Draw-Biased Driver Test - Could You Hit More Fairways? I Golf Monthly

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In this video, Neil Tappin takes a look at the draw-biased driver market in 2023. With so many good options to choose from he looks at how much difference the technology within the heads makes to the overall performance. He tests a neutral TaylorMade Stealth 2 up against two draw bias options from Cobra and PING to find out what happens!
Transcript
00:00 should you be using a draw bias driver in 2023?
00:03 That's what we're gonna take a look at in this video.
00:06 And we're gonna do a bit of a test
00:07 where we look at three different models
00:08 set up in different ways
00:10 and see what the differences are between them.
00:12 Now, I've been lucky enough to have tested quite a few
00:15 of the new models that have come out this year.
00:17 I've been really impressed by,
00:19 I'd say by the draw bias drivers just offering me
00:22 what I felt like was a good amount of control.
00:24 So I wanted to see what that translates to
00:26 up against the driver that was set up correct for me
00:29 with a neutral ball flight.
00:31 So I've got, as I say, I've got three different drivers
00:33 from three different brands.
00:34 The first is, is TaylorMade.
00:36 This is the Stealth 2+.
00:38 This is a driver that's very much right for me.
00:40 So the weight is bang in the middle of the head
00:42 and it should offer me a fairly neutral ball flight.
00:45 So I'm gonna firstly hit a few shots
00:47 and hit five shots with this and see what the results are.
00:49 And then I'm gonna hit two draw bias drivers
00:52 that I've set up in their sort of max draw setting.
00:55 The first is the Cobra Aerojet Max.
00:58 This has the weight, the heavier weight in the heel
01:01 to promote that extra bit of draw bias.
01:03 And the second one is the Ping G430 SFT.
01:07 And I've got the weight that's in the movable track here
01:09 in the draw plus setting.
01:11 So it's in its most draw bias setting.
01:13 So I'm gonna hit a few shots, five shots with each driver,
01:16 with each of these different setups
01:18 and see exactly what the differences are.
01:20 Okay, so I'm gonna start with the TaylorMade.
01:26 It's worth saying that all the drivers
01:27 are set to nine degrees.
01:29 They've all got 65 gram shafts in.
01:32 This one is an XFLEX, the other two are S-FLEXs.
01:35 The Ping shaft is slightly shorter.
01:37 So I'm gonna grip slightly down
01:39 on the TaylorMade and the Cobra
01:40 and maybe slightly up on the Ping to help even things out.
01:44 So there are a few discrepancies.
01:45 So it's worth taking the data with a pinch of salt,
01:47 but let's get going, hit some shots and see what we find.
01:51 (ball thwacking)
01:54 Okay, so I hit some good shots
02:03 and not so good shots with this Stealth 2+,
02:05 but on the whole, pretty happy with how that performed.
02:08 Let's go into the Cobra driver.
02:11 And interestingly, as soon as I put it down,
02:13 it has a bigger footprint down behind the ball,
02:14 looks more, I guess, slightly bigger,
02:17 more generous to look down on.
02:19 And it's definitely a little bit offset.
02:20 So that face is looking a little close to me
02:22 down behind the ball at address.
02:23 But I do like the finish of that,
02:25 that sort of gray carbon crown.
02:27 I think it looks great.
02:29 Let's see how we get on.
02:30 (ball thwacking)
02:34 Okay, and now for the Ping G430SFT,
02:46 which in comparison to the Cobra driver
02:49 feels like it sits a lot square,
02:52 more neutral down behind the ball.
02:54 I really like that.
02:54 I like the idea that there's stuff at work within the head
02:58 that's gonna help me prevent from hitting it right.
03:00 But I can't see it sort of pointing left
03:02 down behind the ball.
03:03 If you want something that sits square at address,
03:05 but also want something that's gonna fight a right,
03:07 I think this does a good job of that.
03:09 It's also a nice, generous footprint down behind the ball,
03:11 quite big, bigger than the TaylorMade, similar to the Cobra.
03:14 Let's give it a go.
03:15 (ball thwacking)
03:20 (ball thwacking)
03:23 Okay, so let's take a look at the data.
