Pardon MOI? Moment of what??

5 years ago, buying a new driver was a far less scientific purchase than it is today.  Marketers hyped up volume...most drivers were between 380-420cc, and all you needed to know was that bigger was better.  I remember when a good friend of mine got an early Nike Sasquatch that was 460cc and I thought it was an absolute monster.  It was huge, and rewarded a far less than perfect swing.  Little did I realize that it was MOI, or moment of intertia, not the size, that was rewarding a poor swing.  Nike just happened to be on the cutting edge of the MOI wars.

So, what is MOI?

Simply put, MOI is a resistance to twisting.  Because I am not an engineer, I will not bore you with the science, just the practical knowledge.  But, Imagine the feeling you have when you hit a ball off the toe of your driver.  If you hit it far enough off the toe, you get a sensation that the head turned out a bit, right?  Thats MOI at work.  Low MOI, but its MOI.  When you hit a ball in the center of the face, it feels stable, solid, and powerful.  MOI is also at work here as well.  A club with higher MOI will resist the urge to twist against the force of hitting the ball more so than a club with low MOI.  Every club in your bag has some sort of MOI rating (even your putter).  However, you probably feel it most in your woods because of the lighter weight of the overall club and a hollow chamber behind the clubface.

How do clubmakers compensate?

Although I am not a huge fan overall of Nike, in my opinion, they lead the MOI charge (or at least effectively marketing it).  Most of their driver line over the past 3-5 years have been leaders in MOI.  Simply put, their drivers are a little more forgiving on mishits than most others.  TaylorMade has also jumped into the game, and part of the movable weight technology that started in the R5 series helps spread even weight across the clubface to help balance MOI and hit straight, long shots regardless of impact area.

What does this mean for me?

I would say that if you’re playing a driver from 2005 or earlier, you’re leaving yards on the box.  Just about every manufacturer is making clubs these days with a much higher MOI rating than they were even 2 years ago.  I’d say if you’re anywhere near the market for a new driver, start looking now.  Personally, I’d start with the Adams I recently reviewed, the 9064LS and then the new Nike VR Red Tour driver with the variable compression channel.  Above all, hit them straight!