For the reason that first footage of TaylorMade Qi10 drivers leaked, there’s been loads of hypothesis in regards to the identify.

Is Qi a play on AI?

Is TaylorMade utilizing the Chinese language pronunciation of Qi, which will get us to Chi-ten—a driver so good it’s like dishonest?

Nope and nope.

Bummer on that 2nd one. It could have been enjoyable.

Because it seems, the identify signifies TaylorMade’s Quest for Inertia, 10,000 factors value, together with its acknowledged aim of making the world’s most forgiving driver.

Alongside related strains, with the launch of the Qi10 (I suppose, extra particularly, the Qi10 Max), TaylorMade is claiming the mantle of “World’s First 10K Driver.” That’s technically true, I suppose, however solely by an hour. (That’s a teaser.)

Your 10K MOI Disclaimer

As lots of you’re conscious, the USGA caps MOI (second of inertia) at 5,900. The essential element is that the rule applies to a single axis. Normally, we’re speaking about MOI from heel to toe however, permitting for MOI within the top-to-bottom path as properly, it’s attainable (and USGA authorized) to push complete MOI to 10,000 and past.

2024 – The Yr of Straight

As I’ve famous elsewhere, 2024 is shaping as much as be the Yr of Straight within the driver class. For TaylorMade, that’s a very attention-grabbing proposition given the corporate’s lengthy historical past of favoring pace above all else.

It’s not that TaylorMade has been anti-MOI however, historically, pace and forgiveness are opposing forces. To get extra of 1, you sometimes had to surrender among the different.

The trade-offs of upper MOI typically embrace issues like a discount in aerodynamic effectivity, greater spin and decrease ball pace ensuing from center-of-gravity location or the drop in swing pace that may happen when head weight is elevated.

That isn’t the case with the Qi10 Max. “We’re not making a trade-off,” says TaylorMade’s Senior Director of Product Creation Tomo Bystedt. “We’re breaking the trade-off.”

The thought is that as a substitute of delivering a steadiness of pace and forgiveness, TaylorMade is providing you with the pace you’d count on from the corporate with extra forgiveness (or at the least greater MOI) than it ever has—and by lots.

TaylorMade thinks that enhancements over SIM2 are vital and significant for each golfer. This isn’t some on-paper kind of factor. TaylorMade believes you’re going to note.

OK, however how?

To beat the standard trade-offs of driver design, there have been three areas TaylorMade wanted to handle.

TaylorMade Qi10 Driver – Supplies

Our supplies story begins or, maybe, continues with TaylorMade’s carbon face. In lots of respects, the face itself is unchanged from Stealth 2.

It nonetheless has 60 layers value of carbon fiber. Whereas the specific branding has been faraway from the face, Twist Face persists as properly. And, yeah, you’re nonetheless getting TaylorMade’s Inverted Cone Know-how to assist preserve pace throughout the face.

Essentially, the enhancements aren’t with the face itself however somewhat the buildings within the surrounding areas that assist it.

It’s fairly well-documented that TaylorMade had some face separation points with Stealth 2. The brand new design helps scale back the focus of stress between the face and surrounding steel.

The extra versatile buildings work with the face to additional enhance off-center efficiency.

Additionally the face now’s blue.

Infinity Crown

The following piece of the supplies story is TaylorMade’s new Infinity Crown design. The Qi10 Max options the most important crown it has ever created. For context, it covers 97 p.c of the highest of the membership whereas the earlier design lined just below 80.

There’s no seen ledge the place the crown meets the face which makes it look virtually as if there’s no separation between the 2.

The super-clean strains threat creating an alignment challenge. To alleviate that, TaylorMade has added the only white line alignment support discovered on its Stealth 2 fairway woods to the drivers.

Because it at all times is, the purpose is weight financial savings however it inarguably provides the Qi10 household of drivers a definite look.

The crown itself is a deep black and, whereas there’s some seen carbon weave sample, it’s delicate.

New Form

The second piece is a elementary redesign of the motive force chassis that TaylorMade calls Inertia Shaping.

The Qi10 and the Qi10 Max have a bigger footprint. On paper, the Max is 10 p.c bigger, however the extra significant piece of the story is that Qi10 Max butts up towards the USGA’s dimensional limits.

