|   |   |   |   |   |   |   | 

Results 1 to 10 of 10
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Bay Creek - Cape Charles, VA
    Posts
    87
    Rep Power
    19

    Which driver has the least backspin?

    Trying to find an alternative to my Cleveland 460ti....i hit the SQ extremely straight and long today at Golf Galaxy and am still getting extremely high lofts on my drives....any suggestions? R7 460? Titleist 905R?

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by yahtzee
    Trying to find an alternative to my Cleveland 460ti....i hit the SQ extremely straight and long today at Golf Galaxy and am still getting extremely high lofts on my drives....any suggestions? R7 460? Titleist 905R?
    As far as driver heads, the SQ and HiBore are low spin, if you can get past the looks. For a more traditional look, the Titleist 905S is very low spin (905R spins more than the 905T, which spins way more than the 905S).

    Of course, changing shafts is often a better way to reduce spin.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Bay Creek - Cape Charles, VA
    Posts
    87
    Rep Power
    19
    Quote Originally Posted by Lloyd_Christmas3
    As far as driver heads, the SQ and HiBore are low spin, if you can get past the looks. For a more traditional look, the Titleist 905S is very low spin (905R spins more than the 905T, which spins way more than the 905S).

    Of course, changing shafts is often a better way to reduce spin.
    Is the NV-65 (green) shaft considered a low spin shaft?

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by yahtzee
    Is the NV-65 (green) shaft considered a low spin shaft?
    It is relatively low. There are lower-spin shafts out there. The NV is a bit on the whippy side, too, which can be good or bad depending on what you want. I hate that shaft, but a whole lot of people love it.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Congressional
    Posts
    996
    Rep Power
    22

    Doesn't specify which driver, but...

    "All about loft
    If you're looking for more consistency off the tee, PGA Professional Steve Anderson recommends trying your 3-wood instead of your driver.

    By Steve Anderson, PGA Professional
    06.15.2004 02:25 pm (EST)

    In 1982 Tom Watson won the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach with a dramatic chip-in on the 71st hole to beat Jack Nicklaus. Watson averaged 300 yards off the tee that week, which was certainly a contributing factor toward his win.

    A week later, Watson participated in a test with some specially made golf balls that had no dimples. They were smooth, like Ping-Pong balls. The farthest drive Watson hit went only 100 yards! What this demonstrated was that two-thirds of the distance a ball flies is caused by its backspin. The more the ball spins, the greater the lift and distance will be.

    Watson's clubhead speed was 120 mph, more than one-third faster than the weekend golfer. He hits the ball hard enough to impart sufficient backspin to attain tremendous distances. The weekender, with his 80-mph clubhead speed, cannot attain this length, in part because of lower clubhead speed, but also because of less backspin. The average golfer will get more hangtime (distance) with the increased backspin of the 3-wood.

    A driver with only 9 or 10 degrees of loft will not put much backspin on a ball. To get any measurable spin, the club head would need to be moving very fast. A driver must generate a tremendous amount of speed to attain enough backspin to achieve any distance. In other words, if your club head speed is half of what a tour pro's is, then you need double the loft to achieve the same spin rate. Does that make sense? If you don't swing as fast as a tour pro, you shouldn't use a driver with the same loft as they do. In the book, The search for the Perfect Swing, tests were done that concluded, "more backspin will hold the ball up in the air from two to six times longer than lower-lofted clubs".

    Titilest has a chart showing what loft matches up with a player's clubhead speed. A slower swing speed needs a higher loft to produce optimum results.

    Now this is not to say that you'll hit your pitching wedge farther than your 3-wood. The length of your shaft is a huge factor in the distance you hit the ball and the longer shafts in your woods contribute greatly to achieving distance. The shaft in your pitching wedge is far too short to let you hit the ball any great distance. The length of the shaft also influences your ability to square up the clubface and hit the ball straight. The driver has the longest shaft of the set. Because of its length, you stand further away from the ball than you do with any other club. This may cause the club to swing too far around you on the backswing (inside) and may make it difficult to square up the club at impact. The 3-wood, with its shorter shaft, tends to swing up and down the line straighter, which aids you in squaring the clubface and hitting the ball with greater consistency.


