Tiger's Driver

Equipment
1

I apologize ahead of time that this relates to the frying pan drivers, but I just thought this was terribly interesting despite the blasphemy. This is from Leith Anderson’s latest golf blog article. Not only can Tiger not hit the fairway with a driver, he can’t hit it with a strong 3 either! :confused:

[i]Taylor Made Knows

My article last week was one of the most popular ever. A steady stream of customers came in - with their Taylor Made drivers - to measure them with our Tour Gauge.

We set a new record. An 11.5* TM driver measured 17*. After the analysis - it turned out that 17* was perfect for the player. Spooky how good TM is at fitting drivers for loft.

We can draw a conclusion from limited experience. Taylor Made drivers are intentionally designed and marketed with a deep understanding of golfer psychology. Taylor Made knows that if they marked their driver with true loft measurements sales would collapse.

You can’t call it TRICKERY if it’s in your own best interest. Look inward. Why do you think what you think about driver loft and the best swing for maximum distance?

You’re probably still calibrated to the old days - old balls - old thinking. Time to press the RESET BUTTON.

Taylor Made knows. They add two, three or five degrees to the loft a player thinks he’s choosing.

The funny thing is that’s still not enough loft for most players.

Tiger Woods Knows Too

A couple of weeks ago I sent out a snapshot of a screen from a Tour Van that showed an 8.5* driver with an actual loft of 11.25*. That snapshot was stolen by a sneaky guest on the Nike Van - and posted for a minute on the Internet before Nike let everyone involved know such shenanigans were not OK.

Does it change your thinking about loft just a little bit now that you know Tiger Woods plays an 11.25* driver?

Tiger Woods is playing an 11.25* driver. RESET NOW.

Why would Nike want to keep that a secret?

OOPS!! I forgot. If Tiger was caught with an 11.25* driver loft it would say he was finished. That’s the ultimate manifestation of crazy golfer psychology. Nike wants to sell drivers based on good information but can’t afford to say that Tiger plays 11.25* for fear of destroying Tiger’s image even more. Driver loft is that important - psychologically.[/i]

2

Just more Internet spew taken out of context. As usual.

Tiger’s driver face is set up by Nike at least 2 degrees open. This is because he fears the hook and like Hogan he has adjusted his woods to be open. Squaring up an open faced driver has a delofting effect at impact. Ending up at 8.5 degrees of loft at impact.

So no, Nike isn’t trying to hide anything.

3

I don’t think it’s interesting in a conspiracy theory way, I think it’s interesting in a study of psychology way.

I read an interesting article once about Tiger’s search for the perfect equipment. The article theorized that what Tiger was actually searching for was to simply recreate the feeling he had with his clubs as a junior (Mizuno irons, etc). This was written around the time when Phil barbed him about his “inferior equipment.”

What if Tiger had not been goaded to compete in bomb and gouge? What if he had simply grabbed his Mizuno’s and Cobra driver and declared his only intention would be to hit every fairway and every green? What if he went out and won the Masters with his inferior 1980s gear? What if (heaven forbid!) he played a persimmon off the tee because he said he could “feel the clubhead” better? What if he decided to play a 17* driver?

The point isn’t that Tiger doesn’t have the right answers, the point is he may be answering the wrong questions. If Tiger knows that hitting 14 fairways in 275 yards equals victory, but hitting out of the rough 14 times despite 315 yards equals losing, why does he intentionally choose the latter? Why is he choosing to compete with Dustin Johnson on length rather than trusting his own combination of length plus accuracy? Why is he listening to Sean Foley??

Whatever the reasons are, I think the psychology of it all is fascinating.

4

Here’s taking it one step further.

Back in the 90s I lived in Austin, TX, where it was not unusual to run into Tom Kite over at the Golfsmith. My next door neighbor was on his way home from work one March day and decided to pop into some local place akin to something like Bob’s Golf Discount to pick up a glove. There in the $5 club barrel is Ben Crenshaw elbow deep in the giveaway drivers.

My neighbor gathered himself, walked over, made his introduction and politely said “Mr. Crenshaw, I’m a big fan, it’s a pleasure to meet you, and oh by the way, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?”

Crenshaw shook his hand and chatted for a few minutes. He said, well, you know I’m going over to Augusta next month and I really want to shape my tee shots (a certain way) so I’m looking for something that I can re-shaft and re-grip at home that will give me what I’m looking for, and what I’m looking for isn’t in the newer drivers.

