It all starts with the right questions.

Ask a group of serious golfers what’s the best new driver, and you’ll get a long list of answers. But ask those same golfers what the best new driver is for them, and the list becomes shorter.

Our list of this year’s best drivers, which we’ve renamed “Gear Trials” for 2014, started a simple question:

“How do we make it easier for golfers to choose the best driver for them?”

As a result, we’ve separated this year’s list of best drivers into three different categories. The golfers who are looking to maximize distance should pay special attention to our “Distance-First” category, while golfers who want the most forgiving drivers on the market will want to take a look at our “Forgiveness-First” category. What about the golfers who want both? We know that there’s plenty of them out there, so we created a “Balanced-Performance” category, which represents drivers that offer the best mix of distance and accuracy.

Click here to see who made our 2014 Gear Trials: Best Fairway Woods list.

Who votes?

Now for the toughest question we had to answer: How do we create such a list?

In the past, we relied on both the feedback of our equipment editors and an elite panel of custom fitters located across North America. For this year’s list, we decided we needed another component: mass player testing of every major manufacturer’s driver performed by fitters at Miles of Golf in Ypsilanti, Mich. Those fitters spent eight days with 33 different testers of various ability levels evaluating a total of 22 different driver heads. Each driver was tested with its stock s-flex shaft and set as close to the stock loft of 9.5 degrees as possible. The data was then normalized by the team at Miles of Golf in order to rank each driver’s launch, spin and smash factor.

After the data was collected, we surveyed our five other top custom fitters located across North America — Carl’s Golfland, Modern Golf, Morton Golf and two other custom fitters who chose to remain anonymous on the top performing driver heads in each category.

The scoring process

Unlike in year’s past, this year’s scores were entirely based on the performance of each driver head, removing the subjective categories of looks, sound and feel from the equation. What was left was the votes of our custom fitters (60 percent of a driver’s score), the results of our mass player test (30 percent of a driver’s score) and the votes of our staff members (10 percent of a driver’s score).

Now that we’ve added up the scores, we present to you the 10 absolute best drivers in golf. We consider each of these drivers to be a winner, which is why they’re listed in alphabetical order (Note: You can click the images of each driver to enlarge the text).

Distance

Listed in alphabetic order



A proper fitting is key to maximizing distance with any driver, but it’s particularly important in this category because of the tendency of these drivers to launch lower and with less spin than other models. Each of these drivers also has a center of gravity that is lower and more forward than their predecessors. That means they’re not forgiving as others, but when these drivers are paired with the proper launch conditions, which usually means “lofting up,” golfers can hit them noticeably farther than higher-spinning drivers.

Tech Talk: Callaway’s Big Bertha Alpha ($500) is the most adjustable driver in company history. Its most intriguing feature is its Gravity Core, a weighted stick that can be inserted into the center of the driver head in two different orientations. Inserting the Gravity Core with its heavy side down will lower spin, while inserting it with its light side down with raise spin. This decouples the Alpha’s spin characteristics from its launch angle, which according to Callaway engineers can lead to breakthrough distance gains for certain golfers.

The Big Bertha Alpha also has two moveable weights of 7 grams and 1 gram that can be switched between the driver’s heel and toe weight ports to create more draw or fade bias. These adjustability features were fueled by the driver’s Forged Composite crown, a lightweight construction that gave engineers more discretionary weight in the head.

Like the company’s Big Bertha driver, it measures 460cc and has the company’s Advanced OptiFit Hosel that gives golfers a 3-degree range of adjustability. That allows the Alpha’s stock lofts of 9 degrees and 10.5 degrees to be adjusted from 8 degrees to 11 degrees and 9.5 to 12.5 degrees, respectively, in 1-degree increments. Each loft can also be paired with a neutral lie setting, as well as a more upright “D” lie setting that creates more draw bias.

Read our review of the Alpha | Buy the Alpha

Tech Talk: The Nike Team redesigned the second-generation Covert Tour, or Covert 2.0 Tour driver, with a larger, more traditional pear-shaped head that not only improves the look of the club, but vastly improves its forgiveness.

The Covert 2.0 Tour ($399) has an impressive stock shaft option, Mitsubishi Rayon’s Kuro Kage Silver TiNi 60, as well as one of the most wide-ranging adjustable hosels on the market. Golfers can set the Covert drivers to lofts of 8.5, 9.5, 10.5, 11.5 and 12.5 independent of the driver’s three face angle settings: left (closed), neutral (square) and right (opened), creating 15 unique settings.

