A driver is arguably the most important club in a golfer's bag. A good driver should help you add distance and improve your accuracy. Any driver should be able to do that, but if you’re not a strong player, you need a club that can help you stay on the green as well.
Being a new golfer, or a golfer with a high handicap, this means that you need a driver that can straighten your mishits and allow you to hit at a good distance, even if the shot was off-center.
Drivers are the clubs with the longest shaft. Its purpose is to hit the ball at the furthest distance it can. It is normally the club you use when you are teeing off. But all this knowledge means nothing if you have no idea what to look for when it comes to getting the best driver for you.
We are going to explain what a double-digit handicap or a beginner golfer should be looking out for when they buy a driver.
This guide is made especially for you, so know that any of the drivers on our list would be a perfect fit.
But, if you want to buy something we haven’t recommended, then know that the knowledge we are giving you can help you figure out if the driver you have your eyes on is actually a good buy!
The X-Metal is the lightest driver on our list weighing only 44g. Like we said before, being lightweight means that you can put all that momentum not into lifting the driver, but into speeding up your swing.
A faster swing gives more power to the ball allowing you to reach a further distance.
The X-Metal also has the highest loft on our list, giving you a lift of 14 inches. So not only can you fit faster, but you can fit higher too. These are the features you need to get yourself further down the green and closer to the lower handicapped players.
With all that loft, and with such little weight, you might think that this makes the clubhead small, but you would be wrong! The clubhead, like all the clubheads on our list, is 460cc.
Remember that 460cc is the biggest you can get whilst staying within the legal limit, so the X-Metal cannot get any bigger than that.
All of this must come at a high price, right? Wrong again my friend. The X-Metal is the cheapest driver on our list!
With all these good qualities, you might not even want to consider the others, but the X-Metal does have a flaw.
Unlike the other brands on the list, the X-Metal tries to do it all. It is a well-rounded driver, but it isn’t the fastest, nor does it give you the best distance. If you need help in a particular area, the other clubs might be a better match for you.
If what you want is an improvement to the speed of your swing, then take a look at the titanium Cobra driver. Because of its titanium materials and T-Bar design, Cobra has created a light and strong driver creating powerful speeds whilst keeping you stable.
Everything about this club helps you gain a faster and stable speed.
It weighs 69g, which isn’t as light as the X-Metal, but the material moves the position of this weight as low as possible, creating an amazingly efficient transfer of kinetic energy from your swing to the ball.
The driver head itself is streamlined in shape so it can cut through the air without interfering with your swing.
The only problem I have found with the Cobra was in some customer reviews. When some customer’s bought the Cobra from Amazon, the drivers were broken or had been damaged easier than they should have.
This is only a small minority, but if you are worried we would suggest going to your golf club to buy one face to face.
A faster speed means your ball will travel further, so if your form is good but your swing is slow this club will fix that for you!
The Cleveland has had overwhelming fantastic reviews. This driver focuses on your center of gravity which essentially means it helps with your balance. This balance between higher lofts and fewer spins is a balancing act taken on by your center of gravity.
If you get the CG (center of gravity) right, then you are more likely to stay on the fairway. The Cleveland deepens the weight on the club lowering your CG. This puts you in the optimal position to launch your ball across the green.
With this clever manipulation, The Cleveland had to take a hit somewhere. This driver is the heaviest on our list, which means (for beginners and high handicapped players) it might be hard to create a fast swing.
Fast swings create distance, but distance is only good if you can stay on the fairway. If accuracy is more important to your game, then the Cleveland would be better suited for you!
The last two drivers on our list are both TaylorMade. TaylorMade is an impressive brand that makes outstanding clubs, so don’t be shocked by their super expensive price tags.
You are getting what you pay for with these high-brand clubs, and that’s not because of their brand.
The TaylorMade M6 is designed for distance.
It has Speed Injected technology which means that the head has been tested and injected with tuning resin to optimize the face of the club allowing you to create more speed from the hit rather than just from the swing. The resin isn’t the only piece of technology.
The aerodynamic design is made out of carbon, making your swing sleeker. The technology in this design is perfect for anyone who needs extra help gaining distance. The only downside to this club is its high-end price.
Now the TaylorMade SIM MAX is the most forgiving driver on the market. It has outstanding reviews and we would consider it the best on our list!
Like we said before, being forgiving when it comes to golf means correcting and recentering an off-center hit. It means keeping you on target and making it easier to hit the sweet spot on your clubface.
The SIM MAX is the best driver in the game for this reason! Its asymmetrical sole and inertia generator creates an amazing forgiving design. The reshaped sole delivers more speed and a stable swing from the clubhead itself.
The inertia generator repositions the weight at the rear of the clubhead to make it even easier for you to hit the sweet spot.
This driver does everything you want it to at an amazing quality. But, if you are a beginner you might not want to spend so much on a driver.
Then again, if you are a handicapped player and want to correct your game for the next season, then this driver will wow away anyone who knows you and sees how much you’ve improved.
Pros:
Massively Forgiving
Asymmetric Sole
12 Degrees
460cc
Cons:
The Most Expensive By A Mile.
Now you’ve seen the best golf drivers on the market, it’s time for you to pick one that better suits your game! Good Luck!
Buyers Guide
What Should I Be Looking For in a Beginners Driver?
To keep it simple, there are three things a beginner or high handicapper needs to keep in mind when they are buying a driver. These are the level of forgiveness in the clubhead, the weight of the club as a whole, and the level of loft angles available to you.
Let’s go into detail about what these three things mean.
Forgiveness
If you want the answer to be short and sweet, then a beginner should be looking for the biggest club head you can. But come on, you want more detail than that right?
In golf, you will hear the term “sweet spot” a lot. The sweet spot is the point on the club’s head that will give you the most accurate hit. As a beginner, you are likely to roll off the fairway and miss your target completely.
That’s why you need a club with a lot of forgiveness for your off-center hits.
Forgiveness means the sweet spot is bigger, and in turn easy for you to hit. To make the sweet spot bigger, the clubhead needs to be bigger.
The largest club head you can get is 460cc. Any bigger than that and the club is considered illegal and cannot be used in tournaments. But hey, if you are playing for fun grab yourself a 500cc clubhead and watch as your hits are more centered than they have ever been.
Lightweight
The next thing you should be looking out for is how lightweight the club is. Handicapped players tend to have a slower and lower swing.
Slow swings mean there isn’t a lot of power behind the movement and this means the ball doesn’t travel very far. One way to combat this is to eliminate anything that might slow you down, and weight is an easy thing to look out for.
We recommend using clubs that are made out of lightweight materials like titanium and graphite. The lighter the club, the easier it is to swing and the faster and further you’ll hit!
Highest Loft
Because beginners tend to have slower swings in comparison to more experienced players, beginners often find it hard to get the ball into the air.
When you get the ball into the air, you need that lift to help your ball travel far and to avoid the fraction of the green. When your ball naturally runs out of movement, it will continue to fly through the air giving you more distance as it falls.
The loft is an important part of gaining distance, because as a beginner, you may find it hard to get the loft due to a slower and therefore weaker swing.
To help you with the swing, you need a diver with a high loft. This way part of the job is done for you, and even with a poor hit, you can still get the ball into the air.
So now you know what to look for, let's take a peek at the drivers we recommend for high handicapped and beginner golfers.
