Todd,

 Over the years many equipment changes have been made to run parallel with the modern day golf swing.  Equipment advancements come from a large part of what is happening on Tour and in the market place.  When swings start to evolve, especially on the Professional Tours, the equipment manufacturers need to work closely with the players to determine the clubs that will give them the best results.  This also helps the manufacturer determine the most efficient golf clubs that they can offer, which allows them to cater these new modern clubs to a wide range of players. 

Hope this helps!

Cameron

1-888-TITLEIST 

Cameron, Thanks very much for your reply. Most of my golf was played in the 70's and early 80's with persimmon woods (nothing sounds better than that 'click' of a well-struck persimmon wood) so I would certainly categorize my swing as old school. Fast forward 30+ years and I guess it's to be expected that I don't have the slightest idea how to work with today's drivers. The size of the clubhead alone still looks ridiculous to me. Maybe it would be different had I been playing all along through this evolution. Anyhow, I'm tired of fighting the driver and I'm going to switch to a 909F3 13* off the tee. At least with that club the lie and shaft length give me something I can work with. Thanks again for your time.

Todd L,

  Over the years the manufacturers standard specs on standard length of drivers has kept getting longer and longer. Which is all the more reason to be custom fitted - there are almost no limits to what we can do with fitting.  You have sort of begun to figure it out being that you feel good with 13* F3 - that is 43" long and no doubt it fits you better than a standard 45" long club. 
   Titleist has recently introduced a 12* 910 that through adjustablility can be made to have a 13.5* loft. You could have one made with a 43" shaft if you like.... Best to find a good fitter in your area that will fit you properly --- ie.. outdoors using a launch monitor where you can observe the ball flight, use the Titleist fitting manual to show you the desired numbers and they should have Pro V1 balls to hit.
  Now for the bigger heads - a larger head makes it easier to hit a ball straight plus they are way more forgiving than a smaller head be it persimmon or other materials.  I know it looks big but there are no small head options out there now.  So if you say you like the smaller head look of an F3 that is your call. We as fitters cannot fit you for looks or feel or sound. But a good fitter can figure out your length of shaft, loft and shaft options.  I would be interested to see how you like a 910 at 43" with the correct shaft. You might get over the big head once you see how easy it is to hit.
  Good luck - get on the fitter locator service through the Titleist web site.

steve ball

Steve, I'd have to say that the 43" shaft is more in line with what I am accustomed to. I know that I have some minor mechanical things to work out in my swing off the tee and that's certainly a factor here too. I just bought the 13* F3 and haven't hit it yet, but I do have the 15* F3 and shaft length and lie are the same. Before I walked away from golf in 1982 or thereabouts, I did all of my damage with a Kroydon 2 wood. It would not be unusual for me to drive shorter par 4s with it or outdrive people who hit a driver pretty well themselves. I would hit absolute bombs with that club. Even in those days, I could never hit a driver as good as the 2. This, and the struggles I've had with my 909 D3 all year led me to want to give the 13* F3 a shot. I know that I have the ability, I just can't seem get it right which leads to a lot of frustration as you might imagine. Now for the bigger heads - I need to get over it, I understand that too. I would like nothing more than to be able to take advantage of them. I went for a lesson last year to help knock some of the rust off. The PGA Pro I was working with told that I have great action, so I know that between some minor adjustmens and a proper driver fit, I should be able to hit bombs off the tee again. I thought that I *was* properly fit for this driver. A launch monitor was used but it was inside hitting into a net, and only off the shelf clubs were available so different shaft lengths were never a part of the process. I'm in upstate New York and the golf season is coming to a close for the year. I think I'm going to start next year off with the 13* F3 instead of the 10.5* D3. Once I'm convinced that my mechanics are sound I'm going to find a proper Titleist fitter, even if I have to take a drive to get to one. Thanks for your insight, Steve. I appreciate it very much.

Hey Todd

Part of the problem may be the design of the crown of the 909D3.

When the club is level with the ground, the line/triangle alignment aid on the crown is not level with the ground, it is pointed back toward you.

So if you are used to seeing the alignment aid level to the ground, then the 909D3 will appear to be toe up when the club is actually level with the ground.

At the top of this page go to "golf clubs", on the far right/bottom click on Previous models, go down to 909D3 click on view model, then near the bottom click on comparison, it will show you the faces of the 909DComp, 909D2, 909D3.

From this view you can see the 909D3 alignment aid is directly over the center of the clubface, but the highest point of the crown is toward the toe, so the alignment aid is angled back toward the user.

Hey Q, I just grabbed the club and you're right. I will appear to have the toe up when it really isn't. So when I *think* I'm flat on the ground at address, I'm really not. Interesting, I hadn't considered any of that. I expect the 13* F3 to arrive any minute now and I'll be taking that and the D3 straight to the range. Thanks for your help.

Well...I just got back from the range and the 13* F3 was the clear winner. Seems odd that I would hit the much smaller clubface better but so be it for the time being. The ball seems to travel just as far if not farther. It's straight time after time, though that's probably to be expected with more loft I suppose. At any rate, the D3 is out of the bag until further notice. I know I'm going to need to come to terms with the driver at some point, but at least now I can go to the tee with some confidence while I get this worked out.

Todd

I gave my 909D3 to the hs. I didn't like it as much as 983K or 907D2(that could have been the shaft), but I simply could not hit it as well.

I'm dropping driver until next year, putting in 13* 906f2, I think I'd like to try an F3.

The 13* worked very well on the course on Saturday. Maybe not as far as the D3 would have been, but I was hitting fairways and convinced that I was onto something. What a difference a day makes. Sunday was an absolute horror show. I struggled with the 13* just like I've struggled with the D3 all year and it got worse as the day progressed. After dinner I started watching some of the video tips in the My Game section. I don't follow every tip that I come across, but I'd like to think that I know one that I should follow when I see it. As soon as I saw Hunter Mahan's Creating Rhythm in Your Swing, I wanted to give it a try. As soon as I did, I immediately saw where things were going wrong. Now maybe this D3 isn't the ideal driver fit for me, maybe the shaft really is too long or it's the wrong one all together. Maybe a D2 would better suit my swing. But as it turns out, the root cause of my problems hitting it is....me. I put it back in the bag today and went out and shot a 39. That's not to say that I have it 100% dialed in, but I don't feel like I should abandon it anymore.