Learn from Our Experts

So Many Drivers, So Little Time

By Sean Smith, Owner, Uinta Golf

As usual, we’ve been keeping our robot very busy this year testing the latest releases from golf’s top club manufacturers. Based on the requests of our readers, we thought it would be fun to publish the results of our testing for ALL drivers, rather than just a select few at a time. This way you can easily compare from club to club. Click this link to read the results from our 2010 driver test! Thanks for reading!

2010 Driver Tests (Episode 1)

By Sean Smith, Owner, Uinta Golf

As the new golf season draws near... ...you will not find a shortage of new drivers in the marketplace! Golf manufacturers continue turning out new products and we keep testing them on our swing robot to see what improvements have been made. More and more of our customers are telling us that they like the data we are getting from our robot testing, so one of our goals this year is to try and provide updates to you more often. Be sure to click on the link at the bottom of this article to cast your vote on which drivers we test next. In this edition of Tech Update, we share the results of three new drivers for 2010. We will first compare these drivers to the prior models they are replacing. Second, we will compare them to the average of all drivers we have tested over the past two seasons. Callaway Diablo Edge Callaway describes the features and benefits of the Diablo Edge in this way: • 4-Piece Fused Titanium for distance-enhancing, penetrating ball-flight. • Chemically Milled Hyberbolic Face Cup for their most consistently highest ball speeds ever. • More aerodynamic head design for higher impact speeds. We tested this club at 90 and 100 MPH clubhead speeds and determined the following…   vs. Prior Model (Diablo '09) vs. AVG Of All Drivers We've Tested During Past Two Years Distance 8-9 Yards Longer Longer Forgiveness On Miss-Hits Similar Longer And Slightly More Accurate Launch Angle 1-2 Degrees Lower Lower Spin Rate 700-800 RPM's Lower Lower Club Specs .50" Longer Length Heavier Total Weight. Slightly Closed Face Angle. Diablo Edge Bottom Line: We were really happy with the performance of the Diablo Edge. It posted some impressive distance gains over the prior year’s model. The thing that is really cool about this driver is that it is getting longer distance while keeping the length of the club at 45.5”. Most of the drivers hitting it farther are doing so at lengths that exceed 46”. TaylorMade Burner SuperFast TaylorMade claims that the SuperFast is engineered for pure distance. It is 283 grams, which is over 14 grams lighter than the Burner 07 and Burner 09 drivers. It also boasts the largest clubface and most aerodynamic shape of any TaylorMade driver. Here are the test results at 90 and 100 MPH…   vs. Prior Model (Burner '09) vs. AVG Of All Drivers We've Tested During Past Two Years Distance 10-12 Yards Longer Longer Forgiveness On Miss-Hits Longer With Similar Accuracy Longer Launch Angle 1-2 Degrees Lower Lower Spin Rate 150-200 RPM's Lower Lower Club Specs .25" Longer Length .75" Longer Length Than Avg. Much Lighter Than Avg (283 grams). Burner SuperFast Bottom Line: This driver lives up to the billing of hitting it longer. It posted solid gains in performance vs. the Burner ’09. It is very long when hit in the center of the face. I spent some time hitting this driver in our launch monitors and picked up significant yardage when I managed to find the center of the face. My only complaint with this driver is that it is starting to really get out there in terms of club length (46.25”). This can often make it harder to control. TaylorMade R9 SuperTri TaylorMade bills the R9 SuperTri as the first driver to use FCT (Face Control Technology) and MWT (Movable Weight Technology) in a 460 CC clubhead. They also have deepened the face, changed the look, and made the clubhead more aerodynamic. Here are the results from our robot testing at 90 and 100 MPH…   vs. Prior Model (R9 460) vs. AVG Of All Drivers We've Tested During Past Two Years Distance About 4-5 Yards Longer Longer Forgiveness On Miss-Hits Much Longer With Similar Accuracy Much Longer With Similar Accuracy Launch Angle Similar Lower Spin Rate 150-200 RPM's Lower Slightly Lower Club Specs .25" Longer Length .25" Longer Length Than Avg. Heavier Total Weight R9 SuperTri Bottom Line: This club made some amazing gains in terms of forgiveness! It actually is one of the most forgiving drivers we have tested in retaining distance on off-center hits, particularly on shots hit towards the toe. The thing that is really great about this club is that you get distance, forgiveness, AND the ability to adjust the weights and face angle of the club to fine-tune it to your swing. Hopefully... ...you find this data helpful. All of these drivers performed very well and are certainly worthy of a test drive. Bring your current driver into one of our stores and we will conduct a FREE fitting allowing you to go head-to-head with your choice of one of the drivers in this article. If there is a line at the fitting bays, please be patient – it will be well worth your time! Next month we will provide another update highlighting additional drivers that are new on the market. To better handle all of the requests we get for test data, we decided to give you the opportunity to tell us which drivers you are interested in the most. Click this link to join your fellow golf enthusiasts in telling us what to write about next! Thanks for reading!

