Just lately, a query got here in from reader Kirby W. about whether or not drivers get slower with use:
For a number of years, perhaps a long time, my course buddies and their dads speak about drivers dropping their “pop.” My query is, can a driver lose its “pop” or explosiveness as years go by much like a wedge dropping its grooves? If that’s the case, what are these timelines like?
This can be a fascinating query, partly as a result of it highlights one among golf’s persistent myths. “My driver simply doesn’t bomb it prefer it used to!” Possibly it’s you who’s misplaced pace (though I’m usually onboard with blaming the tools).
Drivers get sooner
Given time and use, many drivers will expertise what’s referred to as CT creep. That is mainly your driver face changing into extra versatile over time. That spring-like impact that the USGA continually tries to police? It truly will get springier.
In different phrases, drivers sometimes get FASTER with use.
Want proof? Look no additional than this 12 months’s PGA Championship the place the USGA deemed the TaylorMade Qi10 drivers within the baggage of Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler to be non-conforming. Whereas there’s at all times some variability between testing tools and operators, it’s fully attainable (if unlikely) that with all of the balls Tour gamers hit, their drivers turned extra responsive than the USGA permits.
At one level, they had been conforming however, ultimately, there was sufficient CT creep that they weren’t.
So your driver in all probability isn’t dropping pop, it’s probably gaining pace—the large canine ages like fantastic whiskey fairly than sun-drenched mayo.
Plot twist: Why your driver might sound shorter
Earlier than you begin bragging to your taking part in companions, there’s a wrinkle which may clarify why some golfers swear their drivers have misplaced distance.
Velocity is only one ingredient within the distance recipe. Launch angle and spin matter, too.
Right here’s the place issues get fascinating. Whereas many golf firms have shifted to extra resilient supplies in recent times (the ATI materials present in Titleist GT driver faces, for instance), faces can nonetheless flatten with repeated use.
Driver faces have “bulge and roll.” That’s industry-speak for the curvature that helps appropriate off-center hits. If the roll (the curvature from crown to sole) flattens out above middle face, balls gained’t launch as excessive.
In that state of affairs, even when your face received a bit sooner, the decrease launch may imply you’re truly dropping distance. It’s like having a sooner automobile however you’re caught driving it uphill right into a headwind.
In case your bulge (the curvature from heel to toe) flattens out, chances are you’ll wrestle a bit greater than regular with accuracy.
When faces ultimately quit
One other issue to think about is face failure. Faces have been identified to fail nevertheless it’s hardly ever a single catastrophic occasion.
The breakdown normally begins with microfissures (tiny cracks). Within the brief time period, these can truly result in extra pace however, with sufficient time, you might see pace loss and, ultimately, because the steel fatigues additional, whole failure.
Consider it as your driver residing quick and dying younger. It may be a wild experience, so get pleasure from it.
The underside line
So is your driver dropping its pop? In all probability not in the way in which you suppose. If something, it might be gaining unlawful quantities of pace whereas doubtlessly dropping some launch traits that assist optimize distance.
Not like your wedges, which undoubtedly lose spin as grooves put on down, your driver is on a special journey – doubtlessly getting sooner however perhaps much less optimized general.
In case you’re satisfied your driver has misplaced distance, the perpetrator is way extra prone to be:
Your swing (it occurs to all of us)
Shifting launch situations from face deformation
Ball modifications
A worn grip affecting your capability to ship the membership effectively and successfully
That additional drink on the flip is affecting each your efficiency and your notion
So the following time your taking part in associate blames their fading distance on an ageing driver head, you may enlighten them with some precise insights. Possibly wait till after they’ve purchased the primary spherical.
What do you suppose?
Have you ever observed your driver altering efficiency over time? Or is that simply what we inform ourselves when our swing will get a bit creaky? Drop a remark under.
Acquired a query of your individual?
E-mail us at ask@mygolfspy.com and we’d simply reply it in a future piece.
The publish Is Your Driver Getting Slower? The Reality About Your “Pop” Fading Away appeared first on MyGolfSpy.
