Supported By: Srixon Golf

Can you change the FLIGHT BIAS of your driver?

Today’s modern drivers are filled with incredible amounts of technology that can actually assist you in fighting a bad ball flight, or helping to promote the ball flight that you wish to achieve. Not too long ago, the only way to adjust this was with tour-only technology and build steps that the average golfer didn’t have access to. Today’s game sees driver heads built with adjustable sleeves, adjustable weights, and so many shaft offerings to choose from that every golfer can get dialed in for their game. We’ve covered how to adjust your driver adapter sleeve or the weights on the bottom of your driver head in other topics, and today with help from our friends at Srixon and their new ZX MKii family of drivers we’re going to talk about how a combination of adjusting your sleeve and the weights of your driver can help you promote a certain ball flight bias.

Comparing Driver Heads

There are several ways you can adjust your driver head to achieve the desired ball flight bias for your game. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking to hit the ball higher, lower, with more of a cut, or with more of a draw, it’s now possible to dial the head in to wherever you want it to go. Thankfully this has been made even easier by most major OEMs by having multiple driver models to choose from to start your base. Let’s take a look at the Srixon ZX MKii family to demonstrate.

  • First the differences between the ZX7 MKii and the ZX5 MKii. The ZX5 MKii is set-up as Srxion’s most forgiving driver head in the lineup. Its 460cc shape is elongated to be larger front to back than it is top to bottom. This helps to draw weight away from the face and encourages a very stable face through impact, while promoting an increased amount of launch as well. Because this weight is also shifted slightly towards the toe side of the driver, it will help to promote a draw.

  • The ZX7 MKii however takes the same 460cc volume and creates a taller shape than that of the ZX5 MKii which pushes any weight of the head forward and closer to the face of the driver. That combined with the replaceable weights being positioned closer to the center of the head helps to lower launch properties compared to the ZX5 MKii. You’ll also notice that the weights, if considered a single position, are shifted more towards the heel side of the driver, which encourages hitting a fade. We’ll talk about what happens when you flip those weights in a moment.

  • The final driver in the lineup is the ZX5 MKii LS. This low-spin version of the ZX5 MKii takes the weight from the back of the driver head and moves it forward closer to behind the face to help move the CG forward and encourage a lower ball flight than that of the ZX5 MKii, as well as lower spin production. Moving this weight forward but not shifting it heel to toe retains some of the draw bias in the head as the standard ZX5 MKii, but not quite as much because the weight being shifted towards the face of the driver creates more resistance in the entire head to turn rather than one side or the other slowing down.

By starting with the correct head for your game, you put yourself in the best position to succeed before making changes to the weights on the sole, or the adjustable sleeve position. In this case, a player looking to fight a slice is likely to find comfort in the ZX5 MKii, a high-speed player looking for stability is going to be comfortable in the ZX5 MKii LS, and a lower handicap player who likes to work the ball off the tee is going to feel at home with the ZX7 MKii in their hands. Now that you have selected the right head shape to begin with, we can talk about making adjustments specific to your game. By starting with the correct head for your game, you put yourself in the best position to succeed before making changes to the weights on the sole, or the adjustable sleeve position. In this case, a player looking to fight a slice is likely to find comfort in the ZX5 MKii, a high-speed player looking for stability is going to be comfortable in the ZX5 MKii LS, and a lower handicap player who likes to work the ball off the tee is going to feel at home with the ZX7 MKii in their hands. Now that you have selected the right head shape to begin with, we can talk about making adjustments specific to your game.

Once you have found the ideal weight setting for your launch and spin conditions, you can start to dial in startline and shape by messing with the adjustable sleeve. We suggest you read our full topic on the adjustable sleeve and then come back to make sure you’ve got a good understanding. As we mentioned in that topic, the adjustable sleeve allows you to change the face angle and the lie angle of the head. This is your best shot at making either ZX5 MKii head work to encourage more of a fade shape off the tee, or to help fight a slice to the most extreme limits by setting the adapter into the highest lofted setting, thus closing down the face.

The ZX7 MKii is where things can get a little bit more experimental. With multiple weights on the bottom of the head, also sometimes laid out as a track weight with other brands, you can move the CG of the head from head to toe. This allows you to slow down one area of the head over the other. If you find yourself turning the club over too much you can move the heavier weight to the toe, and if you find yourself not being able to close the club you can move the heavier weight to the heel. The idea here is to encourage the shape you are searching for. There’s also a fun hidden secret here which we talked about in our topic on adjustable driver weights, which is taking two weights of the same mass and creating a very forgiving sort of “perimeter-weighted” driver head which will raise the overall MOI points, even with something in the shape of that such as a ZX7 MKii which isn’t considered the most forgiving driver in the family. By being able to move the CG of the head before dialing in the face with the adjustable sleeve, something like the ZX7 MKii can be an extremely useful weapon in the bag of a creative player.

Thanks to our friends at Srixon for providing us with the driver heads that you saw used in today’s topic. To purchase your own ZX MKii Series driver, or to learn more about all Srixon Golf products, head over to their website at us.dunlopsports.com/srixon