Club Testing Update: Longest Driver Results

By Sean Smith, Owner, Uinta Golf

One of the most common questions we hear at our stores is... “What is the difference between these two clubs?” In this month’s club test update, I wanted to share the actual robot test results of 5 current release drivers. I chose the Ping G15, Ping i15, Callaway Diablo, Taylor Made R9 460, and the Adams Speedline 9032LS. *All of these drivers are current models and represent the latest technology from their respective manufacturers. We tested these clubs (as well as all major drivers) on our swing robot, JJ2. Although we test at different swing speeds, I will be sharing the results from our 90 mph tests. Remember, unlike you and I, JJ2 swings the club the exact same way every time. This allows us to give each club a truly objective performance evaluation. Distance We evaluate the clubs in terms of ball speed, launch angle, and spin rate. Our Trackman Ball Flight Monitor then predicts the total distance of each shot using complex ball flight algorithms. Model Ball Speed Launch Angle Spin Rate Carry Distance Total Distance Ping G15 10.5 Loft, Reg Flex Shaft 134.62 13.23 2232 212.80 255.23 Ping i15 11 Loft, Reg Flex Shaft 134.82 13.39 2575 217.39 254.53 Callaway Diablo Neutral 10 Loft, Reg Flex Shaft 132.68 14.51 2898 217.80 248.70 TaylorMade R9 460 10.5 Loft, Reg Flex Shaft 133.57 14.16 2715 218.36 252.00 Adams Speedline 9032LS 10.5 Loft, Reg Flex Shaft 135.88 12.14 2676 215.17 252.97 Average 134.31 13.49 2619 216.30 252.69 As you can see, the Ping drivers are definitely the distance champions at this swing speed. They are hotter off the face and have more roll due to a lower spin rate. The Callaway Diablo was the shortest in distance on this test by about 7 yards. Although the G15 driver went the farthest, it also had the shortest carry distance. The ball speed and lower spin rate generated more roll. It is interesting to note the differences in launch angle and spin rates from club to club. These are clubs of similar specs generating very different results. I also wonder what would happen if we tested the Callaway Diablo with a 9.0 loft, regular flex. At 10 degree loft, the launch and spin were higher and ball speed lower. I would think we would see improved results with one degree less loft in this club. Strictly looking at things from a distance perspective would crown the Ping G15 driver as the distance king. Forgiveness Because most of us miss the center of the face a good percentage of the time, we also evaluate club performance on off-center hits. Specifically, we measure performance on face performance 1” towards the toe and 1” toward the heel side of the club. Model Center Hit Dist. Toe Dist. % Toe Dist. Retained Heel Dist. % Heel Dist. Retained Ping G15 10.5° Loft, Reg Flex Shaft 255.23 242.35 94.95% 240.12 94.08% Ping i15 11° Loft, Reg Flex Shaft 254.53 248.04 97.45% 228.39 89.73% Callaway Diablo Neutral 10° Loft, Reg Flex Shaft 248.70 235.47 94.68% 234.58 94.32% TaylorMade R9 460 10.5° Loft, Reg Flex Shaft 252 242.14 96.09% 237.76 94.35% Adams Speedline 9032LS 10.5° Loft, Reg Flex Shaft 252.97 237.65 93.94% 229.19 90.60% Average 252.69 241.13 95.42% 234.01 92.62% As you can see, these results are kind of all over the board! There are some that do well on the toe side, some well on the heel. The only driver that appears to be below average in terms of forgiveness is the Adams Speedline 9032LS. It loses more distance than the others. If you know which side of the club your misses are, this data can be especially helpful. I could tape my wedding ring on the heel of the club and have 100% confidence that it will be safe for an entire round, but put it on the toe side and I would start sweating bullets! Maybe I need to check out the i15 driver, which did best on the toe misses – it only lost 6 yards! Although many drivers perform well here, the Taylor Made r9 460 driver probably gets the award for best overall in terms of forgiveness because it loses the least amount of distance on off-center hits. In Summary… I will leave it up to you to look at this data and determine which clubs grab your interest the most. The champion for the robot tests could be easily determined, but let's face it, you and I are NOT robots. The best way to determine what is right for you is to come to one of our stores for a FREE club fitting. Our specialists can help you determine the best club for your game. Be sure to bring your current driver along, so we can see if your performance can be improved. We also have a FREE online fitting application on our web site. In just a few minutes you can enter some data about your game and the system will provide you with some recommendations of clubs that may be helpful to you. These recommendations are based on your unique swing and objective robot test data on the club in our database. You can check this out by clicking here. Thanks for reading! Next month we will take a closer look at spin rates on wedges!

