IndyBonzo

Qi10 Fitting Update One of the best things about where I call home is proximity to the Indianapolis PGA Tour Superstore. I'm in there too much, probably, but they have great products and great people. Larry DeSmet previously performed a successful Studio iron fitting there for me. He is the man. Highly recommend. So, off to see Larry I went for my TaylorMade Qi10 driver fitting. (Indianapolis PGA Tour Superstore) I loosened up in the TaylorMade bay by hitting some irons and then driver with Trackman, before moving over to the Studio. (TaylorMade Fitting Bay - Qi10 Sign Coming Soon?) The Studio contains a dazzling array of shafts, heads, etc. - all the variations. Kid in a candy store . . . The best part was checking out all the Qi10 options. (A portion of the Qi10 Head Selections - ) I have experimented a lot with driver shafts, and went in expecting to need a low spinning, stiff shaft to pair with a 9* head. My preplanned test list included: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 5 MCA Diamana T+ 60 MCA Tensei AV LTD Black 65 KBS TD 60 MCA Kai'Li Red 60 (to test higher launch/spin) MCA Kai'Li White 60 Larry had me hit some shots with my gamer to get a baseline. And this is where I must make a confession: I tense up in fittings. They are useful to me, but I try too hard and tend not to hit the ball as well as I would on the course or when practicing alone. Today was one of those days. I think I strangled several grips and had the blisters to show for it. But we got the job done. (A sampling) We started with a 10.5* head, and quickly moved into the 9* as expected. Swingspeed was between XS and S. Stiff shafts performed better. After narrowing it down to the Diamana and Kai'Li White, we hit several more and alternated somewhat before settling on the Kai'Li White 60S. No surprise, as I have been fitted into the Kai'Li White XS before. The Kai'Li White stiff shaft checks all my boxes: low torque, low spin, low launch, stable, but with good feedback (not boardy). Mitsubishi says it has the white profile but with a "blue feel" and I have to agree. (Just some of the available shafts for fittings) This is where we landed all in, all specs: Loft: 9* Shaft: MCA Kai'Li White 60 Flex: Stiff Tipping Adjustment: None/Standard Length Adjustment: -1" Weight: TSS Black Weight #13 (12.7g) Grip: GolfPride Z-Grip w/ 4 extra wraps I was not able to garner a performance impression of the Qi10 worth publishing due to my less than stellar ball striking. It was the archer, not the arrow; I did not hit my gamer well either in the fitting. So, more detailed analysis and impressions forthcoming. But I can tell you that the Qi10 standard driver head is attractive and looks great behind the ball. Also, kudos to TaylorMade for providing a large and varied selection of stock and custom shafts to choose from. More detailed analysis starts arriving very soon.

Good morning Spies! I’m off to work early for a very busy day. Looking forward to my first joint golf lesson with my youngest daughter later this evening. After talking with the manufacturer yesterday, it turns out I *did* have everything I needed for the garage sim. Let’s call it my mistake, but they also admitted that they really need to clarify the instructions for my model, which differs significantly from the assembly video. Off to the mines. I hope all have a great day!

That’s fantastic. Nice work!

Hey all! Answering the question from @Michael.Sandoval33 I will be gaming the Maxfli Tour X, and may try others in sims. You should try the TourX Michael! Of course, also range balls will be used, and we all know how much those vary I will have a fitting post up tomorrow.

Good morning Spies! After a busy start to the weekend, I set aside yesterday to assemble the garage sim kit. That was progressing until I discovered four poles missing. So I sent an email for a refund and off to Lowe’s I went. No biggie. After returning and cutting the poles to size, four (!) corner/elbow pieces missing. Man… This is a customer service opportunity for the sellers. I punished balls at the range for three hours to take out my frustrations. It was a good session, except for driver. Balls kept falling off the tee on my downswing because the mat would slide. Man… Anyway, I hope today is better than that for everyone here. Fairways and greens!

Good morning, Spies! @Rob Person glad to hear your wife is doing well! Not much to report today on the golf front. I did manage to re-build some vintage irons for my friend last night, after paint fill and replacing ferrules (which I still need to turn). A busy weekend on tap with a work/play conference in town piggybacking on the NBA All-Star game. (No, I am not going to the game, sadly.) I wish you all great days and super weekends!

The borrowed Stealth 2 has arrived, and here are a few glamourish shots. Looking forward to comparing results with the Qi10. Both will be standard (Goldilocks?) heads.

Great intro @Jmikecpa! Looking forward to your review. And your swing looks pretty good to me! I am petrified of putting mine on film during this review, but I will. Sebastian looks like a great dog. I miss my Saint (Duncan) everyday. You are a lucky man, and he is a lucky dog!

Everything but the projector has arrived! More unboxing to come …

Spring fever, anybody?

