Detailed data for each and every shot for which we collected data is now viewable in the interactive portion of this review. As usual, testing was done at Tark’s Indoor Golf, a state of the art indoor golf facility located in Saratoga Springs, NY. The 6 golfers for whom we collected detailed performance data were asked to hit a series of shots on our 3Track Equipped simulators from aboutGolf.
Grip: Nike VR Tour Velvet (GolfPride) STR8-FIT In general I’ve found adjustability systems that secure the shaft from the sole of the club (TaylorMade, Cobra, Titleist) are much easier to work with. The grip still plays a role in alignment, which we don’t like, and even though Nike’s battery-powered adjustment wrench is probably the coolest on the market (it beeps when the shaft is secure), it’s extremely easy to mar the ferrule when making adjustments. There’s such a minute difference in shaft position from one setting to the next that it can be very difficult to truly understand exactly where you’re configured. I think 32 different settings are at least 16 too many at least where adjustments at the shaft are concerned. The STR8-Fit system remains unchanged, so the criticism we had for last year’s model is still true.
As with the previous model, the 2011 VR Pro driver features Nike’s STR8-Fit system which allows for 32 different shaft positions. Last season’s Aldila VooDoo shaft has been replaced with a “made for” variant of Project X graphite. Based on the diagrams, it looks like what Nike has tried to do isn’t completely dissimilar to what Cobra has done with the E9 technology essentially creating sweet spots along the diagonal (low on the heal, high on the toe) that golfers actually hit (or mis-hit). The new Variable Compression Channel reportedly increases impact speeds at more spots across the club face.
Upgrades, Changes, and the Status QuoĪpart from what’s different visually (I’ll cover that in the looks section), this year’s VR driver features and upgrade to Nike’s Compression Channel Technology. I don’t carry the VR STR8-Fit anymore, but there are days (even weeks) that I sometimes miss it, so for very obvious reasons I was interested to find out whether the new model could live up to last year’s. The latter more than made up for an of the other qualms I had about it, which is why it spent the majority of last season in my bag. Of course, I also hit it a fairly long way, and found more than my fair share of fairway woods. The whole of the truth is that I was indifferent about the looks, wasn’t in love with the feel, and liked the sound even less. The thing is, I absolutely loved last year’s VR STR8-Fit Tour. Considering the driver market is dominated by TaylorMade, and that Callaway and Titleist can claim the bulk of the remainder, I can understand why you might wonder why a Nike driver would be so high on my list. As a golf equipment junkie it’s reasonably safe to say that I enjoyed testing all of them, but as far as my own personal buzz level is concerned, there wasn’t a single driver on my list that I was more anxious to test than the 2011 Nike VR Pro Driver.
(Written By: GolfSpy T) We’ve already looked at a number of drivers this season. I’m inclined to label Nike the most underrated and under appreciated of the “Big 5” OEM’s (TaylorMade, Callaway, Titleist, Ping, and Nike). All 6 of our testers produced A-Level performance scores. “The numbers say the Nike VR Pro driver is impressively and deceptively long.