TaylorMade Qi10 Drivers - 2024 Forum Member Review

[HikingMike]

I for one am glad to see the discussion on driver shaft length, as someone else who just discovered the pros play a significantly shorter average length than the retail clubs in the store. I’d like to ask a fitter about this next time. Though they may not commonly have different shaft length options.

[GolfSpy_BEN]

As these things tend to do, I received an update on the shipping of the replacement head just now, after I gave my update. The tracking now shows the head being delivered on Friday 3/29. So a day earlier than the original estimate, which admittedly is better than a day later. So I’ll take it.

[chisag]

2 hours ago, HikingMike said:

I for one am glad to see the discussion on driver shaft length, as someone else who just discovered the pros play a significantly shorter average length than the retail clubs in the store. I’d like to ask a fitter about this next time. Though they may not commonly have different shaft length options.

 

... I play my driver at 45". I know what that feels like at address. When I have a fitting I just choke down to 45". Only one fitter I worked with in the last few years said anything when I choked down. But when they all wrote down the specs I always told them I play my driver at 45". 

[TJ Hall]

10 hours ago, GolfSpy_BEN said:

As these things tend to do, I received an update on the shipping of the replacement head just now, after I gave my update. The tracking now shows the head being delivered on Friday 3/29. So a day earlier than the original estimate, which admittedly is better than a day later. So I’ll take it.

That’s at least some good news, hopefully the weather will hold for you so you can get back out there with the Qi10.

[Michael.Sandoval33]

Headed out to Recreation Park 9 again early this morning. Found what I believe to be decent gained yardage stemming from better accuracy with the Qi10 Max. Hit 3/4 fairways that I drove, my favorite shot being over the water on the 7th (although I wasted the great drive with a 3-putt). Last time I played Rec Park 9, I shot from the white tees to avoid the water, today I was more confident to clear it. Overall, a better day today and definitely increased comfort off the tees.

Edited March 27 by Michael.Sandoval33

[IndyBonzo]

Way to go @Michael.Sandoval33!  Nice shots there.

We focused on driver quite a bit at my lesson this week, and I hit the Qi10 pretty well and found the distance I had been missing, with good accuracy too.  Accuracy and forgiveness are special with this club.   I look forward to taking the Qi10 and this simplified swing to the course tomorrow (Friday) afternoon, and I will report in with results.

[TCUfrog]

Did a range session on Monday with my new Qi10. My wife went with me, and I wasn't super diligent about tagging the trackman results to the comparison between my current Cobra LTDx and the Qi10 so I take a screenshot the recorded shots. I will try to do that next week and provide the true data points. I will say the speed across the face though compared to the Cobra is much more consisent. My toe misses are only losing 5-10 yards carry, and dispersion was much tighter with the Qi10. The Cobra on the center of the face might be a bit faster, but on the mishits, I'm losing 20-30 yards in carry. 

Not sure I'm sold on the Kai'li White shaft, but that remains an unknown.

[GolfSpy_BEN]

With a notification that the replacement head will be delivered today and temps reaching the upper 60’s, I will be heading to the range. Also of note, this arrived earlier in the week:

I went with same grip setup as the stock shaft. A golf pride z grip standard with three wraps under the left hand, one wrap under the right

It is my earnest hope, that the replacement head and this shaft will help me fall in love with this driver. Because it has been a bumpy road, to this point. Stay tuned…

[Jmikecpa]

7 minutes ago, GolfSpy_BEN said:

With a notification that the replacement head will be delivered today and temps reaching the upper 60’s, I will be heading to the range. Also of note, this arrived earlier in the week:

I went with same grip setup as the stock shaft. A golf pride z grip standard with three wraps under the left hand, one wrap under the right

It is my earnest hope, that the replacement head and this shaft will help me fall in love with this driver. Because it has been a bumpy road, to this point. Stay tuned…

Hope a shaft change can for you can yield similar results as to what I am seeing after making a change.  Get my first round tomorrow on the course with the new setup and hoping it is as good on course as it is on the range.