So, here’s Ben Crenshaw, saying “not only can I win on the PGA tour, I think I can beat the Master’s field with a $5 driver from the used club barrel at Bob’s.”

Can you imagine what would happen if Tiger Woods did something like this? There would be five-hundred Golf Digest articles about why the “secret’s in the $5 club barrel.”

Again, not posting an argument and certainly not in a position to make any judgment, but I find the psychology of this to be really, really interesting.

5

So, he’s had to open his driver 2 degrees to get the 8.5 driver he has that has 11.25 degrees of loft back to 9.25 degrees that = 8.5 degrees? WTF?

I do agree that the “standard” lofts they put on drivers is BS. I’ve hit 8.5 drivers that go way too high because not only do they have a different loft that stated but also the lower COG makes the ball balloon even more. Over priced hackers clubs for hackers…

I thought it was just shitty quality control, but maybe they did do it on purpose. Nice that you have to lie to your customers.
But they sell $$$ so they keep at it.

6

Is it okay to tell the lie that your customer WANTS to hear?

We’ve all stood next to the guy in the fairway who says “155 to the middle, I guess I’ll just choke down on a wedge.” TaylorMade just makes it easier for you to compete with that guy psychologically by giving you stronger lofted irons. I hear they sell lots of them.

Same with the driver. If you show up with your “Lucky Thirteen” 13 degree lofted driver, your foursome would be merciless. TaylorMade just renames their “13” a “9.5”. You get the results you want without the drama of explaining why you’re using your daughter’s driver.

But when Bubba beats you, doesn’t he really beat you twice with his “girly” pink frying pan? Why is he unafraid?

This is where I don’t get the Tiger “hide the loft” thing. He should be bragging that he beats you with his 12* driver, but instead, it’s like he’s afraid Ian Poulter will tweet on him and the world will think he’s a pretender. He’s Tiger Woods for goodness sakes! Is he really susceptible to the same psychological fears as the average hacker??

I guess the answer is: yes.

7

if a guy looks down at his driver and can’t tell that his 9 degree driver looks like it has the loft of a 5 wood, then he probably should be playing
a driver with that much loft.

i never paid much attantion to lofts on the titanium heads because the variance in graphite shafts can affect ballflight so much.

i doubt tiger really cares what his fellow players think of him and the equipment he is playing.

8

Right now my gamer driver is an early 70’s Pena block, with two screws missing from the face and a shaft epoxied together in three places. I doubt it would sell in the $5 bin for more than about 50 cents.

Played up in Lake Tahoe today at about 6000 feet above sea level. The air is dry and the ball flies forever. Throw in some rock hard greens and it is a recipe for a lot of chips from over greens or downhill putts. Got the usual strange looks from the guys on the first tee waiting behind us. Little fade right down the pipe raised an eyebrow or two. After the round one of the guys playing behind said “howd ya go with that persimmon?” 72 I said… you got to hit it straight out here for sure."
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A bit of a scrappy start, but played the last 12 holes 3 under without a bogey coming in. Made some nice putts with the chip roller.

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One of the guys paired with us just couldn’t believe I could shoot par with persimmon and 1956 irons. He couldn’t believe how heavy they were.

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I can’t think of one player that strikes the ball better from my era with the modern gear than they did with the old stuff.
Their swings have deteriorated, and all you really have to do is look at their footwork. One of my college teammates Randy Norvelle shot 65 the last round on this course in the Sierra Nevada Open with persimmons in the mid 80’s and won the event. I don’t think anyone hitting modern gear is going to go around here and shoot 65 these days punching out of the trees if they can even find their ball.

A lot of hidden technology in my 50 cent driver… especially with the telephone pole shaft in it and the rebored 48 degree lie angle. Once I like the physics of the club… then I worry about prettying it up… which I will be doing to this one soon.

9

Yeah, and watched him either chunk it and come up short 30 yards or slice it 50 yards into the woods because he’s trying to swing his pitching wedge as hard as he swings his driver just to hit it long like the pros. Accuracy and consistency is not a swing thought or even an after thought for these guys.

Deceiving others and trying to deceive yourself only works until you hit the ball. Then reality takes over…

10

Trust me, the distances the commentators are saying the guys on tv hit their irons are full of it… Tiger… 8 iron from 200… The forgot to mention it’s a 20 mph downhill downwind shot… People can be easily deceived…