V5 LX Golf Driver

PGA's "Golf Driver of the Year"

Every year at the PGA Merchandise Show in Florida, a new golf driver captures the admiration of professional players, amateur golfers, manufacturing experts, thousands of golf exhibitors, and tens of thousands of golf enthusiasts.  When the V5 family of drivers made its debut, Alpha won its place in this elite group of clubs to be named the "Golf Driver of the Year"

With its all-black head and distinct black satin face, the Alpha V5 LX Driver is stunning.  But the performance impresses beyond its sharp looks.  A super-dense Titanium face insert enables it to reach the maximum coefficient of restitution (COR) allowed by the USGA and maximum smash factor with its highly rigid body.  The extra wide face and wide crown allows for workable shots.  The movable center of gravity further customizes a player's trajectory and ball path.  The strategically placed weighting increases the "smash factor" for explosive ball speeds off the tee.  And the 2-piece construction produces an exceptionally rigid body.

These manufacturing, construction, and design optimizations make the Alpha V5 LX the preferred custom driver of PGA Tour players, Long Drive Champions, and weekend golfers who want more out of their driver.

Why Rigid is Better

Dr. Jim Yeh, founder of Alpha Golf Clubs, designed the V5 LX around one goal – maximize the “smash factor” for explosive ball speed off the face.  Smash factor is the ratio of ball speed to club head speed.  Drivers deform at the face-frame junction during impact.  This deformation causes energy dissipation and thus a loss of ball speed.  

The V5 LX is designed to transfer maximum energy to the ball by virtually eliminating this deformation. 

The V5 LX crown is thicker towards the face than at the rear along three vertical sections.  This variable crown thickness minimizes deformation at impact.  And it increases the rigidity over a uniformly thick crown by 22%, making the body incredibly solid and maximizing smash factor.  

Smash Factor

The "smash factor" of a drive is the ratio of ball speed to club head speed as measured by a launch monitor.  Effectively, it is the amount of energy transfer from your swing to the ball.  Obviously a higher amount of energy transfer leads to greater distance and laser-focused accuracy.

The theoretical upper limit of smash factor is (1 + COR), or 1.83.  Meaning if your club head swing is 100 mph, the ball will explode off the face at 183 mph.  But the energy transfer is limited by the conservation of momentum from head to ball - meaning that if the club head was infinitely more massive than the golf ball, a 1.83 smash factor is achievable.  The smash factor of the collision loosely follows this model:

In the equation above, 'm' is the mass of the golf ball, while 'M' is the mass of the head. 

Of course there are 2nd order effects like the amount of spin imparted on the ball, the varying amount of golf ball compression at high speeds, and other factors that make smash factor deviate from this equation.  But it is a general approximation of what a launch monitor will measure for smash factor.

Basically - the more mass in the driver head, potentially the higher the smash factor.  The main factor in maximizing Smash Factor however is minimizing deformation of the club head.  Other factors (like compression of the ball and the USGA’s COR limit of the face) restrict the smash factor.  However the more solid the driver head is, the more effective it will be at transferring energy to the ball, and thus increasing ball speed.  

Matt Vilade, who drove 473 yards in the ReMax World Long Drive Tournament, officially measured his smash factor at 1.49 while hitting the V5 LX.  This is an unprecedented smash factor rating that has never been broken by conforming golf drivers.  Most commercial drivers attain a smash factor between 1.3 and 1.40.

Coefficient of Restitution

The Coefficient of Restitution (COR) is the measurement of how "bouncy" an object is during impact.  An object with a COR of 1 collides elastically, bouncing perfectly with no energy loss. While an object with a COR of 0 is said to collide inelastically, effectively "sticking" to the object it collides with.  When thinking in these terms, it’s easy to see that a higher COR means a faster ball speed after impact.  The USGA limits COR to 0.83, and the Alpha V5 LX hits this exact limit.

Any more than 0.83, and the club would be ruled non-conforming.  Any less than 0.83, and the golfer is sacrificing ball speed and distance.  The V5 LX hits this precise limit.  

Why Movable Weights?

If a heavy head increases the smash factor, why not make it even heavier?  A heavier club head will certainly increase the ratio of ball speed to head speed.  But a heavier club also slows down the club head velocity.  A smash factor of 1.83 is useless if the club is too heavy to attain a meaningful swing speed.  Thus there is a tradeoff of smash factor and swing speed, and one size does not fit all.

