20 Degree Driver??

[GolfIsSerious]

Originally Posted by ZmaXimus

Not sure I agree with this. If I hit my 5 wood further then my driver I wouldn't have a driver. I think this is the minority not the majority.

I think a ton, of amatuers hit their 3woods and 5woods further, simply because the club is more forgive...i.e. same reason a lot of self taught golfers can't hit a 3 or a 4 iron, with consistency....their impact position is not constant...the 3wood in my opinion...is about 30% easy to guide...I for one have a consistent draw with my driver...but if I try to cut a dogleg from a tee box... I typically hit three wood, just open the face, and my stance, and really let my hips clear the ball and I get a nice low fade... with the driver... that same shot has a tendency to get to about 200-220 and out of no where the spin takes over and you can see the shot make a massive right hand turn... the other thing, is the stinger shot... made hugely popular by tiger woods...I can't hit that with my driver or my 3wood, but I can with my 5wood and its good for about 240yds which is only about 40yards of the average of my driver that I typically play off the tee box...

Back to the thread at hand...I have a cleveland launcher 1i with the red shaft...I love the feel of this club...if the face was a little bigger and the head was a little bigger, I might swing it a little harder...but as I see other peeps are already playing 15* drivers... so its kinda pointless...however...if it had the feel of an iron with the head shape of a driver with a lower profile kinda like the taylormade burner series fw's...it might, maybe get somewhere... all depends and how it performs... a long time ago, I took a titlelist 945 driver and put a 34" x100 dynamic gold shaft in it...I used it like a three wood, but would swing the stuffings out of it...this was long before I took lessons...and it was simply because my swing was so upright and so close to my body, that it worked...once I improved my swing plane, swing tempo, and alignment, the club was pointless...I hit a 3i just as far with a much easier swing, and much more consistency...

[NathanD37]

Well as a person that is unable to keep my 10.5 loft driver low, I'd say ***** no. I always seem to carry my ball far, but it goes so high that it bounces and rolls maybe only 4 or 5 extra yards, except on the select few courses with extremely hard fairways.

[Bigborgel]

Sounds like what Bang is proposing would be the equivalent of a "thriver" ( a smaller driver head with the loft of a 3 wood or more, and a shaft length equal to a 3 wood. Thrivers have been fairly popular for tight driving holes where accuracy is at a premium, and for hitting off the deck on long par 5's. I imagine that for golfers with sub 90 mph swing speeds this sort of setup might work well off most tees also.

[GolfIsSerious]

Originally Posted by Bang-Golf

I totally agree with the Junior thought...(A junior line is another great idea)

My thought is that most people like their 3 and 5 woods...because the club is shorter and has more loft, golfers can control the club and add accuracy. Confidence = distance. With more mass, the 20 degree driver could fill that confidence mystery people are lacking!

If you had a 20 degree driver you could also chock down and hit the club off the deck like a 3 wood...so there would be no need for a 3 wood and you could add an extra hybrid or wedge depending on your preference.

that why we I hit driver off the deck currently without choking down...as long as the course is at least damp, I through out the three wood and carry a driver, 5w and 1i... hard condition driver, 3w, 20* clk from mizuno.

[BirdieBob]

At first I thought the idea was stupid until i thought about it. But I see alot of senior men and women at the range with such limited flexibility and super low swing speeds.
These people do hit the ball in the sweet spot but have trouble getting the ball very high off the ground. Their normal Drive looks like a punch shot. if you can get the senios to demo these you could have a winner here. I really think so. And yes this couple with one high lofted oversized fairway wood maybe about 26 degrees and you could have them having fun again. Hey a couple of brids and a few short irons and wedges it could work well for the senior/handicapped community and their are many of those.
Bang Golf please PM me and I could tell you more as I see many frustrated and bewildered people at the range and course. I would really like to help as I am now a disabled senior and have time on my hands. I am not in the same boat as these people as I still swing it over 90mph but i see folks that have to be swinging it 50mph.