Top 5 Easiest to Hit Drivers for High Handicappers
Here is a list of the top 5 easiest to hit drivers for high handicappers:
Also, check out the latest list of the Top 5 Easiest to Hit Drivers for High Handicappers 2020
Additionally, if you’re interested in what makes a driver easy to hit, please continue reading below…
Top 5 Easiest Drivers for Beginners and High Handicappers to Hit
| Driver Description | Driver Details | BGST Rating |
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Callaway Rogue 2018 Triaxial Carbon Crown Reduced Weight High MOI (forgiveness) Adjustable Weighting Boeing Speed Step |
4.8/5.0 |
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Cleveland Golf Launcher Hi-Bore (HB) Driver Throwback Design 460CC Club Head Large Sweet Spot Low Center of Gravity (CG) |
4.6/5.0 |
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TaylorMade M4 Driver Twist Face Technology Adjustable Hosel Adjustable Weighting |
4.5/5.0 |
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Cobra F-Max Black Gold Driver Ultralight Shaft 460CC Club Head Draw Weighted Low Center of Gravity (CG) |
4.3/5.0 |
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Ping G400 SFT Driver Dragonfly Technology Turbulators Adjustable Weighting Enormous Sweet Spot 445CC Clubhead |
4.0/5.0 |
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BEST IN SHOW: Callaway Rogue 2018 – Most Technologically Advanced
This technologically advanced driver from Callaway may be the best driver of 2018 for beginning golfers. It has all the features that make a driver easy to hit. It has a large sweet spot, high Moment of Inertia (MOI), it’s super light. It has a lot of other, really cool sounding technical stuff straight from the Callaway website…”Jailbreak Technology, X Face VFT technology…”, titanium (a very light, very strong material) bars inside the head right behind the face and a lot of other really cool sounding shit (some of which, I admit, I don’t even understand).
What I do understand is that all this fancy technology allows me to hit the ball much farther with the slower swing speed of a high handicapper and straighter when I don’t hit the ball perfectly, but THE BEST PART: this club is actually affordable.
RUNNER-UP: Cleveland Launcher HB Driver – Simplest Set-Up
The coolest thing about this driver is its simplicity. There are no moveable weights, there is no adjustable hosel, there is nothing to set-up. And you know what? I freakin’ LOVE IT!!!!!! Cleveland golf must have thought about what makes a driver easy to hit for beginning golfers and came to the conclusion that NOT HAVING TO SET UP ANYTHING IS EASIER THAN ADJUSTING A LOT OF STUFF…GENIUS!
The best part is this club rocks! They set it up for you and me and almost any beginning golfer and it’s set up perfectly for any golfer short of Tour Pros. Thank you, Cleveland Golf, for saving me time and hassle and using tools. And, oh yeah, check out the recent price!
THIRD PLACE GOES TO: TaylorMade M4 Driver – Best Club Face Design
The new M4 Driver from TaylorMade has a curved face that makes it extremely forgiving. Known as Twist Face Technology, the face of the driver has been curved to counteract the negative effects of off-center and less-than-perfect hits. I wrote a detailed article about what Twist Face Technology is and this concept has really revolutionized the standard golf driver design.
The TaylorMade M4 Driver has a large sweet spot and is a very light club. The only negatives I’ve found is when looking down at the top of the club while in my swing stance I found it difficult to line up the golf ball with the large sweet spot. Not sure why, but maybe because the design on the top of the club is somewhat disorienting. The second negative is that it’s kind of pricey.
FOURTH: Cobra F-Max Black Gold Driver – Best Budget Friendly Driver
The F-Max Back Gold Driver is yet another club that high handicappers will love. It’s similar to the Cleveland HB Launcher is that it requires NO SET-UP WHATSOEVER! It is also a great driver for golfers on a budget. It’s very lightweight and sleek looking with its black and gold colors.
The reasons I didn’t rate this driver any higher is because it didn’t feel like it had quite the solid feel through impact that the clubs ahead of it had. I really like that low center-of-gravity (CG) feel and drivers that feel like they just won’t twist even when swinging with one hand. It seems like others may agree with my assessments of this club…
FIFTH PLACE BUT ONLY BECAUSE: Ping G400 SFT Driver – Most Solid Feel
The G400 driver from Ping may be the ideal golf club for beginning golfers and golfers with higher handicaps because you can literally hit the golf ball with almost any part of this club’s face and the result will still be a shot that is not horrible. And that’s saying something for a club with a slightly smaller head at 445CC.
