Forged is Better
www.nikegolf.com
www.ForgedisBetter.com
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Forged is Better!
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FORGED TECHNOLOGY
The team at Nike Golf had the once in a lifetime opportunity to begin our golf club development with an absolutely blank slate. There were no manufacturing limitations or pre-conceived notions and no manufacturing or economic models to constrain the development of the product. Under the leadership of master craftsman Tom Stites, Nike has pushed design, perception and performance to the very edge of USGA standards by infusing classic profiles with contemporary innovations to create a new standard for club design. A standard that says if it doesn’t enhance performance, it doesn’t go on the club. After months of testing an array of materials, new and old, it was clear that forging woods, irons and wedges would offer the highest level of performance hands down.
But you’re probably asking, "If forgings are so much better than other methods, why don’t others use them more?" Forgings are more expensive to design, it requires huge capital investments in manufacturing. In fact, there are only a handful of places in the world that manufacture quality forgings compared to hundreds of casting factories. Forgings use more expensive materials than castings which provide better performance, feel and quality in the finished product. To design, manufacture and market world class forged metal woods and irons requires a base of resources, talent, time and commitment.
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Forging gives our driver's face a uniform grain structure, which helps make it thinner, stronger, lighter and longer.
Forged "linear grain" metals: are like
fine linear grain hardwoods.
Cast materials: have a grain structure
like particle board.
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WHY FORGED DRIVERS?
Just the name of our drivers immediately distinguishes their quality. That’s because "Forged" Titanium is rarely used by other golf manufacturers. Why? The forging process is typically too expensive and time consuming. It requires hard-to-find expert craftsman who can hand tool clubs to exact tolerances. The result is a pure grain pattern that stays the same from hosel to toe, making the head stronger, thinner and lighter than a cast face. This is essential to building a "faster" clubface which creates greater ball speed – a big factor in producing longer drives. The other major contributor to longer drives is launch angle. In fact, testing revealed that balls accelerating off the clubface faster have less spin and do not reach high enough altitudes to go longer distances. That’s why the Nike Forged Titanium Drivers come in high lofts – to further compliment the faster ball speed by producing higher launch angles.
And that’s what our drivers are all about – generating the fastest ball velocity and highest launch angle for the longest drives while also maximizing forgiveness on off-center hits. It’s what every manufacturer wants from its drivers, but until now and Nike, none have made the necessary investment. Because the truth is this combination can only be optimized by forging clubheads so they are big, strong, light, thin and fast. That requires a special, versatile material such as Beta-Titanium – which the industry has generally avoided for cost reasons. Nike’s Forged Titanium drivers use Beta Titanium, or as we say, better titanium. There’s no getting around it, the only way to precisely calibrate all the vital organs of a golf club – lie, loft, bulge and roll, gear effect, face angle, launch angle, ball speed, center of gravity, moment of inertia and spin rates is by investing in Beta Titanium and the exactness of the forged process. David Duval can testify to that -- he switched to our Forged Titanium driver and immediately added more than 22 yards to his driving distance, leading the field at the PGA, NEC Invitational and Tour Championship.
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A Nike Golf driver's coefficient of restitiution is oh-so close to the
USGA limit of .83.
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HEAD CONSTRUCTION:
• Beta Titanium is a very special category of materials. It is the strongest, lightest, toughest alloy category for golf club use. The Beta type of alloys will accept a strengthening heat treatment and allow for very thin faces. These thin faces are tough while allowing for very high C.O.R. (spring-like effect) ball repulsion. Beta Titanium can only be forged, as casting it would destroy
the properties.
• Cast vs. Forged: With casting, hot metal is "poured" into a mold. The grain structure is therefore, random and inconsistent. For forgings, the alloy is rolled (pressed) to produce a linear "grain" structure which helps make it consistently thinner, stronger and lighter.
• Coefficient of restitution – a thin face will "spring" the ball more than a thick rigid face. Only through the use of special Beta Ti faces can this be done effectively without a significant risk failure. The C.O.R. is velocity out/velocity in. Golfball is fired into face at velocity V1. The ball rebounds back at velocity V0. At a constant VI, many places near the "sweet spot" are checked. Only the fastest rebound spot is used. The USGA says the velocity out must not exceed 83% of the velocity in. The C.O.R. must be less than .83 to conform to the USGA Rules of Golf. Nike Golf drivers have a C.O.R. of oh-so-close to .83.
•Faster Ball Speed = Increased Distance
Thin and strong face made from proprietary Nike Beta Titanium together with the higher loft will optimize distance, thereby players are selecting drivers that are 1.0 – 1.5 degrees higher than current drivers.
• 3pt. Sole weighting offers more material density toe, heel, & back promoting a natural inclination to turn over to square at impact.
• Machined to precision tolerances. Head weights are held to rigid 2 grams tolerance vs. industry standard of 3 grams. All angles on the head have less than a .5 degree variance vs. industry standard of 1.0 to 1.5 degree variance.
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Low Grade: 0.400'' tip
High Grade: 0.335'' tip
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SHAFT CONSTRUCTION:
• Quality of fiber/resin materials play a major role in shaft perfomance.
• Higher fiber content = more stiffness/strength & less weight, critical in the tip section performance.
• Superior fiber materials allow for smaller diameters tips.
• Small diameter tips promote better feel and control without
sacrificing durability.
• Bore line of shaft hosel placed near face for increased balance.
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