Equipment
If you ask any player what their favourite club in the bag is, it won’t be long before someone mentions their golf driver.
There’s just something about getting the big stick out and sailing the ball down the fairway that feels amazing. One of the most enjoyable views in golf is when you’ve sent the ball flying far and straight, and you have the satisfaction of watching it come to rest neatly in the middle of the fairway. It’s a glorious feeling.
Do you ever stop to think how incredible it is that we can propel a small hard golf ball hundreds of yards? Striking the ball just right can largely be down to natural ability and practice, but it’s the tech inside the drivers that allow us to hit it as far as we do.
A golf ball will also travel a certain path through the air, and this is ultimately determined by your club’s loft. Today we’d like to cover the impact selecting a specific driver loft can have on the shape of your shot.
So, what is loft and why does it matter?
By and large, the slower a golfer’s swing speed or club speed, the higher the loft needs to be to optimise carry, and forgiveness. Essentially, playing with the best driver loft for your game will give you the best result down the fairway.
Every golfer has a different swing, so the optimal degree of loft will vary from person to person. That being said, a good rule is the more loft you have, the more likely you are to get the ball nicely airborne off the tee.
If you have a slower swing speed, you’ll benefit from a high lofted golf driver. This additional loft will help your ball maintain flight, a great option for this kind of golfer would be a driver that has a loft of around 12-14˚.
Should you tend to power through the ball when you’re teeing off, a lower lofted golf driver would be better for your play style. Having a faster swing means you’ll generate more ball speed, which generally means you won’t need as much loft as a slower-swinged player. If you generate strong swing speed, an 8.5-10˚ lofted driver will be sufficient for your needs.
The latest drivers from TaylorMade’s Qi10 series are packed with tech, and have multiple loft offerings to suit your approach to gaining distance off the tee.
The standard Qi10 golf driver is an excellent addition to the range that most golfers will feel at home using. The 60X Carbon Twist Face is a staple of the Qi10 range, and is lighter than titanium to give you a purer energy transfer from the club to the ball. TaylorMade’s Infinity Carbon Crown also frees up weight, making the driver feel wieldier and more manoeuvrable. This driver comes in 8.0, 10.5 and 12.0˚ lofts.
The Qi LS is the model of choice for the adept player that swings through the ball with tempo. This fantastic golf driver features an 18g weight that you can slide between positions to give yourself a draw or fade bias. With a lower center of gravity projection and a high MOI, this driver offers low spin and an exceptional performance. This driver comes in 8.0, 9.0 and 10.5˚ lofts.
Should you swing the club slightly slower than average, the Qi10 Max driver will be the right tool for the job. This golf driver has the greatest MOI rating of any of the Qi10 drivers, meaning it’ll give you incredibly accurate drives even on off-center hits. The club has a large, clean appeal to boost your confidence when standing over the ball, and it’s available in 9.0, 10.5 and 12.0˚ lofts.
Designed specifically for women golfers, TaylorMade’s Kalea Premier driver has an aluminium construction that makes it super lightweight and flexible. The crown and sole are also light to allow for better movement through the air, and an inertia generator helps boost your clubhead speeds so you’ll be reaching greater distances. This delightful driver is available in a 12.5˚ loft.
These drivers are simply fantastic, and while a lot of the tech involved can be a bit confusing, we’re here in the pro shop to give you a hand if you’re looking to pack your bag with a new driver.
When you visit us in the pro shop, we’ll be able to get you sorted with your ideal driver through a custom fitting. A custom fitting is a process whereby we look at your ability, how you strike the ball, and then pair you with the clubs that will best compliment how you play.
We’ll be able to consider how you strike the ball, and determine your optimal driver spin rate through studying your angle of attack. We’ll work out the correct loft for your swing speed and get you set up with a club that will see you flying straight and far off the tee.
The thing is, if you don’t consider these factors and get your kit professionally tailored for you, you’ll likely not be getting the most out of your golf performance. We’d be delighted to get you sorted with a custom fitting and set you on the path to lower scores, we’re open and available in the pro shop.
