What Clubs 2011? - Driver

I know it is only February. It has been getting really hot recently so I decided to give my hair less like a trim and more like a shave with the sides and back from first cut rough to green with a green speed of 12 on a Stimpmeter. (On green speed and the Stimpmeter please see link):


It's HSBC Women's Championship again. A friend has the privilege of playing with Brittany Lancicome at the Tanah Merah Garden Course and commented that her average drive was 250m and it was fast and accurate. I want you to watch this clip comparing Ai Miyazato with Brittany Lancicome and you will see an amazing swing with stunning speed by the latter and a very good comparison comparing swing style so that visually you can see differences when on the course:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykPsqBdjSXc

There you have it - fear not the weapon but the hand that wields it. I am not here right now to show you how to swing but maybe we can exchange pointers on the course or at the range. But I can show some weapons that allows you at least to act the part so that no matter how awful your singing is, the Karaoke machines make you sound better than you really do. You get the point?

It is really only February and I can tell you what are the equipment you should watch out for and I can narrow it down to the usual suspects. All the major brands and models are all good but I will tell you which are great or potentially great and why so. Cobra, Titleist and others make good and excellent drivers too but I am giving you my preference and why.

TaylorMade R11

My experience playing TaylorMade drivers quickly lets me understand what all the hype is about. See link here: http://gforce-guru.blogspot.com/2011/02/driver-tech-talk.html. For a start it is very eye-catching in all-white like a knight in shining armour. The key technologies present are the FCT or Flight Control Technology (present in R9 460) which allows you to manipulate flight in eight settings and create a one degree plus/minus loft change.
See Garcia, Goosen & Kaymer trying it:
They added the MVT (Movable Weight Technology) found in R9 SuperTri to adjust trajectory difference of some 25 yards left/right and the new ASP (Adjustable Sole Plate) where you can set for Neutral, Open or Closed for a plus/minus two degree of face angle. If you were to try all possible combination you will arrive at a total of 48 settings. It is like some punters who bought many combination hoping to strike it rich knowing that you may not strike it rich but it increases the hope. The white crown is matt so it takes the glint and glare out when looking down at it. It does not look smaller but the fact is it is only 440 cc a departure from trend. This means it is a little less friendly but white makes it look bigger. So if you have a smaller car, give it a white paint job if you want it to look bigger.
This will be long and a straight shooter. Despite the smaller head it is still highly forgiving. The club feels balance and not difficult to swing but it has a somewhat muted, dampened and softer feel and sound which I thought sounded like a click rather than a tinging lingering sound which may need some getting used to. I prefer it a bit more expressive with a more powerful feel.
Needless to say this club offers great playability given the options in FCT, MVT and ASP. You will get great distance when you set it up properly and suitably. It has a deep face which is dark against contrasting white crown which gives you good alignment. This will be among the top drivers of 2011 and potentially the best. With these setting options, technically you do not need to change your driver again. Status Quo was a great band. Let them tell you "Something Bout You Baby I Like".
Cleveland


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrhCSYkhupk

You should know that Cleveland makes great wedges. They still do even when founder Roger Cleveland has left to be chief designer at Callaway. They are now owned by SRI who also owns Srixon under the Sumitomto Rubber Group. But not many people know that Cleveland is not all about wedges. They have always made very good driver, fairway woods and hybrids. You see driver technology has been driven by bigger heads and when they put titanium which is much lighter and yet stronger than steel they save weight from the club face so that they could put more weight to the perimeter stretching to the back and lower to lower the centre of gravity to be more forgiving and to hit it longer and straighter.


That is why you get the square heads and triangular heads. Some others experiment and succeeded with composite materials. Later they put screws with measured weights to allow adjustment to swing types or manipulating flight because they are not allowed to make the head bigger than 460cc. Next they toyed with longer shafts since longer shafts and overall club length can technically go further plus with a more forgiving head it helps correct a less accurate dispersion with a longer shaft. What next? The next wave of development will come in lightness of being. TaylorMade through its Burner and Burner Super Fast and now Cleveland are exploiting in that direction.
What Is Light?
Everything becomes lighter from the head, the shaft to the grip and most important of that is the shaft. What really is light? They have previously reduced driver shaft weight to 65g then 60g which are considered light. Then came the 50-55g followed by just under 50 say 49 or 45g. Cleveland has been developing and testing an incredible 39g shaft. When you play with a 45-60g driver shaft previously they are considered for ladies and old men. New technology allows for lighter shafts that are not whippy. This is the next wave of the next generation of shafts and drivers.

Cleveland Launcher Ultralight
Cleveland introduced the Launcher Ultralight which comes in three weight class - XL270, SL290 and the TL310 each describing the overall weight of the club. This is very interesting. The first thing you must know is that the XL270 comes with the famed Miyazaki C. Kua shaft but it is only 39g! The head is less than 200g, the grip less than 30g since the shaft is 39g. It is reported to produce ball speed up to 5 mph faster than other 315g drivers. The only drawback is the very long shaft at 46.25 inches, just slight shorter than the Super Fast Burner's 46.5o inches.

Launcher drivers always have a nice feel and the XL270 is definitely for those who possesses slower swing speed. I am not sure about the length. For most drivers at 45.75 inches is already a little too long but manageable. Not everybody can handle a super light let alone an ultralight club unless you can a lot of feel of the club head. You have them heavier by choosing the SL290 (43g shaft) or TL310 (59g). It may not be suitable for fast swingers but that is just my feel. Launcher always have a classic look of a black crown and silver below with no distraction on the crown. Could be good for slicers. If you play with a smooth tempo or is a senior player this may just bomb it for you! I pick this one for the ultralight technology. Could it be the next wave?

Callaway Diablo Octane


I have shown you the video clip where Stuart Appleby drove the speeding ball against a Lamborghini. It was in collaboration with Lamborghini. It is made from lightweight composite material. jointly developed with the race car and said to be 8 yards longer than the previous model. The interesting part is that they have a 11.5 degree with a closed face. This is actually most suitable for folks who do not launch their balls high enough. The forged composite material was jointly developed by Callaway designers and Lamborghini engineers. If you can't afford a Lamborghini then get a Callaway Diablo Octane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2gFrn8s6to

Ping G15
 
Though introduced in 2010 will still be around. For three months straight they top the US chart last year. The technology is hidden inside and the club head looks classic yet modern. Some may even think it look generic but when you hit a rocket past your playing partners, it is not funny anymore. Plus I like the black and red colour combination and not to forget the nice sound.

You don't have to bring a spanner. It is good and to some may not be good depending on how you look at it. You may think you can't tinker with it and this is a departure from a world of drivers that can change shafts, weight, flight, face angle, etc. Think of it this way - when you have a hundred TV channels, 50 types of coffee to choose from, it can cause more stress. Maybe the more you tinker the worse it gets.

This clubs is stable and consistent and despite the slew of competition, I believe can still be among the top clubs even when pitted against the newer releases. Low-spin means faster ball speed and longer shots. Dispersion is good as off-centre hits still has carry and does not slice straight into the jungle.
There you have it. If you are in the market looking to sharpen your game, give these a try and then you can thank me later.

Golf as in life, play as it lies.

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