2024 MOST FORGIVING DRIVER!? 90mph Swing Speed....Who Will Take The Crown??

[@anthonyfarmer8387]

Great video and props to you for using a swing speed which equates well to the likely buyers of these clubs. Loved the fact that you groaned at the mishits even when you were doing it deliberately 😂 Interesting to see the difference 4Mph swing speed makes, need to work on that! Love the channel.

[@epgolfstudios]

Thanks Anthony, glad you enjoyed the video. And yeah, they were honestly such bad hits they felt horrendous even though I was trying to do it 😂 just a golfers natural reaction I guess 😂

[@billdunlop8683]

When the video said " now for some Horrific strikes" I thought to myself how the hell did this guy get a video of my last round ??

[@Pud56]

I span the Ping so much, was fitted into the AiMax and spins at around 2300, so effective for me. Great distance and dispersion, shows how fitting and testing all the options pays dividends. All the drivers are good, but it’s horses for courses. The light weight of the AiMax certainly increased my club head speed, as i was 4mph faster than with any of the other drivers, however it might be that i was confident with it?

[@papashuk26]

Thanks for the 90 mph test as most don’t bother with slower speeds. So it’s just marketing as I think the Mizuno is much cheaper than the rest. Great job!

[@rufussthoo4083]

A very worthwhile test. Thanks for putting the hours in and getting it done, Ross. While the results may have been somewhat predictable, it is good to see someone perform the test at the average speed and provide confirmation. I did find it interesting that you didn't (couldn't?) produce one the most common mishits - the high toe. It would have been good to see the performance from that particular strike too. Now that the 'most forgiving' has been identified, I'd love to see the longest/hotest driver for 90 mph. Perhaps the Ai Smoke vs Cobra Darkspeed vs PXG Black Ops?

[@dropkickdrones4569]

Best golf channel hands down!!

[@epgolfstudios]

Thanks a lot we really appreciate the support 🙌🙌

[@georgesteer4137]

So if you had your choice of the Ping 10k at $599US or the Mizuno ST Max at $299US and could get fitted for a custom shaft with the $300 left in your pocket, which way would you go?

[@Benb55]

I’m currently using a Callaway Epic 10.5deg. I’m a senior and my handicap is 18.5. The Epic isn’t the most forgiving driver in the world. I’m toying with upgrading the Epic to gain both distance and forgiveness. Your video has definitely given me food for thought. I’m leaning towards the Callaway Smoke. Cheers Ben, Sydney Australia

[@mufc778]

Can we see the difference of a 95 mph swing results with regular and stiff shafts..love the channel

[@epgolfstudios]

Have done this one my Chanel already. Did senior, reg, stiff and X in a blind test

[@JiKimbo]

I'm only half way through, and it's amazing how well your mis-hits work out when you club face is square with a decent swing path. Great test by the way. Lots of hard work went into that one! 👏👏

[@epgolfstudios]

Thanks bud! Yeah I try to be as in depth as I can be and be fair to all the clubs in the test....and yeah in all fairness I find that with pretty much every driver nowadays, even the 'less forgiving' models. If you deliver a good face to path you get away with the mishits..which is sometimes why I'm now completely sold by the whole 10k thing

[@James-oh1wp]

This was by far the best vid I’ve seen on forgiving drivers . Great attention to detail. Thanks for doing this :)

[@patrickcosgrove5272]

Really enjoyed that test , especially keeping the club speed at 90. mph ! Loved that you used off- centered hits ! I was really impressed with the Mizuno, being so much less in price, compared to the others ! Thanks

[@mikeduke1294]

Exact;y the kind of video I needed to see as a not good golfer. Greatly appreciate the effort it takes for a pro to swing slow and hit the ball crappy. High level of difficulty I imagine.

[@geoffhiggins742]

Excellent. Very interesting video. It seems like if I could put a good swing on it and square the face, then more or less anywhere on the face will do! Also seems like any of these clubs would do a job too. In a couple of years time I'll know it's fine to pick the one in the best condition.😆

[@cameronloveless1751]

Ross, you mentioned the Ping was clearly a winner from low strikes, but did you find any driver was a clear winner from the toe, or from the heel? Thanks for the great review

[@wes9588]

Miz is the answer. A head that large and forgiving to be that low spinning *with* that gear effect on heel shots is amazing.