Like the standard, or Performance driver, the Tour model has Nike’s signature high-speed cavity design, a hollowed out section on the rear portion of the driver’s sole that increases the driver’s forgiveness. That technology was updated for 2014 with Nike’s new Fly-Brace technology, which adds stability and increases energy transfer to the ball.

Read our review of the Covert 2.0 Tour | Buy the Covert 2.0 Tour

Tech Talk: A lot of the discussion around the i25 has been about its eye-catching racing stripes located on the crown of the driver. What’s more important from a performance standpoint, however, is Ping’s ability to lower the spin of the i25 while still maintaining a high level of forgiveness.

The i25 is Ping’s lower-launching, lower-spinning counter part to its extremely popular G25 model, using a shorter profile from front to back and 15 grams of tungsten weights on the rear of its sole to lower the driver’s center of gravity. Like the G25, the i25 has Ping’s Trajectory Tuning Technology that allows the stock lofts of 8.5, 9.5 and 10.5 degrees to be adjusted 0.5 degrees higher or lower from their standard lofts.

The i25 comes stock with the company’s new PWR shafts in weights of 55, 65 and 75 grams, each of which has a balance point that has been tweaked to to allow golfers to maintain the club’s stock swing weight of D3 (at 45.25 inches) regardless of what shaft weight or flex they choose.

Read our story on the i25

Tech Talk: TaylorMade’s JetSpeed is the first of the company’s drivers to incorporate a “Speed Pocket,” a polymer-filled slot on the front of the sole that increases ball speed and lowers spin on shots struck below the center of the face. Its center of gravity is also lower and more forward than its predecessor, the company’s RBZ Stage 2 driver, to create the high-launch, low-spin conditions that lead to more distance.

Like the company’s SLDR driver, the JetSpeed has TaylorMade’s 3-degree adjustable hosel that allows golfers to tweak loft up or down 1.5 degrees the driver’s stock lofts of 9.5, 10.5 and 13.5 degrees in 0.5-degree increments. Length-conscious golfers should note that the JetSpeed comes stock with a 46-inch shaft and a swing weight of D5.

Read our review of the JetSpeed | Buy the JetSpeed

Tech Talk: Since TaylorMade released golf’s first adjustable driver, the R7 in 2004, the adjustability features of its drivers became increasingly complex with every launch. The SLDR is a step toward simplicity, however, with a sliding weight track located on the front of the sole that concentrates the driver’s weight low and forward in the head to lower the driver’s spin.

Because of the low, forward CG, the SLDR usually requires golfers to add as much as 2 degrees more loft than they’re used to playing for optimal launch conditions. For that reason, the SLDR is available in lofts of 12 and 14 degrees, as well as the more traditional lofts of 10.5, 9.5 and 8 degrees. While the SLDR has the same 3-degree adjustable hosel as the JetSpeed driver, it’s more adjustable thanks to its sliding weight track, which houses a 20-gram weight that can create as much as 30 yards of left-to-right trajectory bias.

The SLDR’s stock shaft measures 45.5 inches and it has a stock swing weight of D4. Starting May 2, the driver will also be available with a white-painted crown. A 430cc model, the SLDR 430, is also available in lofts of 9.5, 10.5 and 12 degrees for golfers who need even less spin than the SLDR 460 can deliver.

Read our review of the SLDR | Buy the SLDR

Forgiveness

Listed in alphabetic order

Distance is the No. 1 concern of most golfers who decide to go through a driver fitting, but it doesn’t always lead to lower scores. These “Forgiveness-First” drivers are plenty long, but they also have extremely high levels of forgiveness to maintain ball speed on off-center hits. Their increased forgiveness also limits gear effect, or the rotation of the club head on mishits. That helps spin rates remain more consistent on shots that miss the sweet spot, limiting hook and slice spin.

Tech Talk: Callaway has five different drivers on the market for 2014 — the Big Bertha, Big Bertha Alpha, X2 Hot, X2 Hot Pro and FT OptiForce 460. They’re each good options for their target player, but the X2 Hot will likely be the best option for golfers across the board.

The HyperSpeed face of the X2 Hot is 10 percent larger than its predecessor, leading to more consistent ball speeds across the face. It’s also Callaway’s lightest driver, with a 46-inch stock shaft and a head weight of 194 grams. That gives slower swing speed players the potential for more club head speed.

The X2 Hot is available in lofts of 9, 10.5 and 13.5 degrees, and uses Callaway’s Advanced OptiFit hosel that has a 3-degree range of adjustability (1 degree down, 2 degrees up) in 1-degree increments. Each loft can be paired with either a standard lie angle or a more upright “D” setting that adds more draw bias.