Mass (re)-allocation

Lastly, all of that supplies and form stuff created a chance to reallocate mass. And whereas there are a selection of the way to try this, TaylorMade’s aim was to push mass to excessive areas with out making the membership look goofy ( you, PowerPod II).

Qi10 drivers characteristic mass pads (inner weights) within the excessive toe and hosel areas. There’s additionally a big weight anchored to the again of the membership.

In case you keep in mind our COBRA RADSPEED story from a number of years in the past, you’ll acknowledge this as rising the radius of gyration.

So what does all of this get you?

Along with essentially the most forgiving driver TaylorMade has ever made, we’re getting the only greatest year-over-year MOI improve in 40-plus years of TaylorMade drivers.

TaylorMade Qi10 Drivers – 3 Fashions

Because it has for the previous couple of cycles, the TaylorMade Qi10 driver household will characteristic three fashions. There’s better differentiation between fashions this time round and that ought to present golfers with a clearer image of which mannequin is correct for them.

TaylorMade Qi10 Max Driver

In case it wasn’t apparent, the Max is the one one of many three fashions to interrupt the ten,000 MOI barrier.

It’s not adjustable above and past TaylorMade’s loft sleeve however the inventory again weight is a large 32 grams.

As famous, whereas all Qi10 fashions are 460cc, the Max butts up towards the USGA’s bodily measurement limits. It’s an enormous driver.

With that come a few challenges.

When the middle of gravity goes approach again, the mass properties change. That may alter the best way golfers ship the membership so TaylorMade labored to ensure the Qi10 Max was straightforward to sq. up.

There’s additionally an aerodynamic penalty sometimes incurred with bigger shapes and, whereas TaylorMade isn’t claiming the Qi10 Max is essentially the most aerodynamically environment friendly driver available on the market, aero is just about the identical as Stealth 2, which needs to be lots ok.

Whereas greater CG (and extra spin) can typically accompany excessive MOI designs, with the burden financial savings from the Infinity Crown and elsewhere, TaylorMade was in a position to decrease CG relative to Stealth 2.

The plain query is, “What does all of this get me?”

TaylorMade says the Qi10 Max produces extra carry and complete distance than the Stealth 2 HD. Carry is longer than the inventory Stealth 2 as properly.

The most important distinction is present in dispersion the place the Qi10 Max ought to considerably enhance on previous designs. TaylorMade has seen vital enchancment (as much as 30 p.c) in distance dispersion—the hole between the shortest and longest balls hit.

The TaylorMade Qi10 Max is accessible in 9, 10.5 and 12 levels. All lofts can be found in each right- and left-handed.

A light-weight HL (Excessive, Gentle) model of the Qi10 Max is accessible in 10.5 and 12 levels by TaylorMade’s {custom} division.

Whereas any of the Qi10 drivers will be constructed to spec, a Qi10 Max girls’s choice can be out there in 10.5 and 12 levels.

FYI, MOI for the light-weight builds shall be lower than 10,000.

Retail value for the TaylorMade Qi10 Max is $599.

TaylorMade Qi10 Driver

Whereas not fairly on the identical stage because the Max, the Qi10 brings loads of forgiveness to the desk. TaylorMade places the quantity at roughly 8,500 mixed MOI.

It leaves a bit of extra room within the USGA’s field however it’s nonetheless a bit bigger than Stealth 2.

Pound for pound, it’s extra forgiving and decrease spinning than the Stealth 2.

The again weight is positioned a bit extra in the direction of the toe which suggests a extra impartial bias.

The TaylorMade Qi10 driver is accessible in 9,10.5 and 12 levels. The 12-degree mannequin is accessible in right-hand solely.

Retail value for the TaylorMade Qi10 Driver is $599.

TaylorMade Qi10 LS Driver

The Qi10 LS is TaylorMade’s lowest-spinning driver. If you wish to name it a extra workable, higher participant design, I believe TaylorMade could be OK with that.

It’s the direct substitute for Stealth 2 Plus. The identify change is extra consistent with what has grow to be the business conference and may assist golfers higher perceive what it does.

