How Much Has Recent Driver Tech Improved?

[StefanUrkel]

On 5/12/2017 at 3:37 PM, dennyjones said:

My personal experience.   I'm a bogie golfer.   I went to Carl's Golfland (Michigan) and was fitted for a driver.   I know nothing about shafts but was fitted using Trackman.  My distance increase 30 yards from what I was playing and my pattern was tighter.   I'm convinced the newer tech has helped me.

I'm calling b.s on this. Go Tigers though!

[1badbadger]

The actual technology advances as new drivers are released are much smaller these days.  Since the size and COR have been maxed-out, the manufacturers started experimenting with different materials and re-positioning weight for more forgiveness and/or a more efficient trajectory.

The biggest technology breakthroughs recently have been the adjustable hosel and adjustable weights.  These are noticeable for anyone at any level.  Most companies will have their own feature that they emphasize to try to separate themselves from everyone else.  Some are kind of "fluff", but some are legit. Here are a couple of examples:

Bridgestone introduced a new feature last year called Power Milling Technology.  Grooves are milled into the face of the driver to reduce spin, improve the compression time and reduce sidespin.

Does it work?  Yes.  Is it a huge difference?  No, not really.  This alone wouldn't be enough of a reason to buy a new driver in my opinion.  They also developed FAST Crown Technology.  This means the crown of the driver flexes which produces more ball speed, a higher launch angle with less spin:

This is pretty significant.  This does make a noticeable difference.  All other companies have a design that flexes at the bottom of the club, which creates a lower launch. This is why they started the "loft up" campaign.  Do you have to have this?  Again, no, but something like this would be enough to consider the next time you're in the market for a new driver.

But most drivers that are within a couple of generations of the current models are not going to be antiquated in my opinion...they will still perform well.