The underground world of illegal clubs

With the possibility of a ball and technology roll back occurring, Break80 wanted to look back at some of the best and most ridiculous illegal clubs

There are certain clubs that enter this list as subtle competitors. Sleepers. With rules regarding the shape of groves, the depth of groves, face texturing, coefficient of restitution (springiness of the face of clubs), length of shaft  and size of club head, there are obvious ways to circumvent the rules.

Driver may be the most obvious. With a maximum legal size of 460cc a much larger driver head like the 1000cc Golfsmith 1K Driver certainly draws attention. It is so large that you can simultaneously hit 3 golf balls across its huge face. Additionally, the driver came with a longer than normal 45 inch shaft. Unfortunately, the club head speed was reduced due to its large size – up to 10 percent in some tests.

At over two times the size of an illegal driver, the Golfsmith 1K CC driver beat its forecasted sales and became a main stain of long drive competitions at charity events

The best way to game an illegal driver is to pick a driver with to high of COR – a face that is too springy. While conforming visually, these drivers will offer additional distance because of their recoil. The hottest driver is The Callaway ERC. With a half carbon body (back in 2004) this driver quickly hit the nonconforming list. Unfortunately, the shaft attachment into the head proper versus having a formed neck, lead to easy rotation of the club head.

Here is a picture of the Hammer driver. It’s illegal. It offers no benefit unless you watch the infomercial at 2AM on Golf Channel, then it can bring joins to your life.

Another sleeper is the Taylormade Rocketballz 3 wood. Many of these ended up out distancing their driver counterparts due to a high COR. There was some variability in the faces with a few being hot and many being conforming.

You should buy this. It is the best parlor trick you can buy in golf. A wedge that can spin the ball back not in feet but in yards. The Spin Doctor. With a replaceable plastic face with grooves that fit more like terra-cotta shingles than it does groves on a traditional wedge, the spin doctor offers unbelievable spin.  To a lesser extent, the TP Taylormade wedge from 2005 offer a replaceable face to keep grooves sharp or favorite of the podcast, Miura offers a wedge with an alloy so soft you can recut the grooves without much effort. (Highly recommended)

The Spin Doctor wedge with replaceable face offered unbeatable spin, even too much spin when faced with a small green with little room to land behind the hole

Putters are difficult. If you are in a non-completive match there are options galore. From belly putters to anchor putters to between the legs and side saddle. The best evidence leads to belly putting. The anchoring directly intro a body indent to offer the ultimate pendulum had some great stats for those mid 2000s putters that adopted the style.