While there has been a lot of talk the last few years about all the drivers pushing the boundaries of forgiveness (see all those “Max” and “10K” drivers, for example), the long-standing criticism of highly forgiving drivers always has been that their oversize frame leads to higher spin. Since lower spin is often a key component of optimizing distance, this seems like it might be a knock against focusing so exclusively on forgiveness for your next driver purchase.
It might be, but our research—and our data from the latest Hot List robot and player testing—says it’s just not that true anymore.
As we’ve said time and time again, the key to maximizing distance lies in optimizing your particular launch conditions. Generally, that means you want to find the driver model that best helps you to produce shots that launch relatively higher and spin relatively less for a more efficient, energetic ball flight. But historically the problem is that the lowest-spinning drivers often have been the least forgiving, while the most forgiving drivers tend to produce the most spin. Scientifically, forgiveness, or stability on off-center hits, is measured by moment of inertia, and often achieving a high MOI means the head’s center of gravity is well back from the face. The farther the CG moves back from the face, however, the harder it is to keep that CG low so that spin also will stay low. (Generally speaking, drivers with an MOI, in the heel-toe direction, of 5,000 g/cm2 and higher offer the most stability on off-center hits. That means fractionally mis-hit shots retain both similar spin and ball speed to shots hit dead center.)
In addition, as the CG drifts farther back because the driver’s shape is getting larger from front to back, the more likely that head will increase what’s known as its dynamic loft. Dynamic loft refers to the way the loft angle increases or decreases when it is presented at impact. Some players may add loft to the measured loft by attacking the ball on the upswing. Super-sized drivers have a tendency to increase the dynamic loft at impact because of the way the rearward CG can further tilt the face upward coming into the ball.
So, since giving up forgiveness is usually not what average golfers need, are they stuck with drivers that spin too much? Not at all. First, nearly all drivers are more forgiving than they’ve ever been, even those played by tour players. In fact, many tour players are playing the so-called stock model of drivers built for average players rather than the more compact, “least” forgiving tour-focused versions. Second, thanks to the widespread use of lighter weight alloys and carbon composite, it is easier to redistribute mass lower in modern drivers.
But there’s even more going on to provide the best of both worlds to all levels of players. While the drivers that feature the most extreme forgiveness or ultra-high MOI still produce the most spin, our robot testing data of the top drivers on the Hot List shows that the range of spins is generally lower than it used to be. That leads to remarkably “forgiving” performance from all kinds of drivers, especially when we’re talking about spin.
In short, in some instances you can get higher MOI drivers that still produce efficiently low spin. On average, using the swing robot from Golf Digest testing partner Golf Laboratories, the highest forgiving drivers (with an MOI of 5,000 g/cm2 or higher) produced about 11 percent more spin than drivers with more conventional MOI measurements. But in terms of real yardage, that spin difference means just 1-2 yards difference in total distance for an average golfer’s swing speed. Now, it is true that the highest spinning drivers can be an average of 4-7 yards shorter than the lowest spinning drivers. But a little extra spin may help shots of slower-swing-speed players carry slightly farther. Still, that extra spin tendency will take a bigger dent out of the fastest swinging players’ distance. As an example, a player with an 85 mile-per-hour swing will lose about four yards in total distance when shots spin a thousand rpms over optimal, while a high-speed player would lose close to eight yards for that same 1,000 rpm increase.
In practical terms, however, in the hands of real players who mis-hit many more shots than elite players and robots, those spin differences seem to matter less. Looking at nearly 4,000 driver shots from the player testing for the Hot List, the difference in the average spin of “high” forgiveness drivers (those with an MOI more than 5,000) and drivers with a more moderate MOI (less than 5,000), it was almost indistinguishable. High MOI drivers produced just 4 percent more spin for our players. In general, 4 percent more spin at average golfer speeds equates to less than one yard of distance.
So if you’re worrying that you might be giving up something by opting for a “more forgiving” driver, or you think you’re going to be gaining some kind of advantage by playing a more compact head, think again. All drivers are plenty forgiving and provide all the spin-killing efficiency you need. Check that. The right driver will get you all you need, provided you dial in your optimal ball flight. And optimal is easier to get than it’s ever been.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
