A couple of seasons ago, the USGA introduced a ruling pertaining to equipment standards that deemed it ok for manufacturers to create equipment that would allow a player to change aspects of the equipment before a round.  Initially, the thought behind this equipment was that movable weights would allow players to create different launch angles and some shot shaping for their ball based upon where weight was distributed on the clubhead.

TaylorMade initially introduced the standard bearing driver for movable weights in the R7 line.  

In the past 12 months, though, the concept has been taken to the next level by major manufacturers, TaylorMade and Nike.  In response to that product, TaylorMade then introduced the R9 and R9-460 series drivers.  

The R9 series is a product that maintains the movable weight technology found in the R7 and combines it with interchangeable shaft technology.  What that means for the player is that they can alter the lie angle and open and shut the face by plus or minus 2 degrees with the assistance of a provided wrench.

The new R9-460 more closely resembles the Nike Str8-Fit product.  It features a 460cc clubhead and no movable weight technology.  The Str8-Fit has the same specs in terms of clubhead size and interchangeable shafts and length.

Recently, I was provided with the Str8-Fit by Nike and challenged to test its performance against the R9.  Given that kind of challenge, Nike appeared very confident that their club would outperform the R9.

First, let's compare the specs of the two clubs so as to level the playing field.  

Nike's Str8-Fit product features a 460cc head and a 45.75" UST AxivCore Pro Force 69 Series shaft.  The Str8-Fit head can come as either a more traditional rounded head or the square style head that Nike first boasted in its drivers several model years ago.  Personally, I don't much care for square heads because they are designed to distribute weight for better off-center hits.  This may be a better option for higher handicap players that do not strike the ball with solid consistency.  I also requested a stiff shaft to match my high swing speed, which ranges from around 105 to 110 miles per hour.

The R9 that I hit was not the 460 model.  The original R9 features a clubhead of around 420cc.  The shaft is almost a full inch shorter.  To me, it felt like the R9 had a heavier clubhead than the Str8-Fit and sports a swing weight of D4.

Custom shafts are available for both drivers from several prominent shaft manufacturers.  The shaft issues is a shortcoming of any interchangeable shaft product.  There is a reduced pool of shafts for players to tinker with to fit their games.  That pool is growing, but certainly pales in comparison to the pool of normal shafts.

Before I ever hit the R9, I took the Str8-Fit to the course to get acclimated with it.  Currently, I play a Nicklaus Golf driver which features a clubface that is notably taller than the Str8-Fit and R9.  It took a few strikes of the ball to get used to that change in profile.  Still, the appearance of the Str8-Fit at address is pleasing to my eye.  The black paint with the center marker was similar to my Nicklaus driver.

The grip of the Str8-Fit was not particularly to my liking.  The top half of the grip - closest to my body - was a bit too coarse against my hands.  The bottom part of the grip - where my glove-wearing right hand lies - was pleasant.  Perhaps they should have flipped the two, but that is a personal preference and can always be changed.

Making adjustments to the Str8-Fit was simple.  The wrench that is familiar to anyone that uses an interchangeable shaft driver is stored nicely in a pouch located on the headcover.  The headcover itself is a little fussy, but that's neligible.  Using the wrench is simple because of an LED light and beep that indicates to the user that the wrench adjustment and tightening is complete.

The adjustments that the player can make are easy to do but take some time to understand.  There is a card that comes with the Str8-Fit to explain how to make the settings work.  The settings are indicated by markers on the top of the club grip.  Match the settings on the card to the grip and it's ready to go.

In my round, I was marginal off of the tee because of my mechanics.  But when I did connect correctly, the ball flew at a height with which I am familiar and went right around my standard 300 yards. The sound was a little bit disconcerting at first.  Many modern drivers sound more like a softball bat than a classic titanium driver.  Getting acclimated to it was a quick process, but the sound is stifling at first.

Overall, I enjoyed the round with the Str8-Fit.  It performs just as well as my Nicklaus driver does, but has the added bonus of making quick adjustments to it before my round.  Now, if I only ever got to the course more than seconds before my tee time, I could take full advantage.

After the round with the Str8-Fit, I wanted to do a straight up comparison between the original R9 and the Str8-Fit.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get my hands on the R9-460 because I think that would have been a more fair comparison.  Regardless, the One-Eyed Golfer Vince Spence lives near me and has a stake in a local golf shop that has a launch monitor.  He was kind enough to open up his shop to me and try the two with a launch monitor to measure.

I had never had my swing and impact analyzed on a launch monitor before so it was quite the eye-opening experience.  I learned that I actually do swing right around 105mph, which I never knew.  The instant statistics for launch angle, spin rate, side spin, carry, and total distance are just awesome.

First, I hit the Str8-Fit.  When I made good swings with the Nike, it would go right around 305 yards in total distance.  The ball flight was comparable to what I experienced on the course.

I wanted to get to the R9 to try it out myself.  Aesthetically, it was equally pleasing as the Nike.  No distractions. The clubhead shape is traditional and TaylorMade offers no clunky looking square model.

The profile of the clubface of the R9 is drastically lower than the Str8-Fit.  Given then 40cc difference between the two, that makes sense.  At times, though, it almost felt like I was swinging closer to a 3 wood compared to the Str8-Fit.

The clubhead difference also explains that the Str8-Fit was between 10 and 15 yards longer than the R9 when I hit shots of equal quality with it.  All things equal - spin rate and launch angle - the Str8-Fit was longer.  

If I had an opportunity to hit the more similar R9-460, then I think I would have seen similar results.

Using the wrench on the R9 was pretty easy like with the Str8-Fit.  There are just different clues to tell the user when the club is tightened.  It's more of a clicking sound instead of a light & beep combo.

Overall, if you're looking to get into this market, I'd say that you couldn't really go wrong with either.  On tgw.com, the Str8-Fit is currently selling for $400 - same as the R9.  The R9 460 is $100 cheaper than the Str8-Fit for essentially the same club.  The next gen R9 460 TP is the same price as the Str8-Fit.