[Josh Parker]

10 minutes ago, GolfSpy_BEN said:

With a notification that the replacement head will be delivered today and temps reaching the upper 60’s, I will be heading to the range. Also of note, this arrived earlier in the week:

I went with same grip setup as the stock shaft. A golf pride z grip standard with three wraps under the left hand, one wrap under the right

It is my earnest hope, that the replacement head and this shaft will help me fall in love with this driver. Because it has been a bumpy road, to this point. Stay tuned…

Nice!  Looking forward to seeing how this works out for you!

[GolfSpy_BEN]

I made it to the range yesterday evening. It was a mixed bag. To call it the worst range session I have ever had with the driver is probably short sighted and does a disservice to some real stinkers I’ve had over the years. But recency bias notwithstanding, it wasn’t good. Without looking at the numbers, every thing felt short, spinny, and way right. Every adjustment I made either produced the same crap result or something worse. 

I’ve had days where I’m fighting my swing the entire time, and this was one of them. 
 

The numbers for the Cobra:

 

The numbers for the QI-10 LS:

On average, the Cobra was slightly better across the board, but 2 things are crystal clear to me.

1) Rapsodo gave me credit for more straight balls than I thought I had in the moment.

2) This is an archer, not the arrow scenario. So I’m going to work on some things to get my driving back to where I want it. 
 

The work continues 

[Josh Parker]

9 minutes ago, GolfSpy_BEN said:

I made it to the range yesterday evening. It was a mixed bag. To call it the worst range session I have ever had with the driver is probably short sighted and does a disservice to some real stinkers I’ve had over the years. But recency bias notwithstanding, it wasn’t good. Without looking at the numbers, every thing felt short, spinny, and way right. Every adjustment I made either produced the same crap result or something worse. 

I’ve had days where I’m fighting my swing the entire time, and this was one of them. 
 

The numbers for the Cobra:

 

The numbers for the QI-10 LS:

On average, the Cobra was slightly better across the board, but 2 things are crystal clear to me.

1) Rapsodo gave me credit for more straight balls than I thought I had in the moment.

2) This is an archer, not the arrow scenario. So I’m going to work on some things to get my driving back to where I want it. 
 

The work continues 

Could it be the new shaft and just getting used to the kick point or load of it?  Did you feel it was a timing issue?  

[GolfSpy_BEN]

10 minutes ago, Josh Parker said:

Could it be the new shaft and just getting used to the kick point or load of it?  Did you feel it was a timing issue?  

Neither driver felt great, so I attribute the bad session to my piss poor swing more than anything the clubs were doing. 

My speed was down overall, as the fastest was 104.5 mph and I struggled to find the center with either driver. The slices weren’t pull slices, but rather start down the target line for 100 yards or so and then make an abrupt right turn. So I need to go back to the basics and work on path and plane. The aforementioned over the top move has creeped back into every driver swing rather than just the ones where I am going balls out for distance. The good news in all of this, is that it is one bad range session and the issue is correctable. I just need to remain patient and work the fundamentals, it will come.

[Josh Parker]

8 minutes ago, GolfSpy_BEN said:

Neither driver felt great, so I attribute the bad session to my piss poor swing more than anything the clubs were doing. 

My speed was down overall, as the fastest was 104.5 mph and I struggled to find the center with either driver. The slices weren’t pull slices, but rather start down the target line for 100 yards or so and then make an abrupt right turn. So I need to go back to the basics and work on path and plane. The aforementioned over the top move has creeped back into every driver swing rather than just the ones where I am going balls out for distance. The good news in all of this, is that it is one bad range session and the issue is correctable. I just need to remain patient and work the fundamentals, it will come.

Absolutely. Today is a new day.

I need to find the video I watched the other day, but it made so much sense for my swing with coming over the top.  It was basically two moves/feels.  

[GolfSpy_BEN]

1 minute ago, Josh Parker said:

Absolutely. Today is a new day.

I need to find the video I watched the other day, but it made so much sense for my swing with coming over the top.  It was basically two moves/feels.  

