I'm Still Thinking About: PXG Lightning Drivers

PXG has never been about being the biggest player in the space, but from the beginning, the company has focused on getting better with every release. And, nothing showcases that more than their current line of Lightning drivers and fairway woods.

The PXG Lightning drivers deliver on three levels: speed, forgiveness, and fit, which is why I'm still thinking about them, and before your next fit, you should consider a second look.

RELATED: PXG Offers Up Next-Gen Stick'em Wedges

PXG Lightning Driver Technology

The Lightning driver series is their latest collection and offers a true upgrade from the previous Black Ops, which, without a doubt, were PXG’s best metal wood series to date (until now).

The newest Lightning drivers offer hugely expanded carbon sections to increase MOI, tune acoustic frequencies, and stiffen the overall body of the driver to deliver more ball speed on center strikes and around the face.

Beyond the expanded fitting options, thanks to a greater selection of segmented models, the biggest and buzziest design and tech upgrade is what PXG is calling Frequency Tuned Face.

What is Frequency Tuned Face?

I am by no means an engineer, but what I do know is that when the smart people in the room talk, it's best to listen.

In the case of Frequency Tuning a face, as per PXG

With the help of vibration-mode analysis, Lightning drivers are designed to produce natural frequency aligning with compression sequence of the ball during impact, producing a more efficient transfer of energy.

Yeah, it went over my head the first time too.

But, to explain it in the easiest way possible, is that engineers have utilized more carbon fiber and strategic geometries to stiffen the body so the face can flex more efficiently within specific areas. The result? You guessed it. More ball speed. Plus a driver that sounds extremely powerful at impact.

For comparisons sake, the new Lightning driver series averages right around 1.5 mph of additional ball speed across all four models.

PXG Lightning Driver Models

To help golfers find a better fit, PXG is doing something it has never done before for a driver release, and that is releasing four separate models at launch. The new models include:

Lightning Tour - The most compact driver in the series, designed to produce the lowest spin and lowest launching shots in the standard configuration.

Lightning Tour Mid - Designed to deliver lower spin performance with added forgiveness and a slightly larger profile. Think of it as a slightly beefed-up tour model, with a more confidence-inspiring look.

Lightning Max 10K + - This max forgiveness model offers higher MOI and launch while still offering a spin profile inline with the lightning mid.

Lighting Max Lite - By removing some of the adjustable weighting, this model has a lighter head weight to help golfers looking for added swing speed and launch.

Lightning Fairway Woods & Hybrids

The Lightning line offers a couple of firsts for PXG, with the biggest (or actually smallest), being a smaller tour-focused fairway wood available in a 3 and 5 wood.

This deeper and more compact fairway wood is perfect for golfer who have wanted a smaller fairway wood from PXG, and prefer the look of a rounded and more compact shape at address.

As for the core Lightning fairways, they continue to offer PXG’s more confidence inspiring shape which features a larger face profile to not only deliver confidence but also more forgiveness and speed on off-center shots. This is made possible because the larger heel and toe profile means the face can flex more in those areas to deliver more ball speed.

The best part is these new Lightning fairway woods are available from 3-wood all the way down to a 27° 11-wood for those that need maximum height and forgiveness.

On a side note, the reason PXG doesn’t offer a “Lite” fairway wood configuration is because thanks to the 3-way adjustable weighting on the sole, the “stock” Lightning fairway woods can be easily configured to a lite option by using lighter adjustable weights.

Now as someone who has had the chance to get fit for these new fairway woods, let me be one of the first to say, do NOT sleep on the Lightning 9-wood.

As for the hybrids, they incorporate all the same technology and 3-way weighting as the core Lightning fairway woods and go all the way from a 2i all the way down to a 34° 8-iron hybrid for those who need maximum launch at the lower end of the bag.

My Two Cents

Long gone are the days of PXG being considered a company that makes great irons and middle-of-the-road woods, because they have fully stepped into the ring of top-performing drivers.

This is not only represented in their fitting options and launch monitor proof, but in their adoption at the highest level, with Aldrich Potgieter leading the PGA Tour in distance and ball speed, plus Marco Penge also sitting at 7th in distance.

RELATED: PXG Signs PGA TOUR Rookie Marco Penge

The only thing golfers should ever really be concerned about is performance, and if you're looking for driver and fairway wood options, the PXG Lightning line can give you everything from spin-lowering to max-forgiveness, and everything in between.

Add in the many loft options available in the fairway woods and hybrids and you have one of the most fitable and customizable lines of metal woods on the market today. Goes to show that PXG is bringing some serious thunder with their Lightning!

This story is part of Skratch's "I'm Still Thinking About" collection looking back on the products quietly redefining golf style and function that we can't get out of our heads.

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