Current Driver Audit
Your existing driver measured completely, including adapter setting and whether the shaft matches its own printed label.
Bench B · Driver
Weight First, Loft Second, Head Colour Never
A driver that is the wrong mass cannot be rescued by a loft setting. We decide the mass plan before we let you look at heads.
Why this order
Total Mass Sets Your Delivery, Loft Only Trims It
Change a driver's total weight by twenty grams and you change how early the club releases, how much the player has to brace, and where the low point of the swing sits. Change the loft setting by a degree and you move launch and spin, but the delivery pattern underneath stays the same.
That is why fitting loft first is backwards. You end up compensating for a delivery problem with a launch adjustment, and the result is a driver that produces acceptable numbers on the monitor and an unreliable ball flight on the course.
Our sequence is total mass, then balance point, then head, then loft, then face setting. Each step is only allowed to fine-tune what the step before it decided.
The full bench sequence
Fitting Order
Driver session
1. Total assembled massDecided from tempo
2. Balance point targetDecided from hands
3. Playing lengthDecided from strike
4. Head modelDecided from dispersion
5. Loft settingDecided from launch
6. Face and lie settingDecided from start line
The length argument
Most Drivers Sold in This Town Are Too Long
Standard retail driver length has drifted upward for two decades because longer clubs post higher ball speeds in a controlled test where every strike is centred. On a golf course, strikes are not centred, and a half inch of extra length costs more in mis-hits than it earns in speed.
We measure strike location with face tape across a block of swings at your current length and again half an inch shorter. In roughly two thirds of sessions the shorter build produces tighter strike clustering and a longer average carry, despite a lower peak.
Shortening also raises swingweight by about three points, which is a change most people notice immediately. That has to be planned for in the mass budget rather than discovered afterwards.
Typical strike clustering comparison
45.75 in, centre strikes38%
45.25 in, centre strikes57%
Peak ball speed, longerHigher
Average carry, shorterHigher
Swingweight change+3 points
Figures from a representative session. Yours will differ —
that is the reason we run the test rather than quoting the study.
On the bench
What a Driver Session Includes
Adjustable Test Builds
Reusable adapters and open weight ports so we can move two grams at a time without gluing anything.
Face Tape Strike Mapping
Strike location recorded at each length and mass, because dispersion tells the truth that average distance hides.
Launch and Spin Capture
Doppler unit in the bay. We read the shot pattern, not one favourable number from the best swing of the block.
Written Mass Plan
Signed before assembly. Target static weight, balance point, swingweight and the component list that reaches them.
Torque-Logged Adapter
Fitted to a recorded torque value, written on the card, so a rebuild anywhere reproduces your approved setting.
Keeping your head
A Reshaft Is Often the Whole Job
Driver heads have improved less than the marketing calendar implies, and a head three or four seasons old paired with the right shaft frequently outperforms a current head on a stock shaft that does not suit you.
We pull the old shaft with controlled heat so the adapter survives, prep the new tip, and rebuild to a fresh mass plan. It costs a fraction of a new driver and it lands on the same ledger card format, so future changes are traceable.
If the head genuinely is the limiting factor, we will say so. But we check the shaft first, because that is where the answer usually lives.
Reshaft rates
When a new head genuinely helps
- Face is visibly worn or has a crack line at the perimeter
- Head is more than about eight seasons old
- Your strike pattern sits well outside the centre and needs a wider footprint
- Current head has no adjustable hosel and lie or face angle is wrong for you
- Head mass is so far from target that the mass plan cannot be reached with weights
Booking
Bring the Driver You Have Now
Even if you are certain you are replacing it. The audit on your current club is the reference point every other measurement in the session gets compared against.