This club has a titanium composite face for more flex and speed. The G400 is back weighted for a deep CG and a very high MOI that combines to provide amazing forgiveness on almost all off-center hits. This club sports a thinner crown and Dragonfly Technology (according to the manufacturer) for an improved aerodynamic feel throughout the golf swing.
I actually love this club. The sweet spot is generous for a club with a smaller head and when I tested it it seemed like the golf ball jumped off the club face like it was somehow repulsed by the club! The only, only reasons this club was not rated first or second by me was that it requires some adjustment (and I hate using tools) and it is one of the more expensive drivers on the list.
What makes a driver easy to hit?
And what the heck does easy-to-hit mean anyway?
Let’s talk about the meaning of easy-to-hit?
Easy to hit simply means that you don’t always have to make perfect contact with the golf ball and the result will still be acceptable….
I know that’s a pretty vague definition. Let’s talk…
An acceptable result (to me) is when the golf ball still goes somewhat straight and far enough for me (you can each determine what far enough means to you).
So an easy-to-hit driver is a club that allows me to not hit the ball perfectly and still get an acceptable result.
Now back to the original question: So what makes a driver easy to hit?
I classify a driver as being easy to hit (also referred to as forgiving in golf lingo) if it meets the following criteria:
- The golf ball goes relatively straight even if the contact with the club face is not perfect
- The club is light enough to swing all day without becoming fatigued
- The distance is acceptable for beginning golfers (who generally have slower swing speeds)
The factors that make all three qualities above possible are exactly what I look for when evaluating the easiest to hit drivers. So, let’s take each item above and see what aspects of the golf club makes that particular item possible.
Item 1: As a beginning golfer, I do not always make perfect contact between my club face and the ball, but I do not want a relatively small mis-hit to become a giant hook or slice. I still want the ball to go somewhat straight. In order for this to happen, I recommend beginners look for a driver with a large sweet spot. The sweet spot is the target area of the driver’s club face with which you want to contact the golf ball. The larger this area, the more off-center you can hit the ball and still have it go straight.
Item 2: The weight of the club needs to be light enough to swing all day long. Most newer drivers are made out of ultra lightweight material, but what I’m looking for when recommending an easy to hit club to a golfer with a high handicap is a material that is very light and strong, but also a little less expensive than a professional golfer may use. Affordability is another factor that comes into play when evaluating the top drivers for beginners.
Item 3: Amateur golfers generally have slower swing speeds than professionals. With that in mind, I still want to recommend a driver that anyone can get a reasonable amount of distance out of. And the factors that affect distance are shaft flex and Moment of Inertia (MOI). Think of MOI as a resistance to twisting when contacting the golf ball. So the drivers I recommend below are going to have a decent amount of flex (to accommodate slower swing speeds) and a high MOI (or a high level of forgiveness).
Please understand that the reason I go into such detail above is so that you don’t have to just rely on what drivers this website or any other golf website tells you to buy, but so that you understand how to evaluate these clubs yourself to make the most informed buying decision you can.
So there you have it: The Top Five Easiest to Hit Drivers for Beginners and High Handicappers. I realize these are just my opinions and others may agree to disagree (as a matter of fact, please add a comment below whether you agree with my list or even if you have your own suggestions for a good driver for a beginner).
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The driver most forgiving is the Cobra Fly Z ;hands down
Hi Ricky-
I’m glad you chimed in with your pick for the most forgiving driver. I didn’t try out the Fly Z when doing the research for this article, but now that you mentioned it I’ll have to go back to the Pro Shop where my buddy works – I think they have that driver there….thanks for the suggestion!
I purchased the G400 Driver.
It is awesome !!!
It took a few rounds but the results have been amazing.
I now have better control, less slice and way more distance.
Never thought I could be 20 yards to the center of the green, on a 280 yard par 4
My confidence level has increased 10fold for my driving ability.
Not always perfect but damn good improvement !!!
I recommend this for all you who think it can’t happen to you
Hey Chuck…
Great to hear! Just out of curiosity did you get the idea from my review/recommendation or is this a club you heard about elsewhere or already owned? I’m only asking because I LOVE that driver myself and it’s one of the drivers on my Top 5 Easiest to Hit Drivers list here. I would be seriously stoked if it was from my review above, but either way it’s always nice to know that I am recommending golf equipment that is useful to and enjoyed by my readers.
