WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The TaylorMade Qi35 family of drivers (Qi35, Qi35 Max, Qi35 Max Lite and Qi35 LS) stretch driver performance potential by divining an optimal mix of forgiveness and ball speed. The Qi35 line-up features lower centres of gravity that align more closely with the centre of the face for maximum ball speed efficiency. But they also push new measured levels of forgiveness (high moment of inertia, or stability on off-centre hits) through the use of more lightweight carbon composite.
PRICE: $1,049. Qi35, Qi35 Max (9, 10.5, 12 degrees); Qi35 LS (8, 9, 10.5 degrees); Qi35 Max Lite (10.5, 12 degrees). All with 12-way adjustable hosel. Pre-order from today; at retail from January 30 (March 14 for Designer Series ($1,099)).
3 Cool Things
1. Better misses and hits. TaylorMade used its ability to mix lighter weight materials, especially its carbon composite face, with strategically placed heavier elements to push new levels of stability on off-centre hits. That stability measurement, known as moment of inertia, was groundbreaking and among the two highest in the industry last year in the company’s Qi10 Max driver, which notably pushed the MOI barrier of 10,000, a reference to the combined MOI in both the heel-toe direction and the crown-sole direction. The end result of that high forgiveness is more consistent performance over a broader area of the face, with less falloff on mis-hits. That push towards more forgiveness even was embraced by more of its tour players, including male and female No. 1s Scottie Scheffler and Nelly Korda, who played Qi10 models that were not the typical better-player versions.
Of course, the challenge with pursuing forgiveness at the extremes can be driver designs with centres of gravity that line up above the centre of the face, meaning energy transfer on the best hits isn’t the most efficient and shots may spin too much, losing potential distance. The new Qi35 models avoid that problem with more complex and extensive use of carbon composite, including a lightweight crown that is almost entirely made of a chromium carbon piece that goes right to the edge of the driver’s topline.
“Forgiveness is nothing really unless you have the right launch conditions,” said TaylorMade’s Brian Bazzel, vice-president of product creation. “On tour, they’ve been able to play a more forgiving driver but only because they’ve been able to get the right launch conditions. What we’ve really focused on as a team is to enable more golfers to take advantage of more forgiving drivers.”
Qi35 LS
When you look at the new Qi35, for example, you’ll see that it’s some eight millimetres longer front to back, but while that extra size brings more stability and forgiveness, it hasn’t come with the compromise of mis-aligning the CG. As Bazzel explains it, think of whether you get your better hits on shots slightly that make contact above the centre of the face or slightly below the centre line. Clearly, better hits come on the higher side of centre, and that’s why a lower centre of gravity within the head that also projects closer to the centre of the face can produce more efficient launch conditions.
Qi35 Max
The extensive use of lightweight carbon composite, including in the faces of the entire Qi35 family of drivers, saves mass that can be redistributed lower. While the body has lengthened on the Qi35 for more forgiveness (and two flappable sole weights in the front and back of the sole), the Qi35 Max keeps that same 10,000-plus MOI forgiveness as last year’s version, but it does so with a 34-gram weight in the deep centre. That’s four grams more than last year, resulting in lower CG. In short, that means more forgiveness, but with lower spin for better distance.
For players looking to manipulate the internal mass for specific ball flight needs, the Qi35 LS uses three sole weights (one 13-gram and two three-gram weights). That model provides more distinct variation in the head’s centre of gravity, as Bazzell said, allowing players to affect both launch and spin as well as left/right dispersion.
Qi35 LS
“We’re utilising materials, utilising geometry in a way that’s never been done before so that we can break that trade off between MOI and CG projection,” Bazzel said. “In essence, we’re now able to take all the mass from all these lightweight materials that are high in the head, provides the ultimate in low CG projection and high MOI. Basically, it’s the idea of more forgiveness without the sacrifice of launch conditions.”
Qi35 Max
2. New faces. TaylorMade’s engineers pushed possibilities three years ago when the team debuted a carbon composite face design on the original Stealth, and they have learned what that construction can do with each subsequent version. The carbon fibre face on the Qi35, the fourth generation of drivers to employ versions of this face design, features the same 60-layer composite construction, but its layers are now orchestrated in a pattern that is thicker at the perimeter and thinner in the centre region to create more consistent ball speeds across the face.
Qi35
Of course, as has been the case for over a decade, the Qi35 drivers also get a ball speed (and spin) benefit from the slot cut through the sole (called “Speed Pocket”), which has been updated and widened in this year’s models. This feature allows for better overall face deflection, with a particular focus on impacts lower on the face.
3. Models/Fitting. The Qi35 line-up notably includes an element that could fundamentally shift the fitting conversation, especially helpful with a family that includes four distinct models and an ever-expanding assortment of shaft options. In the fitting environment, all the Qi35 family’s fitting heads feature faces that are specially marked with six retroreflective fiducials. These are integrated directly into the face design and serve a similar but more precise function as the stickers affixed to fitting heads for use with launch monitors like Foresight’s popular GC Quad. This provides more specific information about elements like club head speed and face rotation, and TaylorMade’s team has developed a process to use the data to more directly guide the fitting process for both head and shaft selection.
“We know fitters are using launch monitors to make recommendations based on speed and spin and launch,” Bazzel said. “But we wanted to look more closely at something that really explains why those numbers are what they are and ultimately how we can make them even better. That something is what the head is doing.
“So if you know where the impact location is, if you know their angle of attack, their face closure rate, if you know all these things, you can better explain why they’re hitting it the way they are and then ultimately get better at prescribing them the right club.”
For Qi35, there are four prescriptions:
Qi35: The core model now boasts a total MOI within 10 percent of the super forgiving Qi35 Max. It uses both a front and rear sole weight that can be flipped to change performance. The heavy weight (13 grams) in the rear is the most forgiving setting, while the heavy weight up front can further reduce spin.
Qi35 LS: The more compact and most aerodynamically efficient on the models provides the most workable option in the family. With three movable weights (13 grams and two three-gram weights), the head is designed for a neutral flight with the 13-gram weight in the deep centre location. The heavy weight can move to the front toe or heel to produce fade or draw bias settings, as well.
Qi35 Max: Again, the highest stability on off-centre hits in the line-up and one of the highest measured MOIs of any driver on the market. The overall shape, size and stability on mis-hits is similar to last year’s Qi10 Max, but now comes with a lower balance point (to reduce spin) thanks to a 34-gram fixed rear weight and a quarter-inch longer shaft for more distance potential.
Qi35 Max Lite: Targeting more moderate swing speed players, it features a lighter swingweight at D0 (vs D3 on Qi35 and D4 on Qi35 LS). Like Qi35 Max, there’s also a built-in slight draw bias. It’s also offered in a women’s spec with a 44-inch shaft and a C3 swing weight.