[@cleve0h]

Love your reviews. It may not be fun dropping your swing speed to 90 mph but they do speak to the masses.

[@thscott05]

Disappointed the Cobra Darkspeed Max wasn't included but otherwise a great vid

[@p1nkfl0yd1an]

Upgraded to the Darkspeed Max this spring. Can confirm at the very least it's wildly forgiving when compared to my 20 year old Cobra lol.

[@CharlotteK2008]

Cos it’s just not as good as all the rest….. Simples

[@billburbank4314]

Ross, this was so cool. You looked like you were swinging half speed from your normal! Really enlightening to to carry dist from 88 to 92. Seems the Ping grew on you a bit from initial...hope that is not result of Ping pressure! Be really interesting to see older model to current model...and mishit performance. But you path and delivery are so solid. Love your channel and choice of content. Cheers mate.

[@jacquesvdmerwe5586]

Great to see the Brava making an appearance! I currently game the x-flex with an Cobra Darkspeed LS. Dropping absolute straight bombs

[@jrickett630]

Excellent video! Would love to see something similar with hybrids and/or fairway woods. Keep the great content coming!

[@epgolfstudios]

Thanks! And yes we may well do something like that 👍👍

[@MichaelPowers-ow9ld]

Another great video! Really appreciate the effort you put in to give us all such meaningful content.

[@epgolfstudios]

Thanks Michael glad you appreciate the effort that goes into the vids 🙌🙌

[@funmachine3]

Got a st max hybrid and wood cuz the price was so low and I’m glad I did. Haven’t pulled the trigger on driver yet but I think I’ll do the same. Don’t really like paying $500 for 1 club

[@michandcat]

Good stuff. Would love to see this test done with the low spin models with a results comparison. 2 thumbs up

[@jerryt.1656]

I unfortunately came across your video after purchasing the Ping Max 10k so the comparisons were too late for me. Fortunately, I love the Ping and have hit it very well on the course. I noticed the same thing you were finding regarding efficiency with the Ping. I have a PRGR launch monitor that I take to the range and my smash factor has been 1.40 and up consistently regardless of the type of hit. Truly amazing. I do have some questions though. I thought the two standard shafts that come with the Ping were the Alta CB Black 55 (The one I opted for) & the Ping Tour Chrome 2.0 65. You seemed to be using a different shaft (Brava??). I was surprised you didn't test with an off the shelf option. Additionally, you mentioned the club having a swing weight of D8, (is this shaft related?) Ping's web site lists the swing weight at D3, so I am a bit confused by that. But thanks for testing for us 90 mph swingers, very helpful!

[@AlphaBravo73]

interesting results. It would be great to see a comparison with the drivers below these in the upper budget range like the clevelands

[@raymondbooth3189]

Just watched absolutely outstanding test. Just subscribed 👍

[@epgolfstudios]

Thanks Raymond 👌👌

[@kevinbryant2367]

Great test and content, keep up the good work, I hope to be in contact for a fitting after July when I retire and hope to play a lot more golf 🙂

[@andythomas2796]

Great test, I'll follow this site.

[@epgolfstudios]

Thanks Andy 👍

[@jasonmiller4080]

Take your pick, they’re all so good

[@robertlinde-gs9mn]

Thank you for pulling this together- it is very informative. Which foresight software do you use to display the comparison betwen clubs?

[@epgolfstudios]

It's just the Foresight FSX software 👍

[@robertlinde-gs9mn]

@@epgolfstudios thanks I have been using FSX Pro and I separate Driver from 3 wood but if I select driver and use a tag for Mizuno and a tag for titleist the software wont let me separate them in the display- I wonder what I am doing wrong.

