DRAW DRIVERS
CALLAWAY PARADYM AI SMOKE MAX D £569.99
Lofts: 9° / 10.5° / 12° Stock shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue TG VERDICT: Big brand drivers have come a very long way in a very short space of time, and models like the Ai-smoke push driver design to the limit. Put them alongside full titanium models like Ping’s G430 SFT and it’s easy to spot which is more technically advanced and tougher to produce. But it’s not just technologically where draw drivers have advanced: the Max D looks so much better than draw drivers from yesteryear, too.
We love how Callaway’s engineers have craftily played with the optics of the Max D face so it doesn’t look stupidly closed, or point too left of the target at address. Yet you still get the impression it’s primed and ready to sling shots from right to left for you. I really enjoyed hitting this model and my data with it also wasn’t bad. With just a yard between it and my longest driver (the PXG 0311 XF GEN6), there’s little to choose between them as I know the data could be reversed on another day’s testing. What really sticks out though, in a year when MOI is the hot topic, is that the Max D somehow managed to group shots into my smallest shot area: 143yds².
With an AI Smart Face optimised for low heel to high toe strikes, the Max D has many club golfer misses covered. A cracking draw bias driver option in 2024.
PING G430 SFT £525
Loft: 10.5°
Stock shafts: Alta CB Black, Ping Tour 2.0 Chrome, Ping Tour 2.0 Black, Alta Quick TG VERDICT: Due to them being so draw-biased, and because the sole weights have been non-movable, the most recent Ping SFT– drivers have had a reputation for being onedimensional slice busters. The G430 SFT has a draw setting (12-15 yards more draw bias than the G430 Max) and a Draw+ set-up that adds another seven yards of right-to-left (for right-handers) for the most chronic slicers. It’s a really good looking driver. There’s no hugely closed face angle, and the head isn’t less attractively shaped or flattened like a pancake to up confidence and give more forgiveness over the more neutral Max model. Ping drivers are rarely the very fastest or longest, but it was almost spot on my test averages for ball speed, backspin, shot height, descent angle and carry distance. It was also easily inside my dispersion average. Particularly in its Draw + setting, this is the most draw-capable driver on the market.
TAYLORMADE Qi10 MAX £499
Lofts: 9° / 10.5° / 12° Stock shafts: Speeder NX TCS (high launch), Mitsubishi Diamana T+60 (mid-launch) TG VERDICT: By virtue of it boasting so much MOI – an unusual trait for Taylormade drivers – the Qi10 Max has already garnered huge attention in 2024. But it’s really important to point out that while the Max replaces the Stealth 2 HD (High Draw), Taylormade are not selling this model as a draw driver. Instead, they insist the model is an easy-to-square, max forgiveness driver that doesn’t compromise on ball speed or distance. It’s for a wide audience and not just lower speed players, a point demonstrated by Collin Morikawa playing it out on the PGA Tour.
As a golfer who’s wanted to use Taylormade drivers before but never felt they were my most forgiving option, I am absolutely bowled over by the Qi10 Max.
I love how it sits at address, which is not something we’ve really felt with Taylormade drivers before, as they do have had a tendency to look pretty intimidating. In my hands at least, the feel and sound of shots compressing on the carbon-fibre face were also second to no driver out there.
I also really like how I’m able to dial down the loft a fraction as the footprint is so big, and there’s so much weight at the rear of the head, spin is a little higher than the competition. When I do that, I see a gain in ball speed, hence why the Max produced my fastest ball speed this year. Yet I didn’t feel as if I had to give up any fairwayfinding confidence.
With a shot area of 325.7yds², the Qi10 Max produced a dispersion inside my test average, and that definitely hasn’t always been the case with Taylormade drivers.