Read our review of the X2 Hot | Buy the X2 Hot

Tech Talk: Cobra’s Bio Cell is the company’s most forgiving driver for 2014. It uses Cobra’s Bio Cell and E9 face technologies to push its center of gravity 50 percent lower than the AMP Cell driver for a higher launch, lower spin and more forgiveness.

Like the company’s lower-spinning Bio Cell + driver, the Bio Cell (460cc) uses the company’s MyFly8 adjustable hosel that allows the driver to be adjusted from lofts of 9, 9.5, 10.5, 11.5 and 12 degrees, as well as three upright settings (9.5D, 10.5D and 11.5D) that add more draw bias. Adjusting the loft will do little to change the face angle of the driver thanks to Cobra’s SmartPad, a 1.5 cm strip on the front of the driver’s sole that keeps the face angle relatively square though loft and lie angle adjustments.

The driver comes stock with a 45.75-inch shaft and has a stock swing weight of D3 or D4 depending on flex.

Read our review of the Bio Cell | Buy the Bio Cell

Tech Talk: Like the Covert 2.0 Tour, the Covert 2.0 measures 460cc. But it’s longer from front to back, creating a little higher launch, more spin and more forgiveness than the Covert 2.0 Tour.

The Covert 2.0 ($299) comes stock with Mitsubishi Rayon’s Kuro Kage Black HBP (High-Balance Point) shaft, which allowed engineers to make the driver head a little heavier and still keep a standard swing weight (between D4 and D6) at its stock length of 45.5 inches. The face angle measures about 1-degree open at address, about the same as the Covert 2.0 Tour, but its internal weighting adds a bit more draw bias to help faders straighten out their ball flight.

The Covert 2.0 has Nike’s signature high-speed cavity design, a hollowed out section on the rear portion of the driver’s sole that increases the driver’s forgiveness. That technology was updated for 2014 with Nike’s new Fly-Brace technology, which adds stability and increases energy transfer to the ball. Like the Covert 2.0 Tour, this Covert 2.o has Nike’s FlexLoft adjustable hosel that offers a 5-degree range of adjustability (8.5 to 12.5 degrees in 1-degree increments), as well as three independent face angle settings of left (closed), neutral (square) and right (opened).

Read our review of the Covert 2.0 | Buy the Covert 2.0

Tech Talk: Drivers with low, rearward CG’s help golfers in two ways, according to Ping engineers. They increase perimeter weighting, which adds forgiveness to off-center hits, and work to deliver the club at impact with more dynamic loft, creating the high-launch, low-spin conditions that result in longer drives.

The G25 ($399) has a CG that is not just the lowest and most rearward of any Ping driver, but quite possibly the lowest and most rearward of any driver in golf. It’s available in lofts of 8.5, 9.5, 10.5 and 12 degrees, and comes stock with Ping’s counterbalanced TFC 189D shaft. That allows the G25 to be built to a stock length of 45.75 inches and carry a stock swing weight of D3.

The G25’s face is 2 percent larger than the G20, and has a 10 percent higher heel-to-toe inertia and a 17 percent higher top-to-bottom inertia than its predecessor. Golfers who need lower-spinning drives than the G25 can deliver should look into the company’s i25 driver ($399), which has a lower, slightly more forward CG for a more penetrating trajectory.

Read more about the G25

Tech Talk: Like Ping’s G25, the 913D2 driver was released more than one year ago, but it continues to hold its own in head-to-head tests against 2014 models.

The 913D2 ($399) has a low, neutral center of gravity that allows it to work for a wide variety of golfers. It come in lofts of 7.5, 8.5, 9.5, 10.5 and 12 degrees, and Titleist’s SureFit hosel allows the driver to be tweaked up to 1.5 degrees up or down in loft and lie angle.

It’s available with a whopping six stock shafts: Aldila’s Tour Green 65 and RIP Phenom 70 and Mitsubishi Rayon’s Diamana D+ 72, Diamana S+ 62, Bassara W50 and Bassara W40 that come stock with a 45-inch length and a lie angle of 58.5 degrees.

Read our review of the 913D2

Balanced Performance

Listed in alphabetic order

Want a driver that does everything well? These five drivers offer the best blend of distance and forgiveness with CG positions that are low and neutral to offer the high-launch, low-spin launch conditions that create long drives. While these models might not be quite as low spinning as others, many golfers are willing to forgo the super low-spin launch conditions for a little extra forgiveness.

Tech Talk: Callaway has five different drivers on the market for 2014 — the Big Bertha, Big Bertha Alpha, X2 Hot, X2 Hot Pro and FT OptiForce 460. They’re each good options for their target player, but the X2 Hot will likely be the best option for golfers across the board.

