Are you Getting the Best from your Driver set up?
Drivers today come with adjustable shafts, movable weights and can have quite an influence on clubface alignment and how you deliver the club. Have you set your driver up to suit your tendencies?
If you have the help at the tip of your fingers, you may as well use it. The best players in the world have their clubs adjusted like you have never seen before to help take one side of the course out of play. Dustin Johnson is renowned for having loads of glue on the toe inside the crown of his driver to help slow the toe down and help prevent the clubface closing as quickly.
Shaft Length
A subject area which has created some traction in the past few years with Bryson adding a 48-inch driver to his bag, soon for the USGA to enforce a 46-inch limit. Drivers off the shelf now generally average around 45 inch which has crept up in length over the past 10 years. Why a longer shaft? Well, the main reason is to encourage a greater clubhead speed, but are you able to maintain a good quality strike with this increase in length? A centred strike will be far more beneficial to your driving distance and accuracy than 2mph added swing speed.
However, a longer shaft could be worth trying if you have a steep swing plane and could help reduce that left to right curvature. Having a shorter shaft can also be beneficial for those with flatter swing planes and struggles with the hooks as promotes a steeper swing plane.
Face Angle
We all have a natural shot shape but some more destructive than others. Are you aware that changing the setting on the hosel of your driver can change the face angle? If you take the loft down on your driver it will help launch the ball lower, but it may start the ball more right as it opens the face angle. Adding loft to your driver will hit it higher but will cause the ball to start more left as the face angle points more left when we add loft. As well as loft there is also option to change lie angle by setting it on more draw or fade bias setting. If you were to set your driver to +1 loft D you are going to increase the chance of closing the face.
Weight Distribution
What are all these weights doing on my driver? As briefly mentioned with DJ, changing the weight in the head can change the closing rate of the clubface. If you are to add weight to the heel of the club, it will help slow the heel down helping to close the clubface. Adding weight to the toe will help slow the toe down to help prevent the face closing at impact.
Shaft
Many golfers think the shaft is purely cosmetic but it can have huge influence on how you launch the ball and square the clubface. If the shaft is too stiff for you then it will make it much harder to square the face and launch will generally be lower and a softer shaft maybe more appropriate to help close the clubface earlier and improve launch. The opposite combination can also be helpful for the player who hits it high and more draw biased. Something a little stiffer and heavier could be a great option to help improve your flight.
As you can start to see here, we can start to create some biases to help complement your tendency. You may just find this helps you find a few more fairways…
If you would like a club fitting to check your current driver settings, please contact the Pro Shop to get booked in 023 9226 3388.
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