My 1st Launch Monitor Session

[Nemo]

I have been playing for 3 years, playing to a 20 handicap now. I went to my local golf shop for a driver fitting last night. The fitting was on a Vector LM and uses the SwingLabs software to select the best driver for you based on your results with your "control club". I used my Cobra F-Speed 10.5 stock stiff as the control. The averaged data from my control club listed below, with what the software said is optimum for my club speed in ( ).

Club Speed - 85
Ball Speed - 124 (128)
Launch - 14.7 (15.4)
Backspin - 2847 (3300)
Direction - -7, which means 7 yds left

The direction part of it was a bit of a concern to me. The LM basically said that I was hooking the ball, which is very rare for me. My typical miss is to the right, more of a push than a slice. But I can draw the ball if I try to. So I'm not sure if I was swinging differently on the LM than I normally do, or if the LM was a bit flawed.

The problem is that when the SwingLab listed the club recommendations for me, it included a bunch of open faced "tour" models or neutral/fade weighted clubs. When I know that I'd be better suited with a slightly closed face or draw weighted club. Understanding that, the guy doing the fitting eliminated the open faced and fade biased clubs and I hit a few of the others. These included the HiBore XL & XLS, Callaway Hyper X & FTi & Nike Sumo 5900 (not the square one). The best results on the LM came from the HiBore XL 10.5, gold regular shaft. I tried the new XLS and it wasn't as good for me. Results below:

Club Speed - 85
Ball Speed - 123
Launch - 16.93
Backspin - 3673

The HiBore XL seems to have produced better numbers for me, but the numbers were much more consistent than the others.

Now, I know that the HiBore XL is a really nice club, but I'm a bit concered by the software's push for anti-left clubs for me because I know this is not reality. So I'm wondering if the LM really selected the best possible options for me to try and compare.

From an emotional side, when I went in there I wanted to end up with either a FTi or a Cobra L4V. My plan is to go back and get on the LM again and hit the XL & FTi again to compare. They only have the L4V in F stiff and That's probably not right for me and might not give it a fair test.

Any comments or thoughts on these results would be much appreciated. Am I over reacting to the "anti-left" thing and should I just get the XL? It's selling for cheap, so no real risk there.

I've read a bunch of L4V threads on WRX and really like what I read, but all the posts are from guys with 100+ swingers testing custom shafts. I posted these results over there since there are so many people that love the L4V, but my thread has turned into a debate about the accuracy of the Vector LM and is no longer about my session.

Any slow swingers out there that just want to use stock shaft like me try the L4V yet? The high launch/high spin that the stock shaft gets actually seems like what I need! I think that the best one for me would be a 10.5* M. Does this make sense?

Thanks for reading and I appreciate any thoughts.

 

[warbirdlover]

What I've learned from "real life" is the drivers that work for the 100-110 mph ss guys in here don't work well for me. I'm talking mostly about the heads. I'm beginning to figure out what shafts work for me (95-105 ss) which are "softer" stiff flex or "stiffer" reg flex.

When I did spend an afternoon on the launch monitor (fall of 2006) trying every driver in the store, it showed the Ping Rapture was the best. it was also the most expensive at $430 plus tax but I bought it and low and behold it produced on the course, just like it did on the monitor. About all I can contribute.

 

[SiberianDVM]

When I did spend an afternoon on the launch monitor (fall of 2006) trying every driver in the store, it showed the Ping Rapture was the best.

And where is the Rapture now, pray tell?



Nemo, as a fellow slow swinger, I feel your pain. There is no substitute for clubhead speed when seeking distance. I have wasted almost as much money as warbirdlover in seeking a rocket launcher. Unfortunately, my rocket just won't launch like Tigers'.

That said, my suggestions for slow swingers:

Get a clubfitter to find you a true 12° head, and put it on a 43.5" to 44" regular flex spined or pured shaft. Brands shouldn't really matter that much at slow speeds.

We're talking 10 yards here, max, that you could expect to get from a launch monitor optimizing launch angle and spin at that speed.

And, find a nice distance golf ball that you like.

Spend the rest of your money on lessons and personal trainers.

 

[MGP]

What I've learned from "real life" is the drivers that work for the 100-110 mph ss guys in here don't work well for me. I'm talking mostly about the heads. I'm beginning to figure out what shafts work for me (95-105 ss) which are "softer" stiff flex or "stiffer" reg flex.