Club Testing Update: Ping G15 Driver is HOT!

By Sean Smith, Uinta Golf Owner

As many of you may know, Uinta Golf owns a club-testing robot. We use this robot to test new products that come onto the market so that we have our own independent data on the clubs we sell and are not 100% reliant on data from our manufacturers.

Once in a while we come across a club that really surprises us in terms of performance. The newly released G15 Driver definitely fits into this category.

Now in fairness, we have only begun testing this club, but I can tell you that we are seeing some very strong results in terms of distance. We have just completed club tests at 90 and 100 mph (swing speeds) and the driver is showing very high ball speeds and ideal launch conditions. On center impacts, the ball is traveling 7-12 yards farther than the average driver!

The G15 Driver also performs very well on shots struck out on the toe of the club! In fact, the ball travels farther on a 1” toe miss than many other drivers do when struck in the center of the face! We still have a lot of testing to do on this club, but it is definitely worth checking out.

Come down to our stores for a free club fitting and see if the G15 is right for your game! We also have demo clubs available at our stores, although after this email blast, I am sure that they will be in high demand!

You can also see more information on the G15 driver by clicking the following link to the G15 Driver on our website.

I will try to do a better job in the future of keeping you up to speed on the cool things we learn from our robot testing. Thanks for your support and we appreciate you shopping with us!

Gear Effect & Your Drives

By Sean Smith, Uinta

What is Gear Effect?
Have you ever heard of the golf term "gear effect"? No, it is not a term that describes improved play by having the proper golf "gear"… It is actually a very important factor to consider when selecting the driver that is best for your game.

 

Simply stated, gear effect is the sidespin that occurs in the flight of the ball when it is struck off-center on the clubface. Gear effect can occur vertically (up and down the face) and horizontally (heel to toe across the face). This article will focus on horizontal gear effect, or the gear effect that occurs when a ball is stuck toward the heel or toe.

When a ball is stuck toward the heel or toe, the clubface rotates slightly. On a toe shot it rotates clockwise, on a heel shot it rotates counter clockwise. This rotation of the club creates a gear effect with the ball, causing it to spin in the opposite direction.*

Look at any driver and you will notice a small radius of curvature running from heel to toe. This radius of curvature is called bulge. If a driver was designed without any bulge a shot hit toward the toe would hook sharply to the left. A shot hit toward the heel would slice sharply to the right. These are undesirable results, which is where bulge comes in. Club manufacturers use bulge to counteract the gear effect. Manufacturers design the bulge and CG (center of gravity) of some club models to start the shot just enough offline that the gear effect fades or draws the mis-struck shot close to the original target line. Some club models are designed with even more radius so that the shot starts far enough offline that it negates the gear effect completely.

We have seen both extremes in our robot testing of today's drivers. Off-center shots with some clubs gear back to the original target line, while other clubs fly 30 or more yards offline – all with the exact same swing and impact locations!

Is Gear Effect a Good or Bad Thing?
There are a lot of opinions, but not a lot of consensus on this issue. We believe that the honest answer to that question depends on what you need vs. what the club does. Our opinion is that at least a little gear effect is probably good for nearly everyone.

