The pros are always on the lookout for a back up driver. While working on the PGA Tours, I will build driver after driver in an effort to find this elusive golf club. You would think this would be a straightforward process as I am purely matching an existing club, however, this is far from the case.
An enormous amount of time and effort is spent in an attempt to match the same ‘feel’ as their current driver. It may come with the first effort, maybe even the tenth,
or as was the case of one well known pro, the 186th attempt.
All golfers are alike in one respect. They are always on the lookout for that new driver. Every time the average golfer goes into a golf shop they will pick up and waggle every club they can get their hands on, even if there is nothing wrong with the driver that is currently in play. This is called “Feel”.
Anytime that I discuss golf clubs, I talk of overall Club weight, head weight, shaft flex and length. Making any set rule on the length, flex or weight of a driver for you to use, without fitting it to your individual needs, would be a mistake. The old golf theory used to be that a short golfer should use a short club and a tall golfer should use a long club, but students of the game have come to realize that the reverse is closer to the correct theory. Manufacturers, however, have standardized the weight and length of clubs.
In selecting your driver it would be foolish for you to pick a club with a lot of whip, if you have a short, fast back swing, because you would have trouble controlling it.
If you have a full, slow swing you should use a club with enough flex in the shaft so that you can “FEEL” the club head.
The weight of the club head should be relative to the flex of the shaft. If you have a stiff heavy shaft, your club has to have more weight in the club head for you to get the “feel” of the club head during your swing. The lighter and more flexible the shaft, the less weight needed in the club head.
Every swing has the perfect shaft flex, if there is any difference in the correct shaft flex and your individual swing, it can throw your swing off. Give a lot of consideration to the relationship of the flex of the shaft to your swing before you select your clubs. You have worked long and hard on developing your golf swing; to be consistent you must be able to ‘FEEL’ the golf club.