Drivers

5 drivers designed for high toe misses, according to our robot | ClubTest 2023

By: Jonathan Wall February 10, 2023

Ping's G430 LST produced an impressive carry distance delta on high toe misses.

Ryan Barath/GOLF

Ping G430 driver 2023 — Ping's G430 LST produced an impressive carry distance delta on high toe misses.

Ryan Barath/GOLF

As much as we’d all like to find a driver that adds an extra 15 to 20 yards, most of us would be better off finding ways to tighten overall dispersion. Imagine having a driver that goes 250 yards, regardless of where you hit it on the face.

Such a club would make it exponentially easier to focus on consistent contact and not have to worry about miss-sapping distance.

Thankfully, equipment manufacturers have been working on bolstering the areas around the geometric center to retain ball speed. With a massive assist from Golf Laboratories’ swing robot, we’re able to dig into the data and find drivers designed for certain misses. In this case, the most common miss location: high toe.

Unlike the low heel (we’ll discuss this mishit location in a future piece), spin tends to drop to suboptimal levels on toe misses, negatively affecting carry distance. As we found out with this year’s crop of drivers, how much distance you’re losing depends on the driver face technology.

For example, the Spinsistency technology found on Ping’s G430 forged face produced some impressive carry distance numbers on high toe misses. Cobra, Srixon and Callaway also boast face technologies that allow for ball speed retention.

How much retention are we talking about on high toe strikes? Let’s go to the numbers.

(How we calculate: Each driver is tested using a 9-point face mapping. We hit 6 balls from each location on the face — high, low and middle quadrants — and then compare the data to the geometric center.)

Ping G430 LST (2 yards of carry distance loss, in relation to geometric center)

Ping G430 LST

Click through to purchase a new Ping G430 driver from Fairway Jockey.

$600 from Fairway Jockey

Ping G430 Max (2.7 yards)

Ping G430 Max

Click through to purchase a new Ping G430 driver from Fairway Jockey.

$600 from Fairway Jockey

Cobra Aerojet (4.2 yards)

Cobra Aerojet

Click through to purchase a new Cobra Aerojet driver from Fairway Jockey.

Buy Now from Fairway Jockey

Cobra Aerojet Max (4.8 yards)

Cobra Aerojet Max

Click through to purchase a new Cobra Aerojet driver from Fairway Jockey.

Buy Now from Fairway Jockey

Srixon ZX5 MKII (5.3 yards)

Srixon ZX5 MKII

Click through to purchase a new Srixon ZX MK II driver from Fairway Jockey.

$500 from Fairway Jockey

Honorable mention: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond (5.9 yards)

Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond

Click through to purchase a new Callaway Paradym driver from Fairway Jockey.

$600 from Fairway Jockey

Want to overhaul your bag for 2023? Find a fitting location near you at GOLF’s affiliate company True Spec Golf. For more on the latest gear news and information, check out the Fully Equipped podcast below.