First and foremost, it is important to remember that the golf club does not make the golfer. Also, you need to know that this guide is just a guide-hopefully it will help you make the decision easier when you decide to purchase a driver. The game is simply 18 holes of challenges and opportunities-hopefully most of you golfers will be presented with more opportunities than challenges. If you have a driver in your golf bag that you have confidence in-the game becomes much more enjoyable and lots more fun.

Let’s start our trip out with the question-How Important is the Modern Golf Driver? Most of the top players are known primarily for their driving distance. In my opinion “Driving for Show and Putting for Dough” is becoming more and more debatable with the increase in positive technology. Advances in the sweet spot, size, launch angle, composition, forgiveness, ball speed and aerodynamics are just a few of the categories that the top manufactures now spend millions of dollars researching and developing. If all of these companies are spending this kind of money on drivers-there must be a reason. The reason is very simple-the longer and straighter a golfer can hit their driver-the shorter the second shot to the green-the closer to the pin your chances become-the better chance the golfer has to make the putt-therefore, the lower the scoring possibility.

One of the most important factors in choosing a driver is, does it look and feel good to you when you set it down and take your grip. Confidence is just as much mental as it is physical. If it feels comfortable in your hands chances are very good that you will perform at a high level of driving the golf ball. If the club does not feel and look good the first thing in your mind will be a negative thought. Negative thoughts in golf only lead to stress, which lead to poor decision making, which lead to poor scores. The first step in buying a Driver is simple-does the golf club feel and look good to you-if not put it back on the rack.

There are six basic categories in choosing the correct driver for yourself: 1) size of the driver, 2) material of the driver, 3) loft of the driver, 4) shaft flex, 5) length of shaft and 6) grip size. Let’s make the assumption that you have found the driver that looks and feels good to you. The next step is to find the right size-this should be a very simple decision to make—go for the biggest you can find-that would be 460cc. The question might be WHY—The player will find that the larger the club, the larger the sweet spot plus all your off center hits go farther. The 460 cc drivers will add yardage to your drives thus making the second shot to the green less. Remember steel headed drivers are slightly less expensive but heavier than the more modern titanium driver. The titanium head, as mentioned earlier, is more forgiving and much lighter which will allow more club head speed. Titanium is also a long lasting material that will resist damage from impact or corrosion. The only draw back in titanium is that it is the most expensive material in driver technology which is represented in the price of the driver.

The second category that should be looked at very carefully is the loft of the club. Lofts of drivers vary from 7.5 degree to maybe 13 degree. The loft of the driver of a touring pro might go down as low as 6 degree or maybe even lower. The golfers ability to get the ball in the air will be determine by the loft of the club. If not much loft exists then the drive will have the tendency to be low and will not carry very far. If you were playing golf on a concrete parking lot then this might be a great advantage but on the golf course this is not recommended. High handicappers should use more loft on the driver, with the better player maybe using less loft. There are many choices to make in golf but if you want to be successful and enjoy your game choose a driver that the loft fits your needs.

The next challenge for the golfer in choosing or buying a driver is to match the shaft to your swing. The shaft, in my opinion, maybe or is the most important step in buying the driver-in fact the most important of all when buying any club. The golfer must find what works better for them. There are so many different shafts that this step could prove to be very difficult. Do I get graphite, steel or is there some magical new technology. Let’s make this as simple as we can for the buyer. Generally graphite is more expensive than steel and less durable. The lighter weight provides greater swing speed for more power and distance. Over the years torque has been the problem with graphite but the torque of today’s graphite has made huge improvements. Regular, stiff, senior, extra stiff, ladies and many more flexes make for a difficult choice in shaft flex. Find out what your club head speed is at impact then choose the flex correct for you. Always when buying a driver choose the graphite shaft-you will not be disappointed.

Length of the shaft is also an important decision the buyer should make when buying a driver. Most drivers vary from 43 to 46 inches in length. This should be determined by your ability to control the club. Length is important because the longer the more speed the golfer will be able to generate-the shorter the less speed. Without control of the club all is lost, so spend time hitting drivers with different lengths-you will find the best length for your swing.

One of the last things but not least important is choosing the proper grip. The size of your hands should determine the size of the grip. Small hands must have a small grip—If the grip is to big for your hands there will be a good possibility you will slice the ball or hit it to the right. Why? To large of a grip does not allow your hands and wrists to rotate at the proper time. The direct opposite is true if the grip is to small for the size of the hands. Rotation of the wrists in the golf game will prove to be very important in your ability to it the ball straight.

It’s time to wrap this journey up. There are almost as many drivers as there are stars in the sky. When you go into the pro shop or golf store you will find many drivers on the racks. Some of the more well known drivers are: Ping Rapture V2,Titleist 909 D2, Callaway FT-9, Taylor Made R9 460, Ping G15, Cleveland Launcher DST and the Adams Speedline Fast 10. They are all very good drivers and if you go by cost some quite expensive. If you choose, the buyer may look at custom drivers which are also very good. No matter what driver you choose to play with make sure you like its looks-Remember, confidence has a lot to do with looks and feel. If you follow this buying guide, there will be an excellent chance you will find the correct driver for your self. All touring golf pros have their clubs custom made only for them-loft, length, shaft material, shaft flex and grip size. Whether an average player or a scratch handicapper you to can do the same. Pick and choose everything. Happy Buying

Big Craig