Most golfers want to get off to an impressive start on their game and taking a driver on any par 4 or 5 is usually what they will do to ensure they get as far down the fairway as possible.

While a driver can be an intimidating and difficult club for golfers of all levels, the right club can help beginners and experienced golfers feel confident when they are teeing off.

Beginning and intermediate golfers should find a driver with a big head, which means a club with a larger-than-average sweet spot. A larger sweet spot means that a perfect shot is not required to hit the ball long and deep into the fairway.

More experienced golfers should consider their playing needs. You may not need as large a club head to get the most out of you drive, but you can't go wrong with a bigger head.

Take a look at the loft on the driver. In the past, the club was almost always flat, with a perpendicular angle to the ground when it was in the address position. Actually, there was a slight loft, under 10 degrees. Today, some drivers have a loft that is a bit more than 10 degrees, and that will help get the ball into the air faster and give the golfer a shade more distance.

The golfer should evaluate their swing. A golfer who has a hard swing should be able to generate plenty of distance with an oversized head. A steel-shafted driver will help that golfer keep the ball straight.

For smaller and less-experienced golfers, choose a graphite shaft. You may have a more difficult time generating distance, and a graphite shaft will be whippier and help you get more distance off the tee. However, a graphite shaft will not provide the same degree of accuracy.

Before buying a driver you should go to a driving range to find out which club best suits your game. Tell the local pro you are about to purchase a driver and that you want to try out the different types and models. While he may not give you brand-new drivers to swing, he will let you hit with used ones to give you more of an idea about what suits your game.

Go with the driver that feels the most comfortable when you swing it. You may like the way the oversized graphite club looks in the rack, but it may feel uncomfortable when you swing it. On the other hand, the steel-shafted club may not look impressive, but it could feel great on impact. Go with the one that feels the best.

Every golfer should look for a club that suits their game. If you are a big hitter who gets plenty of distance but may lose accuracy, a steel-shafted club with a big head suits your game. If you need more distance, look for the whippiness that a graphite club provides.

You should never buy the most expensive driver. You should buy the one that feels the most comfortable.

A couple months back I visited the  TaylorMade Performance Lab for a custom  fitting of the new TaylorMade Men's R11 Driver (2011) It was an awesome experience and if you ever get the opportunity, I highly recommend checking it out. It was determined that the driver I had been hitting, the Cleveland DST Launcher was completely wrong for me. It was too light and too 'whippy.' Which, I suppose I knew.. Isn't it crazy how every time you try a new club, it always starts out AWESOME and then after a while (typically when the return policy expires) your drives devolve to where they were before you picked up the new club? I eventually got this driver back on track with a different shaft.. but I digress.

Thanks to the fellas out at Hotstix (which I'll be writing up soon) I was able to get these different driver configurations on a Trackman so I could provide you with some driver stats.

In the first R11 Driver configuration the FCT was set to standard, the ASP was neutral and for the MWT I had the 10g weight in the heel and the 1g weight in the toe (draw setup). After hitting quite a few shots, I notice little difference in the ball flight compared to my old driver.

For the second R11 Driver configuration, we put in the Aldila R.I.P shaft and set the FCT to +1 (making the driver a 10 degree driver), ASP to neutral and the MWT to 10g in the heel and 1g in the toe. I noticed a huge difference with this setup. I was now hitting a draw with all my shots. I was happy with this setup, since it's completely opposite to the norm, but I wanted to tinker a bit more.

The final R11 Driver configuration in this review consisted of the Aldila R.I.P shaft, FCT set to +.5 (making it a 9.5 degree driver), ASP set to O (open) and MWT was 10g in the heel and 1g in the toe. This configuration had me in driver euphoria. The ball flew straight as an arrow, straight down my target line. I was completely dumbfounded. I really could NOT hit a bad drive and I have witnesses (references upon request ). Shot after shot on the driving range was straight, true and longer than the other two.

After we got the TaylorMade R11 tuned up, I played 18 holes and was very pleased at the performance on the range translated very well to the performance on the course. I hit the ball straight 95% of the time.

The club looks great, I've never had an issue of glare from my drivers but I'm definitely a fan of the white non-glare finish. One thing I don't like and I'm not sure if it's a manufacturer defect or if it's by design, but the TaylorMade logo on the top of the crown isn't centered over the clubface nor is it over the sweet spot. It's about a 1/4 inch closer to the heel of the club. I couldn't find any information explaining why this is, but if I come up with something, I'll pass it along. Typically this would be a good aiming tool, but since it's closer to the heel you'll find that your shots travel further to the right or left (depending on your hand dexterity) than you intended.

I have to say, my favorite new technology with the R11 is the Adjustable Sole Plate (ASP). I've had a few different adjustable drivers in my time and it is always a pain if you want to make some adjustments because it requires unscrewing the club head from the shaft and finding the correct setting you want to try out. If the shaft isn't marked clearly you can spend quite a bit of time fiddling with it to get what you want. With the ASP, you can keep the loft of club the same and it's much simpler to unscrew the bottom plate to close or open the club face. There's only three setting that are clearly marked and easy to adjust.

As you can see from the stats I posted above in this review, with the proper fitting, I was able to reduce my spin rate over 1100 rpm and the result was a much straighter ball flight that resulted in 13 more yards in distance. This is certain to shave off quite a few strokes off my game. So, if you are interested in this club, and I think you should be, I strongly encourage you to get a driver fitting somewhere. It may cost you a little more upfront, but in the long run, you'll certainly be more satisfied with your purchase.

Properly fitted, this is the best driver I have used and you owe it to yourself to give it shot.