112 replies to this topic

[flyinjoe13]

Personally, i'm all for adjustable drivers, but ones that have limited adjustability and only for people with consistent golf swings.  I.E., the Anser driver where you can only adjust the loft and only have three options.  IMO, drivers that offer a ton of adjustments can only cause confusion and over thinking, especially for someone with limited ability or an inconsistent swing.

I have an Anser driver and I tune the loft depending on the course conditions.  For the most part, I keep it on the 10.5* setting.  If it's really wet, I go up to 11* to get more carry since the ball won't be rolling out.  If it's bone dry, I go down to the 10* setting to lower the ball flight and get the max rollout on dry fairways.

In contrast, my buddy has a Nike driver which has more options for adjusting things than my Anser.  He also has a very inconsistent swing and I watch him constantly making adjustments to his driver on the range before we play trying to find that perfect setting.  The problem is not what setting he is using, but that each of his swings are different because of his lack of ability and/or inconsistent swing.  For someone like him, I think adjustable drivers are a mistake because he is focusing on the wrong thing.  He thinks when he hits a bad drive that he is using the wrong setting so he starts adjusting again.  I think he needs a non adjustable driver until he gets a more consistent swing.   Once he has a consistent swing, I think he could benefit from and adjustable driver to fine tune things to fit certain course conditions the way I do with my Anser driver.

Edited by flyinjoe13, 03 February 2013 - 09:38 AM.

[Halebopp]

Shaank0, on 13 January 2013 - 08:40 PM, said:

Fourmyle of Ceres, on 13 January 2013 - 08:20 PM, said:

The new Nike driver covers 8.5-12.5 degrees of loft with "left", "right" and "neutral" ball flight settings. All in one SKU. That is not as much a boon for golfers as a boon for Nike and its retailers. Just think they can cover lefties, righties and a Tour head with just three items in inventory. And since the lefty and righty heads use the same shafts, less than a dozen shaft options cover 99% of retail buyers. That's awesome from a business standpoint.

Im thinking the same thing, its not going away, and everyone else is gonna follow suit with nike's adapter, you literally cover everything with 3 products. thats money in the bank not wasted on extra crap

So for which-handed player is the tour head for?   I do agree with the advantages of adjustable drivers so that you don't need to manufacture and stock a lot of different types of heads -especially when it comes to lofts.

But blaming adjustable drivers is like blaming the Internet to be a bad thing because there are stupid people using it.

[mosesgolf]

Adjustable drivers are here to stay.  Ping, Titleist, taylormade, Adams, Callaway has no glued drivers in 2013.  The market and omens have spoken.  There is no going back.  I love adjustable drivers.

[manhattan01]

I like adjustable drivers but have yet to muck with the settings anywhere from neutral.  I like that I can change shafts easily now which was my main draw.  But what I've found is that, like 3d TV, a tech for which I don't care for, I can't get a good one without that in it.

Though I do agree that if folks start using the equipment to compensate fire their flaws more than they ought to, it's not going to help them improve.

[h_baden]

The forums here are littered with folks who change shafts, grips, use lead tape, adjust the lie angle, crank the face open, etc.
Of course, then they buy a new driver after 6 months and start all over...

I simply buy an adjustable driver (after getting fitted for the correct shaft), then dial it in on the range for the correct setting.  Voila, just saved myself a couple hundreds $$.

Good luck...

[RighttoLeft]

Donly, on 03 February 2013 - 07:32 AM, said:

Twoironblade, on 13 January 2013 - 10:27 PM, said:

I like the option of changing shafts whenever I want. That's a pretty big deal to me.

I did this with my non-adjustable driver. Just take it out and glue another in.

Can you do it in 30 seconds on the range and play with it minutes later?

[golfpros1]

cybercats, on 13 January 2013 - 08:10 PM, said:

I am convinced that adjustable drivers are destined to be the bane of amateur golf.  I warn you.  Don't be taken in by all this adjustable driver mumbo jumbo.  Don't do it!  Ping resisted as long as it could.   I get the feeling Ping knows it's bad for your golf game, but now that they've become all the rage, Ping capitulated.  After all, there's a limit on COR and size now, so what's left to sucker us in?  

Now why are they so bad?  Every time you hit a drive that is less than perfect, you will start questioning the settings.  I saw a solid driver of the golf ball go completely mental when he missed two fairways.  He shot the worst round of his life.  He even took out his little tool at the turn and fiddled with it.  Now how do you think he did on the back nine?  

