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Are we approaching peak equipment performance?

SuperStroke
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BL

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Particularly with driver heads, every year we hear the newest driver is hotter than ever. No doubt, clubs are producing max COR across more and more of the face. And carbon is definitely giving designers more freedom to move weight around. But putting aside improvements in shaft combos, do you think we're nearing peak performance from drivers?
 
Common sense would seem to say so but the manufacturers certainly believe there are gains to had in the future!!!
 
Nope. We've been hearing that they have been maxed out for some time.
 
There is certainly forgiveness left to be milked out of the heads imo. I think peak max distance may be close, just really depends on how low spin can go. Distance sells though, so they will keep figuring it out.
 
Nope. As long as new materials and applications are being developed, we will see equipment that will help SOMEONE more. People focus too much on distance, not enough on playability and what can be done now with all these materials.
 
Nope, definitely more opportunity
 
ddec said:
Nope. We've been hearing that they have been maxed out for some time.
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I agree with ddec. The R&D people are really smart and they are paid to come up with new ideas. I believe they'll keep on doing that.
 
I think Jman put it well. There are advancements out there that might help someone. But I think distance has hit a brick wall as of late. Forgiveness in driver heads is improving though (at least I think they are).

In the end its courses for horses and as soon as you find something that fits you bang on then you will struggle to get new equipment that isn't fitted correctly to beat it.
 
DataDude said:
There is certainly forgiveness left to be milked out of the heads imo. I think peak max distance may be close, just really depends on how low spin can go. Distance sells though, so they will keep figuring it out.
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I think this puts it pretty well. I feel like most good players have been getting at or right near 1.5 smash factor for quite a while now. Maybe spin can come down further, but we're probably near peak distance. Accuracy and forgiveness (i.e. playability) still probably have room for growth.

Which area of equipment (e.g. putters, irons, shafts, etc.) do you guys think has the most room left for growth?
 
RNG said:
Common sense would seem to say so but the manufacturers certainly believe there are gains to had in the future!!!
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Technological improvements offering distance, accuracy or forgiveness benefits are actually quite rare these days, and while the OEM's know that very well, it's certainly not what they want the consumers of golf equipment to think!..

Obviously, a whole lot of 'marketing 'hype' is required to sell new products every year, and whether or not the an OEM's latest 'bells and whistles' actually offer real improvements to clubs is sometimes a 'secondary' consideration. Some kind of new 'visible technology' is now necessary so the OEM's have something to build a marketing (hype) campaign around and differentiate their products from the competition.

Because consumers eventually realize that much of the hype is unjustified, people seem more wiling now to just hit the B.S. button and pass...

BSbutton.jpg
 
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bobcat said:
Technological improvements offering distance, accuracy or forgiveness benefits are actually quite rare these days, and while the OEM's know that very well, it's certainly not what they want the consumers of golf equipment View attachment 37048to think!..

Obviously, a whole lot of 'marketing 'hype' is required to sell new products every year, and whether or not the an OEM's latest 'bells and whistles' actually offer real improvements to clubs is sometimes a 'secondary' consideration. Some kind of new 'visible technology' is now necessary so the OEM's have something to build a marketing (hype) campaign around and differentiate their products from the competition.

Because the hype is often so unjustified, people now seem more wiling to hit the B.S. button...
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Pretty cynical viewpoint there, so you think no advancements are made, ever? Its all just BS?
 
Certainly not all OEM claims are 100% hype, but significant technological improvements, (i.e. those that offer measurable benefits to the average consumer of golf equipment), is indeed becoming increasingly rare!

To say we have only now reached the point of 'diminishing returns' from new golf club technology is actually quite the understatement.
 
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No way! We just had the first driver design through AI! Could be a whole new ballgame...
 
You'd have to ask someone with an advanced degree in aerospace engineering. But like most things in the engineering field, new discoveries lead to new failures which lead to new opportunities which lead to new discoveries. I mean, Roger Cleveland has been in the game for a dog's age and then some, and new technology continues to give him a chance to improve things. I don't think we are because the guys who design golf clubs for a living don't think we are, because every hill they climb lets them see new paths to follow.
 
I don't think so, there is always somewhere else to go. There will be advancements in materials, shapes etc. The improvements may become more and more minute but the march forward will continue.
 
They are discovering new materials to use so I would say no we are not done yet.
 
If not we pretty much maxed out what I can achieve with the enhanced tech. At 61 I’m hitting it as far as I did in my 40’s (too old to remember past that point) I may be proven wrong but I want my contribution to the shot to be more than the clubs ability.
 
Since it may have been missed, what sector of equipment do you think still has the most meat on the bone as far as advancements go?

Personally, I feel like it's shafts, particularly iron shafts. I think it's only a matter of time before we see graphite shafts replacing steel iron shafts for even the most skilled players, just like graphite did with pros' metalwoods in the 90's/early 2000's.
 
Are we approaching peak equipment performance?

4 or 5 years ago people said the same thing. There absolutely have been verifiable improvements for the average consumer since then.


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BL said:
Since it may have been missed, what sector of equipment do you think still has the most meat on the bone as far as advancements go?

Personally, I feel like it's shafts, particularly iron shafts. I think it's only a matter of time before we see graphite shafts replacing steel iron shafts for even the most skilled players, just like graphite did with pros' metalwoods in the 90's/early 2000's.
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for your first question, i do think perfect strikes are somewhat close to being maximized. but the mishits and/or imperfect launch conditions are where the tech can continue to improve and help.

for your second question that i quoted here, i say the golf ball. whenever we see people say, "i'm hitting it farther now than i did 20 years ago" i'm not so sure that's entirely because of the equipment. we know more about how to hit the ball better through science and fitness, but the golf ball itself has come such an incredibly long way (no pun intended). so as the golf ball continues to improve, 1) that could result in increased distance, and 2) club tech may adapt and result in increases as well.
 
tequila4kapp said:
4 or 5 years ago people said the same thing. There absolutely have been verifiable improvements for the average consumer since then.


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I absolutely agree we're still making progress. I've purchased several new clubs, all current model year, including a driver, in the past 18 months. I'm just curious if people think we're reaching maximum levels of performance or if we think everything will just keep on improving indefinitely.
 
The thing with technology is that we as consumers believe that the newest and greatest is always the peak. However, something new as far as materials, or weight placement, or something else comes along and defeats that of old. I'm sure when the first steel head came out, people believed that was the end, so on and so forth.

So, yeah. We still have room for improvement and always will. The resources behind R&D are always advancing and as long as that continues, so will the actual product.
 
Wrong person to ask. I thought that when they went from Persimmons to Metal Woods that was it.
 
I think there will always be some innovation that makes things better. With technology and new materials, it's only a matter of time that the current ceiling is found to be irrelevant and a new ceiling declared.
 
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