Earlier in the year we tested the 16 different settings of the Titleist Surefit Hosel to see how much of a difference switching from one setting to the others makes.
First to note is the distances are lower then expected for a golfer with approximately 118 mph club head speed. This was due to the headwind. The headwind stayed relatively constant for the test. Also to note is the swing speed and club path of the golfer was quite consistent throughout the test. (Club Head Speed from 116.7 to 118, Path from -2.4 to -4.2) This shows a high level of consistency in the swing meaning the main changes in ball flight came from changing the settings on the driver.
However as a golfer reacts to ball flight, it would be expected the golfer would adjust the swing or club to get a desired ball flight. We tried to minimise this by limiting it to 6 shots with each setting giving the golfer less opportunity to react to the ball flight.
We can see from the above table that there's quite a bit of variance in the settings. The best carry and total was 259.9 and 272.5 yards from the D2 setting, the worst 235.9 and 243.5 yards from the C4 setting. In general the golfer gained more distance with the lower lofted settings D2, A1, A2, B1, B2 and lost distance with the higher lofted settings C4, A3, A4, B3, B4, D4.
A couple of anomalies appeared here in the D3 Setting (+1.5 upright, +0.75 loft), giving more distance then expected. And C1 (-0.75 Fl, -0.75 loft) giving less distance then expected.
Interestingly the lie angle settings which control curvature didn't seem to have much impact on the finishing position of the ball. We would expect more upright settings to move the ball more right to left and promote the ball to finish left and flatter settings to move the ball left to right and promote it to finish right. But some upright settings D3, A2, C3 had the ball finishing right on average and some flat settings B4 had the ball finishing left.
The least accurate setting was B4 (-0.75 flat, +1.5 loft) with the average being 60.5 feet left and the most accurate was C3 (+0.75 Upright, +0.75 loft) with the average being 6.1 feet right.
The hosel allows for independent setting of loft and lie for woods and hybrids.
The settings run from A1 to D4 with the above chart explaining what each setting does. We took a Titleist 913D3 driver with 8.5 degrees of loft fitted with a Graphite Design Tour Ad Di7 S-flex shaft and hit 6 shots with each setting. The Titleist Pro V1 golf ball was used and tee height was kept constant for each shot. We recorded the results on a Trackman Launch Monitor.
The main parameters of interest were Carry, Total Distance, Launch Angle, Spin Rate, Direction and Height. Swing Speed and Club Path were recorded to see how consistent the swings were.
Conditions were cool enough around 13 degrees with a breeze of 10-15mph against. The results of the test are below.
Setting
|
Club Speed
|
Ball Speed
|
Carry
|
Total
|
Side
|
Launch Angle
|
Spin Rate
|
Club Path
|
Height
|
|
A1
|
Standard
|
116.7
|
168.1
|
252.1
|
264.9
|
11.5L
|
9.3
|
2947
|
-2.4
|
108.1
|
A2
|
+1.5 Up
|
117.1
|
169.4
|
250.7
|
259.6
|
7.2R
|
9.7
|
3001
|
-3.2
|
122.5
|
A3
|
+1.5 Up +1.5 Loft
|
116.8
|
167.7
|
241.3
|
247.5
|
9.3L
|
11.2
|
3333
|
-2.5
|
143.9
|
A4
|
+1.5 Loft
|
117.5
|
168.4
|
243.4
|
249.0
|
15.3L
|
11.4
|
3569
|
-3.6
|
145.5
|
B1
|
-0.75 Fl
|
117.9
|
170.2
|
258.3
|
271.0
|
12.5L
|
10.0
|
2879
|
-4.1
|
114.5
|
B2
|
+0.75 Up
|
117.6
|
167.7
|
253.8
|
266.3
|
5.8L
|
10.5
|
2980
|
-3.4
|
118.5
|
B3
|
+0.75 Up +1.5 Loft
|
117.7
|
168.7
|
244.1
|
250.5
|
50.0L
|
11.0
|
3357
|
-2.8
|
143.3
|
B4
|
-0.75 Fl +1.5 Loft
|
117.9
|
168.9
|
244.7
|
251.3
|
60.5L
|
11.8
|
3301
|
-3.4
|
149.0
|
C1
|
-0.75 Fl -.75 Loft
|
118.0
|
169.7
|
244.9
|
253.2
|
22.5L
|
10.2
|
3199
|
-3.3
|
130.3
|
C2
|
+0.75Up -.75 Loft
|
117.6
|
170.5
|
255.3
|
266.6
|
21.8L
|
10.2
|
2922
|
-3.9
|
121.2
|
C3
|
+0.75 Up +.75 Loft
|
117.5
|
169.4
|
245.2
|
252.5
|
4.1R
|
10.7
|
3473
|
-3.5
|
138.9
|
C4
|
-0.75 Fl +.75 Loft
|
117.6
|
165.8
|
235.9
|
243.5
|
7.3L
|
12.1
|
3179
|
-2.6
|
141.8
|
D1
|
-.75 Loft
|
117.8
|
169.1
|
252.4
|
264.8
|
19.2L
|
9.7
|
3163
|
-3.9
|
121.9
|
D2
|
+1.5 Up -.75 Loft
|
117.9
|
170.4
|
259.9
|
272.5
|
46.4L
|
8.2
|
3197
|
-3.9
|
105.5
|
D3
|
+1.5 Up +.75 Loft
|
117.7
|
168.9
|
254.8
|
265.5
|
16.6R
|
9.7
|
3308
|
-3.9
|
127.6
|
D4
|
+.75 Loft
|
118.0
|
168.6
|
238.4
|
249.3
|
42.2L
|
8.5
|
3483
|
-4.2
|
116.4
|
Analysis
First to note is the distances are lower then expected for a golfer with approximately 118 mph club head speed. This was due to the headwind. The headwind stayed relatively constant for the test. Also to note is the swing speed and club path of the golfer was quite consistent throughout the test. (Club Head Speed from 116.7 to 118, Path from -2.4 to -4.2) This shows a high level of consistency in the swing meaning the main changes in ball flight came from changing the settings on the driver.
However as a golfer reacts to ball flight, it would be expected the golfer would adjust the swing or club to get a desired ball flight. We tried to minimise this by limiting it to 6 shots with each setting giving the golfer less opportunity to react to the ball flight.
We can see from the above table that there's quite a bit of variance in the settings. The best carry and total was 259.9 and 272.5 yards from the D2 setting, the worst 235.9 and 243.5 yards from the C4 setting. In general the golfer gained more distance with the lower lofted settings D2, A1, A2, B1, B2 and lost distance with the higher lofted settings C4, A3, A4, B3, B4, D4.
A couple of anomalies appeared here in the D3 Setting (+1.5 upright, +0.75 loft), giving more distance then expected. And C1 (-0.75 Fl, -0.75 loft) giving less distance then expected.
Interestingly the lie angle settings which control curvature didn't seem to have much impact on the finishing position of the ball. We would expect more upright settings to move the ball more right to left and promote the ball to finish left and flatter settings to move the ball left to right and promote it to finish right. But some upright settings D3, A2, C3 had the ball finishing right on average and some flat settings B4 had the ball finishing left.
The least accurate setting was B4 (-0.75 flat, +1.5 loft) with the average being 60.5 feet left and the most accurate was C3 (+0.75 Upright, +0.75 loft) with the average being 6.1 feet right.
Conclusion
Changing the settings does make a difference, particularly when it comes to distance. For this golfer there was nearly 30 yards difference in length between the best and worst settings. If you have a Titleist driver it would be well worth experimenting with the settings to find the best one for you.
Comments and questions are appreciated.