[@MrBrendon7]

Love your work mate, so they are all pretty good, guess it comes down to how they act in other hands, which you've proven time again

[@johngibson2639]

Another great test, keeping it all as fair as you can. The only issue I have with people like you testing ‘forgiveness’ is that, even though you dial down the speed and hit it all over the face, your delivery is always so good. IMV the true test would be with an 18 handicapper, swinging 90mph, hitting it all over the face (just like you did) but, crucially, with typically variable delivery and path. I have suspicion that the lack of gear effect on these clubs would mean horrid delivery equates to even more horrid results than with a less ‘forgiving’ head. I could be wrong, of course 😊

[@epgolfstudios]

Yeah I think that you're just thinking a bit too much into it. The reality is there's not much between these models at all anymore, and even between these type of heads and the less 'forgiving' heads, there still isn't that much difference at all on mishits. As you say the delivery has far more of an impact and if it's a bad delivery it will generally be a bad result regardless of the club. If it's a good delivery and a mishit you will get away with it with pretty much any driver nowadays. We could do it with an 18 handicap but it would prob just be too sporadic to actually get a realistic idea of how each club performs, I think a better player has to do it. IMO tests like this are really a bit pointless, as there's never really any difference on mishits. Good to see the difference of how they perform out the middle though. That's probably more of a takeaway for most than the actual 'forgiveness' part.

[@johngibson2639]

@@epgolfstudios I agree, the average 18 handicapper would need to hit an awful lot of shots to get a decent set of ‘good’ drives but that’s the point, really. Please don’t think I’m saying your tests aren’t worthwhile - they absolutely are. It’s just that I’m not convinced really good golfers are best placed to test real-World ‘forgiveness’. Keep up the good work 😊 FWIW, most days, ‘The Middle’ is a foreign land to me 😢

[@vroomgc]

@@johngibson2639 NO club is going to fix a bad swing. So your point is moot.

[@NovaScene]

Been gaming the 10K in a Ventus Black this season, at about 107 mph and it's a beast!

[@peterbuzz7279]

Great video. Amazing effort to creat this content. Plenty of launch with the ping for that swing speed. Could easily deloft and lower spin with more rollout?

[@jim9win]

Happy for you keep it going

[@G_Chain]

Great & useful video for my swing speed 👍🏾 U have a new subscriber

[@epgolfstudios]

Thanks G Chain appreciate that 👍

[@dougpulsford4721]

Great test, as you say they all are really good!

[@epgolfstudios]

Thanks Doug, and yes all brilliant drivers as expected nowadays

[@MrKoi13]

Great review!!

[@gavversify]

Great video, Thank you 👍

[@richb326]

Currently playing Stealth 2 but would really like to try the Callaway, Ping looks too busy, Qi10 not different enough to Stealth and never even seen the Mizuno

[@fishonj2319]

As a beginner golfer, what is the best one out of these the ping?

[@russellmills2044]

Great test

[@tomgregory6275]

I am a senior golfer (78 years old) and I too play the "BGT Brava shaft in Stiff flex, at 44.75 inches length" at 54 grams with a midsize grip, 102 gram total. I know very few golfers and fitters believe that this would allow me the best results for forgiveness, distance, and dispersion, but I shoot in Low 70s with a triple diamond Callaway at 10.5 degrees, set netural... I use a 14 gram weight in back and 2 gram in front, with an average of 225 carry distance and most shots, the center of the fairway...Why? It works where I play, here in the Southern Rocky Mountains about 7,000 ft altitude, just south of Santa Fe, NM. Could "Elite Golf fitters" tell me if there is any change I should try to get better results??? My Ghin is 6...

[@shaunkelley55]

I game the Mizuno ST Max it’s as good as anything in this category, unbelievably forgiving, and long too, I average 275 yrds carry you literally can’t miss the fairway

[@epgolfstudios]

Yeah this could be the driver that really takes them up into the big leagues with the other top driver brands. It's really good

[@CharlotteK2008]

You average carry 275 and never miss a fairway…. YOU ARE INCREDIBLE. You must be a hell of a golfer. Pro numbers that

[@desmonix]

Thank you for the video.

[@v205]

What's the benefit of the LS you're drivers? Bit more distance on centre strikes?

[@epgolfstudios]

Yeah like for me at my normal speed if I played one of these drivers I'd hit the ball about 150ft+ in the air and it would land like a PW and lose me about 30/40 yards. So yeah much more penetrating ball flight, more roll out and more distance overall. Plus the LS drivers really aren't that much less forging anymore

[@wesleynuttall5]

Great test, amazing how slow you have to swing to get to 90mph. But my swing only averages about 96 while im trying to give it some. So annoying when im a fairly big lad eho can throw some decent weights around the gym.

