Taylormade Burner Driver

This is a really fun driver. FUN?------DRIVER?---Yeah that's exactly what I said-------F-U-N---FUN! This new Burner is the coolest little driver to come out in a long time. No it's certainly not the Weapon of Mass Destruction of my Alpha Driver Review, but it is long, provides great feel, proved to be fairly workable, and I think it could be, for the off the rack club category, Driver of the year. There are many reasons for this statement, and most of them are objectively viable. Let me re-emphasize--before I get started here, I'm talking off the rack, not a custom club fitting. I'm still drooling everytime I think of hitting that Alpha, and have since re-shafted my Orlimar 420 in case I decide to go whacko and get fitted for an Alpha. In the meantime, $299.00 can still buy you a pretty amazing little club.

The bullet shape of the New Burner tells you that this club means business. The geometry is definitely forgiving, but not block-headed. I really like the streamline shape. Even though it's 460cc's the bullet shape really makes her look sporty-sort of like the streamlined "bulgemobiles" of the 1930's. Unlike the 1930's "bulgemobiles", however, this one does not come complete w/power it yourself steering, and fade-o-matic brakes. The club is very workable for it's size, and the featherlite 50 gram shaft will help you actually pick up a few MPH in both your swing, and actual clubhead speed.

The head, as stated, is a good looker. But--she is also well thought out. The face is the now infamous SP700 Beta Ti that most clubmakers are using due to it's high rebound qualities. Taylor Made does not cut this alloy w/any elastomers that I am aware of. It is a real Spank-O-Matic effect--devoid of clinginess--but full of pop. There is an interchangeable though immobile backweight in the rear centre of the club, and that's fine by me. My old Tour Stage had one of those, and it works to your advantage to not have a pre-set bias when trying to learn to work the ball. I found that miniscule face adjustments of 5-8 * open or closed could lead to some serious ball flight differentials both left and right. For a 460cc Monster, the workability factor is pretty good.

The shaft. YESSIRRREEEEE!!!!!! This thing is so light, but don't confuse that w/whippy. I went with the stiff because I'm currently picking up clubhead speed again, and the lighter shaft made that even more obvious. It also allowed me to drop to the 9.5* lofted model. Definitely make sure to be honest w/yourself here. Like I said, the Regular Flex isn't exactly a wet noodle on this thing, and it felt darned good to me until I had warmed up. My 87 MPH Swing loved the Reg Flex 10.5* model. At 93+ I was definitely leaning towards the 9.5* Stiff Flex. The OEM Shaft is very well mated to this head. It is obvious that Taylor Made is taking the shaft component seriously w/the new iterations of REAX and ROMBAX Shafts.

Distance wise this thing really puts out. I like it better than many. There are longer clubs out there, but not in this price range. I also found that this is a club that enjoys doing the work for you. Yes it was designed for the Grip It and Rip It Crowd, but ease up on your grip here.If the scale of your personal grip tension is 1-10---do not grip this club any tighter than 4.5. You're simply wasting muscle energy at this point, and actually robbing yourself of potential distance. Easy does it swings of 87MPH will get you in the 250 yd range, which is well above average for this particular swing speed. The only thing I'd change on this club is the grip. Then again I change everybody's grip. I use the old Golf Pride ribbed Grip to help my club head awareness throughout the swing--but that's a personal issue.