Since the first pictures of TaylorMade Qi10 drivers leaked, there’s been plenty of speculation about the name.
Is Qi a play on AI?
Is TaylorMade using the Chinese pronunciation of Qi, which gets us to Chi-ten—a driver so good it’s like cheating?
Nope and nope.
Bummer on that 2nd one. It would have been fun.
As it turns out, the name signifies TaylorMade’s Quest for Inertia, 10,000 points worth, along with its stated goal of creating the world’s most forgiving driver.
Along similar lines, with the launch of the Qi10 (I suppose, more specifically, the Qi10 Max), TaylorMade is claiming the mantle of “World’s First 10K Driver.” That’s technically true, I suppose, but only by an hour. (That’s a teaser.)
Your 10K MOI Disclaimer
As many of you are aware, the USGA caps MOI (moment of inertia) at 5,900. The important detail is that the rule applies to a single axis. In most cases, we’re talking about MOI from heel to toe but, allowing for MOI in the top-to-bottom direction as well, it’s possible (and USGA legal) to push total MOI to 10,000 and beyond.
2024 – The Year of Straight
As I’ve noted elsewhere, 2024 is shaping up to be the Year of Straight in the driver category. For TaylorMade, that’s a particularly interesting proposition given the company’s long history of favoring speed above all else.
It’s not that TaylorMade has been anti-MOI but, traditionally, speed and forgiveness are opposing forces. To get more of one, you typically had to give up some of the other.
The trade-offs of higher MOI often include things like a reduction in aerodynamic efficiency, higher spin and lower ball speed resulting from center-of-gravity location or the drop in swing speed that can occur when head weight is increased.
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.”
TaylorMade Qi10 Max Driver
The idea is that instead of delivering a balance of speed and forgiveness, TaylorMade is giving you the speed you’d expect from the company with more forgiveness (or at least higher MOI) than it ever has—and by plenty.
TaylorMade thinks that improvements over SIM2 are significant and meaningful for every golfer. This isn’t some on-paper sort of thing. TaylorMade believes you’re going to notice.
OK, but how?
To overcome the traditional trade-offs of driver design, there were three areas TaylorMade needed to address.
TaylorMade Qi10 Driver – Materials
TaylorMade Qi10 Driver
Our materials story starts or, perhaps, continues with TaylorMade’s carbon face. In many respects, the face itself is unchanged from Stealth 2.
It still has 60 layers worth of carbon fiber. While the explicit branding has been removed from the face, Twist Face persists as well. And, yeah, you’re still getting TaylorMade’s Inverted Cone Technology to help maintain speed across the face.
Fundamentally, the improvements aren’t with the face itself but rather the structures in the surrounding areas that support it.
It’s reasonably well-documented that TaylorMade had some face separation issues with Stealth 2. The new design helps reduce the concentration of stress between the face and surrounding metal.
The more flexible structures work with the face to further improve off-center performance.
Also the face now is blue.
Infinity Crown
The next piece of the materials story is TaylorMade’s new Infinity Crown design. The Qi10 Max features the biggest crown it has ever created. For context, it covers 97 percent of the top of the club whereas the previous design covered just under 80.
There’s no visible ledge where the crown meets the face which makes it look almost as if there’s no separation between the two.
The super-clean lines risk creating an alignment issue. To alleviate that, TaylorMade has added the single white line alignment aid found on its Stealth 2 fairway woods to the drivers.
As it always is, the point is weight savings but it inarguably gives the Qi10 family of drivers a distinct look.
The crown itself is a deep black and, while there is some visible carbon weave pattern, it’s subtle.
New Shape
TaylorMade Qi10 Driver
The second piece is a fundamental redesign of the driver chassis that TaylorMade calls Inertia Shaping.
The Qi10 and the Qi10 Max have a larger footprint. On paper, the Max is 10 percent larger, but the more meaningful piece of the story is that Qi10 Max butts up against the USGA’s dimensional limits.