Through rigorous research and development, Alpha designed the optimal club weight range for golfers with average to strong swing speeds.  The V5 LX can range from 192g to 212g to enable the right tradeoff of swing speed to smash factor for each golfer.  Higher swing speeds warrant higher weights.

With the help of a large panel of testers consisting of Long Drivers, PGA Tour players, teaching professionals, club builders, and amateur golfers, Alpha engineered the movable weight system to maximize smash factor for a wide range of swing speeds.

Workability

The Alpha V5 LX empowers golfers to hit a fade or draw with relative ease.  The movable weights shift the horizontal center of gravity to give the club a draw or fade bias.  And the extra wide face amplifies the bias that occurs from the shift in horizontal COG.

There are 2 movable weight ports on the V5 LX - one near the toe and one near the heel. 

Adding more weight towards the toe moves the center of gravity rightwards (away from the hosel).  This causes a fade bias - the ball starts off left at impact and comes back right due to a clockwise spin imparted on the ball from the right-of-center COG.  Adding more weight towards the heel moves the center of gravity leftwards (towards the hosel).  This causes a draw bias - the ball starts off right at impact and comes back left due to the counter-clockwise spin imparted on the ball from the left-of-center COG.

While professional golfers can induce a draw or fade without changing weights, most amateurs can pull off these difficult shots with a weight adjustment.  In either case, the V5 LX is especially conducive to working the ball due to the particularly wide aspect ratio of the face.  A wider face gives the golfer a larger range on the X-axis to place the horizontal center of gravity. 

"I like the workability of this one (Alpha V5 LX Driver).  I can draw the ball pretty easily off the tee.  I like the ball flight to get past doglegs, and even trees" - Steve Thomas, Champions Tour Player

Craftsmanship

Most drivers in the market are made from a 4-piece construction.  The crown, face, sole, and shell are glued together to form the club head.  While perfectly acceptable for mass production, it is not the best way to manufacture for durability and rigidity.

The Long Drive Circuit initially adopted Alpha drivers well before the PGA and Champions Tours.  With swing speeds topping 150mph, long drive professionals needed extremely sturdy club heads that could endure their repeated 150mph impacts and 400+ yard drives.  Alpha pioneered new manufacturing techniques in their high-end drivers to meet this extreme usage. 

Unlike most commercial drivers in the market, the Alpha V5 LX is made from a 2-piece construction.  The outer shell is one whole piece of 15-3-3 Titanium, that is welded onto the forged Active Beta face insert.  Reducing the number of pieces that need to be welded together enhances the body's rigidity, making the Alpha V5 LX one of the most stable and durable club heads that are commercially available.

"I'm confident that I can swing for the fences with my Alpha driver.  I've cracked almost every other driver I've used.  Nothing can survive a beating like the V5 driver." - Dave Mobley, 2004 World ReMax Long Drive Champion

 

The Long Drive Legacy

Alpha drivers have been used to win 6 ReMax World Long Drive Titles since 2000.  That is more long drive wins than Callaway, TaylorMade, Titleist, Ping, and Nike combined.  Every golf club manufacturer claims to make the longest driver in the world.  Only Alpha has the World Long Drive titles to back up that claim.

The meticulous construction, optimized design, and superior titanium made Alpha the secret weapon in the long drive circuit.  This legacy continues in Alpha's latest driver offering.

Smooth as Satin

The face of the V5 LX is coated with Ti-CN, giving it a distinct satin finish.  While very pleasing to the eye, it also serves as an instructional tool.  The impact with the ball leaves an erasable point-of-contact mark to provide immediate feedback on where contact was made.

"I love the all-black head and face.  It gives me a lot of confidence at setup" - Matt Vilade

Included with the V5 LX Driver: Headcover & Starter Weight Kit

A purchase of the V5 LX driver includes Alpha's patented Magnetic Headcover.  This clever design is a unique compliment to your new driver, and is an elegant piece in and of itself.  Also included is the V5 LX Starter Weight kit.  1 set of 6g weights and 1 set of 10g weights along with an allen wrench and handy alpha pouch make customizing your driver's trajectory a snap!

Note: The driver itself comes pre-installed with a set of 2g weight screws.  

Build Your V5 LX Driver and Improve Your Smash Factor Here