It’s pretty clear that having a bigger head on your irons will help with forgiveness and distance. That might not be the case with your driver and in this post, I’m going to be sharing my experience on whether or not a bigger driver head is better.
The only thing I found different in having a bigger driver head was the average distance. The face is bigger and has a larger sweet spot so the distance on mishits was better. I didn’t feel like I had more control over the ball and I didn’t find myself hitting more fairways. The only noticeable distance was the few extra yards on average for me.
I did my testing with three different clubs. The first was a Callaway Big Bertha Warbird which is an older and much smaller driver compared to what’s on the market now. The second was a Ping G400 and the third was the G400 Max. They each had their pros and cons but let’s jump into how they compared.
Distance
The majority of people will tell you that a bigger driver will give you more distance and that was the case in my experience. The smallest driver (Callaway) gave me the least distance while the biggest driver (G400 Max) gave me the most. You can see my favorite drivers at the bottom of the page.
The Callaway was definitely shorter than the newer drivers on the market but it did surprise me a bit with how well it performed overall. The G400 was around 15 yards on average longer for me and the G400 Max was a few yards longer than that.
The reason a bigger driver would be longer is that the profile is deeper and it has a lower center of gravity. The face is probably twice the size as the Warbird and that’s why it was so much longer in the test.
Distance isn’t the only thing I look at in a driver but if you want the most distance possible and you don’t care about anything else then going big will probably be the right solution for you.
Forgiveness
You’d probably think that having a bigger head will give you more distance and more forgiveness but I actually didn’t feel that myself. Distances yes but I didn’t feel like my mishits were any better with the Max driver compared to the Callaway.
If I hit the ball a few centimeters to the left or right of center I still had the same amount of hook and slice (but the distance was more). The G400 and Max were essentially the same for me in terms of forgiveness.
I’m not saying the size of the head doesn’t matter for forgiveness because it might for you but in my experience, I didn’t see enough of a difference to say for sure.
Ease Of Use
I think it’s pretty easy to say that a bigger head will be easier to hit. I’d have to agree with that but in terms of results, I didn’t end up hitting more fairways with the bigger club. It was actually the opposite.
Out of the three drivers, I actually hit more fairways with the Callaway. The distance was nowhere close to the other two but for me, it was a fairway finder. I don’t really know the reason behind it.
With the other two drivers, they were pretty much the same again. The slightly bigger Max driver wasn’t any easier to hit in my opinion and gave me pretty similar results.
I do think that most people will have an easier time hitting a bigger head because it’ll be easier to make solid contact and get a good amount of height on the ball. If you do practice a bit with the smaller head then I’m pretty confident in saying you’ll see very little difference between the clubs.
The Verdict
I know the info was a bit all over the place but in my experience, having a bigger head will only help with distance. I really liked the smaller Callaway driver but the only downside to it was that it was quite a bit shorter than the rest.
I didn’t find the Callaway to be any less forgiving and I didn’t think it was harder to hit (after some practice). I had the same amount of hook/slice on mishits and again, they just didn’t go as far.
The G400 Max was slightly longer than the standard G400 but other than that, they were pretty similar. The Max is quite a bit more money and that’s why I’d recommend sticking with the standard. I didn’t see enough of a difference to say it’s worth getting.
I think it all comes down to what you prefer. Some people like the smaller clubs (like myself) and will get very similar results after practicing for a bit. The Callaway was somewhere around 15 bucks so why not give something like it a try?
If you know you prefer the newer style of driver and are debating between the standard and the Max, the best thing you can do is give them both a try but in my experience, they are too similar and not worth the extra money.
Let me know your thoughts and any questions you have. Like this article? Feel free to give it a share!
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