Reader Email – Driver Help

Thanks for dropping by. I'm almost moved in and hope to get the golf club reviews going again in the next few days. SirPuttsAlot is off on his golfing holiday but managed to answer a few emails before taking off.   I am looking to step up to a "real" driver. I am currently hitting …

Thanks for dropping by. I'm almost moved in and hope to get the golf club reviews going again in the next few days. SirPuttsAlot is off on his golfing holiday but managed to answer a few emails before taking off.  

I am looking to step up to a "real" driver. I am currently hitting a Professor Johnson that I like but would like to own one of the newer 460 "Monsters" on the market. I hit a slight fade naturally, when I correct for it I hit a draw, so this ends up bad a lot of times. I have been to a custom club shop and they seem helpful but I am trying to figure out what I need to do. He had one of those computer things set up to show me my swing, club speed, ball speed and ball flight. I guess it was a very good simulator. It seemed I hit the Taylor Made R7 460 TP very well and straight every single time. It actually put a nice little draw in my ball that set right in the middle every time. My point is, MAN! that thing is way to expensive. I am just wondering if you can offer me a cheaper setup. I would like to correct my swing as much as possible, not correct the club, but I loved how easy it was for me to hit that slight draw effortlessly. Please help.

Thanks for the email. It sounds like you already have a bit of an idea of what you are looking for so that will make this easier. We can narrow your club search down quite a bit based on your high club head speed and finding a driver with no, or very little, draw bias.
 
First off, TaylorMade does offer an R7 460 standard (not TP) version that will be significantly cheaper. Since you were such a big fan of the TP this one might be worth a look as well. The big difference is that the standard version will sit a little bit closed and the shaft isn't as good. Another club that might be worth a look is the new TaylorMade R7 Superquad. This is another 460 cc head but this time with 4 moveable weights to help you tinker with your ball flight. This might be your best option as you can configure it with a little draw bias for now but change it down the road as your swing changes. 

A couple of others that would be worth a look are the Ping G5 drivers or Callaway X460.  Both will set up pretty square to the ball which will be good for you, and will come in at a pretty good price.  Both are also offered with several different shaft options. The X460 especially can be had for a great price right now.

It sounds like you have already been on a launch monitor and this is probably the most important step. A launch monitor can help determine what loft and shaft will be best for your powerful swing.Hope this helps get you started.

Please feel free to let us know if you have any other questions. Need some golfing advice? Feel free to drop us a line! Talk to you soon!