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Hi I’m Rick Shiels, welcome to my channel! This YouTube channel is designed to help you play better golf, also to help you enjoy your golf more!

I specialise in golf equipment reviews, golf instruction & I play against some of the best golfers in the world!

I also want to make you play better golf by providing coaching video on all topics about golf, how to fix your slice, fix your hook, help you drive the golf ball longer, hit your irons more pure, hit your irons closer to the hole and help you draw and fade your golf shots.

I will also help you lower your score by chipping better by stopping you duff and thin chips, pitch the ball closer and also create backspin. Also I will provide you help to putt better and hole more putts!

all right guys welcome to episode two of a kind of Journey of trying to break 75 in open qualifying hopefully you enjoyed episode one where I went for a lesson with Dan grieve to help improve my short game that’s really paying some dividends I’m excited to see how that works on the day but the next big question another part of my game I’ve been struggling with recently the driver this needs fixing so driving and the driver I’ve currently been using parts of my game at the moment that have definitely been really letting me down I don’t hit anywhere near enough Fairways that I should do now over the last six months I’ve been on this kind of slow but gradual journey of trying to get more distance increasing my club head speed ball speed and hitting it longer and I put this particular driver in the bag when I was certainly trying to chase more distance I put in the Cobra dark speed LS driver the low spin driver and I’ve had it in the bag now for maybe three or four months with some good success I definitely hit this driver longer I swing it faster a little bit the story about the aerodynamics of this driver it allows me to swing it faster or it might just be a placebo effect I’ve also been doing a little bit more speed training again slowly but surely been taking my club head speed from about 108 109 milph and now I’m comfortably averaging about 1123 well I was when I first put that driver in the bag anyway however I’ve hit some horrendous driver shots big duck hooks huge slices losing golf balls it is not worth the added distance so this driver has to come out of the bag and a new one has to go in which is going to give me consistency a consistent ball flight and I’m not massively looking for huge distances at the moment anyway however I do have one small quite unique issue and it’s the amount of dve driver options I have at my disposal let me explain that so what the issue is because I’ve got so much choice of drivers obviously I have all these to review and test is where do I start like I’ve got two almost too many options if I was signed with just one brand it’d be easy just to go right that’s the newest version of that brand however there’s so many now what I don’t want to do is make any drastic ch changes like I don’t want it to look too different and actually an alternative to the ls dark speed is actually to go for a dark speed but a bigger headed more forgiving model which definitely sounds good to me so I’ve actually been having a little play about with this one already this is the dark speed standard driver little bit more forgiving not quite as low spinning let’s take this into the studio and compare it with the ls driver now truth be told I have actually played a few rounds recently with the standard dark speed driver in the bag and actually seen some good success I’m definitely hitting the ball straigh to finding a few more Fairways which is going to be critical for me breaking 75 at open qualifying but I’ve not actually run these through a proper test on GC quad which I’m going to do now I’ve actually gotten both set up almost exactly the same 10 10 degrees of Loft same shaft um let’s hit both and just almost for my own clarification and verif verifying what I think is already the truth let’s see if the dark speed standard is more forgiving and more accurate than the ls and am I actually losing that much distance the other thing as well why I don’t want to change too much like I love the Aesthetics of this driver I love this kind of just black matte Crown I love the way it feels and sounds this driver so if I can still incorporate all that but just go for a head model which kind of Suits my game a little bit more rather than just going only for distance uh that’ll be the trick the other thing I’ve really been working on just one consistent shot shape now I actually tried for a period of time just hitting a draw as much as I think I’m a natural draw of the golf ball with my irons I find it very difficult to do it consistent with driver I’m much more better almost aiming it down the left hand side and trying to fade it back to Target so I’m going to do that for this whole test let’s hit with the ls version First first and then let’s see if the new driver which I’m hoping to put in the bag does check out and ticks all the boxes like something like that is really what I’m after I didn’t strike it perfect therefore it’s not got loads of distance but that was the ls actually fine in the Fairway for once I’ve got with me I do like the feel of this driver like it’s so satisfying out the middle of the club when when I hit it right in the middle of the club that is it feels so so good oh but that’s the one that’s the one that can really really cause me trouble I’ve just hit three or four three really good ones and then boom one that goes snap hook out of bounds inable in the trees [Music] dead