How Many Model Years Between Drivers Does It Take To See A Tangible Difference In Performance?

[jmill200]

I’m a pretty average golfer, mid 80’s with an average swing and swing speed. I got to wondering the other day, how many years or models do you need to see pass before you can see a tangible difference in driver performance?  Is there a realistic gain from one year to the next or does a few years need to pass before differences in performance can be seen?

[Anser3]

Most places say it takes about 5 calendar years to see significant improvements for distance and forgiveness. For companies like TaylorMade and Callaway, this is five years.  For Ping and Titleist, it is 2-3 generations of drivers.  Of course there can be marginal improvements in each from year to year.   Drastic changes in adjustability or cosmetics can make some folks switch before they really need to.    For me, the presence of a carbon crown in the G430 stuff was reason enough for me to switch out of a G425. The G430 stuff is great, but not significantly better than the G425 from a performance standpoint.  That said, I switched from a  G400 (LST and Max) to G425 without testing the G425  (nowhere around me to test in my preferred setup). I wish I had kept the G400 drivers (I would switch them for the G430). 

 

Your mileage may vary. Many times, it depends how much 2-3 yards is worth to you.  

Edited April 3 by GwrxMod
Removed prohibited site

[MountainKing]

In the last 10-12 years it's very minimal.  The biggest change I've seen across the club has been forgiveness, the last driver to give me any sort of distance gains worth talking about was the SLDR.  This of course assume you've been correctly fit.

[GHIN n Juice]

I have to agree with 10-12 years.  Don’t get me wrong, there are some driver/ shaft combos that work better for an individual than others, but overall gains in distance and forgiveness is so small that it isn’t worth chasing. 

[RogerinNewZealand]

Just bought a 913d2 as has diamana blue 62s in regular.All time favourite shaft. Just watched a british youtube guy compare Ts2 vs 913. 913 won..its 3 or 4 yards in it..  second swing do great videos for testing 5 or 6 same brand....If you actually hit the Sweetspot, (me) not much in it.

[miami1023]

39 minutes ago, MountainKing said:

In the last 10-12 years it's very minimal.  The biggest change I've seen across the club has been forgiveness, the last driver to give me any sort of distance gains worth talking about was the SLDR.  This of course assume you've been correctly fit.

Depends how you define tangible. I think it's closer to 5 years.  If you take the Titleist TSR models and compare them to the 917 line there's going to be a significant difference in numbers, maybe not distance but definitely forgiveness. AI Smoke vs Paradym not so much. 

[Punkekid]

Rick Shiels did a recent test of Ping drivers 25 years apart. It is a good watch. Takeaway is that distance has improved some, but forgiveness is going to be the biggest improvement.

 

Obviously you are not asking about 25 years of technology. In my testing at home, I have found distance in the last 5 - 10 years has not changed by more than 5 yards, but my accuracy and dispersion has been greatly improved by the drivers that have been released since 2021. 

 

 

[MountainKing]

3 minutes ago, miami1023 said:

Depends how you define tangible. I think it's closer to 5 years.  If you take the Titleist TSR models and compare them to the 917 line there's going to be a significant difference in numbers, maybe not distance but definitely forgiveness. AI Smoke vs Paradym not so much. 

 

I'm almost certain my second sentence sums that up......

[Mark_Tha_Tinkerer]

As a fellow average golfer (13.5 index) with an average swing and swing speed, I personally think the greatest advancements in drivers over the last 10 years are the removable head weights and shaft adapters that let you plug in different weights and shaft combinations to your head.  Provided you have a driver head with removable weights and shafts, you can play around a lot to fine tune your club to your swing and achieve some tangible, improved results.  As long as you can modify your old one, I don't perceive tangible benefits coming from a brand new driver.

[Yanki01]

Heck of a notice with my 10yr old Titleist 915D2 and Titleist 714 AP2 compared to my new Ping G430 Max and Srixon ZX5/7 combo. I was consistent with what I had but saw noticeable distance gained and a lot more forgiveness.

