4 expert tips

Find the right loft!

Bryson DeChambeau plays with 5 degrees in loft while Dustin Johnson plays with 10.5 and both hit the ball a very long way and skilfully control their drivers. A number of parameters determine what will suit you best – which angle of attack you have, how your hands are positioned when you strike the ball and so on. Again, we highly recommend you try out a few different models to see which ones best suit your swing.

Cosmetic considerations.

It actually makes a big difference if you like the look of your driver. You can always weigh up what’s right and wrong for you, but psychologically, appearances are very important. Quite simply, it’s easier to perform well if you like your club.

Let the club cancel out your common misses.

What’s your most common miss from the tee – slice or hook? Look for a model that helps you correct your trajectory and hit straighter shots. Many models have adjustable weights that can be adapted to your swing and contact.

Buy a forgiving driver.

There’s a lot to be said for getting your drive into play. It’s often sensible to prioritise a more forgiving model that helps you tighten the dispersion of your shots.

William Dragéus

Testcentersansvarig Dormy Jönköping

3 hot driver trends

The shaft – weight and length

A clear trend we can see during 2022 is that the shaft weight is getting lighter on drivers, fairway woods and hybrids. A lighter shaft helps you swing the club faster, and high speed is synonymous with long shots. Another eternal question around the shaft is its length. We see some professionals play with the longest possible shaft in order to increase swing speed and create more distance. But we must remember they’re professionals for a reason. For us mere mortals, long shafts can present a serious challenge and it’s often a good idea to move in the other direction instead.

Wouldn’t we be happy to sacrifice a few metres’ distance to hit more fairways?

Adjustability

A driver that comes with an adjustable adapter that lets you fine-tune the loft and lie angle is nothing new. However, we’re now seeing that more and more players are actually using the option to adapt the club to their own individual swing to find the optimal ball flight. Geeky? Yes. Can it make a big difference? YES! Our best tip is to take your driver to the range along with a screwdriver and then hit a few shots on each setting. It’s worth trying it out – there’s a good chance your driver will hit the spots you’re aiming for when you get it right.

Club face developments

As many people know, there are rules on the COR a face is allowed to have. That is, how much it can flex and produce a "catapult effect" when you hit the ball. Obviously, this is a rule that must be complied with, but doesn’t mean new ways to increase distance can’t be found. The thickness of the face, the material it’s made of and which technologies can be baked in to further improve the driver are all being worked on. Naturally, the face affects both the feel and the sound, but it’s now also affecting performance even more than before. All of the brands have their own ideas and we have to say – it does make a difference. Both distance and especially control that you see in a new driver are clearly better than in a driver that’s been around for a while.