I have been looking to upgrade from my 917 to the Ts3 but want to try the Ts4 as well. Always liked the smaller heads on my drivers in the past.

Been lurking in the shadows reading several threads about driver distances, disappointments, delusions, expectations, etc. I have owned 907, 910, 913, 915, 917 now playing the 913 and the 915. I recently took my 913 and 915, and a borrowed TS to an indoor simulator. I used the same shaft, and the distance variation between these three heads has only five yards. I then went to the driving range and with my rangefinder I spotted my ball groupings (range was picked clean because this was late in the day) with each head and although the distance was shorter with used worn-out compressed range balls, the variations were again within five yards of each other.

This experiment confirmed to me a few yards is not worth $500 on a driver because that money could be better spent on short game lessons! But it also makes me question of the claims people post of ten to twenty yards gained with a TS driver. What is not shared is which driver that person upgraded from … a ten-year-old driver with a mis-matched shaft fitted when they were younger (those yardage claims are believable) or last year's driver with a tuned shaft fitted as you age (those yardage claims are difficult to believe)?

In reality each Titleist driver for the same person, the same shaft, the same swing, is only good for a few yards increase over the previous model. Sure, Jordan and JT claim eight-plus yards with newer drivers but they also have 117 MPH swing speed versus my 101 MPH swing speed.

I hear what you're saying, but don't believe using a shaft that was not specifically tested and recommended by Titleist in the TS is necessarily the best way to compare. The whole point of their campaign to show distance gains with the TS is to get properly fit into the right combination of TS head and shaft, for YOUR swing. It's as much about a proper fitting as it is about the TS.

For me, I got distance gains, but for the most part they came from a higher average distance of all shots, not just one or two that really got out there. The TS2 is definitely more forgiving than my 917D2 was. I have played every Titleist driver since the 909 version and the TS2 gives me the best OVERALL results, hands down. I know when I hit the ball dead center on the sweetspot with either the 917 or the TS2 that I will get a great result, with the TS2 likely going a bit further. Yes, only a "bit further" would make it difficult to swallow a $500 purchase price. However, when you factor in how much further the ball goes with the TS2 when I DON'T hit it perfectly dead center, compared to the 917, the cost is totally worth it to me. I am rarely ever the shortest in my regular group no matter how far off-center I hit the ball (within reason). That alone is enough for me.