Probably the most notable characteristic of the Qi10 LS is a revised weight system that takes design cues from the “weight storage” design present in final season’s Stealth 2 Plus fairway woods.

In contrast to TaylorMade’s previous sliding weight system, the Qi10 LS implementation incorporates a mounted screw with a weight that slides from finish to finish. Whereas at a cursory look adjustability seems restricted, it isn’t. The storage design requires much less construction which finally helps to save lots of weight.

The Stealth 2 Plus was one of many lowest-spinning drivers available on the market final yr and TaylorMade says the Qi10 LS is decrease spinning nonetheless.

When you wouldn’t count on an LS mannequin to be among the many most forgiving available on the market, Qi10 LS is extra forgiving than Stealth 2 Plus with a complete MOI worth of round 7,600.

The retail value for the TaylorMade Qi10 Driver is $629.

Which Qi10 Driver Mannequin is Proper for You?

These are by no means straightforward inquiries to reply. Golfers ought to count on the Qi10 Max to fly the straightest and, for some (possibly even many), the straighter flight could also be value sacrificing far.

When it comes to optimization, I’d recommend beginning with the Max and dealing your approach down. If you may get the launch and spin you want from the Max, you’re in all probability in the proper place.

If spin is simply too excessive, the usual Qi10 driver ought to work for many.

After all, for many who actually need to chop spin or want to take extra of the left aspect out of play, the Qi10 LS will seemingly be the reply.

One of the best recommendation is to work with a reliable fitter to kind it out.

TaylorMade Qi10 Drivers Designer Collection

For 2024, TaylorMade is changing its “My” program with what it’s calling the “Designer Collection.” As an alternative of giving golfers the chance to totally customise almost each side of the Qi10, the corporate has determined to supply quite a lot of colorways designed by its industrial designers.

A semi-custom providing of kinds, the Designer Collection will dramatically scale back turnaround instances relative to the “My” collection and, as a result of it permits TaylorMade to take care of some stock, the upcharge is just $30 as a substitute of $100.

Shafts and Grips

TaylorMade is aware of inventory shafts have a foul repute, and whereas I believe it may (and may) do higher by golfers, it needs to emphasise that a variety of effort went into dialing in shafts for the Qi10 lineup and feels prefer it’s in a very good place.

The inventory shafts for the Qi10 Max are the Fujikura Speeder NX TCS 50 and the Mitsubishi Diamana T+ 60. The Speeder is a brand new providing from TaylorMade that pairs a tender tip part and softer bend profile with comparatively low torque.

TaylorMade believes the design will assist golfers sq. the face and hit the ball straighter.

The ladies’s inventory shaft is a 40-gram Speeder NX.

Inventory shafts for the usual Qi10 are the Fujikura Ventus TR Blue (non-VeloCore) and Mitsubishi Diamana T+60. Whereas not as stiff because the VeloCore model, the TaylorMade TR presents decrease torque than earlier variations.

Inventory shaft choices for the Qi10 LS driver are the Mitsubishi Tensei AV Restricted Blue and Tensei AV Restricted Black. Each characteristic a matte beauty.

The inventory grip is a 53-gram Golf Delight Z-Grip +2. A 44-gram model is accessible by {custom}. The inventory girls’s grip is the Lamkin ST Delicate (40-gram).

Placing it All in Perspective

TaylorMade isn’t the one firm speaking about maximizing MOI or hitting straighter drives this yr. It’s the place the market is trending, however TaylorMade is uniquely positioned if for no different motive than it doesn’t have a lot of a repute for forgiveness.

There’s little doubt the Qi10 household goes appeal to golfers looking for the gap TaylorMade is understood for. If the message of “extra forgiveness” resonates with golfers who might not have thought-about TaylorMade beforehand—and the guarantees of straighter drivers holds up within the becoming bay—the corporate might be an enormous yr.

The problem is that competitors is stiff and golfers looking for straighter drives and tighter dispersion with out sacrificing distance may have extra choices than ever earlier than.

Retail Availability

TaylorMade Qi10 Max, Q10 and Qi10 LS can be found for pre-sale at TaylorMade.com and retail areas now. Full availability begins Feb. 2.

For extra data, go to TaylorMadeGolf.com.