[WilliePPQ]

Since so many manufacturing parameters have now been fixed by the governing bodies, manufacturers are pretty much up against it in trying to find measurable and meaningful improvements for the average player. Yes, powerful and repeating swings may see incremental improvements in small clubhead tweaks but won't benefit players like me. Biggest factor personally was to get serious about fitting and really learned a LOT by leaning into the process a few years ago. Found out that the current crop of clubhead and shaft combos have a huge impact on my performance and just using what the club was generically fitted with on the rack is a big mistake. So once I have found a relatively current (last 3-5 years) version of a clubhead and shaft that works for me, I'd have to see something radical in terms of allowable specifications to change to get me to revisit the process. Probably a WRX outlier, but I've actually invested in a couple back up heads and shafts in case I do something dumb and lose or break my go-to combo. After finding something that (sort of) works reliably for me, replacement process isn't something I'm excited about. I've learned the expensive way that getting the proper combo and then practicing with those variables frozen works best for me.

[Barfolomew]

Welcome to the board..... Golf is crazy..... smallest change can make a big difference..... so I'll say 1

 

Don't forget about the shaft..... the red headed step child.....  gets overlooked by so many of the YouTubers..... uh we just tested these 2 new drivers oh but its cool the shafts are same weight lol

[Hawkeye77]

Depends on you.

 

I had tangible differences from previous model year Callaway to the Paradym last year and from that to a Titleist TSR2 in the same season.

 

Tested the Titleist against the new version Paradym a few weeks ago and the Titleist still better and it is a measurable difference. 

[bluedot]

A better question might be whether or not the driver in your bag right now is the available best option for you.  The ability to get a golfer matched up with a better combination FOR THEM changes a lot faster than the technology itself.  It’s even possible that there is a head/shaft combination in an OLDER model that would be a better fit.
 

There are a LOT of options out there in terms of heads, and which one is best depends on the golfer.  Most of the big companies offer at least three versions of their current model, and performance is differentiated among the different versions even of the same brand.  And shafts vary even more; weight, flex, bend patterns, and so on.  
 

I don’t think there is much reason to doubt that a golfer who buys “off the rack” is unlikely to see gains from one generation of driver to the next, and even after several generations, he’d just be taking pot luck.  But there might well be gains to be had RIGHT NOW if that same golfer can figure out a better combination.  
 

Then the questions become how big are the increments of improvement, and how much are you willing to pay for them.

 

 

 

 

[BYK]

If you’re talking about TM, approximately 3 months. 

[cgasucks]

If you hit it consistently on the sweet spot, performance is very similar to drivers made as far back as 20 years ago.  Here's a Youtube video from 2nd Swing Golf testing out Titleist drivers as old as the 975J to the TSi2.  He's a very consistent swinger so ball speeds are very similar but dispersion has improved over time.

 

[ShortGolfer]

I have the OG TM Stealth driver.  I can hit a draw or a fade with it.  Really great match for my swing.

It is likely that an improved version of that driver won't be as neutral, as they figure out better anti-slice technology.

I bought as spare driver head over the winter on eBay as they were closing them out.       Really great deal on the price!

Edited April 4 by ShortGolfer

[gvogel]

I was fit for a TSR2 11* driver last summer, but I didn't get along with the shaft.  Bought a $350 shaft and the club became easier to hit.  On a whim, took an old 910D2 12* head and stuck it on the new shaft.  My consistency improved, and I started to really enjoy playing again.

 

Because I had success with the 12* head, I bought a TSR1 12* driver and have used the $350 shaft indoors over the winter.  I think the old head might be more user friendly.  This past week I got on a Trackman at a new bar/simulator place that has opened up.  Turns out the TSR1 and the TSR2 both have more pop than the older head, like 7 to 10 yards more.  I'll be sticking with the TSR1 for now, until proven otherwise.  But I'll try the 910D2 another time just to make sure of the results I saw earlier this week.

[Frank_Kasule]

This is my dilemma really, using a Callaway Rogue Sub Zero and trying to decide if it is worth upgrading to the new AI Smoke Triple Diamond. 

Had a fitting last Wednesday and the TD was the best of the lot but going to go again and just put these two head to head and see if there is a genuine worthwhile difference. 

In theory there should be as it's a 5 year difference, if it makes my misses more playable then it would be worthwhile for me. 

[Rbsiedsc]

4 hours ago, Frank_Kasule said:

This is my dilemma really, using a Callaway Rogue Sub Zero and trying to decide if it is worth upgrading to the new AI Smoke Triple Diamond. 

Had a fitting last Wednesday and the TD was the best of the lot but going to go again and just put these two head to head and see if there is a genuine worthwhile difference. 

In theory there should be as it's a 5 year difference, if it makes my misses more playable then it would be worthwhile for me. 

