50 Words or Less
The Nike Vapor Fly driver is a fantastic performer straight off the rack, much like the excellent Covert drivers of a couple seasons ago. The bold look is not for the meek.
Introduction
When Tour pros are asked, “What club and ability would you like to steal from another player?” one of the most common answers is, “Rory McIlroy’s driver.” The reason is obvious: he’s one of the most effective drivers on Tour. While Rory is playing the Nike Vapor Fly Pro driver this year, we mortals who want to drive it like him should be looking into the Vapor Fly driver.
Looks
Nike didn’t become the #1 athletic company in the world by being middle-of-the-road, they did it by being bold. The Nike Vapor Fly driver shows that attitude in spades. Just like the red crowns of the Covert drivers, the Vapor Fly’s blue crown is going to be divisive. Personally, I love the blue, I love the texture, and I think the overall look is well-executed. Others are going to walk right past it because “Golf clubs should be black, damnit, and get off my lawn!” I guess young people could dislike the blue, too, but it’s more fun to make sweeping generalizations.
Once you get past the blue, the Vapor Fly driver is fairly traditional. It has a rounded, symmetrical shape, and a face that’s neither very shallow or very deep.
Sound & Feel
As bold as the look of the Nike Vapor Fly driver is, the sound is just as understated. In fact, I paused to make some notes after my initial volley of shots, and I couldn’t think of what to say about the sound. I paid close attention to it on my next few swings and heard an impact that was very moderate in volume, medium in pitch, and changed only slightly when contact was less than perfect. The best description of the sound is a soft “crack.” If you need a driver that screams, “You smashed that!” you should look elsewhere, but if you want the results to do the talking, this is your club.
Though the sound doesn’t offer much feedback, there is excellent responsiveness in the feel.
Performance
Writing the performance section for the Nike Vapor Fly driver has been a challenge for me. It’s easy to convey excitement when a club is at the extreme end of a spectrum – the lowest spinning! the highest launching! The problem is that the Nike Vapor Fly driver isn’t extreme, it’s just really damn good.
The Vapor Fly driver is not the lowest spinning driver, but it’s low enough that you’ll get a strong ball flight and plenty of roll. It’s not the most forgiving, but if you have serious problems hitting the Vapor Fly then you might want to consider badminton. It’s not the most adjustable, but the FlexLoft hosel does give you three face angles and five lofts to choose from. Pair all that with an excellent stock shaft, the Mitsubishi Tensei, and you have one of the better drivers of 2016.
Conclusion
If the Nike Vapor Fly driver is not on your list to demo in 2016, you’re absolutely missing out. This is an all-around great performer that helped me produce some of my best drives of late on both the launch monitor and on the course. If that’s not enough for you, the blue crown is sure to turn heads.
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Nike Vapor Driver LM Data
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
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The real question is “Does it cffls?” Or “How cffls is it?” Was cffls explained and I missed it? I really wanted that hat. Can’t Freakin Figure the Likely Solution
Great review by the way.
Sir Shives,
Thanks. I’ll go post a hint on that M2 FW review.
Best,
Matt
Hi Matt,
I would like to ask you that is it much better than the previous model, the Vapor Speed driver?
Many thanks!
T,
You’d need to define “much better” for me to answer that. With COR and MOI limited, it’s very difficult for any driver to make huge universal improvements. What we do see is that driver A may be a better fit for certain players than last year’s model.
Simple answer: try it. Get fit.
Best,
Matt
Which is the later Vapor Fly model, the blue or the black?
Chuck,
The blue version is the last one they made.
Best,
Matt