Yonex Nanospeed i driver
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Another Japanese company that has been quietly going about its business producing superb kit. Yonex continues to impress with its cutting edge equipment and this is its latest offering in the driver category. We’ve had square, triangular and hexagonal…now it’s the five-sided pentagonal that gets the driver treatment.
Nano technology, for those not be familiar with it, relates to the science contained in the graphite shaft. According to Yonex, 'CupStack Carbon Nanotubes' bind carbon graphite fibres closer together to increase the strength and resilience of the shaft, particularly in the tip where designers claim it helps improve the energy transfer and increase ball speed.
This exact science might be baffling to anyone without a degree in molecular physics, but as long as the clubs perform, who cares, surely? You don’t need to know how a twin turbo engine works to enjoy driving.
The Nanospeed i, which won an award for its innovation at the prestigious Golf Europe Trade Show in Munich, is a pleasure to pull from your bag. It’s light and responsive, and , retaining the motoring theme, it's very quick in a straight line… the ball really explodes off the face. Ball flight is high, though whether this is determined by the rear weighting or the shaft technology is unclear, and in distance terms it's certainly no slouch.
The Nanospeed i hugely competent and easy to get along with and the sound is satisfying, too.
Setting the club down behind the ball, the pentagonal shape is not as radical as you might think. In fact, you won’t really notice the slightly unusual shape unless you’re a player with strongly conventional opinions on what a driver should look like.
In addition to spreading the weight, the pentagon shape, says Yonex, is more aerodynamic, thereby reducing air resistance and maintaining faster impact speeds. Quite how much difference it makes seems negligible, but kudos to the company for exploring every avenue.
Apart from Colin Montgomerie using and endorsing the brand, the Yonex profile in the UK market is not as high as other premium club-makers. Most golfers will know the name but few will have given it a try - tand that's a shame because Yonex is producing some excellent golf equipment. The Nanospeed driver might not be to everyone’s taste in terms of its appearance, but you can’t fault the performance.
