Selecting The Perfect Driver Just For You

Selecting the perfect driver for your golf game is kind of like trying to take a sip of water from a fire hydrant! There are so many choices available that it can really be overwhelming. Many golfers just end up buying whatever the pros are advertising. But for most of us amateur golfers, that can be a very costly mistake.

Let's go over just a few of the technical aspects of selecting the right driver for your golf game. Then when you are actually shopping at the pro shop or the mega golf store or even online, you can be better equipped to make a more objective decision.

Clubhead Size

Driver club heads just seem to keep getting bigger and bigger. Some of them are starting to look like a Volkswagen Beatle on the end of a stick! So just what is the big deal about cc's? In theory larger drivers provide for a larger clubface. This usually will produce a bigger sweet spot. Off center hits from a club with a larger sweet spot stand a better chance of traveling farther and straighter than those hit with smaller sweet spots. And let's face it. Most of us can use as much forgiveness as possible on the course.

Launch Angle

What is launch angle anyway? Is it just the loft of the clubhead? No launch angle is affected by many different things. Swing speed or clubhead speed along with the loft of the face and the spinning rotation of the ball all contribute to launch angle. So, for most of us, when choosing a driver what is the desired launch angle? When I was a young golfer, I can remember always wanting a driver with as few degrees of loft as possible. I figured the less the ball traveled vertically, the more it would travel horizontally. Well, more advanced golf equipment along with a new understanding of the physics of the golf swing has proven to change those previous thoughts. Now, unless you are a pro, the general rule of thumb is to choose a driver with at least 10 degrees of loft.

Shafts

When choosing the right driver, you should pay as much, or more, attention to the club shaft as you do the clubhead. After all, the shaft plays a very critical role in both the distance and the direction of your golf shots. The main consideration with the shaft is the flex rating. You need to find the correct flex for your swing speed and style. Some people will advise you to choose a golf shaft strictly based upon your swing speed. The old conventional wisdom indicated that the slower your swing, the more flex you needed. This is somewhat true, but there is a more accurate way to look at it. Most of us will benefit by selecting the most flexible shaft available that allows us to still swing under control.