Happy Golfing!
I bought the Callaway Rogue driver based on your recommendation and that is the lightest, easiest hitting driver I have ever used in my life. What a golf club! Thank you for the tip!
I am glad to hear it! No problem at all!
Hi guys,
Where’s the Vertical Groove, easier than ping longer than rogue…
Just sayin
Jonathan,
I didn’t test out the new vertical Groove Driver for this article. At first I thought it was a bit gimmicky, but you are the second person to mention that club as being an easy-to-hit driver and I’m starting to see some more reviews for it online. I’ll have to check it out and maybe include it in a future golf article.
I have and older Cleveland hi bore that I love . But after reading this review I just might pull the trigger on this new model . As a matter of fact I’m going to go test one this weekend .
Hey Joe,
The new Cleveland HB Launcher is an awesome club. If you are anything like me you probably aren’t into making all the adjustments that some of these newer drivers require. I like simple and although there is something to be said for making all these minute tweaks, I’m probably not good enough to really see a difference by making minor adjustments to the Center of Gravity of my favorite driver.
Anyway – please let me know if you go test the new Cleveland HB Launcher this weekend and if you decided to buy one!
I am also a huge fan of the Fly-Z driver, but recently bought a new Callaway Men’s X Series 2018 driver and have to say that I just love it!!! It’s almost impossible to hit a bad shot with it. Any chance of adding it to your list of Easy to Hit drivers?
Hey Steve!
Thanks for the suggestion! I will look into trying out this driver as soon as I can get my hands on one. I’ll try to add it to the list here once I try it out.
Hi, good read. I thought you should also recommend ideal lofts and shaft flexes for beginners and high handicappers that would provide the best distance without effecting accuracy too much. 9.5, 10.5, 14? I assume regular flex is probably best but always like to hear opinions from people who have actually put in the research. I was also curious how many different drivers you tested for this list? Theres soo many these days that all the list like this I see usually all have different clubs that made the list. Calloway’s Big Bertha is usually one that is mentioned on lists of forgiving drivers. Did you test that one? I recently bought a like new condition Ping G400 Max but it has an extra stiff shaft. I was kinda talked into it cause the shaft was worth more then I paid for the whole club. I’m debating selling it and getting a new driver with a regular flex shaft, or just reshafting this one and selling the shaft it has now? I just don’t know if I want to keep the Ping head cause I’m not really getting any further or straighter shots from it then my 10 year old King Cobra driver. Theres soo many options in golf equipment that it gets mind boggling at times. It would be soo cool to just know exactly what the best clubs are to put in my bag. Lotta trial and error lately for me. Sorry to ramble!! Your thoughts? Chers!!
Hi Chris!
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I agree that there are so many choices in new drivers that it’s impossible to test them all. And I’m not up to the ‘professional golf blogger’ level where these companies will send me new gear to try. (Although if you are a golf club manufacturer and are reading this, I would be DELIGHTED to review any drivers for you – just send them my way!) Okay, now that my shameless plug is over…I have a friend who owns a pro shop and he lets me try out new clubs. Occasionally I buy one! But it’s really difficult to keep up with all the new golf drivers – especially when I just do this as a hobby!
Your suggestion about recommending the ideal lofts and shaft flexes for beginners is an excellent idea that I have not researched enough to provide a complete and thorough opinion, which is why I have offered and linked to this article from Golfweek before: https://golftips.golfweek.com/determine-loft-should-driver-1324.html.
Let me know if this is what you were looking for, Chris.
Please stop by and comment again. I always like hearing from my readers!
Do you do a ladies list ??
Hi Jennifer!
I haven’t done a specific article on the easiest to hit drivers for women yet, but I have recently published this article on the best golf clubs for petite ladies. Most of the golf club sets I reviewed for that article also come in standard shaft length sizes too so you may find something you like there.
I do appreciate you stopping by, though, and I will certainly review the best drivers for lady golfers in an upcoming article.
Please stop back and comment again.
Happy Golfing!
Hey Buddy
What’s up? I’m doing well. I have read your review about gx7 x Metal. You are including more information about gx7. Most of the golfer follows your Article. Thanks
Hi Carter!
Thanks for taking the time to comment. The GX7 x Metal looks to be a fantastic club most suitable for the beginner/amateur golfer to improve drive length and accuracy.
I will look into trying out this driver as soon as I can get my hands on one.
Please stop back and comment again.
Happy Golfing!