The Qi35, Taylormade's Best Driver Ever?

The Qi35, Taylormade’s Best Driver Ever?

Taylormade just dropped the new Qi35 driver and after hitting this family of clubs, it’s definitely worth considering if you’re looking to upgrade your bag this year! Without further ado, let’s get into the finite details of what makes this lineup so special.

First Looks

While the Qi10 had the shiny black crown with a blue tinted face, the Qi35 comes with a completely new look with a gray mesh on top/bottom along with a predominantly black face. The sound is just as pleasing as the Qi10 (in my opinion) giving golfers a muted, yet crisp sound at impact.

At address, the Qi35 has a slightly wider shape on the backside relative to the Qi10, but still looks good nonetheless! The Qi35 comes with the traditional models including the Qi35, Qi35 Max, Qi35 LS, and has now added the Qi35 Max Lite. 

Qi35

Starting with the mid launch/spin model, this one is best for mid to low handicap golfers that want to generate mid spin and get more forgiveness. I will say all the models generated pretty low spin for myself, but I don’t generate a lot of spin to begin with. This model comes with interchangeable 13g and 3 gram weights. Leaving the 13g weight on the backside leads to slightly higher launch along with better dispersion and forgiveness. When reversing the weights and putting the 13g weight on the front, I noticed about a 1° lower launch angle along with 200RPM’s less spin. 

Qi35 Max/Max Lite

This is best for mid to high handicap golfers as this model has the highest forgiveness (MOI) out of the 4 with an MOI exceeding 10k. Due to the 34g Tungsten backweighting, this model was by far the most consistent for me distance and accuracy wise. I didn’t lose as much ball speed between the Qi35 and Max like I did with the Qi10 and Qi10 Max in the past. 

They’ve also introduced the Max Lite driver this year which is 35g lighter overall while still maintaining optimal forgiveness. This model is perfect for golfers with slower swing speeds who want to launch the ball as far as possible.

With both models, this is a must have if you’re a golfer who struggles with consistent contact on the center of face and finds themselves in trouble off the tee box frequently.

Qi35 LS

Last, but not least, we have the Qi35 LS driver. New this year, they’ve gone away from the sliding front weight that was put in the Qi10. This driver comes with three different weight ports along with the stock weights of (2) 3g, and a 13g weight. This allows golfers to fine tune the exact type of shot shape they’d like while also making the club more forgiving compared to previous versions. I would only recommend this club to low handicap golfers with high swing speeds as the forgiveness found in the other three models vastly exceeds this one. With that being said, this is a great option if you’re a golfer who strikes it consistently near the center of the face and needs to keep the ball lower off the tee for farther distance.

Conclusion

Overall, depending on your swing speed and skill level, Taylormade’s Qi35 family has something for every golfer in mind! If I had my choice, I’d have to go with the Qi35 as that fits my swing speed along with forgiveness level to keep my shots in the fairway more frequently. All the models produced quite low spin for myself, so that’s also an added perk if you struggle with high spinning shots.

If you’re looking to upgrade the bag this year, we HIGHLY recommend signing up for a club fitting through our facility! All our fittings are done outdoors (underneath our toasty heaters in the winter) with a Trackman ball and swing tracking system. With 1000’s of different shaft combinations, it’s easier to navigate those somewhat murky waters with an expert and extremely precise statistical feedback. Relative to a demo day, you also get to compare performance across multiple different brands.

If you’d like to learn more, or sign up, visit the link found below!

Club Fittings | Oak Creek WI | Gastrausgolfcenter