The best driver is the one you’re fit for, and TaylorMade is taking a renewed approach to make sure golfers are fit into not only the proper Qi35 driver head but also the correct shaft.
Our Fully Equipped team of Kris McCormack and Wadeh Maroun recently went to TaylorMade’s Kingdom in Carlsbad, Calif., to see the new fitting practice for themselves.
So, how does it work? TaylorMade Kingdom Master Fitter Duane Anderson said that after years of studying fitting data he started to notice that certain types of players from a release pattern standpoint tend to fit into certain types of shaft-bend profiles.
“What it kind of comes down to is, first of all, when do we unload the shaft?” Anderson said. “Are we unloading earlier [before the shaft is parallel to the ground]? Are we unloading at parallel? Or are we holding on to that angle we set for a long time and releasing after parallel, super late?”
Anderson said he found that earlier release patterns tend to fit better into shafts that are stiffer throughout the whole profile, like the Fujikura Ventus Black. Those on the other end of the spectrum, who hang onto the club longer, tend to play better with softer profile shafts like the Fujikura Ventus Red.
The second part looks at how players release the club, which is now easier to measure thanks to TaylorMade’s Qi35 SelectFit heads, which have launch monitor reflectors (known as fiducials) built into them to collect data more accurately.
Players who have a high closure rate and release with their hands are better off with softer tipped shafts, while players with a body release and slower closure rate will tend to prefer stiffer tips.
Maroun has a competitive tennis background, so his hands are very active in his release, leading to late release with a fast closure rate. To complement this, Anderson built him a driver with the Ventus TR Red shaft, which features the same stiff butt section of the Ventus Black since Maroun told him he doesn’t like to feel the shaft kick.
“Oh! That was a good sound,” McCormack said after Maroun’s first swing.
Now that Anderson had Maroun in a shaft he liked and he was hitting it consistently straight, it was time to change the head to dial in the trajectory.
“I’m trying to fit shaft based on profile and swing type to get us in the fairway more often, more consistently,” Anderson said. “Now I’ve got massive levers in this head. Loft is the first one. CG location. We put these big weights that we can move a long distance to change CG location. Then I’ve got a loft sleeve so I can change loft, face angle and lie angle.”
With Maroun hitting it a bit high, they switched to the Qi35 LS head and went up in loft. But the first few swings saw him miss a bit right.
TaylorMade Qi35 LS Custom Driver
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That led to one last change: Flipping the head around to the neutral upright position on the loft sleeve since the Qi35 LS has a flatter standard lie angle than the core head.
“Oh boy!” Maroun said after the first ball. “That felt so much more powerful.”
Within just a few minutes, Anderson was able to give Maroun a driver with more loft in his preferred shape that gave him his ideal ball flight and without spinning it too much — and Maroun was carrying it over 280 yards in the air.
The entire Qi35 family can be ordered and customized now on Fairway Jockey.
Want to overhaul your bag for 2025? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.
