- Thread starter
- #551
Standard setup for me, ever since our round at Mission Inn.
Callaway FT Optiforce Driver Review - Forum Testing
Smithfaced
New member
Still not quite finding the consistency I want so I'm going to have the shaft cut down to 45". I have had luck doing this in the past and I'm okay sacrificing a little bit of distance. I was only 2/6 on fairways when using the OptiForce this afternoon but my misses weren't too penalizing. I'm still on the hunt for some different shafts as I think I need something with some more stiffness to it. I'm close to dialing in the right settings that I want to stick with and I'll post that in here when I make that decision. Overall, things are still going okay.
Kobey
I'm a French model
My rounds this week were pretty good with the Optiforce. I shot a 93 on both, very good scores for me. I'm starting to figure out how the forgiveness interacts with my game. Over the last weeks, I've been a bit inconsistent, seeing a lot more left and right hits than I was at the beginning of testing. I think I've discovered the reason why, and it all boils down to how forgiving it is.
For me to hit good, straight drives, I've always had to keep the ball a bit further back in my stance than what is considered normal. That's always bothered me since I feel I'm not doing it right and am using ball placement to compensate for swing flaws. In the past, anytime I've attempted to place the ball more towards my left foot, it has resulted in a lot of inconsistency and missed fairways. So when I started testing the Optiforce, I kept the ball in it's usual position more towards the middle of my stance, resulting in mostly straight drives. My misses went a little left or right, but not enough to be unplayable.
After having such great success, I began to gradually move the ball more forward in my stance without even realizing I was doing it. As I did so, my mishits started going further and further off line. If I had been using a less forgiving driver, I would have immediately noticed a problem as I would have been in the woods or other fairways most of the time. With the Optiforce I was still in play, except for a few occasions, so while I noticed I wasn't hitting as straight as I had been, it was still better than my old drivers and didn't concern me right away.
When I started my first round this week, things didn't look good. I realized that almost none of my drives were going straight down the middle anymore. That's when I had to regroup and pay more attention to what I was doing. I put the ball back further, widened my stance a little and suddenly I was back where I was weeks ago.
The point I'm trying to make is that the Optiforce is so forgiving, it's very easy to get careless with my setup. Changes that would be disastrous with other drivers I've used only cause minor problems with it. That's something I'll have to get used to, as I think I was becoming a bit lazy with my setup because I was getting tolerable results no matter what I did.
For me to hit good, straight drives, I've always had to keep the ball a bit further back in my stance than what is considered normal. That's always bothered me since I feel I'm not doing it right and am using ball placement to compensate for swing flaws. In the past, anytime I've attempted to place the ball more towards my left foot, it has resulted in a lot of inconsistency and missed fairways. So when I started testing the Optiforce, I kept the ball in it's usual position more towards the middle of my stance, resulting in mostly straight drives. My misses went a little left or right, but not enough to be unplayable.
After having such great success, I began to gradually move the ball more forward in my stance without even realizing I was doing it. As I did so, my mishits started going further and further off line. If I had been using a less forgiving driver, I would have immediately noticed a problem as I would have been in the woods or other fairways most of the time. With the Optiforce I was still in play, except for a few occasions, so while I noticed I wasn't hitting as straight as I had been, it was still better than my old drivers and didn't concern me right away.
When I started my first round this week, things didn't look good. I realized that almost none of my drives were going straight down the middle anymore. That's when I had to regroup and pay more attention to what I was doing. I put the ball back further, widened my stance a little and suddenly I was back where I was weeks ago.
The point I'm trying to make is that the Optiforce is so forgiving, it's very easy to get careless with my setup. Changes that would be disastrous with other drivers I've used only cause minor problems with it. That's something I'll have to get used to, as I think I was becoming a bit lazy with my setup because I was getting tolerable results no matter what I did.
I tested out both the 440 and 460cc Optiforce drivers at Golfsmith yesterday. I have been gaming a RazrX Black 10.5 degree driver since last fall. I find it to be very hot and cold, way more inconsistent than I'd like. I started out with their demo RazrX black to get a baseline. The simulator seemed to be pretty accurate based on my distances. Then I went for the 460cc Optiforce. The driver hit like a dream! The demo had a stiff shaft, (I'm usually a regular) and although I lost a few yards of distance over the RazrX, the ball flight was straight as an arrow. I tried to mis-hit with it, and couldn't. Even bad shots would have been playable. I was thoroughly impressed. I then tried the 440cc head with stiff shaft. I was surprised that I didn't hit the 440 well at all, it was all over the place and considerably decreased distances over the 460 and RazrX. All in all, I'll probably end up with an Optiforce in my bag next spring. I'll definitely get fitted for it with the correct shaft. Way to go Callaway!
