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Senior Golfer: “What’s the problem with my golf game?”
Golf Pro: “You’re standing too close to the ball….after you’ve hit it.”
Ouch. I hope the golf pro at your club demonstrates a bit more tact than that. That joke is an ‘Oldie but Goodie’ but, unfortunately, it echoes the universal lament of the senior golfer.
We all fondly remember those days when golf was an easier game for us to play, and perhaps even more fondly, how much farther we used to hit the ball. Sadly, Father Time has a maddening way of robbing us of the power and flexibility we once had.
There are some steps you can take to lessen the impacts of aging, such as exercising, strength training, stretching, etc. These things are recommended for all seniors, but would be particularly beneficial to the senior golfer looking to recoup some of that lost distance.
But many will find it reassuring that, in addition to improving your strength and flexibility, at least some of the answer lies in the driver that you are using. Is your current driver providing you with all of the benefits of modern technology, so that you can maximize the distance you’re able to generate? That will be the focus of our discussion here as we look to answer the question, “What is the best golf driver for seniors?”
Before we examine the actual driver market and technology, and make some recommendations, it may be helpful to understand why this is even an issue for senior golfers. There are a whole host of reasons why we lose distance as we age. Some, of course, are physical but, interestingly, some are mental.
Loss of muscle mass, something called sarcopenia, is an inescapable part of the aging process. It also has an undeniable negative effect on our strength, and therefore, on how much club head speed we can generate. Surprisingly, loss of muscle mass usually begins some time in our 30’s. But as we get into our senior years, the effects can really begin to multiply. According to WebMD it is estimated that:
“physically inactive people can lose as much as 3% to 5% of their muscle mass each decade after their 30’s”
The moral of the story: stay active, make sure you get enough calories and protein each day to sustain muscle mass, and do as much exercising and strength training as you can.
Working to improve strength and power is obviously an important part of regaining those lost driving yards. Just as important though, if not more so, is increasing your flexibility and range of motion.
If nothing is done to arrest and diminish this loss of flexibility as you age, you can expect that you will not be able, for example, to make the full shoulder turn that you used to have. This results in a restricted backswing, and less distance.
Similar flexibility issues effect the hips and several other areas that are crucial to making a full, unimpeded swing. A good flexibility program for seniors is one of the most important things you can do in your quest for those precious additional yards.
Losing distance is a tough thing to accept. Where you once may have been hitting a 5-iron into a certain Par 4 green, perhaps now you’re forced to hit a hybrid, or even a 3-wood. An inability to reach holes in regulation anymore, ones that you used to reach easily, is frustrating.
So what often happens next is that most human of responses: you think you have to swing harder on your drive in an attempt to hit the ball farther. As mentioned earlier, this is one of the mental factors that can end up costing you distance. Subconsciously, you think that ramping up your effort will ramp up the yards. Unfortunately, swinging harder usually doesn’t solve the problem.
In fact, it can often exaggerate it. How?
When you swing harder, you frequently tense up your arm and shoulder muscles in an attempt to generate more speed. Tense muscles are antithetical to creating speed in your swing. Loose, relaxed muscles are needed to maximize speed.
Also, when trying to swing harder, golfers frequently allow the upper body to take over, which results in the all-too-common “over the top” swing that produces an out-to-in swing motion, and a resulting slice. We’ve all seen how much distance can be lost when the ball curves wildly from left to right.
The key: stay relaxed, keeping your wrist, arm and shoulder muscles loose. Slow your backswing down, too. Getting prepared to ‘hammer’ a drive is often accompanied by a too-fast backswing. This can get your entire swing out of sync right from the start, and you will spend the rest of the swing trying in vain to compensate for that flawed takeaway.
Golf club manufacturers today recognize the plight of senior golfers and have designed drivers for seniors and other slower swing speed players. Several features are incorporated into the modern driver that are specifically designed to help seniors hit the ball farther and straighter.
It goes without saying that it is easier to move a lighter object than it is to move a heavier one. Since the advent of graphite shaft technology many years ago, we have seen a continuing trend to produce lighter and lighter versions.
This historically presented some challengers for shaft designers. It proved difficult to shave weight off of the shaft without compromising its “integrity,” meaning that lighter shafts had a diminished ability to maintain their consistency during the swing and to regularly return the shaft to the proper orientation at impact.
