Taylormade R9 Driver
You walk into the local big box golf retailer and grab one of those new technological marvels in your normal loft with adjustable face technology like the Taylormade R9 or Nike SQ Dymo STR8-FIT driver. You take a few shots into the net, drop the cash, and head out to play with your shiny new toy. Hope springs eternal.
If you’re like many amateurs, you’ll end up setting the face to 1 or 2 degree closed. Much to your dismay, your $400 investment has morphed your slice into a weak ballooning fade with virtually no roll out and you’ve lost distance. Thoughts start racing through your head as you attempt to diagnose where you went wrong. Has something changed in my setup? Is the shaft not right for me? Maybe this club just doesn’t work for my swing.
Well, hold on there sparky – maybe none of the above. You may not be taking into account effective loft or the actual loft on a club at impact as opposed to the loft marked on the club. The effective loft of any club will change if you open or close the club face by:
1) Not returning it to square at impact, or
2) Adjusting the face angle of an adjustable face driver
For example, let’s say you bought a 10.5 degree driver and change the setting from square to 2 degree closed. For every degree closed, the effective loft increases by 1 degree. So now, you’re gaming a loft of 12.5 degrees. Now those manhood robbing moon shots become a little easier to understand…
Of course, the opposite is true if you play an open face angle as most better players do. The effective loft of a 9.5 degree driver with a 1 degree open face is 8.5 degrees. That may be OK for some players but a good number will lack the club head speed to generate enough spin to lift the ball and optimize distance at that launch angle.
Still need more convincing? The image below is from Nike’s website showcasing the different settings for the SQ Dymo STR8-FIT driver. Take note of the loft numbers (indicated by the red arrow).
What is the moral of this story? If that new driver has an open or closed face option, then it’s a good idea to try out different face and loft combinations on a launch monitor before you buy. You might save yourself some time, money, and a good amount of frustration in the process.
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Great piece BB!
Most golfers fail to understand that altering the face angle will change loft, and fall victim to the marketing promises of “68 million different face angle/loft combinations and up to 75 yards of directional control”
Most golfers see 75 yards of side to side variance anyway, and that’s not by choice!
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admin Reply:
February 13th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Good point. I had a few “pray and spray” rounds last year. I’m not sure any adjustable driver would have helped me on those days.
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Great article. Most people don’t realize you can have different face and loft combos.
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You’ve raised great info here. I’m sure many golfers especially the amateurs are not aware of this. Two thumbs up! Keep it up=)
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In other words:
It is best to determine your correct loft based upon what adjustments you will make with the adjustable driver. For example, I typically use an 8.5 degree driver, but I tend to hit a slight hook. Therefore, I use a 9.5 degree str8-fit adjusted to a slightly open face. This lowers the ball flight to the 8.5 degrees I want while also correcting for the slight hook.
Players that tend to slice should buy slightly lower lofts if they tend to adjust their new driver to a closed face.
Players that tend to hook should buy slightly higher lofts if they tend to adjust their new driver to an open face.
Works for me!
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admin Reply:
June 26th, 2010 at 8:52 am
That’s exactly right Matt. So even with adjustable drivers, it’s important to be fitted. Otherwise, the adjustments won’t yield the ball flight a player is expecting.
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I’ve actually bought myself a taylor made R9 driver, and can’t believe the difference it’s made to my game. A little bit on the expensive side, but at the end of the day you get what you pay for, and I for one couldn’t be happier with it.
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