2005 Driver Vs 2013 Driver

A valid question is how much better is today's equipment in comparison to equipment from a few years ago? Equipment companies are always promising more distance e.g. 17 more yards and release new drivers every year or every second year.

I used a Titleist 905S for a number of years. It was launched in 2004 and I used it until 2008 when I changed to a Titleist 909D3. I am now currently playing with a Titleist 913D3 launched in 2012. How much different is the 913D3 in comparison to the 905S?

Recently I compared both using a Trackman Launch Monitor.

I hit 30 drives with each club. The ball that was used was the Titleist Pro V1. It was a nice September's day, temperatures around 16 degrees Celsius and a slight breeze (around 7mph) against.

Here are the results.

Club	Clubhead Speed(mph)	Ball Speed	Launch Angle	Spin Rate	Carry (yards)	Total Distance	Height (feet)	Distance from target (ft)
913D3	104.8	155	9.5	2577	238.2	261.4	79.9	26
905S	102.5	153.2	10.8	2523	238	260.6	83.6	41

The specifications of each club are as follows

Titleist 913D3 - loft 9.5 degrees, shaft Graphite Design Tour AD Di-7 S-Flex, length 45 inches, Shaft Frequency - 254 cpm, Total Weight - 325.2 grams, Swingweight - D2, head size 440 cc

Titleist 905S - loft 9.5 degrees, shaft Mitsubishi Diamana Blue 73 X-Flex, length 44 inches, Shaft Frequency - 277 cpm, Total Weight - 331 grams, Swingweight - D1, head size 400 cc

The results are interesting. Carry and total distance are down due to the wind being against.

There was only 0.8 yards extra distance with the latest 913D3 model, but was much more accurate, an average of 15 feet closer. Most interesting is the extra club head speed with the 913 doesn't transfer to much more distance than the 905. There is 2.3 mph club head speed on average which should lead to around 5-6 more yards but only gives 0.8. Also would expect the extra club head speed to give more ball speed but it only gives 1.8 mph extra ball speed.

A reason behind the increased club head speed of the 913 might be the longer shaft 45 inches as opposed to 44 inches, 1 mph might be expected increase in speed, also the 913 is lighter 325.2 grams compared to 331 grams this 2% decrease in weight might allow the 913 to be swung faster.

A reason behind the little difference in distance might be the shorter shaft of the 905 leading to a better strike giving more distance, it might also be expected to get more accuracy with the shorter shaft but not on this occasion. A reason behind this might be the stiffer flex in the shaft of the 905 leading to shots leaking further to the right. Also the launch angle on the 905 is better than the 913 leading to a more optimal flight and longer distance from the lesser speed.

Conclusion

There wasn't a great difference between the two drivers. It could be suggested that as there is a limit on the COR (coefficient of restitution) or springlike effect on drivers that most clubs manufactured since the limit was introduced are near this limit and are very similar in performance. 

If you have a driver that fits your game well, gives you a centered strike along with optimal launch conditions it's very unlikely that there's a new driver out there that will give you significantly more distance.

The key is to have a driver fitted to your game. In this example the 913 could gain more distance with better launch conditions. The 905 could gain more distance with a longer shaft or a slight decrease in club weight. 

I would recommend you spend time finding a driver that fits your game and you feel comfortable with. This doesn't have to be the latest model, in fact any model from the last number of years could work exceptionally well. As second hand drivers are great value this means you don't have to spend a fortune on a new driver to get more distance, spend the money on getting good advice, this will save you in the long term.

If you have any questions, please comment.

Seaside Golf - John Betjeman

With The Open Championship on this week, here's an appreciation of links golf by the great poet John Betjeman.

Seaside Golf

John Betjeman

How straight it flew, how long it flew,
It clear'd the rutty track
And soaring, disappeared from view
Beyond the bunker's back -
A glorious, sailing, bounding drive
That made me glad I was alive.

And down the fairway, far along
It glowed a lonely white;
I played an iron sure and strong
And clipp'd it out of sight,
And spite of grassy banks between
I knew I'd find it on the green.

And so I did. It lay content
Two paces from the pin;
A steady putt and then it went
Oh, most surely in.
The very turf rejoiced to see
That quite unprecedented three.

Ah! Seaweed smells from sandy caves
And thyme and mist in whiffs,
In-coming tide, Atlantic waves
Slapping the sunny cliffs,
Lark song and sea sounds in the air
And splendour, splendour everywhere.  