I urge you, if you're in the market for a new driver, great prices can be had on a Ping G15 or other late model non-adjustable drivers.  Just get fitted for shaft and grip and let er' rip.

However, you gotta hand it to the club manufacturers.  They have all of us golf equipment junkies salivating over these things. And the manufacturers that also sell balls are making a killing on all the extra balls that will be lost with this "game improving" drivers.

I see your point, but I disagree.  Every golfer of every level of play benefits from adjustability.  Pros NEVER played off the rack setups.  They had to have a technician make the kinds of adjustments you see manually and run drivers back and forth from the tech van until the player found the setup he liked.  Modern adjustable clubs do this with a simple wrench, and now amateurs can enjoy the same ability as the pros have for many years.

[Rock Chalk Jayhawk]

avguy, on 13 January 2013 - 08:43 PM, said:

My Two drivers are indeed adjustable, but the reason I wanted to play them is purely from self fitting myself into a shorter club, like Wishon and a few others have recommended for the Driver.

Remember the Golden Bear reportedly played a Driver shorter than today's average 3W of 43.5 in.

In both my 910 D2 and Razr Fit, I knew I could easily order pre tipped/gripped shafts already cut down to play these clubs around what I prefer at 43.-5 to 44 in.  And the biggest factor in choosing each club - I could interchange the removable screw headweights on my own to bring back the correct feel (SW) in playing them shorter than stock.   I now have two custom fit drivers for length/ shaft/ grip that I would only replace someday with other drivers that have removable swingweight screws, adjustable hosels, and readily available prepped shafts.

I really don't think about the "other" settings each club offers.  Because I bought the 910 used and it was a 9.5, I needed it changed for 11 deg, but that's it for my tinkerings.

Tiger plays a driver shorter than 43.5".

[Rock Chalk Jayhawk]

Illest, on 13 January 2013 - 08:19 PM, said:

Seems iffy to me to actually adjust the loft etc mid-round...just asking for more issues

It is against the Rules of Golf to adjust the settings of a club during a round. The only time you can use one of the wrenches is to tighten the screws if it becomes loose, but you cannot manipulate any settings on the club.

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

If for no other reason, the adjustable fad gave me a chance to own and play a Titleist driver with 13.5 degrees of loft. As a lefty, no less.

If this trend had not taken over the industry the past few years, that would never have happened in a million years. Now if they'd only make about a 25-30g weight plug for my 910d2 so I could whack it back to 44" without needing lead tape...

[golfpros1]

Rock Chalk Jayhawk, on 04 February 2013 - 08:55 AM, said:

Illest, on 13 January 2013 - 08:19 PM, said:

Seems iffy to me to actually adjust the loft etc mid-round...just asking for more issues

It is against the Rules of Golf to adjust the settings of a club during a round. The only time you can use one of the wrenches is to tighten the screws if it becomes loose, but you cannot manipulate any settings on the club.

the old, my clubs screws are loose trick... wink wink.  sure

[Rock Chalk Jayhawk]

golfpros1, on 04 February 2013 - 10:57 AM, said:

Rock Chalk Jayhawk, on 04 February 2013 - 08:55 AM, said:

Illest, on 13 January 2013 - 08:19 PM, said:

Seems iffy to me to actually adjust the loft etc mid-round...just asking for more issues

It is against the Rules of Golf to adjust the settings of a club during a round. The only time you can use one of the wrenches is to tighten the screws if it becomes loose, but you cannot manipulate any settings on the club.

the old, my clubs screws are loose trick... wink wink.  sure

it's possible that the club could become loose during the round. At which point, the club would be considered "damaged" during the normal course of use. In those instances, you are allowed to "fix" the damage.  Now, if you slam the club against the ground and cause a screw to come off, the club has been damaged by you and the club cannot be fixed during the round, nor can you continue to use damaged equipment.  Ah, the joys of RoG minutiae.

[trumb1mj1]

Adjustable drivers are great.  It allows for custom fitting opportunities that didn't exist before for EVERY club shop.  Like most people, I was fitted, found my ideal settings and never tinkered from there.

Everyone's swing is different and so having all of these different manufacturers producing adjustable clubs gives every golfer a much better shot of finding the right setup for their swing.