Lots going on in here! Happy birthday @Javs! Dang @Aubs! First, that's super impressive. And second, I don't know if I could even make contact with a 48" driver! Wow.

Good morning, Spies! @Dead Solid Bogey Very glad to hear things are going well! @Rob Person Wishing your wife well with her surgery! It's a sunny morning in Indiana. I'm busy with coffee, filling out college forms for my daughter, and then working away. I hope you all have fantastic days, and get some golf in.

Thank you, Ben! Yours was outstanding and too much to live up to! And @Michael.Sandoval33 - also superbly done!

Hello all! Just popping in here to say my Intro is now available. Really looking forward to getting started!

Nice article Jamie!

Those are some sexy sticks! And not to hijack the thread, but the Staff Model blades are even sexier.

Following up on @revkev's question, while I do not play TaylorMade now, I have lined up a chance to borrow a friend's Stealth 2 for the duration of the test. Comparisons will be forthcoming!

Good morning, Spies! And happy Fat Tuesday. It's always in my honor. Ha. It was a beautiful drive in to work today. Sunny, no haze. It will surely be a day for gazing longingly out the window, wishing I was on the golf course instead. Soon . . . I hope you all have fantastic days, with some golf involved!

Excelllent question @revkev. In my case, I am not gaming any Taylormade clubs at present. I really liked the Qi10 in my fitting, am humbled by this opportunity, and pumped for this test!

I hope it goes well for you with a quick recovery @Cfhandyman

Great idea! I am farther down the list than top 32, but if monkeys fly and it falls to me, I would be happy to join in now that the weather is improving!

Good lesson this morning. Need to work on what should be an easy fix - keeping my hands lower in the backswing and swing. If I get tense, I raise my hands/forearms, which keeps the face open and gives me a push/slice. So simple to say, but tough for me to do consistently. It’s drill time!!

Good morning Spies! Congrats to all the Chiefs fans. Your team was clutch when it mattered. I should not have bet the under at halftime! Golf lessons start back up for me this morning. Looking forward to that. I hope you all have great days. Only 56 days to The Masters!

