A good player can hit any driver. A Formula One driver can also drive any car, but they'll have better results in a Ferrari than a Mini Metro. The same applies to golf. Whether it's something off the rack or a 14 degree junior driver, I'm pretty sure I could hit both clubs decent. To do that though, I would have to change the way I hit it. Just because you could do it, doesn't mean you should.
If you're telling your mates that your new driver is the best thing since Mo Salah (it's never going to be that good by the way), but ignoring the fact that you now aim 70 yards left to compensate for the high right ball flight that it produces, then I'm afraid your new driver isn't going to score 32 goals in a single Premier League season. I'm getting a bit mixed up here....
Driver is always a club I've found hard get right (although in terms of ball flight it seems to like to end up in that direction). It's not even just down to getting the right shaft - although it's a big factor - the combination of shaft and head has to be effective. So with that in mind, I managed to get hold of three different versions of the Callaway Rogue to test and see if any of them work for me.
The rogue ones...
The three heads I tried out were the standard Rogue head, the draw bias head and the Subzero head.
First impressions, I was immediately drawn towards the Subzero. I prefer the look of a more compact head and of the three, the subzero is that. Don't get me wrong, the other two are nice to look at too. The carbon fibre on the back of the head looks class, but personally I prefer the slightly smaller, more rounded head shape.
Its an easy mistake to make that you go for style over substance. I once used a Taylormade Burner Bubble for two years because it had a bubble shaft. I literally couldn't hit it above head height, but it had a bubble shape in the shaft and that was enough for me to persevere. What a tit!
I did a fair bit of testing with the three different heads, using the same shaft in each club - a Tensei CK60 Tour X Flex (I think I'm hard). My bad shot with driver is the high right, you know the one, it goes up to the moon, takes a sharp right turn and just keeps going that way until it finds the nearest, single worst position that it can just before you explode in rage that you gone and done it again. Deep breath.......give me a minute here, ok I'm back in the game.
The characteristics that I look for in a new driver is plain and simple - DON'T GO RIGHT! I have no issue with not going left as I feel I can manage this but the high right, for me is a killer. Every time I hit that shot I get the same feeling as I did when Fernando Torres left Liverpool for Chelsea. Sickening!
TEST 1: The Standard Head
With this one I felt like I had to fight that high right with every shot, even the good one was a fade and very spinny. Felt good off the face but not so much when I looked up to see it going up and right!
This head and shaft combination doesn't suit me at all however, I'd say if you struggle to get the ball in the air, and you hit it left, this could be the club for you. but that's not me.
TEST 2: THE DRAW HEAD
This head has the weight set in the heel, which in theory speeds up the toe through impact therefore closing the face, hopefully no high right.
It didn't really go high right.....just high! It definitely felt different and made a huge difference in the ball flight, I actually hit a couple of draws, which for me is as rare as Donald Trump saying something sensible (ohhhhhhh political banta, controversial). It was still a bit too high and spinny though which you could visibly see and the carry distance suggested this was the case. It must have been the club as it couldn't possibly be me!
So I needed something that was low spin, non massive right, and something that went miles....
TEST 3: SUBZERO
Subzero to the rescue! What a little beauty this is. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I just wasn't going to hit this driver right. If anything my miss was left and I like that. If I can take the right side of the golf course out of play then I think I can score. It's not the fact that the high right is damaging, it's the standing over the ball knowing that it could show its face at any time which leads to poor non committed golf swings. With a club in my hands that I trust generally will not go right, I can commit to my target and let it go. I'm not saying it went 320 with a 5 yard draw every shot, but just to feel comfortable with it in my hands is a big win for me. The numbers were good too. A much more penetrating ball flight and a lot more carry. My swing speed number went up and I put this down to what I mentioned before. I was comfortable over the ball so I could swing a lot more freely.
THE DRIVING TEST...
There are so many brands of driver to choose from, so many head options, so many shaft options, and so many settings available that it can be a bit difficult to know where to start when it comes to driver selection. To be honest, most brands will have a combination of head and shaft that will work for you and finding that combination is the job of the club fitter. I would always advise a player to get custom fit, especially for a driver. Buying straight off the rack is a risk. You might pick the right club and that's great, I might get a booty call from Nicole Scherzinger but the chances are slim, (I'm also in a relationship with a wonderful woman and wouldn't dream of looking at Scherzy twice...). Make sure you give yourself the best chance. Get custom fit, then get out there and smash it....not high right though; it's bad for your health.