Skratch's Guide to Buying a Driver

No doubt about it, hitting the golf ball far is fun!

Longer drives create the opportunity for shorter approach shots into greens and when it comes to scoring, distance has been proven to be a key factor in lowering scores thanks to modern strokes gained data analysis.

The old adage of "drive for show and putt for dough" is dead - let me explain.

When you are hitting a driver, you are teeing off from the farthest point away from the hole and because of this a missed drive into a hazard or even out of bounds can leave you just as far from the hole hitting your third shot. On the other hand, a missed putt from 20 feet isn’t likely to cost you a penalty stroke, and the closer you get to the hole, the more likely you are to hole out (or just take a gimmie, it's ok, I take them all the time to help speed up play).

This is why for any golfer who is looking to improve their game and lower their scores, finding a reliable driver that maximizes distance and reduces curve is key to seeing that success on the course. So with the goal of helping you find your next driver, let's dive into the three most important elements of finding the right one.

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Go fast and forgiving

So much is made of maximizing smash factor, and yes, it's a nice metric to track as you’re trying different clubs, but ball speed and ball speed consistency is more important because it directly correlates to the potential distance a ball can travel.

The best ways to maximize ball speed are; swinging the club faster with the help of a longer shaft and (maybe) a lighter head, making good square center contact at impact to transfer more potential energy from the head to the ball, and using a higher MOI driver which will twist less on off-center strikes and reduce the penalty of a mishit.

This is where although it might be tempting to want to gravitate towards a smaller and more “tour” like driver - unless you’re a highly skilled player, using the most forgiving driver that delivers ideal metrics for launch and spin most often will quickly translate to better results on the course.

This is exactly why so many of the world's top golfers use drivers designed and marketed to be ultra-forgiving.

Mind your spin control

There is a good chance that at some point you’ve heard that lowering driver spin leads to longer drives, and under most circumstances this is true. But, what many golfers fail to realize is that there is also a point of diminishing return where too little spin can result in extremely poor results in both distance and dispersion.

To offer up another analogy, think of a golf ball like a paper airplane. The plane needs lift to stay up in the air and if there isn’t enough lift, or the flight becomes unstable, then it will quickly fall out of the air. When driver backspin becomes too low, a golf ball will essentially knuckleball and fall out of the sky prematurely. This can rob you of precious distance.

For the average golfer who plays a fade, a rough (and general) guideline if you want to keep spin in a reasonable window is to have around 2800-3000 RPM of backspin depending on club head speed. The reason being, in situations where spin can substantially drop; like a shot higher on the face, you want the ball to maintain a manageable amount to stay in the air.

Much like with ball speed, being able to maintain a consistent spin range on great shots and mishits will lead to longer drivers with improved dispersion, which is why I continue to stress that most average golfers should try and play the most forgiving driver that gives them ideal numbers.

Straighter is always better

We’ve covered speed and spin, so now it's time to tackle the final important element to maximizing potential off the tee - reducing curvature.

As the saying goes, the fastest way between two points is a straight line and in the game of golf reducing curvature off the tee creates the greatest opportunity to hit it farther. This is why equipment manufacturers offer various models to suit different player needs, with one of the most common and beneficial being draw-biased drivers to help golfers who slice the ball.

This is also why most drivers on the market come with consumer-accessible fitting tools like adjustable hosels and moveable weights to allow for tuning of loft, and CoG (center of gravity) placement with the click of a wrench.

When it comes to performance, there is no excuse to use a driver with a fixed hosel - even if that means saving money to find an older model club that best suits you.

So next time you’re looking for a new driver, dialing in these three fitting components will help you hit it longer, straighter, and more consistent.