[tdelam]

I have a 3 wood R11 Ti and a 22* hybrid rescue wood which are both adjustable, I have never adjusted them; quite honestly, I don't even know where the wrench is.

I don't believe and never have believed that adjustable technology is worth the paper the instructions are on. The adjustments are nothing more than presets which has NOTHING to do with what fits your swing.

The best thing to do is get fit!

[neova]

Majority of recreational golfers (yours truly included) do not get professionally fit and just buy clubs based on feedback, reviews, and online fitting tools.

I've bought 9.5 drivers when I later learn my negative AoA requires 10.5, so instead of buying a new head I just adjust it up and open the face a bit. Now I'm hitting up more on my drives and have a +4 AoA so I need to set the driver to 8.5 to get to my optimal launch.

If I didn't have an adjustable driver, I would have had to buy the same driver 2-3 times as my swing changes.

The real benefit of adjustable driver is the fact that I can swap shafts in an out as I try out different combos.

In fact I okay with two sets of shafts - a standard set to use when the weather is warm and my game is good, and a slightly shorter and more flexible set to use during shoulder season or when I'm not swinging well.

In any case, I use the adjustability to fit my swing and not the other way around trying to chase extra yards or papering over fundamental swing flaws.

[trumb1mj1]

tdelam, on 04 February 2013 - 02:13 PM, said:

I have a 3 wood R11 Ti and a 22* hybrid rescue wood which are both adjustable, I have never adjusted them; quite honestly, I don't even know where the wrench is.

I don't believe and never have believed that adjustable technology is worth the paper the instructions are on. The adjustments are nothing more than presets which has NOTHING to do with what fits your swing.

The best thing to do is get fit!

The presets could very well perfectly match your swing with the right shaft.  Getting fit is one way to get the correct setup but not the only way.  If you know how to read your launch monitor results, have access to different heads, shafts and a wrench, I think you can make a very educated purchase without paying for a fitting.

[sheppy335]

cybercats, on 13 January 2013 - 08:10 PM, said:

I am convinced that adjustable drivers are destined to be the bane of amateur golf.  I warn you.  Don't be taken in by all this adjustable driver mumbo jumbo.  Don't do it!  Ping resisted as long as it could.   I get the feeling Ping knows it's bad for your golf game, but now that they've become all the rage, Ping capitulated.  After all, there's a limit on COR and size now, so what's left to sucker us in?  

Now why are they so bad?  Every time you hit a drive that is less than perfect, you will start questioning the settings.  I saw a solid driver of the golf ball go completely mental when he missed two fairways.  He shot the worst round of his life.  He even took out his little tool at the turn and fiddled with it.  Now how do you think he did on the back nine?  

I urge you, if you're in the market for a new driver, great prices can be had on a Ping G15 or other late model non-adjustable drivers.  Just get fitted for shaft and grip and let er' rip.

However, you gotta hand it to the club manufacturers.  They have all of us golf equipment junkies salivating over these things. And the manufacturers that also sell balls are making a killing on all the extra balls that will be lost with this "game improving" drivers.

that is a loss to that person, I got mine set with fitting and it has never been changed unless i would buy i new shaft and it will be set with a fitting. I bring a wrench only if something comes loose. Nothing else. you have to have some will power and some people dont.

[Fourmyle of Ceres]

So adjustable drivers cause more lost golf balls?

Do adjustable 3-woods cause more club tossing?

[tdelam]

trumb1mj1, on 04 February 2013 - 03:11 PM, said:

tdelam, on 04 February 2013 - 02:13 PM, said:

I have a 3 wood R11 Ti and a 22* hybrid rescue wood which are both adjustable, I have never adjusted them; quite honestly, I don't even know where the wrench is.

I don't believe and never have believed that adjustable technology is worth the paper the instructions are on. The adjustments are nothing more than presets which has NOTHING to do with what fits your swing.

The best thing to do is get fit!

The presets could very well perfectly match your swing with the right shaft.  Getting fit is one way to get the correct setup but not the only way.  If you know how to read your launch monitor results, have access to different heads, shafts and a wrench, I think you can make a very educated purchase without paying for a fitting.

I can appreciate that though fitting is cheaper than trying out a multitude of shaft combinations combined with presets, you might get lucky and stumble upon a perfect combination. Fitting is almost free and nothing replaces fitting. I guess the presets could try to help remedy people who regularly hook/slice etc, but then again this only negatively impacts their swing more than anything.