I’m going to get some video to confirm, but I think mine has to do with keeping my back to the target while I start to turn my lower half, then letting the club come through on an in to out path. Right now, when I start to clear my hips, my upper half follows along leading me to swing over the top. 

[Jmikecpa]

Got out and played this morning in the freezing cold and high winds. It was a bit of a mixed bag today and the good was very good and the bad was mediocre at best. I am still fighting my swing with the longer clubs and getting stuck a few times a round…which I guess is better than every swing with a club above a 5 iron. Was also the first round since the reshaft and from a numbers perspective I am sold on the shaft, but not from an on course perspective. The front nine was a struggle but did hit a few nice drives on the back nine. 
 

Did not think the green side bunker was in play with a left to right cross wind.

Going to keep working at it to see if I can improve on the bad or at least get more of the good out of this driver. 

[Jmikecpa]

Two holes to illustrate the bad. Both of these drives missed well wide right. In fairness this was the miss on both holes but it is favor the right side not miss the target by 50 yards right. 
 

[Hook DeLoft]

I played 18 this morning.  I had a good front nine with the driver never putting me in trouble.  Don't ask about the back nine....I was trying something different with my swing which resulted in better iron shots and worse driver shots. 

On good swings, I am not getting the distance I expect.  I'm consistently 10 yards short of my normal spots.  I am going to play Tuesday and use my gamer driver to see if I can figure out if the problem is the TaylorMade or my rapidly declining swing speed. 

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Jumped right back on the testing horse this afternoon with another trip to the range. 

Today was much improved. Armed with a new thought and a feel, the results shape wise were much improved. And the dispersion was pretty decent

Distance still isn’t quite where I want it, but today was something I can build on, and that’s all I can ask

The 103.1 mph club head speed average is reflected in my efforts to work on path and plane. And really, if I can average 250 yds carry, then I will have very little to complain about. 
Now that I have some swings I like with the head/shaft combination, I am finding I really like how stable the head feels through impact. If I can continue to iron out the wrinkles in my driver swing, this head/shaft combo has the potential to be special. Things are looking up

[Josh Parker]

6 minutes ago, GolfSpy_BEN said:

Jumped right back on the testing horse this afternoon with another trip to the range. 

Today was much improved. Armed with a new thought and a feel, the results shape wise were much improved. And the dispersion was pretty decent

Distance still isn’t quite where I want it, but today was something I can build on, and that’s all I can ask

The 103.1 mph club head speed average is reflected in my efforts to work on path and plane. And really, if I can average 250 yds carry, then I will have very little to complain about. 
Now that I have some swings I like with the head/shaft combination, I am finding I really like how stable the head feels through impact. If I can continue to iron out the wrinkles in my driver swing, this head/shaft combo has the potential to be special. Things are looking up

Much better practice session. 

[William P]

12 minutes ago, GolfSpy_BEN said:

Jumped right back on the testing horse this afternoon with another trip to the range. 

Today was much improved. Armed with a new thought and a feel, the results shape wise were much improved. And the dispersion was pretty decent

Distance still isn’t quite where I want it, but today was something I can build on, and that’s all I can ask

The 103.1 mph club head speed average is reflected in my efforts to work on path and plane. And really, if I can average 250 yds carry, then I will have very little to complain about. 
Now that I have some swings I like with the head/shaft combination, I am finding I really like how stable the head feels through impact. If I can continue to iron out the wrinkles in my driver swing, this head/shaft combo has the potential to be special. Things are looking up

Which LM are you using for the data?

[chisag]

... I have been on MGS since 2010 and I don't believe I have ever promoted a driver for being LONGER. I have posted I gained a few yards but even that is rare. For me at least, the Qi10 continues to produce longer drives than I have ever hit on my home course. I had two yesterday that were mind boggling when I saw where they ended up. One was about 15 yds longer than I had ever hit on this hole in probably 500 rounds. 386 yd par 4 and I had 45yds to a middle pin.  So a 340yd drive at age 72. My guess is carry distance was not more than 250yds so that is 90yds of roll because instead of hitting the flat, I carried the ball onto the downslope, something I had not done before the Qi10. Ymmv but I would scream from the mountain top "At Least Demo One!" 