    The greater loft in your 3-wood also helps your accuracy when compared with a driver, and understanding this is also helpful. Let's say, (for argument sake), that our 3-wood has twice the loft of your driver. When hit squarely, your 3-wood will have twice as much backspin. This is dominant spin. Now, let's say you slice across your 3-wood 10 percent. The ball will have some sidespin, but it will have a lot of backspin, so it goes fairly straight. If you slice your driver the same 10 percent, it will slice more because it has less backspin to keep it straight.

    All in all, your 3- or even 5-wood may produce longer, straighter shots on a more consistent basis. That is not to say that you can't ever hit a driver. Common sense tells us that a longer, lower-lofted driver is harder to hit than other clubs, so first master the other woods before tackling your driver. It may just become the favorite club in your bag.

    Editor's Note: Steve Anderson is a PGA Master Instructor and the Director of Instruction at Mirror Lakes Golf Club in Lehigh Acres, Fla. He can be reached at 239-369-1997 or by visiting steveandersongolf.com.

    Copyright 2004 by PGA.com. All rights reserved."

    Food for thought.

  6. #6
    Fred - that was the most unhelpful post in GR history. Congratulations.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Shaker Run Golf Club
    Posts
    400
    Rep Power
    19
    You have to be extremely careful when deciding on a driver. I hit the 905T with every available shaft and loft, and got way to much back spin/ballooning with all of them except the Proforce V2. The Proforce shaft felt great, but the trajectory was too low. I think the tip may have been a bit too stiff for me. I don't like 460cc drivers, so the 905R was out. In the end, the 905S was the right choice for me. It's lower launching, and generates lower spin. I got it in 9.5° with the Speeder shaft which was the perfect match for me. My trajectory is ideal. I'm consistently averaging 275 yards off the tee now. When I make a great swing in addition to solid contact, 300+ yards is commonplace. My all-time farthest drive during a round is 335 yards, and I have never been a big hitter. This just goes to show you what having the right tools can do for you.

    Whatever you decide to buy, make sure you take enough time to make sure whatever it is you are spending all of that money on is what is going to work best for you.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    University Ridge - Madison, WI
    Posts
    77
    Rep Power
    20
    It's your swing that really dictates how much back spin is put on a ball. If you contact the ball while the club is still descending you're going to get a more balloon type shot. Ideally you want to make contact right where the club starts to climb to decrease back spin to 2400-2500 rpm to get penetrating ball flight.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Discopotato
    It's your swing that really dictates how much back spin is put on a ball.
    This is part of the equation. But driver head and (more importantly) shaft matter. So you can dick around with your swing, or get a club that produces better results with the same swing. Your choice.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    University Ridge - Madison, WI
    Posts
    77
    Rep Power
    20
    Very true...shaft and swing are the two big factors. I was clocked at 118 mph during a TM demo day and hit a R7 460 w/ stock reg flex shaft and it felt like it was going to snap on my down swing. I'm sure the back spin from that shaft was something crazy but felt like sh*t in my hands.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. I'm looking for maximum backspin
    By Mr 3 Wiggle in forum Golf Discussion
    Replies: 36
    Last Post: 11-02-2008, 09:55 PM
  2. Draw...is backspin there or not
    By Montywithoutthebelly in forum Golf Discussion
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 04-06-2006, 12:27 AM
  3. driving with too much backspin
    By Chip in forum Golf Discussion
    Replies: 23
    Last Post: 03-19-2006, 12:55 PM
  4. Backspin: How?
    By cuco747 in forum Golf Discussion
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 12-22-2004, 08:42 AM
  5. Backspin
    By DaCroosh in forum Golf Discussion
    Replies: 21
    Last Post: 12-22-2003, 06:06 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •