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Thoughts on draw biased drivers... Is "Anti-Left" really the solution for amateur players?


nobmontana

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This year, I started off trying a few USDM drivers and ended up gaming a Mizuno ST190 for a while.   While most shots were straight as an arrow with monsterous distances ( from my standards ),  my occasional misses were pushes to the right.   I had these misses once or twice during a round which cost me anywhere from 2 to 3 shots.    It was getting to be a big source of frustration and my confidence on driver shots was impacted over time.  I tried to adjust the driver such that it had a more neutral or even draw bias setting but I think USDM drivers typically are designed with anti-left characteristics whereas JDM heads tend to emphasize "ease to capture"  the ball  or "Tsukamaru"  in Japanese.   I notice that JDM driver descriptions always mention this "Tsukamaru"   or " Ease to Capture the ball"  in their product description these days.  

What kind of bugs me is that USDM drivers for as long as I can remember always positions their new drivers to "eliminate misses to the left"....  Hmmmm....       most amateur players that I know hardly miss their shots to the left...   JDM drivers on the other hand are emphasizing that their new drivers are easier to draw and helps with lessening the slices that most amateurs struggle with..  Makes more sense to me.   Polar oppposite marketing strategies here.     

Back to my experience...  After struggling to get the ST190 dialed in for my swing, I finally gave up and pulled out my Mizuno GX driver.   The GX is definitly a more draw biased driver that helps eliminate misses to the right.    My other driver Grandista RS-D is in fact also a similar draw biased driver which almost never shoots the ball to the right. 

 After trying many many drivers to find the most forgiving automatic driver that I can take out on the couse to just knock drives out on the fairway 250 yards...  my conclusion is that I have a much easier time trying to correct slight over-draws to striaghten out compared to facing occasional surprise pushes to the right during a round.   

I am starting to like heads that are draw biased from a weight location (CG)  perspective but the face should still be neutral to slightly open.  ( Mizuno GX and Grandista RS-D fit the bill here )   

I do intend in trying a few more drivers that claim draw bias,  Ping G410 SFT, M6 D-Type, or M-Gloire might be of interest...  

I'm starting to feel that anti-left sentiment on drivers are over rated.  

 

 

 

Edited by nobmontana
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I agree I think a draw biased head with a couple of anti left characteristics is more user-friendly.

Face angle & shaft selection is a good place to start.

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well ......, it depends on your swing path, ive spent yrs going from a fade push swing where a closed head was good for me  to a " baseball style hit it over left field swing for more power"  swing  and ifi  use a closed head now its  pretty much game over for me  left side if I don't hit it well. I tend to really hook it and as we know.........

you can talk to a slice , but a hooker wont listen.

 

and even with the best of shafts it still goes too left so  I really have to  aim right to make the ball centred. its tough to do consistently.

so that's  why I have gone back  to square.  that way my  misses are equal.

a slightl y stiffer shaft makes the dispersion tighter but I loose some distance, which im  ok with

 

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Go back to the g400 lst nobs I found the sft too much draw bias 

max too big and didn’t work out,

ts3 exactly like you said a fade miss too often.

but gone back to the ping g400 lst and nice straight flight head not too big.

my 2 cents

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Ended up picking up a G410 LST 9 deg with a 75g PX Evenflow 6.0 yesterday.   I somehow had higher clubhead speed with this shaft than the 65g Ping Tour shafts...   

105 clubhead speed, 14 to 15 deg launch with 2300 backspin...   260 carry and 285 with roll ...  can't argue with those numbers.  

Been using stiffer but lighter shafts as of late but maybe I need to start re-considering heavier options again.  

 

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On 7/10/2019 at 4:33 PM, D22marshall said:

Go back to the g400 lst nobs I found the sft too much draw bias 

max too big and didn’t work out,

ts3 exactly like you said a fade miss too often.

but gone back to the ping g400 lst and nice straight flight head not too big.

my 2 cents

I had the G400 when it came out but had consistency issues ...  probably my swing than anything else.

Agree with the MAX... just too big and seems to take away your focus .. 

 

 

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an extreme draw-biased driver is the latest Yamaha UD+2

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Had two rounds with the new driver.  Yesterday with a Speeder TR 569 X flex and this morning with the stock Evenflow 75g S flex....  well... 

While the Evenflow is a very nice feeling shaft,  I do believe the weight was a bit too much for e to handle for a full round.  I was much more consistent with my drives yesterday with the Speeder shaft.    

May try an ATMOS Tourspec in this head now...

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  • 1 month later...

I targeted an anti-left lower ball flight setup with a slightly stiffer shaft for many years with moderate success.  My misses were always push/slice, with my upright two-plane swing.  Acquired a 9.5 degree 440cc Baldo 568LC (square face) and put my Attas Gen I SR flex shaft on it at 45.5 in.   Immediately started hitting consistent high draw or straight shots.   I now aim down the right center and try to make a slight draw swing.   My misses now are a pull draw a bit into left rough (but long).   This setup seems to work to improve my swing and I am playing better than ever.   Hitting the fairways is main reason.

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Similar to your results.   I've gone back to my Grandista RS-D and it has been working really really well! 

No more shots leaking to the right.   No more worry about gigantic block shots!

Sold the Ping LST over the weekend too!!          

 

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