Best Recommendations for Beginner Golfers: Drivers
Finding the right driver for any beginner golfer is not always simple. At SwingEasy we are commited to using data driven results to help you find equipment that’s right for you based on your skillset, your goals and your budget. We’ve tested beginner drivers using our robot and have landed on recommendations that can both improve your game and your confidence.
TaylorMade Stealth HD Driver: When Money is No Option
TaylorMade Stealth HD Driver
The Stealth HD Driver wowed us in all areas of club performance and is our overall top pick for 2022!
Pros
- Lightweight and easy to swing
- Draw bias, helping those who slice the ball
- High Launch
Cons
- High cost compared to other entry level beginner drivers.
- Draw bias hurts those who naturally draw or pull the ball
For a beginning golfer the most important element of their golf game is to develop a consistent swing. That being said, we understand that people don’t have time for lessons and just want to go out and have fun.
For a certain group of beginners they also want the best that money can buy. For this group we recommend the TaylorMade Stealth HD Driver. This TaylorMade driver is great for both beginners and those actively improving their game. High handicappers and beginner golfers would both benefit from this club choice.
TaylorMade has been a leader in innovation in the golf industry for the last 30 years. They are always willing to push the boundaries of technology in order to enhance performance.
This year they did just that, abandoning titanium and going to a complete carbon driver head. What this means for the beginning golfer is that carbon is lighter than titanium and by going to a complete carbon head they have more discretionary weight to place around the face of the driver head, increasing the sweet spot and providing more forgiveness on miss hits. This is something that every beginning golfer needs - a forgiving driver.
TaylorMade has multiple models of the Stealth driver but the HD (high draw) head is the best choice for beginners.
Testing conducted by Golf Laboratories showed tha the Stealth HD launched higher and had a draw bias that both provide benefits to beginning golfers. It also had a larger sweet spot compared to other game improvement clubs ensuring that when golfers miss the center that they will receive maximum forgiveness.
Launch Angle
The launch angle of the club is defined as the angle in which the ball leaves the club face. The higher the launch angle the higher the flight. Beginning golfers struggle with getting the ball in the air. TaylorMade addresses this by creating one of the highest launching clubs in the market place. The loft angle of the head combined with the center of gravity location provide a higher launching ball at impact which will result in longer drivers. SwingEasy.golf recommends the 10.5 and 12 degree lofts for right handed players, and the 10.5 degree loft for left handed players.
Direction
The direction that a golf ball flies can be defined simply by straight, left, and right. Of course golfers complicate this by using terms such as draw, fade, hook, slice. These terms are easily defined: for right handed golfers, draw is a small amount of directional curve to the left, hook is a large amount of directional curve to the left, fade is a small amount of directional curve to the right, slice is a large amount of directional curve to the right.
Beginning golfers struggle with a fade or more than often a slice when hitting the golf ball. The Stealth HD has a built in weighting system that encourages the club to close the face during the downswing providing a more leftward direction to the ball. The club is also closed so that at address the player will see the club face with a direction pointing to the right.
Shaft
The Stealth HD has a Fujikura Air Speeder 45 graphite shaft. This shaft is both lightweight to provide additional distance and flexible to provide additional assistance to the club head at delivery to help it square and close helping to eliminate the slice/fade of beginners. The shaft comes in a number of flexes. If you hit the ball less than 180 yards we recommend the Senior flex shaft. If you hit the ball between 181 and 230 yards we recommend the Regular flex shaft. Golfers who hit the ball over 230 yards should use the stiff flex option.
Summary
The TaylorMade Stealth HD driver is the best option for maximum technology to provide a beginning golfer with all of the assistance they can use. It utilizes the latest in carbon technology for not only the head but also the shaft to create a state of the art driver that will increase a players launch angle and provide directional assistance to help hit straighter drives.
The only downside to this driver is the price, but in this case you get what you pay for.
Cleveland Launcher XL Lite Draw
Cleveland Launcher XL Lite Draw
A driver that is both familiar looking and approachable regardless of your experience!
Pros
- Good direction control
- High flight and trajectory
- Good spin control to help with a slice
- Expect to pick up some distance!
Cons
- Large head might look awkward to beginners
- Heel biased club might not work for everyone
Beginning golfers typically struggle with three things in their golf swing: Trajectory, Distance, Direction. Cleveland and the Cleveland Launcher have set out to help beginner golfers with these struggles. The Cleveland Launcher is an easy driver to hit and it’s the reason it’s one of the best driver’s for beginners.
Trajectory And Loft
The trajectory struggle is due to the fact that beginning players hit down on the ball which produces a low ball flight robbing players of distance. The Cleveland Launcher has been designed with a center of gravity that is low and a large amount of loft so that even when a beginning player hits down on the ball, the driver compensates by delivering the club head at an angle that helps to increase the trajectory of the shot.
A common way to push trajectory higher is by choosing a driver with higher loft.
This adds distance and is also satisfying to see the ball fly. The Cleveland Launcher also has a high MOI (Moment of Inertia) design which provides stability to the ball flight on mis hits. The higher the MOI the better!
Distance
Distance is one of the biggest concerns for beginning players. They struggle hitting the ball far because of mechanics. The Launcher XL is light and long to provide increased head speed which results in greater distance. This combined with the trajectory benefits listed above provide all of the distance benefits a driver can offer.
