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Callaway XHot Hybrid - Forum Testing Review

SuperStroke
Last week I bought the 20* Pro version and I got to go out on Saturday to play 18 with my new bag, the wind was howling around 15-20 mph and it started out bad as I was chunking all my new G20 irons as it was first time playing with them and I really didn't care what I shot, the day was about figuring out my new setup and during the round I only got to hit the X-Hot Pro twice. One hole I was sitting about 250 out with Water in front of the green at about 230 so I knew I would not get there with the X-Hot but a nice layup of about 215 was what I was looking for I pulled out the X-Hot and as I was seeing in my practice sessions I hit the club about 210 with a baby fade to the position I was hoping, the next hole I got to hit was Par 3 at 190 but the wind made it seem like 210 and again nice contact and baby fade and it landed on the green about 25 ft from the hole, I could not hit extra balls as the course was pretty packed but for the two times I hit I was very happy with the results and will be going out again this Saturday and Sunday to play again (if weather is nice).
 
i think i will have to give the Xhot a try as i look for a new Hybrid but the amount of offset looks strange to my eye does any one know if the pro has the same offset
 
Brianbigoats said:
i think i will have to give the Xhot a try as i look for a new Hybrid but the amount of offset looks strange to my eye does any one know if the pro has the same offset
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The pictures don't do it justice. If you can, go get your hands on one and hit it.
 
That's certainly the group of golfers I'm in. I look forward to reading the reviews and trying out this new hybrid.

Hawk said:
Did a final round of LM testing tonight and my home page review will be coming up shortly. In all, a very solid hybrid, especially for those folks wanting something easy to hit off the turf, that gets up in the air, and stays straight.
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ryebread said:
Shark: Great write up. I'd love to hear a bit more about how this compares with your Diablo Edge hybrid. I have owned a LOT of hybrids and the DE is probably the best all around one that I've had. It wasn't the longest, or the straightest, or the best out of the nasty stuff, or the best off the tee, or the best looking, or the best sounding, but it was just solid at everything.
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I wanted to let you know that I saw your post and plan to write up more comparisons between the two. Thanks for following the thread.
 
Brianbigoats here is pic of the Pro version at address if this helps you.

xhot.jpg
 
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Rhyno said:
I'm intrigued by this club, will any of you be in Branson? I would love to try this, and then let you try the RBZ Stage 2.

The offset isn't pleasing to my eye as much, and it looks like it's much smaller than the RBZ. But I've always had good luck with Callaway clubs and stock shafts.

Great initial write up guys.

~Joseph~
via Tapatalk
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I just spent some more time on the range with this and the stage2, again. Lets just say in dual from 10 paces, I'll take the Xhot pro hybrid over a six shooter.
 
I have never really been as good with a hybrid than an iron and I'm hoping this club changes all that! Keep the reviews coming boys!
 
Tadashi70 said:
I just spent some more time on the range with this and the stage2, again. Lets just say in dual from 10 paces, I'll take the Xhot pro hybrid over a six shooter.
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Haha, love the analogy!

My plan is to hit the range this afternoon, hoping the weather allows for me to do so.
 
Alright THP'ers, so..... my club arrived yesterday. YES:) despite confusion and mix up. I will have photos and my initial thoughts up sometime today. I hope to get on the range tomorrow if not Friday for sure. Thank you again to THP & Callaway golf for giving us all this incredible opportunity to test out the X-Hot hybrids.
 
GoldenBear67 said:
Brianbiggoats here is pic of the Pro version at address if this helps you.

xhot.jpg
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Thanks looks better the the std to my eye but still some offset
 
Nate said:
I have never really been as good with a hybrid than an iron and I'm hoping this club changes all that! Keep the reviews coming boys!
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I had the same issue to be honest! This club has definitely made it much easier to hit the shots I want to hit with a hybrid.
 
Here's a quick look between my Adams and the X-Hot. I think because the X-Hot looks more like a fairway metal that I'm hitting it better.
gena2aju.jpg

yruhyjys.jpg
 
Good comparison pics, Darren. Think that the XHot with more offset is helping you hit it as well?
 
War Eagle said:
Good comparison pics, Darren. Think that the XHot with more offset is helping you hit it as well?
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Definitely. Initially I thought it would be a problem. But for whatever reason I hit it much better. I'm not sure what it was about the IDEA, but I was always afraid to hit down on the ball and I would top it a lot.
 
SharkHat said:
Links to earlier comments:
Initial thoughts and pics
First Range outing


Second Range outing with the XHOT 3 Hybrid

Tonight after work I got another chance to get in a range session with the XHOT hybrid. Two sessions in two days, and I'm looking forward to more time with this club. Now, to start with, I have been struggling in the last couple weeks, so during today's session I spent most of my time working on fundamentals with my irons rather than just swinging away. I'm very glad that I did, because about half way through the bucket, things started to come back together in a good way.

When things came back together, I went to a comfortable club to get a feel for where I was at. I started hitting my 8 iron towards the target mound near the 150 marker, and my ball flights with the 8 were high and straight, coming in just shy of the mound and rolling out to the base. I had some left and right dispersion, but no fades or slices. Since I don't have a rangefinder, I don't know the exact distance to the mound from where I was at the range, but I wanted to use this as a basis for judging the ball flight with the XHOT.

