my opinion on the subject goes like this. I purchased and tested several drivers. Ping G425, TM SLDR, M3, M4, EPIC Max. Didn’t make one darn bit of difference at best I could “crank” one up to 205 Carry, 225 Total Distance. I finally broke down and had a pro Dx my swing, then I recorded my swing. My grip had become too weak, I was not rotating properly, I was taking the club WAY too far on the inside, I was lunging at the ball, my ball position was poor, the downswing was a complete mess and any stored energy was gone by “5pm”, I was no longer pushing into the ground with my legs, my launch angles were between 8* and 10* (you want like 13* and that’s where I’m at now)…I spent 3 months rebuilding a swing that I knew I had. In January my Swing Speed was around 85-87mph. I guess that’s what was supposed to be acceptable to 62 yo male. I am using an ADAMS 9088 UL 9.5 Stiff shaft Driver (I purchased on EBAY for $50 it was never used by the owner)…it’s 10 years old. On Saturday, my swing speed ranged from 96-100mph, Distance avg 252 with a long drive of 267. It’s not the club…maybe for tour guys equipment makes a difference…for us look at yourself first!
My goodness, the newest drivers feel insanely light. While picking up extensions and lead tape, I picked up a Ping 425 Max from the rack and took a few practice swings. Like swinging air compared to the 15 year old Titleist 905 I currently play. Of course, the Ping was 5-600 bucks, and the Titleist was 5 dollars at the annual “old rich ladies giving away their husbands’ stuff for charity” rummage sale. Plus, the Titleist mostly works.
My driver is a 2004 Lynx Predator Driver 380cc with 10.5 degs of loft and a stiff shaft. It cost me about $90 on ebay. I am worried that a new driver would be a waste of money. My swing speed would decrease due to the larger head and drag and cancel out any gains over the Lynx.
Your clubhead speed may decrease with a larger head, but unless you’re always hitting it dead center your ball speed may actually be less with the smaller head. The larger head is for forgiveness and not clubhead speed.
All hail Smash Factor…
With an optimally fitted shaft and MOI, I wouldn’t be surprised to find a golfer swinging a bigger, draggier head even faster than the smaller one. Assuming the smaller driver wasn’t as fitted to that golfer’s swing.
My best drive yesterday was on the 5th hole(my 17th as I played the holes out of order to get in front of a slow 3) an uphill tee shot and I carried the bunker on the inside of the dogleg at 214m and left me with 77m to the pin. Hit lots of other 200m drives.
Hey J, The ADAMS 9088 UL 9.5 weighs exactly 10.2 ounces I am currently using and I love it! My partner also loves using it, he hits the ball 10-15 yds longer with it. My smash factor ranges from a low end of 1.44 to a high end of 1.52. I am avg somewhere around 1.46-1.47 SF. Ball speed is like 133 to 138…It took a complete overhaul to get there. At 62…I’m still looking for a bit more if I can gain some flexibility, but 245-255 is pretty good! It is a 460cc Head and has a higher launch than I’m used to…but I really like it…for $50 I couldn’t go wrong. I wanted it 12 years ago but it was $400 back then!.
I stayed with smaller drivers for quite a while. When they went to 460cc I stuck with a KZG PFT 300. Finally went to 360 (Adams I think) then 380, 400 and 420 before caving in and going 450-460cc.
I have a TM Mini driver from a few years back that I still use. I hit the Mini just as far (at times) and sometimes farther (lower spin so it rolls out more), but my Epic Max LS is a LOT more forgiving.
Feels good, man. Feels good.
214m is about 235 yards. Which, when faced with similar carries, I ‘know’ I can do it, and yet often don’t. The often is turning to seldom though, so that’s good.
Best part of the game for me, is watching that little white ball get really small, really fast. And it’s so effortless when you do.
So, 133-138 Ball speed, high 1.4s for SF, and 250-ish carry, you sound like your driver/ball is dialed in about as well as it possibly can be. (Per Ping’s Driver launch optimization chart: https://ping.com/en-us/blogs/proving-grounds/optimal-launch-and-spin) Provided dispersion is good, of course.
Great job!
From the weekend. I had a couple duds 2. Those were the top 4
Thanks for all replies. Head and shaft agnostic fitting it is. Totally agree swing remains somewhat of a work in progress but with same swing I would pay a fair amount for an extra 10-15 yds. Dispersion / mishit forgiveness not quite so high on my list as driver a relative strength (compared to 8 ft putts FML !!)
you think, being 20 years old back then had anything to do with the distance ? 
Although, I had tried and owned a couple of newer drivers; can’t seem to kick the 2012 Adams Speedline Tech ( 8.5 degree) out of my golf bag.
Never compared them on L/M. What I did was a few rounds of drives at my favorite par-5. Each driver will enjoy a new sleeve of golf balls from a new box. There be no excuse of how I feel, nor the condition, at the time of testing.
Ping is one of the very few that works with other manufacturers shaft engineers to match heads/shafts for optimal performance. So if you can hit a Ping driver well then it might last you longer. Maybe.
You guys are so lucky these days, to have the adjustable hosel which could switch shafts in seconds.
Back in the days, we had to pull the shaft and epoxy the new one in and wait for the epoxy to cure. Quite a bit a hassle to test out another shaft.
What took us days if not weeks to find out which shaft would work for our swing, you can do it in less than an hour with launch monitor and inter-changeable shafts.
Yeah but the courses were only 5,000 yards!!
We have a few shorter golf courses here which are quite popular. Tighter fairways and smaller greens.
Still need to putt the golf ball into the cup, right? A low scoring round at any of the golf course is no easy feat.
The chase for “perfect” equipment is endless, as we all seek an easier solution as in life in general, especially with the younger generation, always looking for a “boxed” solution as the culture is that way.
Getting a new piece of equipment is much easier than hours of labor on the driving range.