TGB Go Clubbing: TaylorMade R7 Draw Driver

Back in July, I reviewed the R7 425 driver, and absolutely loved it (see here). It was the first driver that made me switch from the Titleist family, which I've been married to for the past eight years.

For all of you who hit banana slices off the tee, listen up: TaylorMade has just come out with a less expensive R7 driver called the Draw. (It's built on the same concept as the old R5 draw.) The new driver has 460 cc of titanium, with the weight concentrated in the back heel, in order to encourage a quicker rotation of the clubface to produce a draw. The R7 does not have any movable weight screws like the other R7s. Instead, it's essentially pre-set to hit a draw. Without the adjustable screws, the R7 Draw retails for $299, nearly $100 cheaper than the standard R7.

Before hitting the R7 Draw, I had two reservations. First, I love the 425 cc version of the R7 that I currently play with and I've never been too fond of big heads. Second, my usual ball flight is a draw, so I was worried that I might overcook my drives too much with the new driver.

Well, after two sessions on the range, I must say that I may be a new convert to 460cc. After hitting about 10 to 20 balls with the R7 Draw, I got into a pretty good groove. Even though I don't like large heads, the larger head on the R7 is easy to swing, and it has a lot of forgiveness. I occasionally switched back and forth between the 425 cc and the 460 cc, and, eventually, I did notice the greater forgiveness on the 460 cc version. Once I got used to the 460cc head, I was belting it out more consistently than the 425cc -- although, to be fair, I hadn't been practicing the 425cc driver as much during the session.

As far as hitting a draw, the R7 Draw definitely helps to promote a right-to-left ball flight. I'd say that 90 percent of my drives on the range had right to left action. But you should take that with a small grain of salt. As I said above, a draw is my more natural ball flight, so it may be easier for me to hit. The way the club is weighted, however, made it pretty easy to consistently hit a draw, something I don't always do. Sometimes, I did overcook the ball too far left, but that came from my overswinging. Once I settled in on the range, most of my drives were a controlled draw. Of course, if you like to work the ball both ways, then the R7 Draw may not be the right set-up fo you. I did not test to see if I could purposely fade the ball, although I did hit several drives unintentionally to the right.

So will the R7 Draw Driver cure your slice? I doubt that any club can be expected to be a panacea for a bad swing or a faulty swing path. If I were to swing the club from way out to in, no club would produce a draw for me. But if you do attempt to swing the club around your body and are at least halfway successful, I think the R7 Draw should be easier to rotate through impact. As with all clubs, I would recommend test driving the R7 on the range to see if it suits your eye and swing. Good hitting!