Direction
The slice is the challenge of any beginning golfer. The Launcher XL is one of the most draw (left) biased drivers in the marketplace. They combine a heel biased club head with a flexible shaft to help deliver the club head with a left biased face angle at impact which minimizes a slice. The slice is not only bad for direction, leading to shots out of the rough, but also distance. The slice shot creates excess spin which robs the player of distance. By correcting this with the club head the player will see increases in distance with more fairways hit.
Testing conducted by Golf Laboratories confirmed that the Launcher XL was one of the highest launching, draw biased drivers in the marketplace.
Summary
The Cleveland Launcher XL Lite Draw driver is designed specifically for the beginning golfer. Cleveland has focused on all of the challenges a beginning golfer faces when swinging a driver. Their design work provides all of the attributes a player can ask for to help them with their game. It also is a value compared to the top line drivers.
Callaway Strata Complete Golf Club Set
Callaway Strata Complete Golf Club Set
This is a great starter set for beginner golfers who are looking for an entire bag of clubs!
Pros
- All your clubs in one bag!
- A great starter set for the new golfer
- Reputable Brand
Cons
- Onesize fits all makes assumptions about your ball flight and swing speed
- No 5 iron and no 4 iron!
One of the challenges for a beginning golfer is the cost associated with getting started in the game. This creates difficult decisions as many beginning players are not sure that they are going to continue playing and therefore don’t want to buy expensive equipment.
Callaway Golf, a leader in golf club equipment, has an offering that addresses these concerns. For the price less than a premium driver Callaway offers a 12 piece set. The set includes a driver, 3 wood, 5 Hybrid, 6 through 9 irons, a pitching wedge, putter, stand bag and headcovers. (Sets are available for both men and women)
This set provides the beginning golfer with everything that they will need to get started in the game. Balls, tees, and a glove are all a player needs to go play their round.
Callaway is one of the industry leaders in golf club technology. They understand the beginning golfer and have designed a set that is easy to hit, gets the ball into the air and has a draw bias. The club heads also have a high MOI (resistance to twisting) that provides maximum forgiveness when the player does not hit the center of the clubface.
Testing conducted by Golf Laboratories showed that all of the clubs had higher launch angles and draw biases greater than most standard equipment.
Summary
The Callaway Strata Complete Club Set is a great total equipment solution for beginning players who aren’t sure what to purchase or if they will be long term players. Callaway provides their technology from their expertise as leaders in the industry to produce clubs that are easy to hit, get the ball in the air, and minimize slicing.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why do beginner golfers typically hit a slice?
The golf swing can be very unnatural to the majority of players and prevalent across low to high handicappers. But the natural tendency is to slice when learning the game and while trying to master your mechanics. The fallback fix that requires some more noise: grip placement. Your ratio of balance between each hand’s pressure can be claimed as the most well-known fix. But, without knowing each individual’s swing and their natural mechanics (and flaws), it’s hard to say what the main focus area should be. That’s why we must also consider the path of the club. Balance in golf is incredibly important to help support a fluid motion to the target.
What is the most important part of the golf swing for beginners?
Starting the club on the correct path is critical. But the take-back can’t start until you have a firm and level sett grip on the club. From there the club can follow a natural pendulum, where the club comes back downwards to contact the ball with the same angle applied from the start. Golfers of all levels should remind themselves through in person or virtual learnings from golf professions to act as a witness and support mechanism to align properly with the preferred flow of the golf swing.
Which are the best golf balls for starters?
For beginner golfers, don’t overthink it with the ball. Value balls can range in price and your care about the spin rate, compression, and all the other nuts and bolts should be minimized. See our detailed guide on the best beginner golf balls for beginners!
What to look for in new golf clubs?
Whether you’re just starting out or looking to take your game to a new level, new clubs can require many swings at many lengths to help your game. Swing speed will help determine the clubs shaft flex. Size of the grip will depend on the dimensions of your hand. Club angle at address will be assessed to help support golfers of all lengths.
Low handicap players who want it done right (with a larger price tag) should go see a golf professional for a proper club fitting. The fitting is much of an in-depth session of your game as it is to where you’re looking to take your game. Many professions of which have leaned on Callaway who’s delivered the highest rankings based on customer reviews. They’ve seen immaculate success with the Maverick and Apex DCP Iron Set to name a few.
Should I Buy Pre-Owned Golf Clubs?
Access to a quality club fitting space has seen an uptick in players looking to get fitted. New clubs and used clubs can be applied here. Specs often stay the same (assuming you aren’t below the age of 20) and golf club length requirements haven’t seen much change in decades.
When looking at used golf clubs, the same specs can often apply to trying out new golf clubs. As a reminder, we are focused on core competencies such as the grip, take-back, length and angle of clubs at setup, and a few other items. Video recorded camera shots can be one of the most necessary items a golf professional or your home system should be running while you swing.
What’s better, steel or graphite shafts on golf clubs?
This very much depends on the player and many of the common data points analyzed when looking at a golf swing. Club speed, launch angle, ball speed, and many others can be considered the target focus to help assess what type of shaft should be included.
The game has seen a steady increase in graphics golf clubs and for good reason. The stiffness of the shafts originally played more to the game of varying seniors. After many years of recent innovation, graphite shafts have been far more popular on varying professional tours. The flexibility of the shaft has helped many beginner golfers along with mid to high-handicappers due to a greater range of club speed.
Written At: Updated At: 2023-07-23T20:11:02+00:00