Mass (re)-allocation
Finally, all of that materials and shape stuff created an opportunity to reallocate mass. And while there are a variety of ways to do that, TaylorMade’s goal was to push mass to extreme locations without making the club look goofy (looking at you, PowerPod II).
Qi10 drivers feature mass pads (internal weights) in the high toe and hosel areas. There’s also a large weight anchored to the back of the club.
If you remember our COBRA RADSPEED story from a few years ago, you’ll recognize this as increasing the radius of gyration.
So what does all of this get you?
In addition to the most forgiving driver TaylorMade has ever made, we’re getting the single biggest year-over-year MOI increase in 40-plus years of TaylorMade drivers.
TaylorMade Qi10 Drivers – 3 Models
As it has for the last few cycles, the TaylorMade Qi10 driver family will feature three models. There’s greater differentiation between models this time around and that should provide golfers with a clearer picture of which model is right for them.
TaylorMade Qi10 Max Driver
In case it wasn’t obvious, the Max is the only one of the three models to break the 10,000 MOI barrier.
It’s not adjustable above and beyond TaylorMade’s loft sleeve but the stock back weight is a massive 32 grams.
As noted, while all Qi10 models are 460cc, the Max butts up against the USGA’s physical size limits. It’s a big driver.
With that come a couple of challenges.
When the center of gravity goes way back, the mass properties change. That can alter the way golfers deliver the club so TaylorMade worked to make sure the Qi10 Max was easy to square up.
There’s also an aerodynamic penalty typically incurred with larger shapes and, while TaylorMade isn’t claiming the Qi10 Max is the most aerodynamically efficient driver on the market, aero is virtually the same as Stealth 2, which should be plenty good enough.
TaylorMade Qi10 Max Driver
While higher CG (and more spin) can often accompany high MOI designs, with the weight savings from the Infinity Crown and elsewhere, TaylorMade was able to lower CG relative to Stealth 2.
The obvious question is, “What does all of this get me?”
TaylorMade says the Qi10 Max produces more carry and total distance than the Stealth 2 HD. Carry is longer than the stock Stealth 2 as well.
The biggest difference is found in dispersion where the Qi10 Max should significantly improve on past designs. TaylorMade has seen significant improvement (up to 30 percent) in distance dispersion—the gap between the shortest and longest balls hit.
TaylorMade Qi10 Max Driver
The TaylorMade Qi10 Max is available in nine, 10.5 and 12 degrees. All lofts are available in both right- and left-handed.
A lightweight HL (High, Light) version of the Qi10 Max is available in 10.5 and 12 degrees through TaylorMade’s custom department.
While any of the Qi10 drivers can be built to spec, a Qi10 Max women’s option is also available in 10.5 and 12 degrees.
FYI, MOI for the lightweight builds will be less than 10,000.
Retail price for the TaylorMade Qi10 Max is $599.
TaylorMade Qi10 Driver
While not quite on the same level as the Max, the Qi10 brings plenty of forgiveness to the table. TaylorMade puts the number at roughly 8,500 combined MOI.
It leaves a little more room in the USGA’s box but it’s still a bit larger than Stealth 2.
Pound for pound, it’s more forgiving and lower spinning than the Stealth 2.
The back weight is positioned a bit more towards the toe which suggests a more neutral bias.
TaylorMade Qi10
The TaylorMade Qi10 driver is available in nine,10.5 and 12 degrees. The 12-degree model is available in right-hand only.
Retail price for the TaylorMade Qi10 Driver is $599.
TaylorMade Qi10 LS Driver
The Qi10 LS is TaylorMade’s lowest-spinning driver. If you want to call it a more workable, better player design, I think TaylorMade would be OK with that.
It’s the direct replacement for Stealth 2 Plus. The name change is more in line with what has become the industry convention and should help golfers better understand what it does.
The most notable feature of the Qi10 LS is a revised weight system that takes design cues from the “weight garage” design found in last season’s Stealth 2 Plus fairway woods.
