Golfweek Q&A: Why TaylorMade is slowing its driver release schedule

admin — Fri, 29 May 2026 13:46:25 +0000

Learn why TaylorMade believes longer product cycles could benefit golfers, fitters and future innovation.

Last Friday, TaylorMade Golf confirmed that it is moving its metalwood lineup (drivers, fairway woods and hybrids) to a two-year product cycle. That means the Qi4D family introduced in 2026 will remain the company’s flagship metalwood line through 2027, with the next major driver launch expected in 2028.

Golfweek spoke with Brian Bazzel, a vice president at TaylorMade who is in charge of product creation, as well as research and development, about why the company made the decision, what it means for golfers and fitters, and how modern driver production is changing.

Golfweek: TaylorMade, for a long time, has been one of the companies that leads the metalwood category. The cadence has been that every year new drivers come out. What changed internally that made you decide the time is right to now move to a two-year product cycle?

Bazzel: I don’t know if it was so much an internal change as it was sort of studying what was going on in the market. Certainly, there’s things happening inside the building related to the advancements of innovation, and the impact or the complexity of those innovations to deliver more performance. We’re definitely studying and understanding what it takes these days to stay on top of things. And the reality is, it just is more complicated to show significant gains. So, between what consumers are doing externally and what it would take internally to do the things that we think are meaningful, it kind of added up to this decision.

Golfweek: How much did the fact that you’re getting close to the limits on things like moment of inertia (MOI), ball speed and overall performance factor based on the USGA and R&A rules, go into this decision?

Bazzel: We still believe there’s meat on the bone. We do believe there are advancements. And if you think about it, in a perfect state, I know they won’t allow it for it, but if you can get maximum COR [coefficient of restitution, a measure of a club face’s springiness] across the entire face every time for the player and add all the corrective nature to that driver so that even your worst swings would result in something better. I mean, that’s still what we’re going after. And there’s still ways to do that. But the reality is we are pushing up against a lot of the rules. But, I’d also say that the creativity and sort of innovative spirit that we have here still leaves us with a lot of opportunity.

Golfweek: Do you think golfers have become skeptical about year-over-year gains in drivers?

Bazzel: I think humans are naturally skeptical. To some degree, it’s a good quality of people to question things. And I would say in this world, and certainly with our company in the golf space, when we make these advancements, even if they’re small things, we like to ‘story tell’ them. We like to speak loudly about them and be proud of them. And sometimes I think people either don’t see it the same way or are expecting something more. Or (they) think maybe what we’re talking about is not as consequential as it would be to them as it is to us. It is the nature of the business and that’s okay.

Golfweek: How much does price factor into this? Drivers have become significantly more expensive over the last several years.

Bazzel: Well, I think every company is dealing with the same thing. It’s quite challenging to push performance without any cost. I mean, if you want to stay ahead, these products are complicated. The manufacturing, the materials, and so on. And so, I think more than anything, what we’re looking at is the understanding that golfers are forking over real money for these products, a meaningful amount of money. And we want to ensure that they’re getting every bit, if not more, than they even expected out of that product. And I don’t think it’s going away. I don’t think an extended life cycle gives us huge opportunities to be more efficient or more cost-effective. But planning our business, I think, will become a little bit more stabilized. And if it does turn out to stabilize pricing in the future, that would be great. But I don’t think that’s the spirit of the decision at this point. It’s just, again, I would say if there’s any connection, it’s the value of what people are spending versus what they’re getting.

Golfweek: How does a two-year cycle change the way TaylorMade approaches product development internally?

Bazzel: “Well, it’s still a little bit new, but as we look to the future, we’re so used to having these ideas just constantly flowing and then chipping away at those ideas. As you get further out, the funnel gets a little wider. For us, now, I would say it’s changing right now internally and it’s exciting. It’s energizing to the teams because I think we feel like we can dive even deeper on these products than we maybe have been able to in the past.

Golfweek: You’ve mentioned that keeping Qi4D in the market for two years could benefit fitters and consumers. How?

Bazzel: “Yeah, I think, honestly, it’s an exciting time for our fitters to be able to recognize the fact that they’re going to be able to use this tool, this sort of weapon, and that they can ensure that the golfers that for they’re fitting, it’s optimized for them. And it takes time, learning the product. And they don’t just learn TaylorMade products. They have to learn across the whole breadth of our competitors as well. But, understanding the nuances and how it applies to all these unique swings out there, I think this is an area where we’re really interested in and we want to be very supportive to our fitters

We have a fitting council, and they’ve asked for some things like this. And again, I think they’re just as excited as we are to be able to, in this case with Qi4D, kind of continue down the path. And they know they’re going to be able to feel more confident, I think, in what they’re doing on a daily basis. That leads to golfers being more enthused with their product, which is what we’re all trying to do.

Golfweek: Were you surprised by how much attention this decision received in the equipment world when the news broke last week?

Bazzel: I don’t know if I’ve read all the reactions, to be honest. I think we believe we’re doing this for all the right reasons. And honestly, and transparently, we’re constantly looking at the portfolio of our products in Qi4D and beyond. Are we addressing all the golfers out there in the way that’s most beneficial? And if we find opportunities that we’re not currently addressing, we’re going to introduce things that make sense

At the end of the day, I think most golfers have leaned in and said this is the right move. They’re listening, they understand, and can kind of see the bigger picture on this one. So far, even our partners, our retailers, have embraced this idea as we’ve been talking to them over the last couple of months. They’re in the business of selling more products as well, but they think this can lead to, again, a better business in the future.

Golfweek: You mentioned that fitting technology continues to evolve rapidly. How important is that to the future of metalwoods?

Bazzel: I think the fitting tools that are coming at us, the data acquisition, is enabling us to learn more. Even if you did get fit a year ago or two years ago, I think the advancement in fitting, and being able to apply these products in a way that golfers and understanding golfers at a deeper level, is going to lead to even better products in the future. Let’s just say you had an incremental change in a product, but you had a massive improvement in the fitting technologies and understanding the golfer so that you can get an even better fit. That’s part of this as well.

I think that’s changing rapidly in terms of understanding the golfer’s swing, 3D motion, certainly launch monitors and so on and so forth. And then, just the understanding of the golfer’s psyche within that. I mean, there’s so much opportunity that we think beyond just the physical part itself, but the applying of the part to the golfer, this is ripe for innovation.

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Golfweek Q&A: Why TaylorMade is slowing its driver release schedule

Learn why TaylorMade believes longer product cycles could benefit golfers, fitters and future innovation.