It really should since the Rouge is 7 generations ago (smoke/paradym/rouge st/epic speed/mavrik/epic flash/rogue)

[aquapig]

Drivers have been maxed out distance wise for well over a decade. Meaning, a center strike on a driver made 10 years and a center strike on a branded new driver, will be within 5 yards of each other. There's been some improvements in mis hits where forgiveness becomes noticeable, which helps with distance. 

 

But buying spending 500-700 on a brand new driver an expecting a big jump in distance just isn't going to happen unless you were playing the wrong loft/shaft for your swing.

 

There is no "every 5 years" formula. 

[Georgie Z]

Every 4 years at least. For manufacturers like TM that release something every year it’s probably mostly just cosmetic,

[hook_or_slice]

On 4/3/2024 at 1:08 PM, jmill200 said:

I’m a pretty average golfer, mid 80’s with an average swing and swing speed. I got to wondering the other day, how many years or models do you need to see pass before you can see a tangible difference in driver performance?  Is there a realistic gain from one year to the next or does a few years need to pass before differences in performance can be seen?

 

I would say for a golfer of your swing speed (and I am about the same) there has been no "tangible" on course difference in the last 8-10 years.

 

Meaning bad misses are still unplayable, and on good strikes and average strikes you will still be coming in with the same iron.

[Frank_Kasule]

6 hours ago, Rbsiedsc said:

It really should since the Rouge is 7 generations ago (smoke/paradym/rouge st/epic speed/mavrik/epic flash/rogue)

Wowzer didn't realise there had been 7 generations in that time! 

6 hours ago, aquapig said:

Drivers have been maxed out distance wise for well over a decade. Meaning, a center strike on a driver made 10 years and a center strike on a branded new driver, will be within 5 yards of each other. There's been some improvements in mis hits where forgiveness becomes noticeable, which helps with distance. 

 

But buying spending 500-700 on a brand new driver an expecting a big jump in distance just isn't going to happen unless you were playing the wrong loft/shaft for your swing.

 

There is no "every 5 years" formula. 

Yes I am inclined to agree with regard to distance but if there's a fairly noticeable difference in forgiveness then perhaps you may end up with more playable second shots as opposed to chipping out sideways. 

Regardless I'm not keen to spend £500 if I don't see a benefit in the bay! 

[Frank_Kasule]

So I bought the triple diamond, I thought it would be worthwhile to give some feedback here for the difference between my Rogue Sub Zero and the Triple Diamond. As Rbsiedsc said there's 7 generations of difference. 

So I went to the Toptracer range and went all out just looking for pure distance on the long drive feature. 

Bare in mind this is truly swinging for the fences, my one round with the TD has already convinced me of the forgiveness benefits and I just want some proof of distance gains outside of the fitting bay. Bare in mind this is toptracer so the actual distance mentioned might not be actually correct but the distance will be comparable between the two. I am by no means claiming these are my on course distances! Haha

I swapped a couple of times to ensure I wasn't just hitting one first and then being warm for the next. 

So all out with the Rogue SZ I managed 319, was feeling quite pleased with myself.

Tbh I lost count of how many times I passed that with the TD, take a look at these from the monitor. I clearly was trying too hard on the last couple but those three in a row say it all. 

Obviously not a swing I would use on the course but there are clearly big distance gains by moving into the TD. It was most obvious just by carry distances I could achieve over the SZ. 

I think this is probably down to having a more forgiving face and effectively a much larger sweet spot. Whatever the reason I'm glad I have made the change. 

[Louis_Posture]

On 4/3/2024 at 10:08 AM, jmill200 said:

 I got to wondering the other day, how many years or models do you need to see pass before you can see a tangible difference in driver performance?  

15 years.

[Golfcrzy]

After an hour lesson on how to hit the damn thing. 

[sheepdawg]

I just went from what many consider the GOAT of drivers, the G400max to a standard Callaway Paradym. I see a difference. With pretty much the same shaft the Paradym is about 5-10 yards longer. It isn't straighter but it's coming around.

[musicman1951]

It depends on your game.  If you're hitting the sweet spot every time you can wait many years before replacing your driver.  Since nobody is actually hitting the sweet spot every time it becomes a question of where your misses land vs where they would land with a newer, more forgiving driver.  You might get more distance with a driver that's a better fit for your swing, but generally significant distance from model to model is a pipe dream.  But if added forgiveness takes your 4 bad swings a round from being in the woods to being near the woods I suspect you would find that significant.

[cardoustie]

The toe miss is a massive improvement with new tech