The HyperSpeed face of the X2 Hot is 10 percent larger than its predecessor, leading to more consistent ball speeds across the face. It’s also Callaway’s lightest driver, with a 46-inch stock shaft and a head weight of 194 grams. That gives slower swing speed players the potential for more club head speed.

The X2 Hot is available in lofts of 9, 10.5 and 13.5 degrees, and uses Callaway’s Advanced OptiFit hosel that has a 3-degree range of adjustability (1 degree down, 2 degrees up) in 1-degree increments. Each loft can be paired with either a standard lie angle or a more upright “D” setting that adds more draw bias.

Read our review of the X2 Hot | Buy the X2 Hot

Tech Talk: Cobra’s Bio Cell is the company’s most forgiving driver for 2014. It uses Cobra’s Bio Cell and E9 face technologies to push its center of gravity 50 percent lower than the AMP Cell driver for a higher launch, lower spin and more forgiveness.

Like the company’s lower-spinning Bio Cell + driver, the Bio Cell (460cc) uses the company’s MyFly8 adjustable hosel that allows the driver to be adjusted from lofts of 9, 9.5, 10.5, 11.5 and 12 degrees, as well as three upright settings (9.5D, 10.5D and 11.5D) that add more draw bias. Adjusting the loft will do little to change the face angle of the driver thanks to Cobra’s SmartPad, a 1.5 cm strip on the front of the driver’s sole that keeps the face angle relatively square though loft and lie angle adjustments.

The driver comes stock with a 45.75-inch shaft and has a stock swing weight of D3 or D4 depending on flex.

Read our review of the Bio Cell | Buy the Bio Cell

Tech Talk: Drivers with low, rearward CG’s help golfers in two ways, according to Ping engineers. They increase perimeter weighting, which adds forgiveness to shots off-center hits, and work to deliver the club at impact with more dynamic loft, creating the high-launch, low-spin conditions that result in longer drives.

The G25 ($399) has a CG that is not just the lowest and most rearward of any Ping driver, but quite possibly the lowest and most rearward of any driver in golf. It’s available in lofts of 8.5, 9.5, 10.5 and 12 degrees, and comes stock with Ping’s counterbalanced TFC 189D shaft. That allows the G25 to be built to a stock length of 45.75 inches and carry a stock swing weight of D3.

The G25’s face is 2 percent larger than the G20, and has a 10 percent higher heel-to-toe inertia and a 17 percent higher top-to-bottom inertia than its predecessor. Golfers who need lower-spinning drives than the G25 can deliver should look into the company’s i25 driver ($399), which has a lower, slightly more forward CG for a more penetrating trajectory.

Read more about the G25

Tech Talk: A lot of the discussion around the i25 has been about its eye-catching racing stripes located on the crown of the driver. What’s more important from a performance standpoint, however, is Ping’s ability to lower the spin of the i25 while still maintaining a high level of forgiveness.

The i25 is Ping’s lower-launching, lower-spinning counter part to its extremely popular G25 model, using a shorter profile from front to back and 15 grams of tungsten weights on the rear of its sole to lower the driver’s center of gravity. Like the G25, the i25 has Ping’s Trajectory Tuning Technology that allows the stock lofts of 8.5, 9.5 and 10.5 degrees to be adjusted 0.5 degrees higher or lower from their standard lofts.

The i25 comes stock with the company’s new PWR shafts in weights of 55, 65 and 75 grams, each of which has a balance point that has been tweaked to to allow golfers to maintain the club’s stock swing weight of D3 (at 45.25 inches) regardless of what shaft weight or flex they choose.

Read our story on the i25

Tech Talk: Like Ping’s G25, the 913D2 driver was released more than one year ago, but it continues to hold its own in head-to-head tests against 2014 models.

The 913D2 ($399) has a low, neutral center of gravity that allows it to work for a wide variety of golfers. It come in lofts of 7.5, 8.5, 9.5, 10.5 and 12 degrees, and Titleist’s SureFit hosel allows the drivers to be tweaked up to 1.5 degrees up or down in loft and lie angle.

It’s available with a whopping six stock shafts: Aldila’s Tour Green 65 and RIP Phenom 70 and Mitsubishi Rayon’s Diamana D+ 72, Diamana S+ 62, Bassara W50 and Bassara W40 that come stock with a 45-inch shaft and a lie angle of 58.5 degrees.

Read our review of the 913D2

Click here to see who made our 2014 Gear Trials: Best Fairway Woods list.