Introduction Who is this guy? Greetings MyGolfSpy readers! Welcome to my review of the TaylorMade Qi10 standard driver. (FABWIFE and the author) My name is John, and for almost as much as I can remember of my 53 years, I have enjoyed two hobbies: playing drums and playing golf. For Father’s Day a couple years ago, my amazing FABWIFE and three daughters gave me an octopus driver headcover as an homage to both of my hobbies. (The Octopus is sort of emblematic of drummers, with the many limbs doing different things.) I crazy love that headcover. In my mind, a driver has to *earn* the right to wear it. So, what’s really happening in this review, is . . . That’s interesting I suppose, but how’s his game? Driving the golf ball has always been the most variable part of my game, with phases of joyful glory, and periods of abject failure and humiliation. Last summer was a particularly good driver season. This winter (especially during a dreadful January) practice time has been hard to come by, and driver has suffered most. This baseline (below, from December 2023) is not where I want it to be. Can the TaylorMade Qi10 help? My current gamer is a Callaway Paradym ◊◊◊ with an Accra FX 3.0 140 M0 shaft. (It’s an Otto-Phlex shaft. IYKYK. There's a great, long thread here in the forums on it.) Right now the handicap sits at 8.2. So, how will he judge the Qi10? Would you believe I have never owned a TaylorMade club of any kind? It’s true, and when the realization hit me, I was surprised myself given TaylorMade’s reputation and longevity. So no preconceptions here. For the TaylorMade Qi10 to Earn the Octopus, as compared to my current gamer, it will need to show: Improved accuracy and dispersion Greater distance (carry and total) Workability Consistency Using launch monitor data (indoors and out), I plan to: Provide results with different loft and lie settings from the TaylorMade 4-degree loft sleeve Perform head-to-head comparisons against my current driver Bonus: Compare data against the 2023 Stealth 2 (standard) on loan for the test On the course, I will test for accuracy/fairways hit, distance, forgiveness on mishits, and most importantly scoring effect. Results will matter most, but feedback on sound, feel, and aesthetics are forthcoming too. Dear readers: please also share any other testing ideas or questions you have! Seriously though… I want to express my gratitude to both TaylorMade and MGS for the opportunity to test and review the TaylorMade Qi10 driver. Thank you! Now let’s get after it . . . the octopus is eager to find out if it’s moving to a new home. First Impressions (18 out of 20) It was not just the excitement of a driver delivery and review opportunity that revved me up to get the Qi10 in my hands. TaylorMade makes some lofty claims about the Qi10 standard driver, namely, that the Qi10 provides a "balanced blend of distance and forgiveness." More distance and more forgiveness. That's every driver, every year, right? But TaylorMade's substantial mathematical and design-based support for those claims increased my eagerness to do this review. (It's here . . .) Who wouldn't want all this? TaylorMade avers that the Qi10 offers: Extra forgiveness - meaning more consistency on off-center strikes - resulting from an 8500 MOI and lower mid-head center of gravity. The Qi10's MOI significantly exceeds that of the 2023 Stealth 2, and is equivalent to TaylorMade's purportedly most forgiving model from 2023, the Stealth 2 HD. Better distance resulting from "improved energy transfer" yielded by the redesigned 60X Carbon Twist Face, lighter titanium than "traditional" titanium drivers, and carbon fiber covering 97% of the crown (for weight dispersion to the exterior and more clubhead speed). A cool, new blue color. (Spoiler alert: it is cool!) I go into more excruciating detail about TaylorMade's Qi10 driver claims, sortof explain MOI (moment of inertia) and what forgiveness really means with a golf club, show the driver from all angles, and hit on sundry other related topics in this unboxing video if you would like to learn a bit more. (Unboxing video with cameos) My daughters and FABWIFE rightly tease me about being unjustly confident in asserting opinions as fact sometimes. Undeterred, I offer you, dear reader, this unoriginal but honest opinion: the sub-premium packaging for this premium driver cannot suffice. (Opinions are like . . ..) The good folks at FedEx treated my Qi10 with kid gloves. Good thing, since it arrived in a thin-ish brown box, bubble wrap encasing the shrink-wrapped head, and loose plastic bags over everything else. TaylorMade must know more about effective packaging than I. Regardless: - 2 points. Last on the technical front, I remain impressed by the TaylorMade 4 Degree Loft Sleeve. My Qi10 can play at lofts from 7 degrees to 11 degrees, with the clubface open or closed 4 degrees from standard, and with up to a 4 degree increase (upright) in lie angle.. Certain combinations of these settings purportedly increase or decrease spin by 400 rpm. After one quick range session with the Qi10, I can confirm the ability to modify spin with the sleeve. (The TaylorMade 4 Degree Loft Sleeve) Kudos to TaylorMade for offering a numerous and varied selection of stock shafts for the Qi10 driver from prominent makers like Fujikura, KBS, Aldila, Mitsubishi (MCA), Project X, and UST, along with several other custom options. My fitting resulted in the choice of one of my favorites, the low launch, low spin Mitsubishi Kai'li White 60S. (Sexy) Aesthetics (10 out of 10) Everything else about the Qi10 impressed straight away. The 460cc clubhead carries a traditional-looking oyster shape. The subtle blue face does not distract. (TaylorMade Qi10's 60X Carbon Twist Face) TaylorMade's engineering prowess shows up more upon inspection of the carbon face and its pronounced grooves, and especially on the underside where some science fiction - based design work reveals itself. (30g rear weight for a lower center of gravity) (Lucasfilm/Disney) The deep black crown and alignment aid seem likewise subtle, and look darn good behind the ball. Again, no distractions. Last and perhaps least, the headcover. Usually I don't care. They get replaced quickly. The Octopus forbids interlopers anyway. That said, the Qi10 headcover objectively screams "luxe," with the white, quilted side ("Qi10" in the quilting) looking like an elite running shoe (says FABWIFE) or a designer handbag (says me; go figure). The Qi10 lettering has just a dash of gold for extra panache. It's sweet. (The Q is for "Quest for Inertia," not for "quilted") The first hitting session with the Qi10 left me wanting more due solely to driving range issues, although performance hints abounded, particularly with respect to the effectiveness of adjustability and increased forgiveness. Much more to come, of course. A little less conversation, a little more action please . . .. IndyBonzo's Qi10 Standard Driver Specs: 9* loft Mitsubishi Kai'Li White 60S shaft GolfPride