Golf is tough. Out of all of the clubs in your bag, though, drivers need to be the hardest to hit. So why not look for the easiest driver to hit? AKA, the most forgiving driver on the market.

Why is the driver such a hard club to hit?

1. Low loft. Besides the putter, the driver has the lowest loft of any of your clubs. When a club doesn’t have much loft, it is very easy difficult to hit it consistently. Just think about it. What is easier to hit straight? A 9 iron or a 4 iron? A 9 iron of course, due to the loft of the club being more forgiving. If you don’t strike a 4 iron perfectly, then it could fly very low and left/right even from a small mistake.
2. Long Shaft. The longer the club shaft, the harder it is to hit it consistently on the center of the club face. The driver is the longest club in your bag, at about 45 inches. 45 inches is the standard height; some are even longer. The standard height used to be 43.5 inches, but companies started adding more length because it increases average distance by a small amount. However, the small increase in distance often results in much more errant tee shots as a result.
3. Natural Tendencies. You tend to swing the hardest with the driver. That makes sense, because you want to outdrive your friends. You have an ego to uphold, and you know it. You want to hit the longest drive ever every time you step onto the tee box. Often times, this can be terrible for your golf scores. When many golfers overswing, they don’t leave enough time to close the club face, so they push or slice the ball.
4. The Fear of Out of Bounds. Most shots on the golf course don’t scare you as much as the driver. You typically aren’t afraid of hitting it out of bounds with clubs other than driver. That fear can often wreck havoc in your golf swing, as you don’t 100% commit to the shot.

Alright, you get it. The driver is a tough club to hit. What can you do about it, though? Well, you can buy a driver that is very easy to hit. You can buy a driver that is the most forgiving one on the market. What does forgiving really mean? Well, it means that even off center hits will still fly high and decently straight. This all depends on your golf swing, of course. But the driver can definitely increase your odds of finding the fairway based on its design and weight placement.

Here’s what you should be looking for:

1. A larger club face & sweet spot. The smaller the club head, the smaller the sweet spot. The larger the club head, the larger the sweet spot (typically). For that reason, you need to get an oversized or at least a standard size driver. A good size to look for is 450cc or more. Many driver models have two different driver sizes, often times a 430cc and a 460cc club head. If you are looking for the most forgiving driver, then always opt for a larger club head.
2. A driver with a low center of gravity (COG). Don’t stress too much about this one, as most drivers have a very low COG these days.
3. A good budget driver. If you end up spending $400 on a driver, you are paying a HUGE premium on more forgiveness. At some point, it is simply not worth it. So, make sure you are getting a good value golf club, as opposed to one that is released this year and very overpriced at the moment. Here are the best drivers on a budget if you are interested. 
4. A good driver brand. Don’t you dare buy an off brand driver. They will break within a couple of years, and won’t perform nearly as well as a top golf brand. Brands are pretty consistent when it comes to their ideal golf audiences. For example, TaylorMade drivers have been the best driver brand for many years now; they focus on releasing lots of new drivers, and so their older equipment is still great. Callaway is not far behind; they have very solid drivers and irons sets, mostly focusing on making clubs that hit the ball the longest distance possible. Titleist hasn’t released many drivers lately with positive results. I would stay away from most of their recent releases. Cobra is an underdog in the driver market, as they have released some incredible value drivers in the past couple of years. They are a great brand when looking for a forgiving, easy to hit driver.

To make this article as helpful, I am going to rank three drivers in terms of your budget. I would urge you to get the best driver that you can for your budget. You’ll get tons of rounds and fun out of all three of these drivers. The cheap one will require the least upfront investment, but it will slightly lack when it comes to feel and consistency. The best overall driver is my best pick with no budget considered. The best value one is somewhere in between the two, as it offers the best value & easy to hit driver for your money.

Note: all of the links and pictures below will take you to the respective drivers on eBay — the best website to buy golf clubs.

Cheap & Easy to Hit Driver: PineMeadow PGX Offset Driver

This driver is cheap, and for good reason. Will it feel great at impact? No. Will it last as long as a premium driver? No.

Most importantly, though, is it easy to hit and super cheap? Yes. The PGX Offset Driver is the cheapest driver that I would ever recommend. It is strange in that it is a driver with offset. The offset, which is typically not found on a driver, will make it slightly easier to make solid contact with the ball. Your hands will be slightly in front of the clubhead at impact, when compared to a normal driver. Offset also helps you square the face at impact, so it will make it easier to slice or push the ball. If you are a notorious slicer, this will be the cheapest driver that you should buy.

When it comes to forgiveness, this driver is great. The sweet spot is huge, so even mishits will end up decent. You’ll obviously notice a small bit of loss of distance on mishits. However, the club head is so large that your off center hits won’t get penalized like they would with a smaller head driver

Most people are not too fond of the look of offset on a driver, so they get a higher end driver without offset. If you are going to be playing golf for the long run, I’d encourage you to get a more expensive driver from a more well known brand.

Best Value & Easiest to Hit: Cobra King LTD

Cobra has released some incredible value drivers in the past 3-4 years. They used to struggle in the golf club industry, but they have since cleared their name without a doubt. Their golf clubs are extremely undervalued in my opinion. Many would agree that Cobra is the most underrated golf brand in all of golf at the moment. That’s good for you though, as their prices are very fair.

Their drivers are typically a little oversized, perfect for mid to high handicappers who just want to hit more solid drives. Their designers and engineers have tinkered with a lot of different center of gravity ideas, like “zero gravity” drivers. It’s just a fancy way to distribute the weight of the club head on the driver.

Their King LTD, King F6, and King F7 drivers are extremely popular and have been getting great reviews. I have hit all three at demo days in the past couple of years, with LTD being my favorite one. I felt like I was stripping it on the range, and would have loved to take it home had I not already had a reliable driver. Plus, the cost was a lot higher then. Now, though, the prices have dropped pretty substantially.

At the moment, the Cobra King LTD is the best value driver that is easy to hit, as far as I can tell. When you click on the picture and are linked to the club, it might not be available any more. It all depends on when you see this article. However, any Cobra King driver is going to be a great value driver, so pick whichever one fits your budget.

Best Overall & Simple to Hit Driver: TaylorMade M4

TaylorMade is the best driver brand in golf, no questions asked. Every driver they have released in the past 5 years has been very easy to hit and extremely long. Their new drivers always make it on the top professional, college, amateur, and junior golf tours, and for good reason. They are reliable. They are long. They are forgiving. And they feel great at impact.

The TaylorMade M4 driver has a 460cc clubhead, which should offer plenty of forgiveness. The low weight distribution will help as well.

You can’t ask for much more in a driver company. I wish the clubs were a little less expensive. If you wait a couple of years, though, you can get this driver for much less. Or you can take a different route and just choose a TaylorMade driver from a few years back, like the M1 or M2 drivers. They are still incredible drivers, and they are much less expensive than the M3 and M4.

The message is clear: if you can afford the best, buy the best. If not, consider checking out my articles for the best value golf drivers and even the best cheap golf drivers if you are on a tight budget. Don’t spend more than you can afford to on golf clubs. It’s just a game, and the difference between clubs is never very large.