Review: Adams Speedline 9088UL Driver
Ultra (Easy) Length off the tee
Adams has been pushing the limits of the speedy lightweight drivers now for the past couple years. It started a few years ago with the original Speedline driver. Since then Adams has refined the design; with the newest version being the 9088 UL driver. The UL stands for Ultra-Light. It is light and long. It plays at 46”, swingweight of D0 and total weight under 300grams.
The first thing that you can't miss with this driver is its stunning good looks. The all black head paired with the Matrix Radix 4.1 blue shaft is just beautiful. Of all the combos out there right now, this has to be just about the best looking stock driver on the market.
The driver is very Adams. By that I mean the head is similar to at least the last 6 drivers they have made. It has a tall face, with plenty of bulge and roll and no alignment aid. The body of this driver is similar to some of the “Speedline” soles and has the “Fast” markings on the back of the crown.
On the course is where this driver sells itself. I just kept saying to myself how easy it was to line up, and hit long high bombs. It is Ultra easy to swing and the results are awesome. It does launch high, but has amazingly strong carry. What was nice was that even though it launches high, it doesn't balloon. I’ve had some drivers that seemed like you had to work a little to make them go, I’m not exactly sure how to describe it, but this driver was just easy to hit long straight drives.
The sound is very Adams. They offer a great sounding and solid feeling driver. It is metallic, but muted. The feel has always been very hot with their drivers. They work hard on managing the spin rate too with their heads and this one is no different. It is that ideal combo many are looking for, higher launch with lower spin. While I haven’t hit all of Adams recent drivers, I think that this one is not the lowest spin head they've made, but it is down there.
It does hit the ball fairly high, so don’t go up in loft, if anything go down in loft. The shaft is a proprietary version of the Radix shaft. The 4.1 is made for Adams of the Radix profile. It is light, but feels really good. It was fairly accurate too. Spin was middle of the road. But overall the shaft head combo fits an easy swing. I think with a different shaft the head would be killer for even the most aggressive of hitters.
As just a little side note, Adams makes one of the nicer stock headcovers too with the thumb slot for easy removal and the long sock offers great shaft protection.
The only issue I have might be the confusion created by Adams going from the 9000 series drivers being the normal more hitter’s drivers while the Fast series was their light weight swinger’s drivers. From a couple of spy picks I saw of the next Fast series driver, it seems like they crossed lines. It is hard enough keeping track of all the new drivers, so hopefully people can see the benefits of each line/new version when it comes out, even if they cross naming paths.
Are you tired of fighting your driver? Do you just want something easy to swing that will offer excellent results, then check out the Speedline 9088 UL; it is Ultra-Light, Ultra Long and Ultra-Easy.
For more information: www.adamsgolf.com
Quick Hits
+Easy Long
+Lightweight
+Forgiving
+Incredible looking
-Not ideal for strong hitters in stock set-up, no X flex.
Adams has been pushing the limits of the speedy lightweight drivers now for the past couple years. It started a few years ago with the original Speedline driver. Since then Adams has refined the design; with the newest version being the 9088 UL driver. The UL stands for Ultra-Light. It is light and long. It plays at 46”, swingweight of D0 and total weight under 300grams.
The first thing that you can't miss with this driver is its stunning good looks. The all black head paired with the Matrix Radix 4.1 blue shaft is just beautiful. Of all the combos out there right now, this has to be just about the best looking stock driver on the market.
The driver is very Adams. By that I mean the head is similar to at least the last 6 drivers they have made. It has a tall face, with plenty of bulge and roll and no alignment aid. The body of this driver is similar to some of the “Speedline” soles and has the “Fast” markings on the back of the crown.
On the course is where this driver sells itself. I just kept saying to myself how easy it was to line up, and hit long high bombs. It is Ultra easy to swing and the results are awesome. It does launch high, but has amazingly strong carry. What was nice was that even though it launches high, it doesn't balloon. I’ve had some drivers that seemed like you had to work a little to make them go, I’m not exactly sure how to describe it, but this driver was just easy to hit long straight drives.
The sound is very Adams. They offer a great sounding and solid feeling driver. It is metallic, but muted. The feel has always been very hot with their drivers. They work hard on managing the spin rate too with their heads and this one is no different. It is that ideal combo many are looking for, higher launch with lower spin. While I haven’t hit all of Adams recent drivers, I think that this one is not the lowest spin head they've made, but it is down there.
It does hit the ball fairly high, so don’t go up in loft, if anything go down in loft. The shaft is a proprietary version of the Radix shaft. The 4.1 is made for Adams of the Radix profile. It is light, but feels really good. It was fairly accurate too. Spin was middle of the road. But overall the shaft head combo fits an easy swing. I think with a different shaft the head would be killer for even the most aggressive of hitters.
As just a little side note, Adams makes one of the nicer stock headcovers too with the thumb slot for easy removal and the long sock offers great shaft protection.
The only issue I have might be the confusion created by Adams going from the 9000 series drivers being the normal more hitter’s drivers while the Fast series was their light weight swinger’s drivers. From a couple of spy picks I saw of the next Fast series driver, it seems like they crossed lines. It is hard enough keeping track of all the new drivers, so hopefully people can see the benefits of each line/new version when it comes out, even if they cross naming paths.
Are you tired of fighting your driver? Do you just want something easy to swing that will offer excellent results, then check out the Speedline 9088 UL; it is Ultra-Light, Ultra Long and Ultra-Easy.
For more information: www.adamsgolf.com
Quick Hits
+Easy Long
+Lightweight
+Forgiving
+Incredible looking
-Not ideal for strong hitters in stock set-up, no X flex.