Unlike TaylorMade’s past sliding weight system, the Qi10 LS implementation features a fixed screw with a weight that slides from end to end. While at a cursory glance adjustability appears limited, it isn’t. The garage design requires less structure which ultimately helps to save weight.
The Stealth 2 Plus was one of the lowest-spinning drivers on the market last year and TaylorMade says the Qi10 LS is lower spinning still.
While you wouldn’t expect an LS model to be among the most forgiving on the market, Qi10 LS is more forgiving than Stealth 2 Plus with a total MOI value of around 7,600.
The retail price for the TaylorMade Qi10 Driver is $629.
TaylorMade Qi10 LS
Which Qi10 Driver Model is Right for You?
These are never easy questions to answer. Golfers should expect the Qi10 Max to fly the straightest and, for some (maybe even many), the straighter flight may be worth sacrificing some distance.
In terms of optimization, I’d suggest starting with the Max and working your way down. If you can get the launch and spin you need from the Max, you’re probably in the right place.
If spin is too high, the standard Qi10 driver should work for most.
TaylorMade Qi10 LS
Of course, for those who really need to cut spin or are looking to take more of the left side out of play, the Qi10 LS will likely be the answer.
The best advice is to work with a competent fitter to sort it out.
TaylorMade Qi10 Drivers Designer Series
For 2024, TaylorMade is replacing its “My” program with what it’s calling the “Designer Series.” Instead of giving golfers the opportunity to fully customize nearly every aspect of the Qi10, the company has decided to offer a variety of colorways designed by its industrial designers.
A semi-custom offering of sorts, the Designer Series will dramatically reduce turnaround times relative to the “My” series and, because it enables TaylorMade to maintain some inventory, the upcharge is only $30 instead of $100.
Shafts and Grips
TaylorMade knows stock shafts have a bad reputation, and while I think it could (and should) do better by golfers, it wants to emphasize that a lot of effort went into dialing in shafts for the Qi10 lineup and feels like it’s in a good place.
The stock shafts for the Qi10 Max are the Fujikura Speeder NX TCS 50 and the Mitsubishi Diamana T+ 60. The Speeder is a new offering from TaylorMade that pairs a soft tip section and softer bend profile with relatively low torque.
TaylorMade believes the design will help golfers square the face and hit the ball straighter.
The women’s stock shaft is a 40-gram Speeder NX.
Stock shafts for the standard Qi10 are the Fujikura Ventus TR Blue (non-VeloCore) and Mitsubishi Diamana T+60. While not as stiff as the VeloCore version, the TaylorMade TR offers lower torque than previous versions.
Stock shaft options for the Qi10 LS driver are the Mitsubishi Tensei AV Limited Blue and Tensei AV Limited Black. Both feature a matte cosmetic.
The stock grip is a 53-gram Golf Pride Z-Grip +2. A 44-gram version is available through custom. The stock women’s grip is the Lamkin ST Soft (40-gram).
Putting it All in Perspective
TaylorMade isn’t the only company talking about maximizing MOI or hitting straighter drives this year. It’s where the market is trending, but TaylorMade is uniquely positioned if for no other reason than it doesn’t have much of a reputation for forgiveness.
There’s little doubt the Qi10 family is going attract golfers seeking the distance TaylorMade is known for. If the message of “more forgiveness” resonates with golfers who may not have considered TaylorMade previously—and the promises of straighter drivers holds up in the fitting bay—the company could be looking at a big year.
The challenge is that competition is stiff and golfers seeking straighter drives and tighter dispersion without sacrificing distance will have more options than ever before.
TaylorMade Qi10 LS Driver
Retail Availability
TaylorMade Qi10 Max, Q10 and Qi10 LS are available for pre-sale at TaylorMade.com and retail locations now. Full availability begins Feb. 2.
For more information, visit TaylorMadeGolf.com.
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