Geek DotComThis Driver

[TheWOAT]

Got the DCT this week and glued it up to a SK Fiber Pure Energy Stiff. Looks sweet with a burgundy shaft, and dark blue grip. Wife gave me an A- for style points.

Tried it on the cource yesterday, and Im comparing it to my old (deceased) Snake Eyes 653D driver. The Snake Eyes was 43 3/4 inch in length and I set up to it more like a three wood, and gave me nice push draws when my swing was on. This Geek I cut it to 44.5 inches, so I will be placing the ball off my heel for the first time, which will take time to get used to. The shafts are the same cept the old one was regular flex, this one is stiff.

Trajectory was a little higher, damn near perfect. I had it hand picked to 10.5 and slightly closed. I just learned that a closed face adds more loft at impact, counter intuitive, but seems to be true in real life as well as on paper. The Snake Eyes (RIP) had a squarer face, similar loft, and a medium, a touch on the low side, trajectory...which gave it more...

Roll: The Geek had decent roll out considering I was hitting fades, since it flys a little higher I didnt expect more than the Snake Eyes. Since it is usually windy or breezy around these parts, I will see if the Geek hits it too high, but I think Ill be ok with this set up.

Distance: Downwind the Geek is longer, against the wind the Snake Eyes is a little longer... overall its a tie so far, but like I said, I was hitting fades and will work on a draw at the range to compare to the push-draws I was hitting with the Snake Eyes. I was surprised a little by the carry and overall distance even hitting fades into the wind. The downwind holes I blocked, but distance was still good.

Forgiveness. Geek is more forgiving. The Snake Eyes didnt like heel hits, as the ball went off the map, but with the Geek the heel shots seem to go straighter with decent distance. The Snake Eyes also didnt like toe hits, especially that last one that broke it. Since I am battling the shanks, I dont expect any toe shots at all, with any club, for the next few months. Also, I dont understand the point of "High MOI" drivers since if you are hitting the center of the face, you dont need "High MOI", and if you arent hitting the center, you need lessons, not a new driver... anyways... Im getting both at this moment.

Sound: Geek made a nice, THWACK, no shame when I hit it... On the other hand, the Snake Eyes had a tin can sound, or the sound you hear when your neighbor is sorting aluminum cans in his garage, very high pitched, tinny, hollow, and LOUD... I guess it sounds exactly like an aluminum bat.

Overall: Geek headcover is nice, with the magnets, really easy access to the driver. Looks cool. Sounds cool. Even with a patchwork swing the distance was good.

[LBlack14]

I don't understand "closed face adds more loft at impact", where did you get this info.? Closed face delofts.

[Bignose]

Originally Posted by LBlack14

I don't understand "closed face adds more loft at impact", where did you get this info.? Closed face delofts.

It is sort of a "double-negative". If the face sits naturally closed, which will thusly be naturally de-lofted, when you then square that face, the face has more loft than it did when it was closed.

[SilverUberXeno]

Originally Posted by Bignose

It is sort of a "double-negative". If the face sits naturally closed, which will thusly be naturally de-lofted, when you then square that face, the face has more loft than it did when it was closed.

Bingo. If it's measured to 10.5 with the face closed, hitting the ball squarely will in effect open the face and thusly add a little loft.

But you're effectively hitting a 12 degree driver or so, at that point. No wonder it's going high :-p

[TheWOAT]

Not 12 degree,.probably closer to 11 degrees. And the trajectory is not high, just higher, Id say Im hitting exactly where I want to (in terms of height), I just have to get the ball flight to improve... I dont know if Im going to stick with a 44.5 inch length, I started choking up to get more consistency, and Ill probably play with it like that for awhile.

And the info was from Maltby (I think there was a few other sources), basically he says that a closed face driver will have to be opened up to hit it squarely, thus increasing loft. An open face driver has to be closed at impact to hit it square, decreasing loft. So I had a 10.5 degree, closed face driver chosen for me because I wanted to increase the trajectory. My previous driver was a little less closed, thus the slightly lower ball flight.

[TheWOAT]

Below is the article...
Ralph Maltby

Here’s what this loft and face angle stuff means in regards to fitting. We will use a tour pro for example; to hit the ball straight and apply maximum force to the ball, a tour pro has his face angle and clubhead path perfectly square. To hit a draw, the tour pro will either adjust the face angle or the path so that the face angle at impact is from 1 to 2 degrees closed to the path.

