Driver suggestions?

wanabe

hey guys just broke my callaway big bertha driver at the range this evening!! gonna pick a new one this week. was just wondering what i should get? any suggestions!?

irishtoffee

New shaft maybe?Taylor made are pretty good,lots to choose.

copacetic

how did your callaway go for you? the latest ones are pretty nice. my ft-3 has been great, it is just a little bit more forgiving than the R7, xr-03 and R360 that I had before it. I tested the new FT-i and FT-5 and they were both nice, but not much of a step up on the FT-3 imo.

If you can find one, you'll get a great deal on the FT-3 at the moment, or go for the FT-5 imo.

wanabe

cant replace the shaft, it broke the head as well! it was hillarious ball went a decent 200+ yards and the head went 30yards dead centre of the chipping net! callaway went well for me but anything would be better than the dunlop i had before!

MisterAnarchy

I had 2 Big Bertha drivers break on me too.
Shaft cracked near the head on both occasions.
They are difficult to repair because the shaft goes through the head .
Make sure any new driver you get will be legal in 2008.

Zzippy

Ping G2 - love it!

O.P.H

If I were you I'd look into these new square drivers, the only one I know is the 'Hippo', don't know the brand. Ernie Els changed to one of these square ones and he's been hittin very sraight, thats what there designed for, sraightness, weird lookin down at a square head though i'd say

killbillvol2

I got one of the Nike SQ Sumo drivers last week after a few years with Big Berthas. (Not the square one, this one). I'm very, very impressed.

copacetic

O.P.H wrote:

If I were you I'd look into these new square drivers, the only one I know is the 'Hippo', don't know the brand. Ernie Els changed to one of these square ones and he's been hittin very sraight, thats what there designed for, sraightness, weird lookin down at a square head though i'd say

ernie is playing the Callaway FT-i that I mentioned above.

Mister Sifter

The Hippo is made by Howson. Not a huge name, but a decent brand at a good price.

The ping G5 driver is very nice... but i'd be reluctant to get anything other than a callaway, a titleist or a taylor made tho.

Derek Zoolander

well I'd throw the titleist into the hat...there are some great deals on the 905R at the moment..the one great thing about the titleist is that you can order the shaft that you want...the 905R comes with a choice of the following
Aldila NV 65
Graphite Design YS-6+
Titleist Speeder by Fujikura
UST Proforce V2 75

on the other hand if you go down the tm or cally route the stock shafts are terrible unless you're willing to fork out for the tp model...I had to pull the stock in my r7 425 and replace it with a ys-6+ which is a stock option for the titty...

that said the superquad/burner offerings from TM do look nice but keep in mind that the shafts are terrible

Mister Sifter

How much does it cost to get a shaft changed / replaced?

Derek Zoolander

well I demo'd a lot of shaft combos (on a launch monitor) in the US last time I was over and decided on the YS-6+...shaft cost $79 brought it home and then cost €25 to get it stuck in the driver and the tip trimmed about an inch and a half to stiffen it up a little (huge difference in the performance of the club btw)...

the shaft is imo the most underrated part of the club and really changes the way a club plays even for a hacker like me...

copacetic

Derek Zoolander wrote:

on the other hand if you go down the tm or cally route the stock shafts are terrible unless you're willing to fork out for the tp model...I had to pull the stock in my r7 425 and replace it with a ys-6+ which is a stock option for the titty...

thats not true at all, my Ft-3 tour came with an NVS as standard and the FT-I and FT-5 both some with Fujikara shafts as standard and can be ordered with all the shafts you listed just like Titleist.

Also the 'tour' models in the callaways are not dearer than standard. So the FT-5 tour comes with an E-360 shaft while the standard model comes with the E-150, hardly 'terrible' shafts.

They can also be ordered with any of the shafts here:
http://www.callawaygolf.com/uk.CLUBS.Drivers.FT5Driver.page-shafts.html


I'm also 99% sure that the TaylorMade RE*AX 65 in the superquad is bade by Fuji, just like the 'titleist speeder' you mention above. Again, hardly terrible.

lafors

Hi, I'm in the market for a new driver myself.
At the moment I'm using a Wilson Deep Red...bought it second hand as I'd spent a lot on my new irons and woods (got big bertha irons and callaway X series 3W&5W). I can hit my X 3W further than the deep red, plus its illegal soon.

I have been hitting a way straighter shot with the callaways so was going to go for a callaway driver but then I used a Ping G5 the other day, and it was sweet to hit with.

Has anyone hit the Callaway FT-I, or the Nike SUMO2 (the square one)?

