AI Smoke TD vs Darkspeed LS

CM12 · May 21

After 11 years of faithful service, I'm upgrading my driver. My 913 D2 saw me through my high school and college days, and it's done well enough by me in the years since. However, I'm not getting the distance I feel I should, and I hit the ball so, so high. When I've had a chance to play on simulators I've seen backspin of anywhere from 4,000-6,000 rpm (yikes). I don't think I can blame the driver for that, but I'm a bit confused on what might be causing it. Initial thought is that I must be hitting down on the ball, but in recent sim sessions I see I'm hitting up on the ball at 4-5 degrees. So maybe the shaft? I've always had a Mitsubishi Diamana S+ Blue 62 in that club. I really don't know, but needless to say, I'm in the market for a low-spin setup.

That brought me to Darkspeed LS, Ai Smoke TD, Qi10 LS, G430 LST, etc. I went for a fitting at my local shop and was fit into extra stiff shafts for the most part (I tend to generate 112-115mph clubhead speed), and the two heads that I seem to hit best are the Darkspeed LS and the AI Smoke TD, both at 9 degrees. The Darkspeed LS was coupled with a UST Lin-Q M40X White 6, and the AI Smoke TD had a Project X Denali Black 70.

Both of these brought my backspin into a consistent 1,800-2,200 rpm range. I saw carry of 290-300 for both, and, for the first time in years, the ball rolled out a good 15-25 yards after landing (I'd gotten so used to seeing a divot in the fairway ahead of where my golf ball came to a stop). Both would be great choices, I'm sure. I think the Darkspeed LS is the best looking driver I've ever seen, but the Callaway looks great as well. The fitter seemed to think I hit the Callaway a little better on the sim.

I'm curious, for those who tested both of these and ultimately chose one or the other, why did you choose what you did? Did one manage misses better? Was one more forgiving off the face? Longer? Straighter?

ClarkWGriswoldIII · May 21

It sounds like the driver performance for you on these two is essentially equivalent. As such, while it is unscientific as hell, go with your tummy feel. Which one do you like best standing over it? Otherwise, if you get the other you'll always wonder of you should have gone with the other during a difficult round.

GolfSpy_BNG · May 21

I have played both and the AI TD was more fade biased for me. The DS LS felt better and the ball seemed to rocket off the face. I ended up moving to the PXG Black Ops for forgiveness but having been hitting the Aretera Alpha One Grey shaft and how consistent that shaft is I’m tempted to go back to the Smoke TD or TSR4 8* heads.

All the heads nowadays are great so finding one that builds confidence and looks good to your eye when performance is equal is huge.

CM12 · May 22

1 hour ago, GolfSpy_BNG said:

I have played both and the AI TD was more fade biased for me. The DS LS felt better and the ball seemed to rocket off the face. I ended up moving to the PXG Black Ops for forgiveness but having been hitting the Aretera Alpha One Grey shaft and how consistent that shaft is I’m tempted to go back to the Smoke TD or TSR4 8* heads.

All the heads nowadays are great so finding one that builds confidence and looks good to your eye when performance is equal is huge.

Interesting - the Black Ops is one I haven't really had a chance to try yet. You have the regular Black Ops, not the Tour-1 version, correct? Do you feel that it's as "low-spin" as the AI TD and DS LS?

Also, did you get more forgiveness as in you didn't lose much distance on mishits? Or did it reduce left/right dispersion?

GolfSpy_BNG · May 22

10 hours ago, CM12 said:

Interesting - the Black Ops is one I haven't really had a chance to try yet. You have the regular Black Ops, not the Tour-1 version, correct? Do you feel that it's as "low-spin" as the AI TD and DS LS?

Also, did you get more forgiveness as in you didn't lose much distance on mishits? Or did it reduce left/right dispersion?

It’s the regular as they didn’t have the tour-1 in stock at the time. It’s not as low spin as the TD or DS but by no means high spin. When I say forgiveness I’m talking miss hits. I was was losing decent distance with the DS LS and TD(more sold this as it was fade bias compared to the Paradym but turns out so was my swing). The added forgiveness of the BO was great but since switching to the Aretera Alpha One Grey shaft I am finding the center of the face way more often. Which has me wanting to go back to a try low spin head.

GolfSpy_KFT · May 22

From the few times I hit the Ai Smoke TD and Darkspeed LS on Trackman at Golf Galaxy, the Ai Smoke TD was the straighter of the two for my swing. I don't swing it as quick as you, but I was getting similar carry and total distance with both. I am currently playing a Darkspeed X and like @GolfSpy_BNG said in regards to the LS, it just feels FAST. The ball explodes off the face and it looks so good at address.

If both performed equally well for you, I would say go with what suits your eye/sounds/feels the best, depending on which of those categories you prioritize. They are both fantastic looking drivers

Glennyboy · May 31

I was testing both and I ultimately went with the ai smoke TD.

You center flush both drivers they both are going to go the same distance +/- 4y either way YMMV. I do feel the DS is a tad faster and thus higher ball speeds. Not sure if it is cause of the aerodynamics or a lighter weight head but its like a tick faster in club speed.

Here is the biggest and prob the most crucial difference is how it does on off center hits. The DS LS is fade bias but I actually thought that my LTDxLS was more fade bias than the DS LS. Not much but a tinge more. Off center hits behaved very similarly. I miss it slightly toe side and predictably the head gears the ball right and spins it back left. Nothing noteworthy heel side as heel misses for me just get neutralized since I have an in to out path.

So the TD is where things are drastically different and still semi irked from it. Those same slight toe misses do not gear at all and send the ball just straight right. I would not even classify as this as fade bias but more right start line bias lol. The feel of it is dramatically different even from previous callaway heads which I used previously. The face feels firm and firm all over the face which is nice but distorts the feel of where in the face you hit it at times. And one thing i missed from the LTDxLS is that balls left an imprint on the face which give me direct feedback of face impact.

Nothing wrong whatsoever with the darkspeed. Its fast low spin more adjustable and looks great at address. So a couple factors that are not performance based why I did go with the ai TD. First is my previous gamer being a LTXxLS and was looking for a change. A great driver too but it has the same materials in a different construction so felt similar. Next is that I have a vip account at callaway and finally I am not keen on the depreciation of cobra drivers. It is pretty drastic.