Your Thoughts on Visible Technology

tpluff

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Recent posts in the driver alignment thread got me thinking about visible technology. It seems like a theme that's emphasized every so often and we continue to see it more and more in the industry. It can be polarizing, especially given the placement and effectiveness of it.

My question is do you care about visible technology in your golf clubs? Does it influence your thoughts on a club, preconceived or not? How does it effect you?
 
Yup. I like transformers.

Seriously though I enjoy it. I know its more fashionable on the internet to want the cleanest of clean designs, but not me. I like bold and fortunately for me, every driver coming in 2019 is pretty bold.
 
I think everyone cares, but whether they like it or not, well, that is another story.

IMO, its a constant in golf, OEM's are always trying to make their tech stand out, The Prez did a GREAT job talking about this on DvD2, when things are totally internal then how do you tell the story as well?

I love it. Its a story and I love stories. But, I also believe its something that is never really recycled because its so constant, even back to the days of persimmon and what woods were being used.
 
It looks cool and it’s flashy sitting on the shelf but I don’t need it. I used to think my driver that had no visible tech to it was inferior to others but the proof is in distance and consistency and I don’t need to see the tech on the outside of the head.
 
I remember my first spider putter and swapping out the weights and thinking, this is super cool, not exactly super visible, but still for me it was the first real visible tech I can remember.
 
I prefer not to see it at address. The sole or back, in the case of irons and wedges, can be busy and not bother me. I'm ok with it on the crown of woods as long as it is the same color as the head (not painted different color).
 
show me the tech, then tell me why i should care about it

for example, Cobra's visible speed channel introduced with fly-z. remove some weight, increase sweet spot, that was the story. it went away with the F7 ("it was moved to the inside"). then back with the f8 and f9, but now with no fanfare or story attached. does it actually do anything? is it now just a method of removing mill marks around the edge?
 
For me, I want a club designer to incorporate the tech that will help my game and explain to me in a logical way through marketing / website / demo events / etc, but then package that technology in a classic looking club. Great examples are Bridgestone J15 DF, Callaway Apex, the W/S Cortex, Callaway's Rogue line, etc.
 
I love seeing the technology. My favorite example is still the Cobra LTD driver. It was such a cool tech story and being able to see it added appeal to the driver in my opinion.

Plus when you took the Space Port out it was a great spot to store gummy worms :alien:
 
I love to talk about technology and, as has been mentioned, the story is less focused when the technology is hidden. Honestly, most visible features do not bother me. It depends on how it is packaged to some degree.
 
Yes....show me the tech please !
Otherwise the natural skeptic in me wants to say....you tell me this cool tech is in there, but if I can't see it, blah blah blah.....
 
My question is do you care about visible technology in your golf clubs? No, I don't mind it, as long as it works it helps tell the story about the clubs/shot etc.

Does it influence your thoughts on a club, preconceived or not? Maybe a little bit, it would depend on the tech, what it does and if I can clearly point to it as the result of something

How does it effect you? Doesn't bother me, and I like it because it helps tells the story
 
Give me a clean design.
 
I prefer not to see it at address. The sole or back, in the case of irons and wedges, can be busy and not bother me. I'm ok with it on the crown of woods as long as it is the same color as the head (not painted different color).

I think I fall pretty much in-line with this. I will say, while the “look” of the C200 irons, with the Power Holes on the top line, may not have been my preference, I gamed the crap out of those and they worked really well. All things being equal, though, I definitely agree with you.
 
Visible tech, I just can’t see it! Haha.
We are in the age of being able to show what you have. The problem seems to be that a lot of it looks the same.
 
Fun topic.. I guess for me the most critical thing is for me to understand what the tech is meant to do first. Putting screws on the face of the driver without a proper explanation does little for me, but milling to ensure tighter QC makes sense.

I think Cobra has one of the more unique designs with the F9, but both the aerodynamics and weight placement stories make sense to me. I like that it's different, but for a performance reason. And unlike the Cortex it looks different but not off-putting.
 
I prefer a clean design, particularly at address.

DT
 
I'm always interested in the tech, and the tech story, when something new comes out. I really enjoy comparing the tech in each release to the prior iteration to see which of 'marketed improvements' make sense to me and might be of help with my particular flaws. Visible tech typically makes those changes more obvious but I also get into the hidden stuff too. It's all good.
 
I love the built-in tech and learning it's intended effect. But I'd pass on it being visible at address.

But it's not a hard pass. Case in point, the Ping G400 Max. I do not like the look of the crown. At all. But all it took was one swing, how solid it felt, and I wanted to keep hitting it.

My focus flipped from appearance to feel and results oriented in a flash.
 
I'm down with it... visible tech gives me the "feeling" that the club manufacturer is trying to improve.
 
I want what I want and I know. I'm fairly inconsistent over the long haul. I used to fight a slice and then. Now, I am a hooker. Few companies make a fade biased. I like my M1 driver because I can move the weights to tweak trajectory and fade/draw independently unlike some other. The drivers that have the single channel in the rear to swing the weight from one side to another doesn't appeal. For me, it's not so much about visibility as it is about capability.
 
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