Anyone know if I can hit before I buy? I've been told that celbridge range will let you but anyone know if this is true, or anywhere around dublin that do?

Derek Zoolander

copacetic wrote:

thats not true at all, my Ft-3 tour came with an NVS as standard and the FT-I and FT-5 both some with Fujikara shafts as standard and can be ordered with all the shafts you listed just like Titleist.

Also the 'tour' models in the callaways are not dearer than standard. So the FT-5 tour comes with an E-360 shaft while the standard model comes with the E-150, hardly 'terrible' shafts.

They can also be ordered with any of the shafts here:
http://www.callawaygolf.com/uk.CLUBS.Drivers.FT5Driver.page-shafts.html


I'm also 99% sure that the TaylorMade RE*AX 65 in the superquad is bade by Fuji, just like the 'titleist speeder' you mention above. Again, hardly terrible.

the reax is made by fuji but not to the same specs as the fuji speeder..the rombax version in the tp is not a bad shaft..but very pricey

again the stock shafts on the FT-1 are Fujikura Speeder 586 which is one made by fuji for cally not one that they make to their own specs...their main tour shaft is the Speeder 757 Tour Spec....the nvs is a solid shaft though

most oems are happy to let this slide...I've more experiance with TM and at this only some of their staffers play the rombax (none the reax) and a lot of them play other shafts but have them painted in the TM scheme..

Aldila and Mitsubishi are the clear favs in shafts by the pros...

cobra like cally have a made by fuji shafts but they basically are pale imatations of the real thing

copacetic

well i'd agreed the 586 and 686 available in the Ft-i aren't 'tour spec' shafts but thats a good thing for most players. I also understand they are available to order as shafts outside of callaway, (~ $100) they are fully fuji branded shafts tour spec on them, not 'made in association with' or whatever.They seem like very good options for normal players. Similar to the tour platform 26.3 that came stock in my 3 wood.

Up until the last couple of years I would have agreed with you, but now I feel that the stock shafts in these callaways are as good a shaft as 99% of players would need, assuming they get the right one.

Derek Zoolander

copacetic wrote:

well i'd agreed the 586 and 686 available in the Ft-i aren't 'tour spec' shafts but thats a good thing for most players. I also understand they are available to order as shafts outside of callaway, (~ $100) they are fully fuji branded shafts tour spec on them, not 'made in association with' or whatever.They seem like very good options for normal players. Similar to the tour platform 26.3 that came stock in my 3 wood.

Up until the last couple of years I would have agreed with you, but now I feel that the stock shafts in these callaways are as good a shaft as 99% of players would need, assuming they get the right one.

fair enough i'm more familiar with tm and the reax is a terrible shaft...hopefully they can go the sameway thay cally and titleist are going and offer a few options as their heads are beautiful

copacetic

I was a big TM fan a couple of years back, xr-03/R360, 200 series fairways, rescue mid and RAC combo irons with Fe2O3 wedges and mezza_monza, used to love them, but picked up a steelhead III 3 wood and haven't looked back since. I always saw callaway as a hackers option but I was well wrong.

Have found most of the callaway options to be much more consistent for my game. Now I only have one TM wedge and the putter left in the bag, all my club changes lately have been from one cally offering to the next. Although have Titty wedges.

Currently weighing up the x-forged to replace the x-tours and still maybe giving the FT-5 a go. I'd advise anyone to try out the cally options on any potential club changes.

Derek Zoolander

I hit the x forged when in the US last...nicest looking club i've seen in ages...way too much club for me though..but if you're good enough to play them they'll certainly make you bag look pretty,,,

Derek Zoolander

and the project x shafts are great too

copacetic

yeah, my issue is whether to go weaker going to project x from flighted rifle. ah sure its all a good laugh...

lafors

copacetic wrote:

yeah, my issue is whether to go weaker going to project x from flighted rifle. ah sure its all a good laugh...

Are you guys pros or summat
All I need is a club to hit it straight and long....though thats what we all want I'm sure.
When it comes to shafts....can they make so much difference really??

Derek Zoolander

lafors wrote:

Are you guys pros or summat
All I need is a club to hit it straight and long....though thats what we all want I'm sure.
When it comes to shafts....can they make so much difference really??

the shaft is what controls how far and straight the ball goes....you can get , low, mid or high lauch shafts and they control exactly the launch angle of the club and when it kick...obviously with a less stiff shaft you get more kick and a longer shot but reduces the control...

are you playing rifle 6.5's ...would going to the project x 6.0s be much more flex than the 6.5 rifles...i;ve only heard good things about the projects...meant to promote a lovely boring ball flight...