Hey JP,

There are many reason that can be the cause and the only way that you can get to the bottom of this is to get yourself on a flightscope/trackman. Take a look at spin, ball speed, smash factor, angle of attack. Could be your driver loft is too low for your swing speed. Could be shaft stiffness. Just to many variables that can cause your result. Centerness of hit. What are your carry distances? Go to a good fitter.

Best Wishes,

DV

Hey JPrior,

Out at the Titleist Performance Institute I see this way more often that people would think with all levels of play. Typically what I see in this case the player is not delivering the driver with an appropriate attack angle.

I want to preface this response with that I have not seen your ball flight or know your Trackman numbers so please take this as ideas to explore and with a grain of salt.

The driver is engineered to be hit with more of a neutral attack angle, where as the 3 wood needs to be hit a descending blow to access the center of percussion on the face.

The most accurate drivers on the PGA tour have an attack angle that ranges from -2* to +2*. And the best 3 wood players are about -1.5*. If a player is excessively down on the golf ball the driver can suffer tremendously in distance potential and possibly dispersion. Since the player is hitting more down on the ball, the player more potential to be a better 3 wood, iron, and wedge player.

If we have a player who is very efficient driver (hits more + on the ball) and tries to hit + on the 3 wood, we would see the opposite effect. Very good driver, not so good with 3 wood because they are going against how that club is engineered to be used.

Another possibility which would only be present if you had too little spin in the driver and a neutral attack angle. I say this because you are in 15* not 13.5* in 3 wood, therefor the driver may have to little loft. To gain more spin in the driver you would need to add loft to the club. Again,this is typically only applicable if the attack angle is more towards neutral.

Don't go changing your swing and trying to hit more up because there are a lot of players who play very very well hitting a little down on the driver, BUT try to understand why the golf ball is flying like it is. That little white thing does not lie.

Hope this gives some insight!


Lucas B.
Senior Club Fitting Analyst

Aside from swing attack angle and spin numbers...is the face a little hotter on the 915s as opposed to the previous models?

Hi JP,

Firstly, I am assuming that you were properly fit for your clubs.

I could probably share a whole host of reasons as to why this may be happening, however, without seeing your set up, swing, etc. it is only speculation and would or could lead you to spending an inordinate amount of time "chasing" ghosts.

My experience has taught me that it is usually set up/swing related and rarely anything to do with the club itself (save some minor tweaking such as hosel settings).

I strongly suggest that you go to a really good teaching professional for a series of 1-2 coaching sessions, focusing specifically on the driver. A good teaching professional will help you re-examine your set up, swing, etc. to make sure that you are launching the ball at the optimal attack and launch angles so that you get the most of your driver.

I had a similar problem and spent a few hours with a good teaching professional, who also happens to be one of our lead Titleist club fitters with access to the Trackman for data.

We worked on set up, club path, angles of attack and launch. I took some drills home and worked on it, and I am very pleased with my improvement. The benefit of also being a Certified Titleist Fitting professional is that we could also tweak the driver settings as well.

Anyway, these are some thoughts. I hope that you find some use for them and may they help you find a path to resolving your driver problem(s).

What is your club head speed?

JPrior,

This is a very common question and topic that I have with a lot with players out at the Titleist Performance Institute. I want to preface that I have not seen your ball flight and I have not seen your Trackman data. This should be taken as ideas to explore and certainly will depend player to player.

My main hypothesis is you are too steep in the attack angle with the driver.
The best drivers of the ball on the PGA tour have an attack angle somewhere between -2* and +2*. The best 3 wood players tend to have an attack angle of -1.5*. The reason for this is the engineering behind the different heads. A driver is engineered to be hit more neutral, and the 3 wood is engineered to be hit with a more descending blow to reach the center of percussion on the face.

If a player hits positive on the driver (on a tee) and hits positive on the 3 wood (off the turf) we see a good driver of the ball, but a poor 3 wood player as the 3 wood does not function well this way. The opposite happens if we are minus with the driver and minus with a 3 wood. Poor driver efficiency, but is typically a good fairway, iron, and wedge player.

I am not saying you need to start hitting up on the ball as there are plenty of effective drivers of the ball that hit a little down on it. But we need to understand how to diagnose our ball flight. As we say, the ball does not lie.

* **Check for low tee height, does the low height force you to hit down on the driver***

Another valid, but less likely scenario, is the driver has too little spin. If the angle of attack is between -2 to +2, and the spin is deficient. Adding loft to the driver would be the next step to increase that spin.

Hope this helps!

Lucas B.
Senior Club Fitting Analyst

I went through a similar problem. And after a brief session with a club pro we decided that my driver swing plane was a little steep. Was hitting all other clubs ok due to hitting down on ball but after a small tweak to just my driver swing plane all is well again

I'm living proof this is common, as Lucas said. I have the 913 and hit it very good, overall. The 915 3-wood gives me a lower ball flight, based on my attack angle, which can run out past my mishit drivers on occasion. I like to fade my driver, and draw my 3-wood, so it does happen......AND, I'm sure Lucas would say I need to be re-fit, but it works pretty good for me......LOL

I too am in this same category. I can hit my 3wood further than most of my playing partners drivers. But when I break out my driver (913D2) I have leveled the playing field and take a huge shot to the ego.

JP's response is excellent and has me really thinking about things. I'm very straight with both clubs fortunately so I may be able to just adjust some loft. However, I am looking forward to seeing how my hosel adjustment works for me. But that's just me.

Like others, my next move would be the stats off a Trakman.

Mine are about 10-15 yards difference. I hit my 11* driver straight and my 15* fairway with a slight draw. With the draw and hit perfect I can at times hit it the same distance depending on the fairway. I use it for tight fairways and dog leg lefts. My distance on my driver is about 250. Heck at my age (70) I am very pleased. Cannot wait to try out the new 917f soon, with the Fujikura Motore Speeder Tour Spec shaft. Who knows, might pick up another yard or two. That shaft produces a very accurate shot.