Graham Averill is turning 50 this year and he’s crazy. Instead of buying a motorcycle or getting a tattoo, he’s decided to try to get really, really good at golf. He started this project in March as a 13-year-old handicapper, trying to get to zero in a year. He is now 10.7. Welcome to his midlife crisis.
Gear will not save your game.
Let me explain. I love clothes. I think using the right gear is important. I review gear of all kinds for a variety of magazines so I know what role it plays in whatever sport or adventure you’re into, but it won’t solve your problems. At least, I don’t think the devices will fix mine. Not really.
Get the driver. I spend a lot of time obsessing over the driver’s movement. Setup, grip, weight shifting, shoulder tilt…I’ve worked hard over the past few months to address every aspect of my car. I doubt I’m the only golfer who spends an inordinate amount of time obsessing over this aspect of the game, because golf isn’t much fun when you can’t get off the tee. Ever since I picked up golf again, I’ve spent a lot of time struggling with that damn box.
Things got better after I got a trainer and he helped me rebuild my movement. Over the last two months of this project, my driver has evolved from a point of frustration to a borderline asset. I wasn’t hitting it very far, but I managed to keep the ball in play and not get a penalty from the tee that hindered my play.
But I was reading the latest MyGolfSpy review The best drivers and I realized I’ve been using the absolute worst rated driver for the past few months: the COBRA OPTM Max-D. Of the 100 clubs tested, this driver scored lowest overall in distance, accuracy and forgiveness. It produced the lowest putt rate of all drivers tested (just 33.85 percent) and ranked last overall in distance, averaging 229 carry yards, more than 15 yards less than the longest club in the test.
And this driver has been my player for months. Wonderful.
Honestly, I hit it off COBRA good. Not big. OK. I would usually put it there between 230 and 250 yards. Occasionally, I’d spit out a frustrating rope hook (it’s a draw-biased driver), but mostly I found the fairway or at least kept the ball in play. But reading the test driver got me thinking about devices. What would happen if I started using higher– rated driver: TaylorMade’s Qi4D, THE the best in accuracy, distance and forgiveness?
Would I hit the ball further? Would I find more straight paths? The siren call for better hardware was too tempting to resist, so I decided to make the switch and swap my worst rated driver for the highest rated driver. I ordered TaylorMade Qi4Dgoing through the brand new AI customization tool and puts it right into the game.
The results were disastrous.
of Qi4D it showed up the day before I left town for a golf trip. I took the plastic off the club in Florida, hit the first tee on a Disney course, and proceeded to put the ball away. My great lady was shy; I kept hitting the ground six inches in front of the ball. (Never good when you’re making small talk with your driver.)
But my poor play had nothing to do with the club. I changed Qi4D out with COBRA and proceeded to dig trenches with the great stick. After a few rounds of similar results with both drivers (yes, I was that guy carrying two drivers in my bag), I sent a video to my coach, Sam Hahn, who immediately diagnosed the problem. I was shifting my weight away from the ball in my catch sport and never getting that momentum back on my front foot. It’s a recipe for getting ripped, even if you’re rocking the latest winner MGS The best drivers test.
I was tired of traveling and making bad decisions at night and I wasn’t making a good turn. My mechanics broke. The results had nothing to do with the club in my hands.
Sam prescribed a drill to help with balance and weight shift (basically a one leg swing where most of my weight is on my front leg) and I flew home and got to work addressing the mechanical issues. Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to play four rounds with the girls Qi4D and I’m starting to question my theory about devices not fixing my problems.
During my most recent nine-hole round, I hit six of seven fairways (I sailed one right and suffered a penalty) and averaged 260 yards with my driver. My longest drive of the day came in at 295. These scores are consistent with every round I’ve played with it Qi4D since addressing mechanical issues with my swing.
From the last four rounds I played with Qi4Din fact I am winning stroke against players with scratches off the tee. It’s only half a stroke in the round, and I give it up as soon as I get close to the green, but I’ll take the progress where I can find it. On average, I’m hitting correctly half the time, on par with the results I’ve found with COBRAbut I gain about 25 yards on my typical tee shot. I’ll occasionally knock one out there 300 yards. I’m not rocking hard anymore. My mechanics are the same with both clubs and there are still a few things I want to address with my driver swing that will hopefully unlock more distance, but it’s hard to argue with the results.
So better equipment fixed my golf game, right? Not exactly.
Better equipment expanded my game, but better swing mechanics are at the core of any success I’m getting away with. And I know the results are quick because it’s only a matter of time before I get tired and make bad decisions at night and my mechanics break down again.
Gear matters. But swings matter more.
Dig deeper into one golfer’s struggle to get better at golf in middle age and read last week’s Scratch By 50, where Graham explores the importance of balls.
