Low loft with high launch/spin vs higher loft & low launch/spin.

[Mjr. D]

So, what do you think (or perhaps you know) is a better way to go?

Higher lofted driver with lower launching and spinning shaft 

or

lower lofted driver with higher spinning and launching shaft?

Anyone know what differences we could expect to see? Is one more forgiving than the other? One suited for a particular type of swing or speed more than the other?  

[Mjr. D]

I would assume a higher lofted driver with a lower spinning and launching shaft would be more suited for a harder swing than a low lofted driver with a higher launching and spinning shaft but I don't know for sure.

[Hutch]

I have a YZ 11 with labospec shinari in 11*, it is a low spin combo with higher loft. still found the higher loft didn't assist that much but...

I had an experiment with my balls (not the pint glass kind) but tested the prov1x and prov1. Usually hit the prov1x consistently and always found the prov1 bit spinny with the driver.

Results had me shocked. the more spinny prov1 was superb with the lowspin combo higher loft. Instead of the ball dropping out of the sky the extra spin of the prov1 seemed to work in well with the low spin high loft.

So now thinking low spin combos work better with balls that have more spin when going with the loft.

The other positive was more green-side spin :)

Edited June 5, 2016 by hutchy

[Craig]

Might be something to that.

my 388 with SD shaft is low launching, and runs like a Kenyan marathoner.

my best results are with higher spinning balls. Never really wondered why, but this has got me thinking. But it is a fairly big difference.

interested if anyone else has the same results

and for Mjrd's question, I too would think more loft with low spin, low launch shaft would be better suited for him. 

 

[Mjr. D]

Wow, interesting finds!  Keep em coming. 

[nobmontana]

Great topic..

After trying a gazillion different driver shaft combos over the years,  I now have a pretty good idea in general what combos of shaft types and head types work best for me. 

For me,  its a combo of high kick point shaft paired with a lower lofted mid spin head.

Interestingly,  my swing analysis with 7 dreamers last year revealed why this combo works for me.  

- high kick point because I have an early release and need help creating lag from a shaft that has a softer butt profile. 

- I have a positive angle of attack which does not produce a lot of back spin,  thus I don't need a spin reducing head 

- loft of head  For me this loft varies quite a bit on different heads, but normally lower lofted heads work better for me because I tend to hang back and hit up on the ball ( sometimes by too much ) .  Having said that, I do think there is more forgiveness with higher lofts.    

 In summary,  my recommendation is to get a swing analysis ( not just launch monitor ) done to understand your swing if you don't already.   The information will then allow you to choose the shaft types along with head types that best suit your swing.   

 

Edited June 6, 2016 by nobmontana

[Cosmo]

21 hours ago, hutchy said:

I have a YZ 11 with labospec shinari in 11*, it is a low spin combo with higher loft. still found the higher loft didn't assist that much but...

I had an experiment with my balls (not the pint glass kind) but tested the prov1x and prov1. Usually hit the prov1x consistently and always found the prov1 bit spinny with the driver.

Results had me shocked. the more spinny prov1 was superb with the lowspin combo higher loft. Instead of the ball dropping out of the sky the extra spin of the prov1 seemed to work in well with the low spin high loft.

So now thinking low spin combos work better with balls that have more spin when going with the loft.

The other positive was more green-side spin :)

Completely agree, the beam black works a lot and i mean a lot better with the V1, spent six months of playing the TPx (good enough not to look at another ball in that time) then gave the V1 a hit, night and day. i was pretty shocked as the V1 in the past has been a fair bit shorter with other heads so never bothered using it until i ran out of TPx's.

Made a bigger difference than any of the shafts ive used  

[supo]

as a rule  I see   a higher  angled  head  +  high kick shaft  wil lbe  the safer option

other wise u wil lget the ball back spinning too much and the jet fighter trajectory occurs, that cool  in irons but but  for drivers, u will loose ur arc and over all distance, u might hit a few more fariways but youlll suffer  in distance.

 

 the harder u hit it the lower u can go with face angle.

