The Hypermax Hyway Wood Claims to Be the First Senior-Friendly Fairway Wood. Read Our Review to See if It Actually Delivers.

Every golfer with a moderate-to-slow swing speed knows the aggravation of trying to get consistent performance from a fairway wood.

It almost doesn’t seem to matter how well you hit it. You can never be confident that it’s going to launch high, carry the hazards, and hold the green.

Well, the team at VLS Golf claims that aggravation is over. They’ve released the Hypermax Hyway Wood, a new fairway wood developed specifically for golfers with slow swing speeds. 

And they’re making big promises.

Effortlessless launch. Excellent carry. Pinpoint precision. Soft landings.

All without changing your technique. 

Does it work?

Here’s everything we know:

What Makes the Hypermax Different From Your 3-Wood?

Like everything VLS Golf makes, the Hypermax Hyway Wood was designed specifically for amateur and senior golfers. 

This is not the norm for golf equipment. The big clubmakers engineer their products to get the best performance for professional golfers. In order to reap the benefits of traditional club design, a golfer has to be especially strong, flexible, extensively trained, and have a swing speed of at least 100 miles per hour.

For everyone else, those same features are contact-killers.

So instead of designing for professionals, the makers of the Hypermax focused on developing features that would get the best performance from everyday players, especially those who’ve lost a little swing speed due to age. 

Why Amateur and Senior Golfers Struggle With Traditional Fairway Woods

Traditional fairway woods have a few design features that are especially problematic for amateur golfers.

First, there’s practically no loft on a traditional 3-wood, so you can’t count on the clubface to help your launch. You’ve got to get the ball up in the air yourself, and you need serious swing speed to do it, especially off the turf.

Then there’s the low-profile clubface. This feature actually exists to help with launch—there’s just one catch:

You’ve got absolutely no margin for error. If you don’t hit that stumpy face in exactly the right spot, you’re gonna top it.

And did you know traditional fairway woods are getting longer? You can still find a standard-length 3-wood, but longer shafts are becoming more common. That just means less control. 

These are the issues the team at VLS Golf set out to solve with the Hypermax. 

And what makes them the experts on what amateur and “experienced” golfers need? Let’s discuss.

Who Designed the Hypermax Hyway Wood?

The Hypermax was originally the vision of PGA Teaching Professional Todd Kolb.

Kolb is a five-time Golf Digest Best-in-State Instructor, a major champion coach, and the face of USGolfTV, a YouTube golf instruction channel boasting over 300,000 subscribers.

He’s been coaching for over 30 years and has built a reputation as the “experienced” golfer’s biggest advocate. Kolb has been extremely vocal about the over-emphasis on the professional golfer’s strategies in a game where the majority of players are amateurs over fifty. 

These days, much of his instruction is geared toward everyday experienced golfers, from his popular Vertical Line Swing System to his bestselling books (The Bad Lie and The Easy Break) to his golf schools and coaching program.

As an extension of this effort, he’s worked with former Nike designer Josh Boggs to develop clubs that serve senior golfers. Boggs is a multi-award-winning designer, so it’s no surprise that the VLS Maxvert Drivers, Maxvert Hybrids, G-Track Putter, and Align Grind Wedges have all been huge hits with older golfers.

Now the two have teamed up again to take on the amateur golfer’s biggest beefs with fairway woods. Here’s how it turned out:

The Hypermax AirLaunch Trio—A Major Innovation for Slow Swing Speeds

The most notable innovation of the Hypermax is the AirLaunch Trio, three technologies that work together to promote easy launch, better contact, and longer, straighter shots.

LaunchAssist Loft for Towering Ball Flight

The Hypermax features 18° of loft, which is significantly more than your current 3-wood. This makes it much easier to get the ball in the air without having to stress over your swing speed or tweak your technique.

Vertical Assist Face for an Expanded Strike Zone

Remember that low-profile problem we just talked about?

The Hypermax has a taller, wider face than traditional fairway woods. This gives you more room for error in the vertical while offering more forgiveness for heel and toe misses.

Easy Launch Sole for Clean Contact Off Any Surface

The Hypermax clubhead has a rounded sole with friction-reducing cutouts. This allows the clubhead to glide through the turf, no matter the lie, putting an end to those fat shots so many amateur golfers struggle with.

Bonus Features You’ll Want to Know About

The Hypermax AirLaunch Trio is the most eye-catching aspect of this new fairway wood, but there are a few other features that might interest you as well.

Draw-Biased Heel-Assist Weighting

Boggs moved the weight lower in the head than it is in traditional 3-woods. This shift allows for easier launch.

There’s also more weight in the heel, a feature that makes the club turn over naturally.

Square Face at Address

Most golfers don’t realize that their traditional 3-wood naturally sits slightly open at address.

This design is all the proof you need that traditional fairway woods are made with tour players in mind. If you’re working with a high swing speed, you’ll have an easier time controlling a cut. For the rest of us, that open face orientation is destroying our contact and accuracy.

So Boggs designed the Hypermax to naturally sit square address. 

Adaptive Flex Shaft

The Hypermax Hyway Wood features a graphite Adaptive Flex Shaft. “Adaptive Flex” means it conforms to your swing speed in the moment. You still have different flexes to choose from, but with this technology, you can count on the shaft to load easily and release with extra speed.

Another win for better launch. 

Standard Length

While the big clubmakers are starting to stretch their 3-woods longer so they can make big promises about extra swing speed, the Hypermax is sticking with the traditional 43” length.

That’s going to keep you closer to the ball and in control of your contact.

Does the Hypermax Conform to the Rules of Golf?

Yes! It might not feel like it, because it takes a lot of struggle out of the game, but the Hypermax is tournament-legal.

We Tested the Hypermax Hyway Wood. Here’s What We Thought.

First off, this is a really good looking club. While it looks a little different from a traditional 3-wood due to the larger clubface, it’s still has a sleek and professional design.

And in all honesty, seeing a more expansive face behind the ball at setup inspires confidence. It’s naturally square to the target with a wide margin for error. You look at it and feel like this might actually go your way.

We also noticed that, when we swung the club, we felt more powerful and in control than we usually do with fairway woods. VLS advertises that you can feel “the whip crack” at the bottom of your swing thanks to the Adaptive Flex shaft. 

It’s true. And it makes swinging a fairway wood a lot more fun.

As for outcomes, we did find it much easier to get the ball in the air with the Hypermax. Golfers who struggled a lot with low ball flight were getting more than double their normal height. 

Distance was great, it was much easier to keep the ball on target, and landings were soft. You’d have no trouble holding the green with the Hypermax.

Bottom Line: Is the Hypermax Hyway Wood Worth It for Everyday Golfers?

It’s a definite yes from us. This club seriously delivers. You feel more confident and in control with this fairway wood in your hands, your shots are more consistent (consistently good), and you have a lot more fun.

It also happens to be much more affordable than you’d expect, and it comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee that allows you to return the club even if it’s scratched or dinged up.

There’s really no risk here. 

If you’re interested in trying the Hypermax for yourself, you can get it at this link.

So that’s where we stand…

What Do You Think?

Does this sound like a club you’d be interested in? Have you already tried the Hypermax? If so, what was your experience?

Sound off in the comments! We always love to hear your thoughts and are happy to answer any questions you have.