[Shankopottamus]

cybercats, on 13 January 2013 - 09:22 PM, said:

Am I the only one who's played with someone who started tinkering with his adjustments mid-round, or at least talked about needing to adjust something?  I doubt it.  I'm not doubting that many of you better players (probably all that't on here) benefit somewhat from these new drivers.  But I'm telling you, for the rest of us (yes, me included) it will be detrimental.  The weekend hacker is just looking for every excuse to not have to go take a lesson.

  Someone who said "if you don't like it, don't buy it" ,  well, I don't and I won't.  But furthermore, it pains me to have to listen to my partner talk about how he needs to close the face 1 degree more or he's got the wrong shaft in it for the windy conditions.  Seriously, am I the only one who's had to endure this new phenomenon?

We all have. And the guy who says either I'm usually not this bad, or good. Or the guy with no game with players' clubs and the guy with old equipment who can play lights out...Fact is, golfers like excuses and this just gives us more of them while providing more hope. I have one adjustable driver that I swap out shafts with but rarely tinker with and several non-adjustable drivers. I like them all.

[Shankopottamus]

Rock Chalk Jayhawk, on 04 February 2013 - 08:54 AM, said:

avguy, on 13 January 2013 - 08:43 PM, said:

My Two drivers are indeed adjustable, but the reason I wanted to play them is purely from self fitting myself into a shorter club, like Wishon and a few others have recommended for the Driver.

Remember the Golden Bear reportedly played a Driver shorter than today's average 3W of 43.5 in.

In both my 910 D2 and Razr Fit, I knew I could easily order pre tipped/gripped shafts already cut down to play these clubs around what I prefer at 43.-5 to 44 in.  And the biggest factor in choosing each club - I could interchange the removable screw headweights on my own to bring back the correct feel (SW) in playing them shorter than stock.   I now have two custom fit drivers for length/ shaft/ grip that I would only replace someday with other drivers that have removable swingweight screws, adjustable hosels, and readily available prepped shafts.

I really don't think about the "other" settings each club offers.  Because I bought the 910 used and it was a 9.5, I needed it changed for 11 deg, but that's it for my tinkerings.

Tiger plays a driver shorter than 43.5".

No, I don't believe he does. I would bet the farm he's playing at least 44.5 and probably 45" inch drivers now.

[SSafran]

deck, on 13 January 2013 - 09:08 PM, said:

Love the fact that you can switch shafts at demand now. That's my biggest draw to them.

Bingo.

I NEVER adjust my adjustable clubs but being able to change a shaft or keep the shaft and change heads is an excellent option to have.  

To me the adjustability stuff is for the birds otherwise.

[Rock Chalk Jayhawk]

Shankopottamus, on 04 February 2013 - 03:30 PM, said:

Rock Chalk Jayhawk, on 04 February 2013 - 08:54 AM, said:

avguy, on 13 January 2013 - 08:43 PM, said:

My Two drivers are indeed adjustable, but the reason I wanted to play them is purely from self fitting myself into a shorter club, like Wishon and a few others have recommended for the Driver.

Remember the Golden Bear reportedly played a Driver shorter than today's average 3W of 43.5 in.

In both my 910 D2 and Razr Fit, I knew I could easily order pre tipped/gripped shafts already cut down to play these clubs around what I prefer at 43.-5 to 44 in.  And the biggest factor in choosing each club - I could interchange the removable screw headweights on my own to bring back the correct feel (SW) in playing them shorter than stock.   I now have two custom fit drivers for length/ shaft/ grip that I would only replace someday with other drivers that have removable swingweight screws, adjustable hosels, and readily available prepped shafts.

I really don't think about the "other" settings each club offers.  Because I bought the 910 used and it was a 9.5, I needed it changed for 11 deg, but that's it for my tinkerings.

Tiger plays a driver shorter than 43.5".

No, I don't believe he does. I would bet the farm he's playing at least 44.5 and probably 45" inch drivers now.

I apologize. I was wrong. The driver length he has used the majority of his career isn't less than 43.5". It IS 43.5". You are aware, right, that the average driver length on the PGA TOUR is 44.5"?  If the professionals aren't "good" enough to use longer drivers, what makes you think you are?