I have recently acquired a Taylor Made R360 9.5 Degree Driver with a stiff shaft S90.
It has replaced my "old" TM 320 Driver that was fitted with a UST Proforce Gold 65 Stiff Shaft. The 320 gave me a penetrative ball flight that was perfect for my home course (where there is quite a bit of wind).
The R360 seems to fly quite higher and on looking at the TM website it states that the tip size differs from 0.350" in the 320 to 0.405" in the R360.
Phew!! The question being, if I was to seek out a shaft (Proforce or Grafalloy Prolite I think) what tip size do I look for? Is the .405" tip just for the Bubble Ultralite shaft or the R360 driver as well?
Please help.
|
 |
Sorry for being a bit numb!!! The 0.405" tip refers to the bubble shaft only. For all the 300 series drivers (I am told) the tip size is 0.305".
|
|
|
|
|
A good club repairer can insert a sleeve in the head and so you shouldn't worry too much about tip size ( many shafts come in different sizes)
|
|
I too have just bought exactly the same spec club and found the flight much higher than my old 10.5 steel shaft.
I was told that this was due to the weight position in the head.
Nevertheless, a great club,very forgiving and good for medium to high handicap players.
|
|
If you watch the pro's play live you will be gobsmacked how high they hit their drivers - most amateurs seem to like a low boring flight but to get max distance hit it high!!! Its like using a watering hose in that you have to angle it high (nearly 45 degrees) to get the max carry/distance with the water!!!!
|
|
 Warren,
Depends what you're after. The ideal launch angle is 12 degrees. Trouble is, most places we buy our clubs don't have launch monitors as a good one runs somewhere in the region of £2,500!
David is correct that the pros hit towering drives. The shaft/ball combo making a big difference for these guys. To give you a quick reference, Ernie is using a 9.5 degree head with a Fuji 757 shaft and the V1x to get his launch angle. Phil goes at it a different way but they both have similar results... 300yards+ (and at least so far, Phil seems to be hitting the fairway)
If I remember rightly the R360 was a TM shaft, the other 300Series were bought in Fuji Vistas (at least the ones that had the sticker 'Assembled in USA' were)
Any club-maker worth his salt can change the shaft you have in there now to one that you'd prefer. If you used the PF65 before and liked it you could go that route, it's available in .335" and .350" so there should be no issues there.
Try as many shafts as you can then go see your pro or local clubmaker and get him to yank it for you.
PF65 will run around £50/60 depending on who does it for you.
Later
Kent
|
|
 Good post Kent, very informative.
I read somewhere that Ernie has changed his driver specs a little for this year, he has gone from the 9.5 degree driver to an 8.5 degree with 1 degree closed face... he said "I want to hit the ball lower and with a little draw to get it running"....... as the advert goes, these guys are good :-)
And if the TM OEM shaft says "Made In Mexico" I think it was made by Aldila.
Iwan
|
|
Iwan,
My apologies! and thank you!! :-) That'll teach me to check things are still current instead of relying on my weak, old mind and rapidly fading powers of recollection ;-)
You are correct Ernie is using the 8.5 degree 983K
Please check out here http://www.ernieels.com/press_release_details.asp?id=810
I'll go along with the Aldila shaft in the 'Made in Mexico' model TM's too. For sure that rings a bell (see above for state of mind) :-)
Not a bad shaft.... just not as good as a Fuji ;-)
Later
Kent
|
|
Iwan,
I knew I couldn't be as nutty as I thought! (It's not possible to be without being sectioned ;-))
Check this out http://www.titleist.com/players/details.asp?ID=270
It's Ernies details on the Titleist site... using a 9.5 on here. GO FIGURE?!?!?!
Think I'm more willing to believe Ernies own website though, so 8.5 it is :-)
Later
Kent
|
|
Kent,
I don't think you are close to being sectioned, just exhibit the classic sign's of an "Equipment Geek"...... Fancy knowing that TM's OEM shaft for the 300 series was a Fuji if it was made in America, I ask you :-)
Seems to be quite a few E.G. 's about these pages though.....
Iwan
|
|
Iwan,
That would be me.... full of useless information LOL
Better go, the guy's in the white coats are looking for me ;-)
Later
Kent
|
|
