New Driver!!

tripper

I want to get a new driver but dont have a clue what to get and have 100-200 to spend( first or second hand). To give you an idea i can drive the ball 300 yards in the driving range (maybe more) but really want to improve on that as the driver i have now is just half decent. I will be buying in McGuirks or Golf Works

Cheers

swingking

One of the main things that youy have to be careful of is the new rule brought in from the R&A which states that certain drivers aren't allowed in club competitions in 2008; which really means that it will be illegal to play with some drivers and not illegal to play with others

The best driver I can reccommend is the Ping G2 driver which sells for 300 Eur. There is no better driver! It is forgiving and long; most important, it's conforming to the rules.

milltown

Golf Works have a special (how special I don't know, I don't frequent many golf shops) on the Wilson Deep Red drivers at the moment for €175 in a range of lofts. This one caught my eye 'cos I laugh at the silly money some people pay for drivers but a mate had one a few years ago. At the time I was really struggling to get any distance or direction on my drives and had a few goes of his driver. Let's just say it was the first time I ever thought a big money club might actually be worth it.

TheDoc

I have to say after hitting the G2 alot I dont find it as good as the Taylormade series. I'm currently hitting a TM 540 and I get so much more from it then a g2.

If I was you look into a TM 500 series that conforms, its a good weighted club that performs well, or get a G2 but from what i see its a very sporatic club that doesnt suit everyone unlike a TM.

mahrki

If you're hitting 300yards at the range then I don't think you need to change your driver. That's longer than the average drive on both the pga and european tour. How is your shot dispersion? Are you hitting the fairway most of the time? If you are then you don't need to change....If you really want to change, check out www.rankmark.com, it rates a range of different clubs. or alternatively get fitted at a proshop

BrianD3

I have been hitting a Nike NDS driver recently. I like the feel of it and am hitting it a bit longer and straighter than my 10 year old Great Big Bertha.

300+ yards on a driving range is very good hitting. I can hit the ball 300+ yards but I find myself a bit shorter on ranges due I think to the crappy one piece range balls.

copacetic

yeah, 300+ yards on the range indicates you should go pro, the balls go 15-20% less than normal balls which would mean you are hitting the ball 345+ on the course which is longer than 100% of tour pros!!!

okden

i saw a pro at the range once, hes known as a big hitter on irish tour tho a little loose off the tee, he never reached 300 with range balls.
i smell fibs

a word of warning to anyone looking for recomendations on a new driver:

the more someone exagerates how far they can hit a driver the more the new driver will slice AND go shorter than the driver they already have.
it would be like trying to shoot a bow and arrow and not having the strength to pull it back 1/2 way.

swingking

The best I have ever reached with a range ball is about 250 yards. How is that guy able to hit over 300 yards with a range ball. A test was done recently and it was found that people over estimate their drives by at least 50 yards. I think it was done by Frank Thomas; the equipment guru on the golf channel.

TheDoc

erm to be honest this guy was just pure bull****ting 300 yards is there for show. Range balls are one piece and have **** all flight. Waked into this one buddy.

okden

i seem to notice the dif between on the range and on the course is much bigger as you move towards the driver,
so i might be longer on the course by somthing like 10% with my 9 iron, 15% with my 3 iron, 20% with my driver. has anyone else noticed this, it sure would help my practice to know if this is normal.

tripper

Belive what you want celbridge driving range im there every night after sevenand can hit past the soccar nets

swingking

I'm not making any accusations but what I have found is that the yardage markers in Celbridge are stating that the ball goes further than what the balls actually do. I have seen guys who hit past the 200 yard marker with their 6 or 7 irons. Quite amazing if you ask me

okden

i remember once asking a pro who worked at one of the ranges were the yardages accurate , he said "not even close"
i only use them as targets since then, i just ignore the numbers on them.

swingking

The only driving range that I know is accurate is Spawell Driving Range in Templeogue. I got a loan of a laser yardage machine and I thoroughly check every yardage and they were all correct which I must admit I was very suprised.

tripper

well driving to the end of the range is far anyway

swingking

As a matter or interest Tripper, what driving range were you driving to the end of?

mahrki

regardless of whether you are hitting your driver 300 yards or not, and i for one believe you, cos i'm good like that :rolleyes:
Why change drivers? Is it not going straight? Why else would you want to change?
Remember it's the indian not the arrows (or bow, more correctly, i guess)
If it's not going straight, is it consistently right or left? with your obvious power you might need a stiffer shaft to keep your shots straight-ish

What are you currently using? What flex and/or shaft is in your driver?
Would you just prefer to be holding a Titleist/Taylor Made?

If you're not worried about namebrand recognition, try www.midasgolf.co.uk for an SMT 455 with GRAFALLOY PROLITE 35 or ELITE shaft for about £110 (about €160) or even http://www.integragolf.co.uk/products.php?productId=262 for an Integra graphite composite driver with UST proforce shaft for £69.
Both good value imo.

And I think Mcguirks has Big Berthas for under €200, or nickents with Aldila NVS shaft for €160ish for instant gratification. Both good too.

TheDoc

integra if im not mistaken as a copy brand who copy taylor made drivers. AKA a ****ty company with no originality stealing other designs. I wouldnt give a cent to a copy company.

You can buy genuine real products on ebay for nothing liek the Titleist 975 jvs driver i got for 50 euro.

mahrki

How many companies do carbon composite drivers now The Doc? There's the Callaway ERC, cleveland comp, cobra, the MP001 to name a few. Which of these was the original design, if any? How many companies now have adjustable weights in drivers?

Are they all "a ****ty company with no originality stealing other designs".

The cobra baffler dates to the 70's, does this make the TM rescue, and all other rescue clubs copies too then?

The same holds true of the idea of a mixed set of cavity back and blades/musclebacks, John Letters did that maybe 20 years ago, what does that make the nike/macgregor/maxfli revs? Copies as well?

If they are making fake clubs, they that is wrong, but similar/copy clubs, I have no problem with.

Again if you have a preference for Titleist, thats fine, but understand that there are very few original ideas out there, and good original ideas are patented to protect them, and if other companies infringe on those patents they'll be sued. Golf companies seemed to be more occupied with fakes than copycats at the moment

mahrki

And integra were making clubs for the long drive world championships as early as 2000(and winning), they are probably a bit better than just copying TM, they were potentially making better clubheads than TM only a few years ago. around that time, they were one of the first companies to use a 400cc clubhead (along with other long drive speciality companies of that era such as Bang, Alpha, and SMT), so if you wanted to be awkward, you could argue that all major companies have since copied them.

TheDoc

Last I heard integra were in a legal battle with taylormade along with other companies over the design stealing idea.

And yes many ideas are stolen. When something original comes along they are copied. The weighted drivers, the momentus swing trainer and shortgame wizard know has 6 other copies. The knife has 2 other copies. The amount of 2 ball copies and fakes.

I'm sorry I'd prefer to buy off the original. And I CAN talk becasue i took the integra and the r& TM out for a test spin. A golfing club member siad the integra was jsut as good, so i took his driver and my mates r7. The test in my opinion was so lobsided, the TM version smashed the integra
Integra lacked feel, didnt feel good on impact and had a horrible dodgy sound and didnt go as far as the R7 and the weights didnt seem to make that much difference.

And the R7 is down enough in price now anyway, specially on ebay. Also many integra models are banned so....