Fortunately, those technology challenges have mostly been overcome, and excellent driver shafts can now be found as light as 50 – 55 grams. That is between 20-30% lighter than the typical driver graphite shafts. Seniors who have, for example, a 75 – 85 MPH swing speed should seek out clubs that have these lighter graphite shafts. It will definitely make it easier to generate more club head speed, and more distance.
Most golfers are familiar with the designations on the golf shaft that indicate its level of flexibility, or “flex.” Seniors, who often have slower swing speeds, should always utilize a shaft flex that suits their slower swing speed, in other words, a shaft that has more flex.
In looking for your next driver, make sure that you see the letter “A” on the club shaft, or perhaps the letter “R.” The “A” indicates that this shaft has the appropriate flex for a senior golfer, while the “R’ stands for “Regular,” just slightly stiffer than the Senior shaft. Women golfers should usually select shafts designated with the letter “L” (Ladies Flex).
Forgiveness in a driver head pertains to its ability to limit the negative effect of an “off center” hit. A golf ball struck precisely on the golf head’s sweet spot will generally fly farther than one struck, say, a half-inch toward the toe, or a half-inch toward the heel.
Head designers have been able to incorporate features into their clubs that allow these mis-hits to fly almost as far as a sweet-spot hit. The largest allowable head size on a driver is 460 cc in size. Seniors should always buy a 460 cc driver head, as the larger size offers an expanded sweet spot, which provides maximum forgiveness.
Another “forgiveness” factor is the club’s loft. Today’s pro’s and other stronger players use drivers with lofts of 9.5 degrees to 10.5 degrees. These players have the ability to generate the kinds of swing speeds that will launch the ball at an optimal height to maximize distance.
Senior golfers need more loft than that to attain the optimal launch height for their slower swing speed. Look for drivers that have at least 11 – 14 degrees of loft. A higher launch will equate to longer distance.
There are many superb drivers for seniors available on today’s market. As long as you make sure you are buying one that utilizes the features mentioned above (lightweight shaft, appropriate shaft flex, maximum forgiveness), you should see a noticeable improvement in your drives.
We have reviewed many of the current clubs designed for seniors, however, and offer the ones below as the best drivers for slow swing speeds.
The G400 Max is an ideal club for the senior golfer looking for maximum forgiveness, and longer and straighter drives. It incorporates all of the features we discussed above, and has received almost universal praise in the market for its playability.
It has the highest Moment of Inertia (MOI) of any driver in the Ping family, an important feature in enabling the club face to resist “twisting” when there is an off-center hit. That means drives go straighter, even when you hit the ball somewhere other than on the sweet spot.
The G400 Max has a 460 cc head, and importantly, has its Center of Gravity (CG) low in the head to maximize the launch angle. Its head is designed in an aerodynamic shape too, another effort to offer its users a faster swing speed. This driver is highly recommended for our senior golfers.
Read more about the Ping G400 Max here.
The Callaway Rogue driver would be another great selection for the senior golfer.
Callaway has designed and implemented a technology in the Rogue head that employs lightweight titanium bars, which serve to stiffen the crown and sole. This stiffer body allows the clubface to absorb more of the force of the ball impact, which promotes faster ball speeds and greater distance.
Together with the titanium bars, they have engineered the clubface to allow faster ball speeds across a wider area of the face. This feature, resulting in an expanded sweet spot, is one of the Rogue’s most effective features for seniors looking for additional forgiveness. The Rogue would be another excellent choice for senior golfers.
Read more about the Callaway Rogue here.
Cleveland has designed a driver in which the sole works like a spring to boost ball speeds. This is a great feature for distance-seeking seniors.
They have also pushed the Center of Gravity (CG) downward, providing higher launch angles, another feature designed to produce greater distance.
This club also comes standard with an excellent lightweight shaft. At 50 grams, the Miyazaki C. Kua 50 offers seniors the lightweight shaft that we described earlier as such an important feature.
And, it should be noted, for golfers wanting to spend a little less on their next driver, the Launcher HB is offered at a more moderate price than many of the other drivers.
Read more about the Cleveland Launcher HB here.
