What ever happened to square drivers?

[neutral]

I remember playing my Nike sumo and even better the Nickent 3dx square drivers. Loved playing them but gave them up to play more traditional drivers.

[Payton1020]

Funny, I have a 3DX square on my work bench that I sold to a friend when they came out. He played it until it exploded in November last year. He loved it. They're hard to find indecent shape. I'm replacing it with a Sumo 5900 and his shaft.

To me the best of the bunch was the Integra Quadratic original. I have one, MINT, sitting next to the other 2 waiting on a shaft.

[Payton1020]

[attachment=2637771:001.JPG]

[AFatMonkey]

The sumo... Aka a metal bat. Loudest driver ever

[Lag]

Square=forgiving Square=less distance

[SoCalTitleist]

I always liked the callaway FT-I LCG that was a bomber.

[Guia]

They will be replaced with Triangular drivers, the next evolution.

[craniac76]

People started realizing that they do not need a square driver to hit it straight. A 12 degree loft and a shorter shaft will do the job.

[cgasucks]

Square Drivers were a fad...too many people are so used to seeing the pear shaped crown at address...

[KYMAR]

Sir has it right in a nut shell. Square drivers were straight and forgiving but lacked distance and workability. I also agree that they mostly sounded like two tin cans colliding in a phone booth.

[neutral]

[quote name='Payton1020' timestamp='1425012805' post='11037925'][attachment=2637771:001.JPG][/quote]

Did it explode from the noise trying to escape from the club?

[pingbling23]

[quote name='AFatMonkey' timestamp='1425014242' post='11038035']
The sumo... Aka a metal bat. Loudest driver ever
[/quote]
Yes it was. It was almost embarrassing.

[ConfusedGolfer3412]

[quote name='pingbling23' timestamp='1425021989' post='11038411']
[quote name='AFatMonkey' timestamp='1425014242' post='11038035']
The sumo... Aka a metal bat. Loudest driver ever
[/quote]
Yes it was. It was almost embarrassing.
[/quote]

almost? I remember hitting one on the range and everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at me lol. I quickly put that thing away and left the range in shame and put that driver away forever.

[philly2kuk]

As someone that had an FT-IQ let me tell you what happened - they were awful! It didn't go straighter and it cost me about 30 yards in distance when I got rid of it as it destroyed my confidence. I hit clubs that weren't right for me better. It still remains the worst club I've EVER hit.

[Egan101]

[quote name='AFatMonkey' timestamp='1425014242' post='11038035']
The sumo... Aka a metal bat. Loudest driver ever
[/quote]

Yeah, it was loud. I used to joke with my father-in-law that I know it was him on the other fairway because I could hear that loud scream of his Sumo square driver.

[johnstitch]

Another over hyped cure for all ills.....when they first came out our local store would only do Cally fittings by appointment as if they has re-invented Golf. They were hideously expensive and woefully short off the tee.

[WouldRatherBePlaying]

Square drivers were too straight. In fact, I blame that Nike Sumo for many of my bad driving habits. :-)
OEMs learned they could sell more golf balls and new drivers every year by dumping them.

[talksalot81]

I remember trying the sumo. As others have commented, it was shockingly loud and it was hard to hit anywhere but straight. But, it was miles shorter than my other driver of the era (which was already a few years old).

[xmanhockey7]

I never hit any of them well.

[SoCalTitleist]

The most seasoned hackers can still slice the crap out of them.

[slimeone]

I still have a mint Machspeed SQ head which i can't seem to part with.

[Payton1020]

The sumo... Aka a metal bat. Loudest driver ever

Yes it was. It was almost embarrassing.

 

I played baseball through college and softball into my 40's and I never heard ANY bat that sounded like they do. The only one that may have come remotely close was the "Steele XLT".

 

[Nessism]

Just to be clear, the square shape was to increase MOI, or resistance to twisting on off center strikes. A high MOI won't kill distance beyond a small amount, maybe, due to increased spin. The Ping G25 for example has one of the higher MOI's in recent production and it isn't a short club per say. Low MOI clubs with a forward CG like the SLDR are lower spin, but they are know to spray the ball around more than something like that G. Bottom line, don't blame the square shape for short distance.

[Payton1020]

[quote name='pingbling23' timestamp='1425021989' post='11038411']
[quote name='AFatMonkey' timestamp='1425014242' post='11038035']
The sumo... Aka a metal bat. Loudest driver ever
[/quote]
Yes it was. It was almost embarrassing.
[/quote]

[quote name='Nessism' timestamp='1425042706' post='11038969']
Just to be clear, the square shape was to increase MOI, or resistance to twisting on off center strikes. A high MOI won't kill distance beyond a small amount, maybe, due to increased spin. The Ping G25 for example has one of the higher MOI's in recent production and it isn't a short club per say. Low MOI clubs with a forward CG like the SLDR are lower spin, but they are know to spray the ball around more than something like that G. Bottom line, don't blame the square shape for short distance.
[/quote]

Thank you. I was in the process of putting together close to the same words and no forgiveness in the world can compensate for a bad swing. I found the "forgiveness" very minimal in my experience anyway.

In case those who went the square route never considered a "component" company's square head, the Integra I spoke of earlier was a very solid sounding, plenty long version. Has a composite crown to move weight to the extremities for higher MOI. Her are a few pics of it with one compared to the Sumo 5900. Still stands up to today's heads.

[attachment=2637997:001.JPG]
[attachment=2637993:004.JPG]
[attachment=2637991:003.JPG]
[attachment=2637995:005.JPG]

[super20dan]

i have a bunch of squares and had great results from all but the cally ft-i. the integra quad is best for me too and still better than any other driver i have played.since its not a big name products few got to try them.. its both long and straight. nike mach sumo is next best. the only dud is the cally ft-1 . its way shorter than others but straight hitting. the integra is so good its impossiable not to like.

[Wooderson]

They put a limit on MOI and designers, like Ping and Wishon, learned to build clubs with max MOI without the square shape.

[gvogel]

Square shaped drivers had an inefficient internal energy transfer - that's why they were shorter.

[Mych]

I still have a Callaway ft-iq and a squareway 5w in the stash. They are both ok, but I wouldn't be able to get used to the shape enough to play them again.

[sphna12d]

A very quickly passing fad. They were the golf equivalent of bell bottoms jeans. Truthfully the look was just too jarring for most golfers to overcome regardless of whatever benefit they might have provided.

[VNutz]

Accuracy simply doesn't sell, it's not sexy like distance. They went straight but didn't get max distance so people lost interest. My dad has a Wilson square driver and hits it great, but it's super loud. I can hear him a hole or two away.