What You Need to Know About Adjustable Drivers

Although equipment companies have made it easier than ever for consumers to make adjustments to golf clubs—specifically drivers, fairway woods, and hybrids with adjustable hosels and weights, there is still a lot of confusion about how they work and how these adjustments can help your game. So with the goal of helping you better understand your gear, let’s dive into the adapter systems used by the biggest OEMs (for anyone new OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer and refers to golfers biggest gear brands).

PING

The Ping adapter, like most in the market, is built around a single axis of adjustment. These adjustments (8 in total) allow for 3-degrees of loft adjustment (so plus and minus 1.5 degrees from the stated loft on the club) which means you can make a 10.5 degree driver up to 12 or down to 9 degrees of loft.

Something else to keep in mind that makes the PING adapter unique is that it is in its most upright lie angle when in the neutral position. This allows for the driver to be made up to 3 degrees flatter in lie angle without adjusting the loft, a feature which is very helpful for golfers who might tend to over draw or pull the ball.

Titleist

Although Titleist was one of the last companies to enter the adjustable golf club market with the launch of the 910 series in 2010, its SureFit adapter reigned as the most adjustable option on the market—until Cobra released Future Fit 33 this year.

The Titleist adapter utilizes a sleeve and cog system built around a 4X4 chart to create a total of 2.25 degrees of loft and lie angle adjustment.

Cobra

Cobra’s FutureFit 33 is the newest adapter system on the market and utilizes a full 8X8 matrix to help golfers get dialed into the ideal lie and loft setting. The 33 represents the number of unique settings available within the system—making it now the most adjustable on the market.

Within these 33 available settings, it can offer up to 4 degrees of lie and loft adjustability, and although it might sound difficult to understand, the built-in QR code on the woods, and the adjustability chart makes it easy to understand.

TaylorMade

The leaders of the mainstream adjustable driver era, the TaylorMade team has made multiple adjustments to their sleeve since its inception—launching with the R9 in 2009. The current offering adapter allows for 4 total degrees of loft adjustment using a single axis sleeve and 12 settings.

What separates the TaylorMade from Ping, and makes it comparable to others in the market is that the driver is in its most flat lie angle setting when in the standard position. This makes it a great option for those that can benefit from making their driver more upright to help reduce a fade.

Callaway

Similar to Titleist’s tech, the Callaway Optifit hosel adapter utilizes a cog system to help dial in lie and loft settings—with the differentiating piece being the dual cog system so the grip never changes orientation when adjusting settings which is the case with all other brands depending on the setting. This is a key benefit for golfers using a reminder grip that requires a fixed alignment.

Callaway’s adapter is also unique in that it is not symmetrical on all sides which simplifies the customization process while also allowing up to 3 degrees of loft adjustability—with 2 degrees in the positive and 1 degree in the negative.

Srixon

Aligning with other single axis sleeves, the Srixon package offers 12 settings for lie and loft adjustment but is designed to be more precise with just 2 degrees of total loft variability minus 1 degree in the positive and negative direction.

PXG

The PXG adapter is an 8-way adjustable sleeve that allows for 3-degrees of loft adjustment (plus and minus 1.5 degrees from the stated loft on the club). Like the PING is in the most upright setting when in the neutral position. This allows for their metal woods to be placed into a flat setting without adjusting loft.

Mizuno

Like many others on this list, the Mizuno adapter offers 8-way adjustability with a total of 4-degrees of loft variability. The adjustments vary from others by going up 2.25 degrees and down 1.75 making it the most adjustable driver in terms of adding loft. Golfers who may need to add height or spin off the tee to increase carry distance will benefit from this.