 

[GolfSpy_BEN]

29 minutes ago, William P said:

Which LM are you using for the data?

Rapsodo MLM2Pro

[William P]

42 minutes ago, GolfSpy_BEN said:

Rapsodo MLM2Pro

Thanks, thought it looked familiar but definitely more info that my MLM provides.

[IndyBonzo]

In my round Friday, I played the Qi10 standard driver on “counting” shots exclusively.  I played the Otto-Phlex shaft on the front 9, and the stiff shaft on the back nine.

All Drives were straight, forgiving, and inbounds.  Missed fairways were not missed by much.

The OP shaft gave me more distance.

That said, distance was not what I would expect.  Good swings were at least 10 yards short of what I would customarily see.  Less good swings were even shorter.   In terms of feel, I do not feel the ball compress like I do with the 2023 Paradym TD.  I am used to a low spin driver, and I and my (better golfer) buddy were disappointed with the apparent spin which was causing my drives to drop short of expectations even at lower loft/spin settings on the sleeve.

I did not hit the Paradym on the course bc I wanted to give the Qi10 all the opportunities.  On two holes late in the day, after hitting the Qi10, I hit my buddy’s 2023 G430.  Both shots were similar swings with the same direction, and both were 15 yards longer than the Qi10 but in the same landing area.  The G430 Shots did not drop out of the air like the Qi10 shots did.

Distance on all clubs was back to where I expected it to be, given reversion to my “old” swing (thank goodness), except for some spinny driver shots.

I have more testing to do, but my sense is that the spin of the standard Qi10 is too high for me.  That does not make it a bad driver.  In fact, I am already convinced it is a good driver.  But it may not be best for my swing.

Stay tuned.  I am totally open to having my opinion changed.  

[IndyBonzo]

Some more input from my last Qi10 round:

As I have said before, the Qi10 is a very accurate driver.  

Those two shots on back to back holes went precisely where I wanted them to.  I aimed for the rough on #6 because it better facilitates the second shot.

On hole 7, I just needed an accurate fairway finder off the tee.  So I choked up and teed it low, swung easily, and it worked perfectly.

Some spin crept in on holes 13 and 17.  Admittedly 17 was not the greatest swing, but both had spin that cost distance.  That was the bad, but here’s the good:  both benefitted from the forgiveness of the Qi10, and yielded very playable second shots.

And yes, dear reader, you are correct to point out my approach game will require some focus after my driver review is completed!

More to come!

[Josh Parker]

We had a TM demo day yesterday at the course and I got to try out the Qi10 tour 5w and hit a few drivers. .  Once I got used to the twistface look, I was super impressed.  I'm pretty set currently with the driver, but a 5w may be in the bag before long. 

 

[HikingMike]

18 hours ago, chisag said:

... I have been on MGS since 2010 and I don't believe I have ever promoted a driver for being LONGER. I have posted I gained a few yards but even that is rare. For me at least, the Qi10 continues to produce longer drives than I have ever hit on my home course. I had two yesterday that were mind boggling when I saw where they ended up. One was about 15 yds longer than I had ever hit on this hole in probably 500 rounds. 386 yd par 4 and I had 45yds to a middle pin.  So a 340yd drive at age 72. My guess is carry distance was not more than 250yds so that is 90yds of roll because instead of hitting the flat, I carried the ball onto the downslope, something I had not done before the Qi10. Ymmv but I would scream from the mountain top "At Least Demo One!" 

From your posts, it sounds like you have found your Excalibur, pulled it out of the stone/lake with your name already engraved on it. It is really working for you! The golf equipment match find of a lifetime

[GolfSpy_APH]

A big criticism of stealth was the face and some wear (not talking about breaking) - anything with this or are they looking like new still?

[chisag]

1 hour ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

A big criticism of stealth was the face and some wear (not talking about breaking) - anything with this or are they looking like new still?

 

... I didn't play the Stealth, but my Stealth2 HD probably has 250 rounds or more on it and the face still looks new. Only about 15 -20 rounds with my Qi10 and it still looks new as well.