True Game Changing Drivers for Each Company in the Last Decade?

[geno4952]

As soon as I read "weird golf ball indentation" I immediately thought of Burrows but I see you remembered before I read the post. I still have a Bruce Burrows Mac Ion C-CS putter... the indentation is actually round indent with a swirl type pattern on it radiating from the center of the circle. I still use it on occasion, it is really a decent putter

Peace

 

[BrendanH]

There have been few developments over the years that have been so effective that everyone had to get on board or get left behind. The shift away from wood, increasing head sizes, moveable weights, and then the adjustable hosel.

 

I think we are seeing the next one happening right now though with Callaway's A.I. driven design approach. I didn't pay much attention to the Epic line, but I recently got fit for the Mavrik driver and the monitor results were truly eye-opening. The spin consistency across the face was something I have never before seen. I guess time will tell just how much difference it will make on the course but I have not been excited about driver tech for some time, and this has really gotten my attention.

[Cons]

Thanks for the solid response.

So we're still in the school of thought that high launch low spin is optimal. However, distance is maxed out on center hits due to limits on COR, cc size, etc. So now manu's are focusing on improving distance on off center hits to sell their latest and greatest. This requires tech that compensates for the gear effect that causes launch and spin to become de-coupled on off center hits.

 

I don't know why I thought there was more to this. Guess I looked too deeply into it, or am I wrong?

 

[Valtiel]

You're not wrong, it is just something that is more subtle and nuanced which lends to lots of people that prefer black and white to make absolute statements to either extreme, which tends to muddy the discussion.

I wouldn't say that "distance is maxed out on center hits due to limits on COR, cc size..." as that falls into the aforementioned black and white category. The COR limit puts a clamp on how much energy return the face can provide, but that COR number drops rapidly as you leave the center of the face. That is what a lot of this face tech fanciness is designed to help address. The CC and MOI limits are designed to keep drivers from being TOO forgiving on off center hits, but there are literally only 2 modern drivers that have started sniffing that MOI limit. Similarly, the vertical CG location in relation to the Neutral Axis of the driver influences efficiency, and in recent years, especially with Taylormade, this has been traded for higher MOI (more forgiveness). The further you move weight rearward, the harder it is to keep it low, hence the sole designs of the M6/SIM and the F9/Speedback drivers. There is an entire range of low CG/High MOI that has not even been touched yet that IMO will yield superior performance for the widest range of golfers. I expect that range will be hit in the next 4-5 years.