Z-Grip, 4 extra wraps Length: 44.75" (1" shorter than standard) (So pretty) The Numbers (8 out of 10) The TaylorMade Qi10 is an excellent driver, packed with distance potential, and significant technological improvements that will make it perfect for a variety of golfers. Let's look at the data. First, the admission (again) - your author is accustomed to, and has been fit into, a low-spin driver. Any issues I had with the Qi10 related solely to my own swing and that spin tendency. That said, the distance potential in the Qi10 is pretty incredible. I played over ten rounds with it, hit countless balls on the range and in the sim, and I can tell you without hesitation that when struck well and with manageable spin, the ball just flies off the head. (Needs lessons) The Qi10 also excels in forgiveness. A heel, toe, low or high face strike (without excessive spin) does not fly far off-line, if at all. I could find my target locations easily and regularly without difficulty. Look at this dispersion pattern from a March range session: (Tight like a Tiger) When my spin crept in, that is when I struggled to keep the distance up. Again, that's about me and my swing, and not an indictment of the Qi10. The data proves that TaylorMade improved its flagship driver significantly since 2023. As promised, I compared the Qi10 standard driver with the Stealth 2 standard, and the results showed added accuracy and forgiveness, with no meaningful loss of distance at all. Check this out: In comparison to my gamer, however, both distance and forgiveness fell just short when tested over several shots. To wit: For that reason alone, I must deduct two points. Redemption may be in the cards for the Qi10, however, as you will see below when I discuss the future. Hint: Spin can be addressed. On the Course (19 out of 20) In golf you have to pick your spots. By that I mean sometimes you are playing target golf and need to drop a drive into a small area with precision, or sometimes you have a large landing area and you just want to uncork one. The Qi10 can do both. As you can see from my dispersion example above, the Qi10 will go where you point it. The impressive 8500 MOI and resulting forgiveness also means it delivers accurately whether the strike is perfect or not. Purely in terms of precision, I do not think I have ever played a more accurate driver. I played well over ten rounds with the Qi10 and never doubted I could put the ball on the line I chose. Again, my personal spin tendencies affected distance on the course, but I don't think it's fair to knock the Qi10 for that again. A golfer with a normal or better driver spin tendency will have no issue at all with consistent distance. This driver can pop off. (Boom goes the dynamite) Feedback is also excellent. I knew when I struck a golf ball if it was going to go long, short, or somewhat off-line, purely by feel. It's a great feeling club on the course. My only quibble on-course is with workability. Because the Qi10 is so forgiving, your author sometimes found it difficult to hit an intentional draw or fade. Is this a big deal? No. Forgiveness is the name of the game with the Qi10, so a mere one point deducted. The Good, Bad, and In-Between (18 out of 20) TaylorMade has really impressed your author with the Qi10. Yes, it can be long and accurate and it's undeniably forgiving. It's gorgeous too, and that blue face just screams class. But beyond all that: It holds up. After beating countless range and sim balls and playing on-course repeatedly, the driver face looks near new, with only slight ball marks on the face. (Darn range balls.) (Holding up well) Also, the wide selection of stock (no upcharge) shafts is one of the best I have ever seen in a driver offering. It virtually guarantees finding one that will work with your swing. It turned out that, in looking back at my numbers from testing, the stock Kai'Li White shaft (low spin!) gave me the best results, including over the premium shafts I tried in the standard Qi10. Finally, the loft sleeve and adjustability settings just work. Launch angle and spin were affected precisely as predicted by settings changes. The adjustability from the sleeve exceeded my expectations, and is better IMO than that offered by Callaway in the drivers to which I am accustomed. The only small demerits (- 2 points) I have to offer on the standard Qi10 result from the absence of a movable weight to affect draw/fade bias (which can be had in the Max and LS models) or the ability to move fixed weights around the head to do the same. I find this quality very helpful in drivers, and TaylorMade provides this variability effectively in its other models. Why not all? Does the Qi10 Earn the Octopus (a/k/a Play it or Trade it)? (19 out of 20) Trade it. And maybe. Let me explain. The standard Qi10 just did not fit my spin tendency, plain and simple. And it's not designed to! The Qi10 LS was designed for players like me, who need to keep spin low. If you are a golfer who can generate consistent distance without spin issues, seeking truly outstanding accuracy, playability, and forgiveness in a slightly more traditional-shaped head as compared to the "max forgiveness" offerings from TaylorMade and other brands, then you should definitely try the Qi10. Luckily for me, the kindof guy who can spin a ball off a boat oar, I have made a friend (well, lots of friends) here at MGS. More particularly, @GolfSpy_BEN who tested the Qi10 LS model very graciously offered to swap his LS with me for the standard model. I hope he makes a love connection (y'know what I mean) with the Qi10 I sent him. As for me and the LS? With one round in the books, I can say without hesitation the LS model is better for my game. Please read about my very encouraging first experience with the LS here: So, my testing will continue, and I will report back in this thread with frequent updates, and eventually a decision on where The Octopus will live long-term! Conclusion The TaylorMade Qi10 is undoubtedly an excellent driver. Packed full of improvements and technology, in the hands of a very wide range of golfers, it will provide distance potential, accuracy, and forgiveness in an aesthetically attractive package. Even those seeking the highest levels of forgiveness should try it, alongside the Qi10 Max driver. For the subset of golfers whose swings foment silica nanoparticle equivalent spin, like your author (Google it), a lower spin model may be more appropriate. TaylorMade has you (and maybe me) covered with the Qi10 LS. More to come on that front! FINAL SCORE: 93 / 100 THANK YOU to MyGolfSpy and TaylorMade for this excellent opportunity for me and my fellow testers!

I had a long range session outdoors today, focusing on driver mostly as it did not cooperate for me last week. My focus today was on a strong grip, slowing my transition, and clearing my hips and rotating through the shot fully. Progress was definitely made, although I am pretty sore after range time and garage cleaning thereafter.