Mis-Labeled?

Most driver manufacturers
are not bothered by 1* differences between stated loft and measured loft. To
be fair - 1* variance represents precision manufacturing. Even 2* or 3* is not
that far off considering that human hands touch each head as they are forged
and welded. A modern titanium driver head is a manufacturing miracle that took
fifteen years to master. But 2* or 3* variance can have a huge impact on how
effectively you transfer energy to the ball.
The simple fix is to
determine the optimal loft and face angle to match your swing and find a driver
head that matches those specifications. That's our main goal in a driver
fitting.
The only way to do that is
to first measure your driver with a precision gauge.

The Biggest Danger:
Wide Open Face Angles

One finding in our limited
sampling of Taylor Made drivers is that several measured extremely open. 4*
and 5* open were surprisingly common face angles at some positions. A driver
with a 5* open face angle is going to be unhittable for all but the most highly
skilled players.
If you would like to prove
that to yourself, we can set up a wide open test driver during your fitting so
you can know how hard it is to keep it on the planet.

Don't waste time trying to
figure out the specifications on your driver. It's simple to do. Get it
measured.
Next Steps:

I repeat our offer. Come
get your driver measured. Then let the Flightscope radar have a look at your
swing. Combining form and equipment is the best way to reach your own level of
Peak Performance. Complete driver fitting (includes shaft fitting):
$150.
Best Regards,
Leith Anderson and the
Golf Lab Gang

PS: What happened with
Bill*. Bill is a composite of players and personalities that frequent the Golf
Lab. The real Bill who the story was based on ended up testing the 15* driver
option. The original Cobra 12* driver (with 9.5* stamped on the bottom) kept
its place in the bag.