Putting The Right Golf Driver In Your Hands (Video) - by Pete Styles
Putting The Right Golf Driver In Your Hands (Video) - by Pete Styles

So if you're looking to hit the ball the longest straightest you ever have done, one of the things that most golfers would look at is the driver. If they're struggling to hit the ball well they're going to look at improving their driver. And even if they are hitting the ball well, but they see an advert in a magazine for a new driver that goes ten yards further than last year's driver they're probably going to look for a new driver as well. It’s a kind of thing that golfers are always chasing those extra few yards. But one of the first sort of watchwords and words of caution here is don't believe the hype too much. If every time I'd seen a new driver goes ten yards further than last year's driver, then we'd all be hitting the ball five hundred yards by now.

The gains that manufacturers are now making over last year's driver, the next year's driver whatever it might be are marginal at best. I recently changed my driver. I’d had a driver for four to five seasons, changed it and I didn't even gain a yard in total distance. What I gained was a little bit more consistency, but that gain was a slightly more preferable ball flight. But I didn't actually gain anything over five or six years of new technology. So don't expect massive gains unless the driver you're currently using is not fitted for you. And that's where I see most people could see a slight difference in their driver is actually getting one that's more suitable and fitted for them. And really the process that you should go through to get the new driver is to have a professional fitting session. We now have these amazing things called launch monitors which means we stick the launch monitor behind the golfer. The golfer goes ahead and whacks ten, fifteen or so balls. We run a little program on the launch monitor that then tells us what the driver should be doing to help the golfer improve. So do we need more or less loft? Do we need a softer or firmer shaft? Can we make any changes to the swing, the tee peg height, the strike location to get the maximum out of the golf club for that given golfer. We can then make an adjustment to the golf club. You know a lot of the drivers now have adjustable heads, so we can unscrew the head and rescrew a new head back on, unscrew the head, stick a different shaft back on or even change to a different manufacturer, put a different club in someone's hands and hopefully see how the club change has given them more distance. So one thing I'd consider when you're looking at clubs is don't go in with too much of a closed mind of I'm only looking at that brand because my favorite golfer endorses that brand. Go in there with an open mind. And try out four or five different types. Work on yes the club that goes the furthest and goes the straightest, but also a club that feels good. If there's two clubs that both go roughly the same distance with the same degree of accuracy, but one looks nicer or feels nicer in your hands, one gives you a bit more confidence that’s the club I would be taking. Confidence in the way a club feels when you set it down in front of you is a massive part of this and it's a very personal preference. I can't tell you that that's the club for you, that one will go the nicest. You might look down on it and say well it's got a white head on it. I don't really like the white head. Or it’s got a pink head on it like Bubba Watson. I couldn’t possibly play with that one. Clearly it's unrealistic for me to say no, you’ve got to have that. That’s going to be the best for you because you are not going to be comfortable and happy taking that club out of the bag. So it's a mixture of the feel, the flight, the fit and how far the ball goes. So go and get yourself professionally fitted if you're in the market for a new driver, and see how the new drivers can add distance to your game. 2016-08-25

So if you're looking to hit the ball the longest straightest you ever have done, one of the things that most golfers would look at is the driver. If they're struggling to hit the ball well they're going to look at improving their driver. And even if they are hitting the ball well, but they see an advert in a magazine for a new driver that goes ten yards further than last year's driver they're probably going to look for a new driver as well. It’s a kind of thing that golfers are always chasing those extra few yards. But one of the first sort of watchwords and words of caution here is don't believe the hype too much. If every time I'd seen a new driver goes ten yards further than last year's driver, then we'd all be hitting the ball five hundred yards by now.

The gains that manufacturers are now making over last year's driver, the next year's driver whatever it might be are marginal at best. I recently changed my driver. I’d had a driver for four to five seasons, changed it and I didn't even gain a yard in total distance. What I gained was a little bit more consistency, but that gain was a slightly more preferable ball flight. But I didn't actually gain anything over five or six years of new technology. So don't expect massive gains unless the driver you're currently using is not fitted for you. And that's where I see most people could see a slight difference in their driver is actually getting one that's more suitable and fitted for them.

And really the process that you should go through to get the new driver is to have a professional fitting session. We now have these amazing things called launch monitors which means we stick the launch monitor behind the golfer. The golfer goes ahead and whacks ten, fifteen or so balls. We run a little program on the launch monitor that then tells us what the driver should be doing to help the golfer improve. So do we need more or less loft? Do we need a softer or firmer shaft? Can we make any changes to the swing, the tee peg height, the strike location to get the maximum out of the golf club for that given golfer.

We can then make an adjustment to the golf club. You know a lot of the drivers now have adjustable heads, so we can unscrew the head and rescrew a new head back on, unscrew the head, stick a different shaft back on or even change to a different manufacturer, put a different club in someone's hands and hopefully see how the club change has given them more distance. So one thing I'd consider when you're looking at clubs is don't go in with too much of a closed mind of I'm only looking at that brand because my favorite golfer endorses that brand. Go in there with an open mind. And try out four or five different types. Work on yes the club that goes the furthest and goes the straightest, but also a club that feels good.

If there's two clubs that both go roughly the same distance with the same degree of accuracy, but one looks nicer or feels nicer in your hands, one gives you a bit more confidence that’s the club I would be taking. Confidence in the way a club feels when you set it down in front of you is a massive part of this and it's a very personal preference. I can't tell you that that's the club for you, that one will go the nicest. You might look down on it and say well it's got a white head on it. I don't really like the white head. Or it’s got a pink head on it like Bubba Watson. I couldn’t possibly play with that one. Clearly it's unrealistic for me to say no, you’ve got to have that.

That’s going to be the best for you because you are not going to be comfortable and happy taking that club out of the bag. So it's a mixture of the feel, the flight, the fit and how far the ball goes. So go and get yourself professionally fitted if you're in the market for a new driver, and see how the new drivers can add distance to your game.