[@vroomgc]

Its all in the technique and fast twitch muscles, not big muscles

[@jday4217]

Need the Cleveland in there to compare too

[@briandavidson2684]

Great comparison test. Can you do it for 100-105 mph.

[@epgolfstudios]

Thanks Brian. And no 😂 it's not worth the effort the results would be the same

[@ecliqxse9591]

Lucky to win a bidding on a Pxg black ops 10.5* for $380 … Pxg should be here for the test lol

[@TheBrenegade]

Did you do the same video for 2023 drivers? If not, which would you assume would be the winner?

[@epgolfstudios]

I did not but imo at the mo the top drivers are Titlesit and Ping and I'm sure it would have been the same last year

[@TheBrenegade]

@@epgolfstudios cheers pal. Loving the videos and watching your channel grow.

[@damiensmith8351]

Just went to book a driver fitting on your website, and I can't believe it's right-handed fitting only. Is that correct?

[@epgolfstudios]

Hey Damien, I'm afraid that is correct. After a couple of years we decided to move away from offering LH fittings as we were losing money year on year from offering it. We obviously offer quite an extensive fitting matrix that costs a lot of money to put together, and we would only see probably less than 10 lefties per year. So unfortunately commercially just makes absolutely no sense.

[@kooijbas]

I really have to work on my technique. I see you swinging with barely any effort at all and still hitting it further than my best efforts.

[@patrickcosgrove5272]

I noticed when you were striking the Mizuno driver, you didn't look like you were putting much effort into the swings .

[@epgolfstudios]

No, all the same amount of effort and same average swing speed with all so as always I make sure it's a very fair test

[@nisch2379]

I currently game the TM Sim Max driver and have been hitting it really well lately. I went and bought the Ping 10k. Should I return it?

[@epgolfstudios]

Absolutely no idea 😂 not sure how I can answer that one tbh. If your SIM Max was hitting fairways and you were confident with it then was prob no reason to change, unless the Ping is also hitting fairways and going longer 🤷

[@pgowan357]

Why no Cobra?

[@kingtosin]

The indoor driving range I go to uses Rangex, a korean brand. My data 87.8 club speed/Ball speed 130/Smash 1.48/Carry 193 yds/Total distance 231 yds/ spin 1717/launch angle 12.9/attach angle 2. Use a Taylormade Gloire driver (Japanese model) with an Autoflex SF405 shaft. Driver is 10.5 degree but I set it 2 clicks lower for the loft. I think the shaft plays a bigger role in the stats. When I hit poorer shots my smash factor goes to 1.38 and the distance is lesser. My question is will a 10K head deliver a better smash factor which in turn will deliver longer carry and total distance? I notice the 10K heads has almost 1000 more spin than my current driver. Wonder how that will affect my distance. Would be nice if you can do the same comparison but with different shafts to see how the results differ.

[@epgolfstudios]

Possibly the smash would be marginally better with a 10k head but really you would need to get fitted and do some proper testing to actually determine whether or not the improvements would be worth the investment. Likely it wouldn't be. Shaft wise it depends what you're talking about. Shafts have a very small influence on launch and spin, that all comes from the head. So if I did this test again even with multiple different shafts the results and numbers would be pretty much the same. If I wanted to lower the spin I'd just go from the 10.5 head down to a 9. Or move into the lower spinning head model.

[@kev12558]

I have both the Ping G430 max and 10k. 10k in the bag at the moment, but have a big issue squaring the club face at impact. £40 a week on lessons with one of our pro’s in a studio, still can’t seem to get it right. Tried the 430 max with the weight to draw, still hopeless. Any tips? Would the AI with a sliding weight help? Yes, I was fitted.

[@epgolfstudios]

No it wouldn't, my best advice would be to stop spending money on equipment and find another pro. Definitely it can be sorted by seeing the right person. Where abouts are you based?

[@kev12558]

Hayling Island. Tough links course, rarely play without less than 15mph winds, gorse everywhere, at the moment rough is up. Ball easily lost a foot off the fairway. Most weeks at least 25% of the field NR 🤪

[@epgolfstudios]

@@kev12558 come and see me you're only a tiny bit over an hour away I'll take a proper look for you

[@rgrpncs]

Always look forward to your videos but what about the Cobra?

