TaylorMade R580 XD Driver Golf Club

So have you noticed that since the R7 hit the market everybody is doing adjustable weights in their drivers? Ever wait on a guy in your group to wrench on his driver before he can hit? Totally against the rules of golf, but I've seen it happen. Nothing better than my ball bouncing 20 yards past that guy's with my "old technology" R580 XD!!!!

Folks, if you can't go to the range and hit 10 balls in a row on the exact line you've chosen, then movable weights aren't doing you a darn bit of good. If you can't work the ball right and left on demand then movable weights aren't doing you a darn bit of good. Those clubs are for the people we hate who can repeat their swings to a gnat's behind over and over and over again.

Let's just take a trip in the way back machine to 2003. Back then in pre-R7 times, this was a $400.00 driver. Now it's what? $150.00 still shrink wrapped?

Value, value, value. If you have $400 to spend on a new driver then take the $250 you saved and get fitted with the perfect after market shaft for your swing. If you don't have $400 to spend, no worries. Taylor Made puts about 4 different flavors of stock shafts in 'em. Not just different flexes, but different levels of tip stiffness and different kick points. Ask your pro or hit a bunch of different ones at your local golf store. You'll get pretty close.

And please don't buy a 9* driver. Check out 10.5* or even 12*. We all like low spin golf balls 'cause they go straighter. But....those same balls don't get enough back spin to give you a good carry unless you have a ridiculous swing speed - we're talking tour speeds here. That's where a higher lofted face comes in. And here's a bonus - higher lofted drivers don't impart as much side spin on the golf ball. (Same as your pitching wedge doesn't slice like your 3 iron.) So you get straighter shots!!

Even Tiger, Vijay and Phil are playing 10* drivers now. Let's all swallow a bit of ego here. I'm 34 years old with 110 mph swing and I play a 12* driver. Yeah, I did put a high kick shaft in it to bring the ball flight down a bit, but I can actually hit most fairways and my misses are still playable. No card wrecking slices OB or pull hooks into the drink. It's all grass now, baby (some of it is just a bit taller than I would like).