If you are a golfer who misses toward the toe and tends to fade or slice the ball, having a little gear effect will help you keep the shot a little more to the left. If you miss toward the toe and tend to hook the ball, you may not want any extra hook action imparted on those misses.

Of course, the opposite occurs on heel shots. If you tend to hook the ball and miss toward the heel, you may like a little gear effect to help you keep the shot to the right more. If you are a slicer and miss toward the heel, why would you want any extra slice action? Aren't you already creating enough?

The Exciting Conclusion
The good news is that there are plenty of drivers that have high gear effect, no gear effect, and everything in between! And if you are curious as to which drivers do what, you do not need to look any further than our web site. We have tested every driver on the market at multiple speeds and have carefully rated the club in this area.

Our website will show you the general gear effect tendency of each driver model. Be aware that sometimes we see slightly different results at different swing speeds. This is all taken into account on our online and in-store club fittings.

 

* OK, for you scientific types, I KNOW that the ball doesn't really spin sideways. The horizontal axis tilts as the ball spins backwards, but humor me here will you?

Not All Drivers Are Created Equal

By Sean Smith, Uinta Golf Owner

Over the last several years we have seen significant improvements in driver technology that have lead to longer drives and clubs that are much more forgiving on those pesky off-centered shots.

 

About two years ago I got the idea to visit Gene Parente at Golf Laboratories in San Diego, CA. Gene is well known in the golf industry as an independent testing company – offering everything from robot testing to player testing. His swing robot is kind of the "industry standard", with clients from golf's top manufacturers to the USGA and Royal & Ancient. The robot hits the ball the exact same way every time and makes it easier to spot real performance differences.

My objective in visiting Gene was to see if there were really any significant performance differences in all of these new drivers. I was growing tired of listening to the manufacturer marketing talk and wanted to find out for myself what the real differences were.

We took several current line drivers down with us and put them on the robot. We had Gene and his crew hit all of our drivers in the center of the clubface, 1" toward the Toe, and 1" toward the heel.

The first thing I learned was that there was not a giant difference in distance on shots hit in the center of the face. Some drivers went a maybe 5-7 yards further, but nothing too crazy.

Where I noticed a HUGE difference was in the performance on the toe and heel shots! With some drivers, the ball would fly 35 yards offline, yet another driver would only fly a few yards offline or even come right back to center.

The other significant difference was in how well the clubs retained distance on off-center shots. Some toe shots flew just as far as the center impacts, while others lost 15-20 yards! We saw similar results on the heel side of the club.

Still another area of differentiation was in the launch angle and spin rate of the clubs. There was a quite a difference in trajectory from one club to another. At the speed we were testing at, it did not equate to a giant difference in total distance, as I mentioned earlier, but it DID change the height of the shot and the carry distance quite significantly.

To make a long story short, we eventually decided to purchase our own robot from Gene and we have been testing clubs ever since! There were so many clubs we needed to test! It has been amazing to me just how different all of the drivers really are. Here are a few statistics that might boggle your mind a little.

Here are some data ranges from our 100 mph driver testing. Keep in mind that every one of these drivers said either 9 or 9.5 degrees of loft and were stiff flex. They were hit with the robot in the exact same settings for each club tested.

Launch Angle:
Highest Launching Driver:	16.01 degrees
Lowest Launching Driver:	9.42 degrees

 

Spin Rate:
Highest Spin Rate:	3783
Lowest Spin Rate:	1959

 

Distance Lost on 1" Toe Shots
Best Performing Driver:	Lost 6 yards compared to center impacts
Worst Performing Driver:	Lost 30 yards compared to center impacts

 

Distance from Target Line on 1" Toe Shots
Best Performing Driver:	Finished 2 yards right of target line
Worst Performing Driver:	Finished 38 yards right of target line

Pretty amazing huh? Those are some big differences. I could go on with more data, but the point is that not all drivers perform the same. This is a great thing for us as club fitters because it empowers us with information to help our customers.

We have incorporated all of this testing data into the systems that we use in our club fittings for drivers. Once we understand what a player needs, we are able to make some intelligent recommendations to help their game. Our fitting technologies are available for online fittings, fittings at our retail stores, and at our new outdoor fitting facility – RoboFit.

We are continuing to test drivers as new ones spring onto the market. We most recently completed a test of every major golf ball on the market. Look for the results of that test in a future article.

