The Hot List
Equipment

Drivers: Wilson FG Tour F5

Golf Digest equipment editors Mike Stachura and E. Michael Johnson discuss the Wilson FG Tour F5, which earned silver medal honors on the 2016 Golf Digest Hot List.

Released on 2/2/2016

Transcript

00:00
(electric guitar music)
00:06
Wilson's had a driver on the hot list
00:08
since we've been doing it for the last 12 years.
00:10
What they do is kinda alternate each year
00:12
between a better player driver
00:14
and a driver that's designed to get the ball
00:16
up in the air for weaker players.
00:17
This is the better player driver,
00:19
it's the Wilson FG Tour F5.
00:21
And why is it a better player driver?
00:23
Because it's focused on lessening spin.
00:26
Reduced spin, if you're an elite player
00:28
who generates a lot of clubhead speed,
00:29
that's gonna be more distance.
00:31
The key to less spin is this little weight port right here.
00:35
Sticking that weight forward is gonna
00:37
lower the center of gravity.
00:38
A low center of gravity means less spin.
00:41
Well, you know, they've been making golf clubs since 1914
00:44
so they've learned a lot over that period of time.
00:47
And one of the things that I think they believe in
00:49
is that aggregating the little things matters.
00:52
And in this case, on this driver,
00:54
the hosel is really noteworthy.
00:56
They've been able to slim it down,
00:57
take some weight out that they've
00:59
been able to use elsewhere,
01:00
and the other cool thing is
01:02
unlike a lot of the other drivers,
01:03
you can adjust this driver without taking the clubhead off.
01:08
That saved weight in that hosel
01:09
allows them to have three different weights
01:12
for this little weight port here.
01:13
You can have three grams, seven grams, 11 grams,
01:16
and that kind of determines how little spin
01:18
you want on your driver,
01:19
but it also helps you match swing weight.
01:22
Those are keys to better players
01:24
who generate a lot of clubhead speed.
01:25
Getting those things dialed in,
01:27
especially low spin is gonna get you more distance.
01:30
Yeah I think a good rule of thumb for
01:31
a lot of people out there to understand is
01:33
if you have a relatively slower swing: launch angle.
01:37
Getting the ball in the air.
01:38
That's gonna maximize your distance.
01:40
If you have a higher swing speed,
01:41
getting the spin right, and in most cases less spin,
01:45
that's gonna help you hit it farther.
01:47
And certainly our players, better players,
01:49
definitely saw long distance with less spin on this driver.
01:53
No doubt about it.
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