I dunno my swing speed its 100 -110 in there somewhere, I  get best results with a  9-9.5* jbeam and  lighter diamana x shaft.

or  if I its a nice day he 7.5* egg with  diamana  stinger that's mid kick, that's my safer option ,but I get more distance from the jbeam combo, that's really low spin and low launch but the arc is so pure, I plyed I2 drivers yesterday  a 10* head  and mid kick shaft, and the jbeam 9* dia X ,  the difference was very noticeable ,  into the wind the higher head lost 20 yards ,but down wind it was about 10 longer due to the extra carry.

I don't really ever  use factory machine data, I use course data.

if its windy u want a low launch head with a low spin shaft,  if its lovey , then u can go for broke with a higher loft and mid kick. to steal a few more air meters.

 

if I was building ur clubm  youd be hitting laqst yrs egg  head   @  7.5*  with a diamana  X  IN ,  XXXXXXXXXXXXX flex.

 u can generate enough speed to make this sing,

 

I  KNOW THIS QED, bec  in feb this year, a mate of mine who swings at 126 mph..... YES u read that right. 126 mph

hit my egg and ive never seen anything like it. its designed for those kinda  guys, in comparison I look like a fricken mouse with it, I had no idea that performace was possible, ive certainly  never seen it.

 it was outrageous.

 

that's what id build for you

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 6, 2016 by supo67

[Cosmo]

1 hour ago, supo67 said:

as a rule  I see   a higher  angled  head  +  high kick shaft  wil lbe  the safer optionother wise u wil lget the ball back spinning too much and the jet fighter trajectory

occurs, that cool  in irons but but  for drivers, u will loose ur arc and over all distance, u might hit a few more fariways but youlll suffer  in distance.

This 

Also found it one hell of a lot easier to look down and see loft

The Beam black being low spin even with the higher loft  makes it pretty darn confidence inspiring paired with pretty much any mid 70 or greater high kick shaft is the money 

i swing 110 and 6 up 

[Hutch]

2 hours ago, Cosmo said:

Completely agree, the beam black works a lot and i mean a lot better with the V1, spent six months of playing the TPx (good enough not to look at another ball in that time) then gave the V1 a hit, night and day. i was pretty shocked as the V1 in the past has been a fair bit shorter with other heads so never bothered using it until i ran out of TPx's.

Made a bigger difference than any of the shafts ive used  

It does make a difference for me so it seems. Now thinking I will choose my ball from a pool of 2 or three depending on driver.

 

[supo]

melb courses are particularly punishing on drivers not set up right for you, I LOVE playing down there, I pretty much take the beam  and the eggs bec as a rule I find the grass really  quite accomdating to some roll . id rather loose a fair bit In the air  and not have it disappear over a boundary fence,  and let  it hit the deck earlier and get  some roll  straighter. granted that's not what the the pros do...... but I  aint a pro!

[+TourSpecGolfer]

Higher lofted head + lower launching shaft is what I would do.

I also go heavier shaft at a shorter length to really kill spin as well.

But with ZY's and 7D's it's a big enough reduction in spin I don't have to go that short or heavy.

[Nolixul]

I like the results over the last few years with higher lofted heads and low launch & spin shafts. The difficulty is finding suitable heads - most high lofted driver heads sit closed (and generally too upright). Finding ones that suit my eye with open face angles is tough.

[neova]

I have 4 drivers built around my game

Less Forgiving Setup 
Option A: Honma TW717 430 8.5* Ahina 60x @ 45.5" (260 carry low penetrating flight with more roll low spin, 290 max)
Option B: TRPX S-013 9.5* Ahina 70x @ 45.0" (260 carry, mid flight with mostly carry mid spin, 275 max)

More Forgiving Setup 
Option C: Honma TW717 455 9.5* Kai'li 60x @ 45.5" (265 carry low penetrating flight with mid roll low/mid spin, 285 max)
Option D: RomaRo 455LX 9.5* Kai'li 70x @ 45.0" (265 carry mid flight with mostly carry mid spin, 280 max)

I'm trying to narrow down to just two driver, one for each bag...

I've been using heavier 70g shafts for the last 10 years with great success, but a ligther 60g have given me really long and straight drivers whenever I gamed it but still not as consistent fairway finder as the 70g.

My wife, who golfs with me the most, tells me I perform the same with all 4 drivers so just keep two and sell the other two (lol....)

I will decide at the end of this season but most likely will keep one driver with 60g low lofted head and another with 70g higher lofted head.