One of the best players at our club demo'd all the new drivers and selected the Stealth2 over the Ping G430. He said the Ping was only a "hair" behind in terms of distance and dispersion. So after hearing that, I went to our pro shop and demo'd a Stealth2 with a Senior Speeder NX A50 shaft,, 10.5*. This is a much lighter shaft than what I used in my prior Ping G driver which was a stiff 65g I actually thought the Senior flex would be too light for me.
So for me, to test out any club properly, it has to be on the course and not using trackman in some indoor area. The reason being, for me is on the course my body is likely tenser than "swinging away" at a store, or during a fitting. Plus, the look of the club on the course when teeing up may feel / look better or "worse". Anyway, the plan was to try the club for a couple of rounds.
During the first couple of swings, and as expected, the club felt really light, but the swing was REALLY fast. There was an adjustment period to reset my timing during the transition to not over-power the shaft, but the adjustment period was only two to three holes,. The distance increase was astonishing. Some shots were a little "spinny" high, but after a quick adjustment of the loft down to about 9.5* the higher spinny shots were gone. I would say the distance increase was 20 yards, maybe 30 or even 40 at times.
After demo'ing the club for about two weeks during events and "big money games", there was no doubt this was the driver and shaft combination for me. On a side note, I think the pro shop was wondering if I was ever going to bring it back...lol. The sound is more muted vs. my loud Ping, but I got used to the sound . The dispersion was far better than my older Ping G. I was hitting the ball so well four other guys bought the same driver with the R50 TR shaft (not the NX Speeder A50 as that shaft is hard to find off the shelf, I also bought the new Stealth2 with the R50 TR shaft with a 10.5* loft (my old Ping was 9*). The R50 TR shaft is stiffer towards the handle which tightens the club up slightly with little loss of power. The R50 TR shaft combined with the 10.5* loft hits mid launch bullets. I think the TR shaft doesn't let the club face release quite as early as the NX Speeder which keeps the ball somewhat lower than what I would expect from a 10.5* loft.
I've played this driver for 20 rounds and it's a powerhouse and a lot of fun to hit, Plus, even though I have the R50 TR shaft, I bought a NX A50 Speeder shaft with a Taylormade tip as a second shaft for fun. $80 on Ebay. So far my longest drive have been around 275 vs. 240 prior with the Ping/Stiff shaft. So the lesson learned is I would have NEVER thought a senior flex A50 Speeder shaft would have been for me...ever. So it was a stroke of luck to demo that exact club on the course. I'm pretty sure I would have gone for the Ventus Blue stiff shaft had I not demo'd this club on the course. I think there's a LOT of synergy between the A50 Speeder and/or the R50 TR shaft and the Stealth2 club head. The combination(s( work extremely well together.
On a side note, I think a lot of 55 and older guys are told they need a stiff shaft in their driver when they really don't. Stiffer shafts weigh more due to more carbon fiber needed to stiffen the shaft. The extra weight requires more effort, thus in my opinion, and based on now some 20 rounds, the lighter shaft is far more fun to swing faster with a lot less effort.
Finally, I think Rick Shiels does a great job demo'ing shafts from A flex to XStiff in the below video.
Well keep in mind they're is no standard as far as shaft flex. It's really more about the shaft profile than anything... Top make sure the flex kick point match your swing. Weight is The key variable to improve swing speed.
The most important thing for long term is to match up club speed, launch angle and spin rate to be consistent.
There is no doubt you can pick up serious speed with a lighter softer shaft. Heck, long drive guys use longer and much softer shafts.
The driver head is a function of same variables... Ball speed, launch angle, spin rate. There will be zero difference on a centered hit regardless of manufacturer because there is a limit of 1.5 coefficient of restitution. Meaning the ball cannot be faster than 1.5x clubhead speed. With that limit, there is really no difference from driver to driver... Unless there is a difference in launch angle and spin rate.
Ultimately, you can pick whichever driver head you like the most... And what looks and sounds best to you... But the real difference will come down to the shaft.
Nice write up @GolfLivesMatter . That's some impressive yardage gain. I'm 59 (just turned) and my swing speed would never justify a stiff shaft. I always thought that flex is for stronger/faster swingers. Being a 12 hcp, at what point do I justify the $$$ for that equipment? I hit the G410 driver (off the shelf) right now; do I want to hit it longer? always. I got fitted for Ping G425 irons a couple winters ago. When I went on to the driver the GolfTec dude said he wouldn't sell me a new driver until I learned how to hit what I had! WAT! (insert expletive here) 😯. With that said I've been working indoors all winter with no room to hit driver in my basement sim. I'll have to see what the summer brings to see if my driver swing is good enough to justify new equipment. I guess it's the chicken and the egg syndrome.
Wow. Great analysis and summary, @GolfLivesMatter, and nice to hear from you again after a bit of a Forum hiatus!!
@Russell Hogue, PhD, @Gerry_Lager, and all you other equipment junkies out there - what do you think?