Seaside Golf at Doonbeg, Ireland.

It's All About the Shaft?

It's quite common to hear that a good club is all about the shaft. Once you get the shaft right you don't really need to worry much about the head. Recently I decided to put this to the test. I took three Callaway heads, Razr Fit Xtreme, X Hot Pro and X Hot and hit some drives with the same Grafalloy Pro Launch Red shaft in each head.

X-Hot, X-Hot Pro, Razr Fit Xtreme

X-Hot, X-Hot Pro, Razr Fit Xtreme

Grafalloy Pro Launch Red

I hit 12 balls, Pro V1 2011 model, with each driver and recorded the results on a Trackman 111 launch monitor. It was a calm summer's evening with no wind to speak of and temperatures around 20 degrees C. The club and ball numbers that are of interest are Club head speed, ball speed, carry, total distance, distance from target line, launch angle, spin rate, height, club path, face to path.

Club Specifications

The specifications of each club were as follows

Club	Length	Loft	Flex(cpm)	Head weight(g)	Swing Weight
X-Hot	45.875	9.5	258	187.5	D2
X-Hot Pro	45.875	9.5	256	188.6	D3
Razr Fit Xtreme	45.875	9.5	252	194.7	D6

Note, the X Hot driver was the 10.5 degree model but the Opti Fit hosel was set to O to bring the loft to 9.5 degrees.

It can be seen that the head makes a difference to the shaft. The exact same shaft was fitted in each club but the clubs come out with different flexes. The heavier heads Razr Fit and X Hot Pro make the shaft flex a little softer than the X Hot, 6 cpms difference between Razr Fit and X Hot which is the equivalent of half a flex.

Results

Club	Club Speed	Ball Speed	Launch Angle	Carry	Total Distance	Spin Rate	Distance from Target Line	Height	Club Path	Face to Path
X Hot	107.6	155.9	8.3	242.1	265.8	2827	67.1	73.3	1.6	-4.7
X Hot Pro	105.7	153.4	11.4	242.3	265.5	2393	28.97	84.6	-1.4	0.4
Razr Fit	104.7	152.9	10.9	242	260.8	2818	32.89	86.5	-1.4	0.3

 
We can see different results with each of the heads.

The main similarity is the carries were all around 242 yards on average.

Noteworthy is the extra speed with the X Hot which is slightly lighter than the others leading to the extra club speed. The face to path is 4.7 degrees to the left, again this is not surprising as the X Hot has a weight bias in the heel to promote a right to left trajectory. All the shots with the X Hot went left and averaged 67.1 feet left of target. It had a lower than expected average height, 73.3 feet, this was due to the low hooking flight caused by the heel weight bias.

The X Hot Pro has a club head weighting designed to lower spin and promote a left to right flight. We can see from the results the spin is the lowest. The dispersion of the shots were mainly to the right of the target going from 19 feet left to 74.5 feet right with only two shots to the left of the target. Very different to the X Hot, where all shots were to the left. Also the total distance from the X Hot Pro is almost identical to the X Hot, 265.5 to 265.8, despite the higher ball speed from the X Hot. The X Hot Pro's lower spin (2393) encourages more roll.

The Razr Fit Xtreme created much more neutral results then the other two drivers with equal number of drives missing right and left of the target from 59.7 left to 64.6 right averaging 32.89 feet from target. It also had more drives (4) within 10 feet of the target. Ball and club speed are down due to the slightly heavier head reducing speed. It still produced a good carry but overall distance was down due to slightly higher spin rates producing a higher landing angle and less run.

Conclusion

We can see different heads produce different results. Different heads can even alter the playing characteristic of a shaft. For the 3 Callaway heads, the X-Hot gives higher balls speed while also promoting a right to left flight. The X Hot Pro gives high ball speeds, more penetrating flights while also promoting a left to right flight. The Razr Fit Xtreme gives more adjustability in the head and excellent accuracy with good ball speeds.

So not only is the shaft important, the head and head design is just as important. Next time you hear, 'It's all about the shaft', what they should say is it's all about the complete club with neither the head nor the shaft being more important than the other. So if you like the feel of a shaft you should still try it in a few heads to see how they perform with it. Try before you buy!! Even better get fitted before you buy!!

Any questions or comments are welcome.