Drivers: golfdigest.com

TRADITIONALTERNATIVE

Which shape driver are you? It's not as simple as focusing on form

By Mike Stachura

Photos by Jim Herity

November 2007

Should only a middle- or high-handicapper look at those weird-shape, alternative drivers? Given that not-so-high-handicappers like Ernie Els and K.J. Choi have used square drivers, it might not be as simple as shape.

It's true that the odd shapes tend to be clubs with stable and forgiving clubheads designed to push the U.S. Golf Association's "moment of inertia" limit of 5,900 gram-centimeters squared). Some of the funky designs also exhibit lighter, longer shafts, but in other areas the differences might not be as great. For example, the CG on TaylorMade's alternative-shape Burner is only two millimeters farther back from the face than the CG on the company's more traditional-shape r7 Superquad, according to Todd Beach, director of metal-wood development.

"It's not just a head question because they're built differently with different functionalities," Beach explains. "If you tried to lump it together as 'high MOI' versus 'standard,' then it gets a little more complicated because each club has a different CG with different shaft lengths and weights. So I don't know that it's as easy as grouping it by clubhead type."

Of course, you won't know the difference between standard and strange until you get on a launch monitor with a qualified expert. And the new shapes aren't going away. Nike and TaylorMade will offer sharp-angled, high-MOI geometric heads in the coming months, and they won't be alone. Are traditional-shape drivers an endangered species?

"Just think about 460 cubic centimeters," says Rick Wahlin, metal-wood designer at Nike. "Ten years ago, it was crazy to think that a tour player would hit that kind of club. It was so radical. But 460 was more radical to what things were like 10 years ago than what square is to 460 today."

Mizuno MX-560

A wide head and a sloped crown lower the CG. A 45�-inch shaft and a milled-titanium face insert with three thicknesses optimize ball speed

($300, mizunousa.com).

Mizuno MP-600

The traditional-shape driver features a sole with a channel housing two eight-gram weights that can be moved in six positions for 15 different ball flights

($400, mizunousa.com).

Wilson Staff Spine

The scallops in the square crown are designed to increase perimeter weighting, and the ridge helps reinforce the face. The shaft is 46� inches

($300, wilsonstaff.com).