When I did spend an afternoon on the launch monitor (fall of 2006) trying every driver in the store, it showed the Ping Rapture was the best. it was also the most expensive at $430 plus tax but I bought it and low and behold it produced on the course, just like it did on the monitor. About all I can contribute.

And where is the Rapture now, pray tell?



Nemo, as a fellow slow swinger, I feel your pain. There is no substitute for clubhead speed when seeking distance. I have wasted almost as much money as warbirdlover in seeking a rocket launcher. Unfortunately, my rocket just won't launch like Tigers'.

That said, my suggestions for slow swingers:

Get a clubfitter to find you a true 12° head, and put it on a 43.5" to 44" regular flex spined or pured shaft. Brands shouldn't really matter that much at slow speeds.

We're talking 10 yards here, max, that you could expect to get from a launch monitor optimizing launch angle and spin at that speed.

And, find a nice distance golf ball that you like.

Spend the rest of your money on lessons and personal trainers.

Listen to these guys -- they give great advice!

Warbirdlover and I swing about the same and generally prefer the same type of drivers and shafts because of that. This past season I put together 4 different drivers and the lowest loft on any of them was 10.5°. My swing speed is normally between 95-100 mph and occasionally will get up to 105 but that's pretty rare.

The best driver I hit all year was a Maltby CT250 Ti 11.5° with an SK Fiber Tour Trac 80 Stiff shaft. That shaft plays to the soft side of stiff and I finally found a combo that launches the ball high without too much spin. I added about 15 yds to my drives from the start of the season. Based on my swing speed I am not going to ever see any major distance increases at this point so about the best I feel I can do is maybe find a driver combo that is just easier to hit straight all the time.

I just finished two new Golfsmith SR-460 drivers (similar in design to HiBore) -- a 10° with a SK Fiber TT80 and a 11.5° with a YS-6+. After watching Youngun5 pipe drives all season with his HiBore, I'm hoping to get similar results. I already know I get along with the shafts and how they perform for me so it should be an interesting experiment.

 

[mddubya]

My swing speed is 95-100, I bought a HiBore XL 10.5* with the OEM gold regular flex. If I backed down on my swing, swung at about 3/4 speed, I could crush the HiBore, my problem is I can't do that consistently so I've been experimenting with different drivers and shafts. But the XL is a great club, and pretty cheap right now that the XLS is out.

 

[Crossfire]

The problem with launch monitors is they ignore gear effect. Say, you hit the ball on the heel, it will start way left because the club with spring open, eventually sending the ball right. They however record this as a miss left, when in reality it was probably a miss right. It all has to do with bulge and roll and other things i shoudlnt explain while under the influence. If you want truely fitted, go see a custom club maker, ef all the big chain stores.

 

[Augster]

Nemo,

In a "correct" fitting, i.e. with a pro clubfitter, they will use your CURRENT driver as the baseline. If the fitter can't put together a club that improves your game over that, what is the point?

That said.

I put your numbers into Trajectoware Drive. (it's a free program btw) With a ball velocity of 124 and the first driver, from what I can tell, your launch parameters are just about optimal. That is, 124 mph, at 14.7* and 2847 spin.

Those launch conditions give you 193.8yds carry with an Angle of Descent of 34*. Your angle of attack is about a positive 4*, which is good.

Oppose those numbers with the numbers you were getting with the other driver. (123/16.9/3673) That driver, according to TWare, gives you a carry of 191.4 yards and 42.7* angle of descent.

The other, more spinny, driver is 2 yards shorter, and won't roll out nearly as far as the first one. If I HAD to choose between the two I would get the first one as I like the overall numbers better. But if you can't hit it consistently to get those numbers, that is an entirely other matter.

 

[Nemo]

Auguster,

The 1st set of numbers IS from my current driver

 

[Augster]

Aha. I see that now. I must have read it wrong.

In the HotStix fitting I did at GSmith a while back, they have a "standard" baseline driver that you hit. Your results of hitting that club kick out what you should be hitting. Kind of neat, BUT, you are hitting a club you have never hit before and have ZERO confidence in.

Anyway, I was a bit confused.

All that said, I think you'd do well enough to stick with your current driver. The only reason to change, I would say, is if you are looking for a higher MOI or a different face angle to ease your slice/hook. Your launch numbers are very good for that ball speed. At least as far as I can tell using TWare Drive.