[ThinkingPlus]

I'm currently playing a 975D driver. All else being equal (same head speed, solid contact, etc.), how much farther could you expect to hit one of the new drivers?

BigW,

Possibly the more important question is how well does your current driver fit your swing vs. how well would a new driver fit your swing. While the technology of both shafts and heads has progressed since your 975D was designed, the most important factor to consider is fitting. You will get more forgiveness with a larger head, but I think the 975D was an .830 COR head so no spring effect help available with the latest stuff.

The biggest gains can be found by optimizing launch characteristics and providing more forgiveness with the larger heads. For example, I was playing the latest technology, but my ball flight was high and ballooning. I was getting no roll. Enter a launch monitor session. Bottom line was I naturally launch high and needed to lower my flight just a bit and reduce the spin as well. I also found out that I could swing a lighter shaft just a bit faster without losing control. Voila', I went from a Wishon 9.5* head with an Aldila NV65 (67 grams) to a SMT Spectrum 8* with a UST V2-55 (58 grams). My distance increased by about 10 - 15 total yards. My swing is the same, but my launch conditions are now optimized. It makes all the difference.