When I switched to the XHOT, I aligned my shots so that I would be hitting over that same target mound. The trajectories were encouraging, and again the sound of this club is just solid. It's hard to judge exactly, but the apex of the ball flight appeared to be past the mound where my 8I was landing. And the good thing is that these were not balloon up and fall out of the sky ball flights. After the apex, the ball still seemed to stay in the air. Even though I know it's a five club difference between the two, I was pretty impressed.


After that, I decided to take 10 balls to the grass area since it was open today. I took a couple tees and tried to find a decently level area. That wasn't easy, as the grass area was pretty chewed up still. I hit both off the grass and off the tee, and I can definitely say that off the grass this club is very easy to hit. The transition from the mats did let me manage to hit my only really fat shot of the session here, but the shot actually turned out okay. It wasn't crushed, but the ball still got up in the air and would have still advanced probably about 120 yards. Four more shots off the grass carried about the same as when I was hitting off the mats. Then I tried 5 balls off the tee. I typically tee for my hybrids about the same as I do for irons, very low. I'm honestly not sure I could tell a discernable difference between hitting off the grass and the tee. The ball really moved off this club in both situations.


Closing thoughts

Since I spent so much time working on my swing today, I didn't hit as many balls with the XHOT Hybrid today as I would have liked to. The last 15 balls of the bucket today were all with the XHOT, and they were all well struck. I finished the bucket feeling more energized (and encouraged) than when I started. That's surely not entirely the work of the club, since some of was due to my swing coming around. But it sure didn't hurt either. One thing that I can say for sure is that I definitely want to hit more. A lot more.
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Sounds like some interesting stuff today SH! I love to hear that it's not ballooning on you but kind of hanging. That's good stuff.
 
Reference Links: Initial Thoughts





First Range Session:

IMG_1691_zpsc03ee093.jpg


Conditions: 40 degrees and windy. Hitting of driving range mats. Not exactly what I would call ideal conditions. Unfortunately, there are no grass ranges around here so I will only get true feedback when I get on a course which will happen frequently over the next few weeks.

Baseline: In order to get a baseline for data from the XHot, I brought my Razr X HL 3 Hybrid with me. I hit the first 50 balls with this club. I brought a little notebook with me and tried to write down some yardages based on the markers at the range. On the 50 balls that I hit, the average distance was 150 + roll. I saw the usually mid-high ball flight that I am used to seeing. Truth be told, I expected it to be worse simply because I was hitting off the mat, the cold, and the range balls. I was still hitting the ball pretty solid and making good contact on the face of the club. It was a good warmup for hitting the XHot.

XHot: After I was warmed up and got my baseline data, I went to work with the XHot. Like I said in my initial thoughts, I hit it some on launch monitors but its always nice to see the ball flight out on the range in the air or on the course. Very first shot I hit was off the toe of the club and it went 160 with a higher ball flight. I proceeded to hit another 49 shots with it and I came away very impressed. The ball definitely gets up in the air quickly and provides the ball flight I definitely desire. While adding a higher ball flight, I definitely also saw an increase in distance as well. The average distance over 50 balls was 175+ roll out. Towards the end I decided to really get after one and hit it 200 with a nice baby fade. I am not used to hitting a draw but I saw a nice baby draw on a majority of my shots with this. It will take some getting used to but I really like it so far. I brought a little notebook with me and tried to draw a little diagram to show the type of ball flight difference I was seeing between the 2 clubs. I mocked it up in Photoshop when I got home. Here is the diagram:
Spoiler
Untitled-1_zps0160bf9c.jpg

As you can see in the diagram, they both start off with a nice penetrating ball flight but the XHot reaches a higher apex and then proceeds forward and down. One thing I do want to make sure I am clear about is that I did not see any ballooning but rather it is the perfect ball flight I am looking for from a Hybrid. I have always struggled with long irons so this is almost essential to my game.

Reactions and miscellaneous: After my first range session, I can honestly say I am impressed with this club. I had some reservations going into this about the offset of the club, the size of the head, as well as the forgiveness of the club. The very first ball I hit was the toe shot I described earlier and that pretty much eased my fears. The offset does not affect me at all and actually helps me with my alignment. I use it as a guide to make sure I am square. Like I have said before, pictures don't really do it justice. You need to hold this club at address and see for yourself. To me, it really is a non-issue. And that is saying alot coming from someone that was a hook machine with the Mashie because of the offset. Hoping to get another range session in tomorrow or Friday and at least 9 holes in over the weekend.
 
Awesome stuff, Dev. Keep up the good work.
 
Great write up Ricky. Very well done. I only have one comment...

You have a couple hundred dollar program in Photoshop and all you created was something I could make in paint. Hahahaha
 
Canadan said:
two hundo is quite a bomb with that club for you isn't it Ricky? How much of a distance gap does this generate from your 5 iron?
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Yeah it is. To be honest, I dont hit my 5 iron very often. When I do it is generally around 165-170. I have never really hit my long irons very well.
 
Darren K. said:
Great write up Ricky. Very well done. I only have one comment...

You have a couple hundred dollar program in Photoshop and all you created was something I could make in paint. Hahahaha
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Hahaha I couldnt figure out how to get the dang vectors in so I just gave up and did it ghetto style. You get the point. Haha
 
DevRickus said:
Hahaha I couldnt figure out how to get the dang vectors in so I just gave up and did it ghetto style. You get the point. Haha
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It serves its purpose haha. I understand.
 
DevRickus said:
Yeah it is. To be honest, I dont hit my 5 iron very often. When I do it is generally around 165-170. I have never really hit my long irons very well.
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Interesting.. Could this be opening the door to an acquisition of a 5h to replace a current iron?
 
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