wasn’t well struck it’s found the Fairway but it was hit badly see that though that was really really good the other thing I did change with this driver and it’s just reminded me there I actually had the heavy weight at the front to make it really low spinning as a bit of a desperation actually put the weight further back to help with that kind of stability um so so actually some of these shots as much that I hit that really good I think when the weight was even further forward it would have actually gone even further the well I kind of put it in the most friendly setting like that’s spun at nearly 3,000 RPM which is quite quite high for this low spin driver it’s a fairway finder but it was a bad strike so actually I’ve got to be honest it’s performed a little bit different to what I expected to I think because I’ve cranked up the Loft a little bit I’ve put the weight back a touch it’s definitely not going as far as it was doing when I first tested this driver looking at the stats I’m actually not swinging it quite as fast as I was doing when I first put this driver in the bag and actually B one shot that massively missed the Fairway there was actually nine or 10 pretty good ones there but it’s all well and good doing it in here when I’m and I’m almost trying to find Fairway there’s no real consequences let’s be honest it’s just a screen but I know out on the golf course I’ve hit some horrendous shots when I’ve needed to hit good ones that’s where I feel like this driver has definitely let me down in more recent months and let’s be honest if I’m doing well open qualifying and I’m on track for breaking 75 the last thing I want is a driver in my hand on let’s say the 16th hole in fact 16th a par three the 17th hole being confident with it and then hitting a terrible shot and ruining it all I need to have ultimate confidence in the driver so moved over to this one this is the Cobra dark speed standard model I’ve got into I’ve almost exactly the same spec it’s just a bigger footprint it’s it’s supposed to offer more stability 10° weight still at the back uh same shaft I mean the head profile is a little bit bigger looks a little bit more inviting it’s not quite as streamlined as the ls version um so let’s see how this compares to the ls that I’ve had in the back oh actually side by side there’s a massive difference in head head shape behind the ball the ls actually looks tiny compared to the standard which actually is called the X I have actually had this driver a few times in the bag already and from what I’m experiencing it’s definitely boosting my confidence a little bit it’s definitely finding a few more Fairways but I want to see how it compares to the ls like actually let’s get some facts behind this as well okay I’m just going to try and hit the same shot shape that little fade which I’m I’m enjoying hitting actually that kind of works quite nicely with the ls driver there but let’s see what the X version has to offer my hope and my pray is more consistency I’m not losing any distance that was a bad start but if that’s the worst one I hit was a bit pulley but if that’s the worst one I hit let’s let’s see that wasn’t it wasn’t horrendously terrible that’s more like it little bit higher in ball flight probably a little bit more spin on it but actually really solid driv and and good for distance actually that’s a nice surprise oh that’s nice that’s the nice little fade I want to see that’s the Fairway finder we just need to put that on repeat and repeat and repeat again a bit down the left not perfect that that needs to be the furthest furthest left I’m ever going to hit it it can’t be any worse than that what’s interesting here I’m trying to hit a fade and I’m actually find it a little bit more difficult to fade I’m actually hitting it a little bit more straight to where I’m aiming trying to hit a soft slightly softer fade this time see if we can get it going straighter oh that’s better that’s nice doesn’t actually turn quite as much which again makes a lot more sense because there’s a bit more back spring on it it’s harder to actually get it drawing or fading right down the middle let’s see if it can perform when I’m when I need it to the most again that’ll work a little little tiny bit left just when it doesn’t quite fade but as long as it’s not going too far left as long as it’s not hooking I can live with that it’s left roof yes but it’s not dead okay pictures the scene 17th hole I’m playing well I need a driver that’s going to give me the confidence stand up there and rip it down the middle of the Fairway okay that was an interesting test I’m glad I’ve done that to be honest what’s fascinating with this drive the dark speed LS I have been hitting it well and when I hit it really good it’s phenomenal but I just hit it too I don’t hit it Center enough I Mis strike it too often the spin rate goes up and actually looking at this data surprisingly actually carrying the ls 267 on average so it’s not as as if it’s like giving me average longer distances just the long ones are good but the short ones are really short and the dispersion like right to left dispersion is vast going to the X I think it’s is a good a good move for me one have actually gained distance which surprises me and I think that’s more the fact that drop offs aren’t as bad but that is the big one look how consistent that circle is that is going to find me more Fairways when it comes to open qualifying is it the longest drive I’ve ever tested no do I need it to be long not really I need to be long enough but more importantly reliable and strong great enough I think the Cobra dark speed X will be going in the back