Finding Your Perfect Golf Ball Part One: The Driver

By Sean Smith, Uinta Golf Owner

We love our robot.

 

This past summer we decided to embark on a very ambitious ball test: 63 different models at 5 different swing speeds with the driver, 6-iron, and pitching wedge. We also wanted a detailed short game analysis and even a durability test.

We hit well over 10,000 shots with the robot to amass this mountain of data. We were fortunate that it was a nice summer.

Our robot is very tired. In fact, he blew a spring!

The report that resulted from this test is so large that it is impossible to share the results in a meaningful, concise way. So right now we are busy writing a fitting application to help with that. We hope within the next few months we can produce a ball fitting application that is very similar to our driver fitting application that you can find here on our web site.

Because we wouldn't want you to have to wait that long to benefit from our test results, I decided to write a series of articles to provide you with information that I think you will find both interesting and helpful. Our focus this month: The Driver.

So what do you think would happen if you took a swing robot, loaded it with a driver, and then hit a dozen or so of nearly every golf ball on the market? Keep in mind, this robot swings the same way every time – same speed, same path, same attack angle, hitting the ball perfectly in the center of the clubface every time.

Do you think all of the balls would go about the same distance?

The easiest way to answer this question is to show you some of our test results. The charts that follow are the top 5 longest golf balls at each of the five swing speeds we tested at.

Because a few of you out there might also be concerned about accuracy, we also included how these long balls ranked in this category as well. The “Deviation” column represents each golf ball's average yards off of the original target line.

110 MPH Driver

The Top 5 distance balls at this speed were as follows (the data in ( ) indicates the rank vs. all 63 balls tested)

Ball	Distance (yards)	Deviation (yards)
Pinnacle Gold FX Long	312.93 (1)	5.67 (16)
Taylor Made TP Black	311.95 (2)	12.40 (62)
Callaway HX Pearl	308.58 (3)	12.36 (61)
Srixon Z-URC	307.57 (4)	5.27 (10)
Titleist Pro V1x	307.54 (5)	7.17 (33)

The average ball at this speed traveled 300.52 yards. The shortest ball went only 282.97 yards. From the longest ball to the shortest ball, the difference is nearly 30 yards! Remember, these were all hit with the exact same driver and the exact same swing every time.

100 MPH Driver

The Top 5 distance balls at this speed were as follows (the data in ( ) indicates the rank vs. all 63 balls tested)

Ball	Distance (yards)	Deviation (yards)
Titleist Pro V1x	280.51 (1)	5.17 (18)
Pinnacle Gold FX Long	280.40 (2)	4.20 (10)
Callaway HX Pearl	279.71 (3)	8.04 (52)
Taylor Made TP Black	279.43 (4)	8.27 (55)
Nike One Black	279.39 (5)	6.08 (35)

The average ball at this speed traveled 273.83 yards. The shortest ball went 261.06 yards.

90 MPH Driver

The Top 5 distance balls at this speed were as follows (the data in ( ) indicates the rank vs. all 63 balls tested)

Ball	Distance (yards)	Deviation (yards)
Callaway HX Pearl	246.18 (1)	8.91 (55)
Bridgestone B330	245.03 (2)	4.84 (4)
Titleist Pro V1x	244.97 (3)	9.38 (59)
Top Flite XL 5000 Straight	244.79 (4)	5.96 (16)
Pinnacle Gold FX Long	244.26 (5)	8.25 (49)

The average ball at this speed traveled 240.73 yards. The shortest ball went 230.75 yards.

80 MPH Driver

The Top 5 distance balls at this speed were as follows (the data in ( ) indicates the rank vs. all 63 balls tested)

Ball	Distance (yards)	Deviation (yards)
Volvik Crystal Control	208.48 (1)	3.12 (11)
Srixon Soft Feel Ladies	208.29 (2)	4.79 (38)
Top Flite D2 Straight	207.24 (3)	1.90 (2)
Callaway HX Pearl	207.05 (4)	3.53 (16)
Bridgestone B330S	207.00 (5)	3.73 (18)

The average ball at this speed traveled 204.01 yards. The shortest ball went 194.56 yards.