Since face angle is more of a determining factor in initial ball direction than clubhead path (80% vs. 20%); the tour pro will almost always keep the face angle square to the target and swing from 1 to 2 degrees inside out. This starts the ball slightly right of the target and the balls slight draw spin curves it back toward the target. Easier said than done. 1 degree produces a very slight draw and 2 degrees a normal draw. Over 3 degrees is a hook and over 4 degrees is a terrible hook. So you see that controlling clubhead and path properly and consistently takes some skill because we are dealing with very small amounts of angle change that affect big amounts of ball flight change.

This is why the manufacturers make different face angles. The face angle in the design will automatically open up the face on an “open or slice face angle” and automatically close the face on a “closed or hook face angle”. Of course you need to set the driver head on the ground or some hard surface for this to occur. Regardless of the face angle, you can always position the face at any angle you would like when setting up to the ball.

The one thing to keep in mind here is that as you reposition the face angle at setup with your driver, you also change the actual loft angle. In other words for every degree you hold the face closed you also decrease the loft by the same amount. Conversely, if you roll the face open you will increase the loft. If a manufacturer measures their driver loft across the sole and up the face, this will be the stated loft in the specifications and probably engraved on the head.

Let’s assume the stated loft is 10 degrees. Also, let’s assume this manufacturer specified a 2 degree closed or hook face angle. If this were your driver and you were a lesser skilled golfer, the 2 degree closed face angle at address would help you get a more closed or hook face angle to clubhead path at impact and this could help out with your slicing problem. However, if the more skilled golfer would play the same club and actually rotated the face to square with the target at address, he would actually be increasing the “effective driver loft” by 2 degrees.

Calculation; take the 10 degree stated loft angle and add to it the 2 degrees you rolled the face open to square it with the target, this gives you an actual total of 12 degrees of loft. So, once again you have no chance at knowing what the actual “effective loft” of your driver really is without an accurate measurement gauge

[SilverUberXeno]

Begs the question- why not get a square faced 11.5 degree driver? I would think you'd only want a closed face if you are correcting a mishit slice.

[TheWOAT]

11.5 stamped, or a 10.5 stamped with 1 degree closed face... Doesnt matter to me since I grip all of my clubs square (to my knowledge) and then ground it. All that matters is that the trajectory is good for me and where I play. I set it closed if Im trying to hook it around a tree or something, or REALLY trying to avoid something on the left side.

[LyleG]

Exactly. If the head is 10.5 and 1* closed, in order to hit it straight the face must be opened 1* at impact. This will increase the loft by 1* to 11.5

[Youngun5]

just got mine in the mail from ExtremeVFT, with Accuflex Icon V2 in X playing at 44"

Apparently this club has been around.

Rockford
SilverUberXeno
ExtremeVFT
Me

Should be interesting.

[LBlack14]

I just built a 10.5*DCT 551 ICON V2 myself.

[LeftyHoges]

Thanks for the review. My DCT 9* head should be here in a matter of days. Really looking forward to it, but dont know what I'm going to mate it with yet.
Possibilities are:
Accuflex Evolution
'' Creation
Graman UL780
Graffaloy BiMatrix.

Could be very interesting...

[Youngun5]

any of those have the potential to just be a devastating combo.

tough choice!

I love the bimatrx, but I don't think it'd work very well for me in any head but my HiBore. I liked the way the Creation felt in the XL Tour I had, but never hit it exceedingly well on a consistent basis.

Always wanted to try the Evolution, but never really got around to picking one up.

[LeftyHoges]

Originally Posted by Youngun5

any of those have the potential to just be a devastating combo.

tough choice!

You're telling me!

Forgot that I've also got a Syner-G Fly Tour Article 65 aswell.

Decisions, decisions...

[TheWOAT]

Weird day on the course today... The wind was blowing in the opposite direction than what it usually does, and by the time we were on the 18th, it was like 90 degrees. Aside from that, I had a few bombs with the driver, and even some fades that faded too much went farther than what I was acustomed to. Flat out this driver is longer. (Probably due to a better loft). Unfortunately I couldnt hit any irons, fws, or putt worth a damn, but its nice to hit fairways and outdrive my playing partners.

Edit: Checking the scorecard, I hit 10 outta 14 fairways, and two others were in good position, and two were not. One drive rolled into a dogleg and under a tree, the other rolled into a dogleg then into a faiway bunker. Best driving day Ive ever had.