03:30 And I think it's worth saying
03:31 that this is a fairly unscientific test.
03:33 I'm a three handicapper.
03:34 I'm not a robot.
03:35 I'm not a professional golfer either.
03:37 So you need to pair in some of that into mind,
03:40 plus the differences in terms of the shaft.
03:42 But there are some interesting trends
03:43 that are worth looking at here.
03:45 Now, the white shots were with the TaylorMade Stealth 2+.
03:50 And you can see the circle, the dispersion circle,
03:54 is much further to the right.
03:55 It's also a little bit tighter.
03:56 It's a driver that I like, I feel like I'm in control of,
03:59 and it's sort of, you can see it in the data there.
04:01 Now, these are the average numbers
04:03 for that TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver,
04:05 which I'd say are all very good for me.
04:08 So I'm really pleased with the performance of that.
04:10 So how did the other two compare?
04:11 Well, you'll notice that with the Cobra driver,
04:14 the spin jumps up from about 2,500 to 2,800.
04:17 Again, that's something that I would expect.
04:20 And you will notice I did hit a couple quite big lefts
04:23 with the Cobra driver.
04:24 Now, I think I'm capable of hitting quite big lefts
04:27 with the TaylorMade Stealth 2+,
04:28 so let's not read too much into it.
04:30 Other than, I do think though, that with the Cobra,
04:33 with the face sitting a little bit more offset and closed,
04:36 I struggle a little bit with commitment,
04:38 to commit to it in exactly the same way as I would do,
04:40 for instance, with a driver that sits nice and square
04:42 down behind the ball.
04:44 What did impress me about the Cobra driver
04:45 is there's plenty of distance to be had with this.
04:48 And I think the more I got used to it,
04:49 the more I'd probably be able to benefit from that distance.
04:52 And you'll notice I've hit a couple
04:54 that are right at that center line, but no big rights.
04:57 And interestingly, how far right would they have gone
05:00 if I wasn't using a draw-biased driver?
05:02 That's, we'll never know,
05:03 but it's quite an interesting thing to think about.
05:05 So moving on to the Ping, you'll notice similar amounts
05:08 of spin with the Ping driver,
05:10 similar in terms of launch.
05:11 Fantastic head and ball speed from the Ping driver,
05:14 and good overall distance, to be honest with you.
05:16 A little bit more control for me with that Ping driver.
05:18 I just feel like because it sits square,
05:20 again, I can commit to it in the way that I would
05:22 with a driver that was perhaps
05:23 a little bit better suited for me.
05:24 And again, you'll see that tendency
05:26 for the ball to finish sort of well left of the center line.
05:29 Again, that one right there,
05:30 how far right would that have gone?
05:32 We'll never know.
05:33 Interesting trends there.
05:34 You can see that with both of the draw-biased drivers,
05:37 how my dispersion has kind of moved left down the range,
05:41 exactly as you hope it would do.
05:43 I think for a lot of golfers who tend to hit drives
05:46 a lot of the time over here,
05:48 that ability to kind of bump it a little bit further left
05:51 could be really helpful.
05:53 So there you have it.
05:53 That's my look at the two draw-biased drivers,
05:56 the Ping G430SFT and the Koba Aerojet Max.
05:59 If I was to pick one of these two to put into play,
06:02 it would be the Ping G430SFT.
06:05 I think it offers really good control
06:07 as well as that bit of draw bias,
06:09 which I think many golfers would benefit from.
06:11 Having said that, I think if you are interested
06:13 in a draw-biased driver in 2023,
06:16 whichever model you go for,
06:17 I would thoroughly recommend a custom fitting
06:20 because that extra spin that I was getting
06:22 might help you find a bit more yardage.
06:24 The draw bias might help you hit a few more fairways
06:26 and give you that confidence that you need
06:28 to just swing the club a bit freer and a bit better
06:31 to hit a few more fairways.
06:32 It's an interesting one to think about.
06:34 But that's it for now from Kings Golf Studio.
06:37 Please do like the video if you've enjoyed what you've seen.
06:39 Thanks for watching.
06:40 We'll see you next time.
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