70 MPH Driver

The Top 5 distance balls at this speed were as follows (the data in ( ) indicates the rank vs. all the balls tested)

Ball	Distance (yards)	Deviation (yards)
Titleist DT Carry	175.91 (1)	5.02 (53)
Pinnacle Platinum Feel	175.36 (2)	5.15 (54)
Srixon AD333	175.07 (3)	5.80 (60)
Callaway Tour i	174.57 (4)	3.31 (16)
Bridgestone E5+	174.32 (5)	3.83 (30)

The average ball at this speed traveled 171.64 yards. The shortest ball went 160.98 yards.

As you can see, different names show up on the scoreboard at different swing speeds. There are some balls that seem to do well at a variety of speeds. How about that Callaway HX Pearl golf ball?! Can you see the PGA tour pro's teeing it up with a rose-tinted ball made for women? Maybe Ian Poulter.

And how about the accuracy issue? The longest balls definitely are not always the straightest balls. At 110 mph, the Srixon Z-URC was 7 yards more accurate than the Taylor Made TP Black.

But let's focus on distance, shall we?

When it comes to distance, there is a lot of talk given to initial launch angle and spin rate with the golf ball. Based on our testing, these are absolutely NOT the key to which golf ball will travel the farthest. The ball speed and aerodynamic properties of the golf ball must be considered as well. The three elements that make up optimum golf ball distance, regardless of how fast a person swings, are: Ball Speed, Maximum Height, and Landing Angle.

Give me a golf ball with above average ball speed, above average maximum height, and just a REASONABLE landing angle, and I will show you a golf ball that goes farther than most.

Now before you run out and buy these balls, remember one thing… There is more to the game than just hitting the ball far! You may be excited about picking up an extra 5-10 yards on your drives, but only to be disappointed when your perfectly struck approach shots lands right next to the flagstick and then proceeds to roll off the back of the green!

The ideal way to identify your best golf ball would be to get fit.

It is hard to do a ball fitting on an indoor launch monitor because it is impossible for the launch monitor to predict the aerodynamics of the ball in flight. This seems to be a huge factor in the performance of many golf balls. I can cite many examples of golf balls that have the same ball speed, launch angle, and spin conditions – that do not travel the same distance.

We feel that the best way to do a ball fitting is to understand what the golfer needs most for his or her total game and then prescribe a golf ball based upon objective, independent test results that are achieved using outdoor, radar-based launch monitors. It is essential that these radar-based monitors are used so the ball's “in-air” performance can be measured accurately. By the way, we happen to use the Trackman Launch Monitor. This is the same launch monitor used on the PGA tour every week.

Because we have not yet finished the development of our ball fitting application, I will give you a few clues:

1. With only a few exceptions, the soft-compression, 2-piece balls designed for slower swing-speed-players DO NOT spin very well with any club in the bag. At least in part, this is why the balls go so far – and especially with the irons, they do go farther. The problem is that in order to score well, you need to hold greens and have a ball that can spin well with your short game shots.
2. Do you remember how the 110 mph test revealed a 30-yard distance gap between the longest and shortest golf ball? Most of the soft-compression, 2-piece balls are a terrible choice for the faster swinging player – for both driver distance and iron play. You are absolutely giving up distance on your drives if you swing fast and play these golf balls.
3. The high-end 3 or 4 piece balls really do perform with all of the clubs in the bag. You do not have to sacrifice distance or sticking your approach shots.

The best news is that on each of the above top 5 lists, you can find golf balls that are not only long, but have very nice spin characteristics with the irons and short game as well.

110 mph	100 mph	90 mph
Taylor Made TP Black Callaway HX Pearl Srixon Z-URC Titleist Pro V1x	Titleist Pro V1x Callaway HX Pearl Taylor Made TP Black	Nike One Black Callaway HX Pearl Bridgestone B330 Titleist Pro V1x
80 mph	70 mph
Callaway HX Pearl Bridgestone B330S	Titleist DT Carry * Srixon AD333 * Callaway Tour-i

* These are the few soft compression, 2-piece balls that performed really well both in terms of driver distance AND greenside spin.

So until we get our ball fitting software finished up, this should give you a good start! If you are not certain on your swing speed, find out and give one of these balls a try (you can use our driver fitting software to help you estimate your swing speed right now if you like). Let us know what your results are! We hope that these balls will help you find more distance and improve your scores.