For the fourth generation of TaylorMade’s carbon-faced drivers — the Qi35 driver family — the company has taken a three-pillared approach.
The name Qi35 is derived from the quest for inertia (Qi) TaylorMade started last year with the Qi10 family, while the “35” comes from the three pillars of form, function and fit, and the five different heads that TaylorMade can use to fit golfers into the perfect drivers for their games.
Here are 6 things you need to know about TaylorMade Qi35 drivers, which are now available to pre-order.
1. Form: Taking inspiration from jets and sports cars
To nail down the design of the Qi35 drivers, TaylorMade designers started with what’s called a “mood board” of images they wanted to shape the look of the new line. For Qi35, the mood board included an F-22 Fighter Jet, an exotic yacht, a Lamborghini and several examples of “point to” features — that is, graphics that lead viewers’ eyes in an intentional direction.
All of these ideas culminated in specific features of the Qi35 drivers.
One of those key ideas from the mood board was exposing materials to draw the golfer into the product, such as the visible grey Chromium Carbon that TaylorMade is using for the first time in the Infinity Carbon Crown. Steel, aluminum, tungsten and titanium also are all visible throughout the clubhead.
All of the items in the mood board are designed to go fast so designers wanted the Qi35 drivers to look fast, too.
You’ll also notice subtle green graphics and other features that direct users at specific features of the driver, like the SpeedPocket and TAS weight ports.
2. Function: All about balance
Every driver shaft, when unscrewed from the shaft, will perfectly balance on a singular point on the face, TaylorMade says. That point is known as the center of gravity (CG) projection, or the point the center of gravity points to on the face.
The lower that balance point, the less chance that lower strikes on the face will balloon spin numbers.
Typically, when creating a driver, designers have to choose between pulling the CG toward the back of the head to increase forgiveness and raising CG projection or moving the center of gravity forward to increase speed and lower CG projection.
But thanks to the fourth generation of TaylorMade’s Carbonwood technology and the new chromium carbon crown, the Qi35 drivers have lowered the CG and the CG projection, meaning you can get consistent ball speed and spin numbers from more points on the face. In other words, TaylorMade has built drivers that have CGs pulled back for inertia but also are lower to increase speed.
“Every golfer needs as much forgiveness as possible, but we know we all have different launch conditions,” said Andrew Oldknow, TaylorMade’s director of product creation for metalwoods. “We want to make sure we have a line of product where not only are we fitting golfers, but we’re also trying to lower the center of gravity on the product as well. In the past, we’ve always looked at forgiveness and speed as opposing forces, and you sort of have to compromise between those two.
“We now have products that launch higher with less spin across larger areas of the face. We’re unlocking more potential for every golfer while still having high performance, high forgiveness products at the same time.”
3. Fit: New approach to customization
TaylorMade is taking a new approach to ensure all golfers are properly fit for their drivers, and it starts with the clubs fitting partners use to allow golfers to test new drivers.
While there are four different driver models, the “5” in Qi35 is derived from a fifth head option, which is the Qi35 SelectFit heads. These aren’t heads that will be available to consumers, but rather heads for clubfitters that will have reflective markers built into the clubface to allow Foresight GCQuad and Quad Max launch monitors to accurately track the club through the swing.
“We want to give every fitter out there more information to give better results for fitters,” Oldknow said.
TaylorMade has also given Trackman the exact measurements of each Qi35 model for the most accurate face impact and club delivery data possible.
But the focus on fitting doesn’t stop at data capture. TaylorMade has built into its proprietary fitting software an algorithm that can recommend shafts for a player based on the head delivery characteristics picked up by the SelectFit heads.
4. Bye-bye, sliding weight
A staple on every low spin TaylorMade driver since 2014 except for one has been a sliding weight on the sole to move center either left-to-right or front-to-back.
With Qi35 LS, the sliding weight has been replaced by three weight ports in the rear and front-left and front-right of the sole called the Trajectory Adjustment System (TAS).
“Because we’re not using a sliding system, we actually move that weight farther, so you’ll see bigger differences between moving weights,” Oldknow said. “Which means fitters can fit you faster.”
The TAS system also comes to the core model for the first time offering two weights (13g and 3g standard) that can be placed in the front or rear to change ball flight.
5. Four models
With Qi35, TaylorMade is now offering four different heads from which golfers can choose, with the fifth head being referred to as “Select Fit.”
Starting with the Qi35, the core model driver now has over 9,000 MOI thanks to TaylorMade’s decision to change the shape of the driver to look more like its “Max” driver. The overall length of the head was extended 8 mm from back to front, and weight was repositioned to make their most stable core model driver ever. The Qi35 also features front and back TAS weight ports, to move the CG low-forward to increase speed or keep it in the rear to take advantage of that 9K forgiveness.
The Qi35 LS is once again the more compact Tour-level driver and is the most adjustable club in the lineup thanks to three TAS weight ports (13g, 3g and 3g standard). When the 13g is moved into the front toe position, it creates the lowest CG projection in the entire Qi35 driver lineup and, for the first time, is actually lower than the center of the face.
Qi35 Max is the high forgiveness model and once again reaches the USGA-legal limit of 10K MOI. A new 34-gram inertia generator repositions weight back and deep in the head, which helped lower the CG projection to just 2.9 mm above the center of the face.
Finally, with its Qi35 Max Lite, TaylorMade is entering the ever-growing ultra lightweight category for players who need help creating speed. This driver will also be available in a women’s spec and is 35 grams lighter than Qi35 Max and is paired with an ultra lightweight shaft and grip.