[@epgolfstudios]

Thanks Michael. Yeah that was only purely down to time and exhaustion. As I said in the video I already hit just over 140 shots to get the best data and comparison shots possibly with these 4 drivers, adding another would have meant hitting 170/180 shots which I just didn't feel I could do and didn't really have time to do either unfortunately. I only have a small filming slot each week that I fit in between my 6 days of fully booked fittings.

[@KennethIOlsen]

How does TSR2 stack up to these?

[@epgolfstudios]

Absolutely up there! New GT is soon which is why I didn't add it in so I'll be doing loads of comparisons with that 👌

[@barrygoodson4952]

Mizuno for the win !

[@marcoscado5478]

Do low spin next!!! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@stephendibari5010]

Nice ! Would be great if you can do this at 100 mph CHS

[@epgolfstudios]

@@stephendibari5010 the results would be the same 👍

[@awchiu]

I using the Ping 430 Max currently and hit it really well. Do you think it’s worth upgrading to the 10K for a bit more forgiveness?

[@TOsure719]

I have both.. no, not worth it.

[@awchiu]

Thanks! You saved me some money!

[@epgolfstudios]

I agree with the above. Not worth the upgrade.

[@scottfrench6128]

No Titleist TSR1?

[@davidquinn7144]

Qi10 max is unbeatable for high handicap golfer .nice review by a golfer who likes ping .

[@epgolfstudios]

It's definitely not 😂😂 tbh I've never been a massive ping fan. I go by data, can't argue with data

[@glenburr6755]

New here? 😂😂

[@jaydilley7064]

can you add GT2 to this somehow please?

[@epgolfstudios]

Unfortunately not really, no. Not without redoing the whole test and just doing basically the same video again. Only way of really being accurate is same day same time same specs etc. but forgiveness wise it certainly won't be any worse than these. It would be up there probably 2nd behind the 10k

[@jamesdaniels85]

I tried them all and ended up with the AI smoke for the extra distance and low spin it seemed to get. I have just received a PXG Black ops tour as an upgrade/replacement for the old 0311 which had a faulty face. Seems to keep up with the smoke so far.

[@epgolfstudios]

Nice! Yeah we don't do PXG but I have heard pretty good things about their new driver

[@edwardw8019]

Looking for the most forgiving Driver----and---You take out every shot that was not in the middle???????

[@epgolfstudios]

Can’t compare anywhere near fairly enough between them unless you put them mishits on a robot, better to show you examples from every club so you can see what they do and then share my experience. Plus really there’s barely any difference between them in all honesty. It’s just going to come down to which driver suits you best. Never buy a club off the back of a KZbin review. Always get fitted. That’s what’s makes the real difference.

[@kevinjohnson2779]

No Black Ops?

[@epgolfstudios]

No

[@SpudOutdoors]

Left out black ops and black ops tour 1.

[@epgolfstudios]

We don't do PXG unfortunately and no plans to in the future

[@SpudOutdoors]

@@epgolfstudios and the reason is ?

[@epgolfstudios]

No need. Extra cash spend for a very small business with no benefit. Their business model is all over the shop so would rather let them do their own DTC thing. We already have more than enough brands to fit any golfer out there to the highest level.

[@SpudOutdoors]

@@epgolfstudioswhich means you don’t believe in their products got it. Last video I watch.

[@epgolfstudios]

@@SpudOutdoors it's not that I don't believe in their products, I'm sure they are fine. As I said, it's more of a business decision. We know they aren't better than Ping, Titleist, Callaway, Cobra, etc. I'm sure they are up there close with them. But there's just no need to have them. It's not easy running a small business where money is tight. Every decision needs to have clear positives. We are happy with the 7 brands we have it's more than a good enough offering.

[@GeeZeusJnrGTBond63]

True results come from using a robot.

[@epgolfstudios]

But expensive for us

[@tonyosborn5068]

Easy winner for me. Ai smoke goes further with tighter dispersion 🙂🏌️‍♂️

[@golfnut6129]

Hats off to you for hitting those extra shots to even up the data set⛳️🏌🏻👍🏻

[@callmehjames5089]

Are all these drivers for high handicappers?

[@epgolfstudios]

They would be marketed that way yes but that isn't necessarily true. I don't really fit by handicap it's more the requirements of the player

[@jbl366]

What’s your email then? 😂 i do love watching your videos.