Had a scare today on the range with the Optiforce. About half way through I started feeling something wasn't right around the head of the driver on the take away and the downswing. At first, I thought it was just me but I went ahead a hit a few more and then knew something wasn't right. Didn't know if something was lose in the head or shaft or what?
So got the wrench out to undo the head from the shaft and saw that the screw to the head was loose!! Geez Louise! I even hit 2 more full speed drives not realizing the screw was loose! I've never adjusted it since I've had it so don't know if it was never tightened or it just came lose somehow? After a few turns it clicked back into place and wasn't an issue after that. Can you imagine the head coming flying off during a swing?! Glad it didn't happen.
Still hitting it pretty good with this thing. Seeing a ton more height than the Xtreme which is kind of a nice change.
So got the wrench out to undo the head from the shaft and saw that the screw to the head was loose!! Geez Louise! I even hit 2 more full speed drives not realizing the screw was loose! I've never adjusted it since I've had it so don't know if it was never tightened or it just came lose somehow? After a few turns it clicked back into place and wasn't an issue after that. Can you imagine the head coming flying off during a swing?! Glad it didn't happen.
Still hitting it pretty good with this thing. Seeing a ton more height than the Xtreme which is kind of a nice change.
- Staff
- #556
Yes. Especially if its at the Outing and Ward is the one who installed the adapters.
On this driver, 3 rounds in now and I'm a fan. Going to sit down and put detailed thoughts up tomorrow during the day as I have some packing to do right now, but suffice to say, high and forgiving. Me likey.
T2GRN18
Active member
I didn't realize Jman was gaming this too.... Hmmm it's the rage
- Thread starter
- #559
Nate- I had some issues with the adapter too, and probably my biggest gripe about the club. Some times it wouldnt "set" right, and often times I felt like I was stripping it when I as trying to tighten the head on.
Smithfaced
New member
There is something to be said about that. You have to be careful when you make adjustments with this thing. I had problems with this early on in testing.
- Thread starter
- #561
Very true, and thats what made me extra cautious when I was adjusting mine.
Getitclose
New member
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2012
- Messages
- 781
- Reaction score
- 1
- Handicap
- GHIN 6.2
Got out for a couple rounds with the Optiforce 440 this weekend. Saturdays round and range session was great! Hit every fairway but 1 and that was only because I hit it too far through the dog leg left. Shot my lowest round that day! Swing felt great, shaft felt even better. When I was washing my clubs after, I looked at the face of my driver and not one ball mark was outside of the little circle that it has. I made a few adjustments from the last couple rounds/range sessions including turning down the left to standard 9.5* which helped me gain another 5-10 yards of roll. I still think I can get more distance out of it, I just need to find the correct setting and swing tempo. But man, when you hit one on the screws, its like Christmas morning! I wish I could bottle up what I had going on Saturday, and take a little bit every time I teed up on #1 because I was killing the ball with this beauty..
Now todays round was a tad bit different lol. I don't know what the hell happened but my swing felt like a unfolding lawn chair! I was snap hooking or pushing EVERYTHING! I only hit 4/14 fairways today. I don't know what was going on. Today was the first day in a very long time I've been so lost about my swing that I start guessing and screwing everything up. SO needless to say, I'm not going to touch on the way I hit/the way the driver performed for me today because it was the Indian not the arrow. Every time I think about the swing I was putting on the ball today, I literally get sick to my stomach and want to go hit a bucket to get the thought out of my head. If it wasn't for my putting, I would've lost about $20 in bets today. No Bueno
Hopefully I will have a chance to go play this week sometime. I cant think of that swing all week. Good luck guys! Thanks for all the good info btw
Now todays round was a tad bit different lol. I don't know what the hell happened but my swing felt like a unfolding lawn chair! I was snap hooking or pushing EVERYTHING! I only hit 4/14 fairways today. I don't know what was going on. Today was the first day in a very long time I've been so lost about my swing that I start guessing and screwing everything up. SO needless to say, I'm not going to touch on the way I hit/the way the driver performed for me today because it was the Indian not the arrow. Every time I think about the swing I was putting on the ball today, I literally get sick to my stomach and want to go hit a bucket to get the thought out of my head. If it wasn't for my putting, I would've lost about $20 in bets today. No Bueno
Hopefully I will have a chance to go play this week sometime. I cant think of that swing all week. Good luck guys! Thanks for all the good info btw
manlai
New member
with the cogs and everything, I've made a point to be extra careful in making sure the head is sitting perfectly before tightening the screw. It's almost like tightening the nozzle on a propane tank hose. It can still turn quite a bit when not set perfectly and then if you open the valve it leaks like crazy. Other driver tips have little notches or something so that the head sits still when set correctly but the Optiforce is quite loose until I start tightening the screw.
dcbrad
locked and reloaded
I'll be interested to hear what you think about this. I, for one, was extremely surprised at how forgiving it was.
Kobey
I'm a French model
The forgiveness is something that can throw people off when they first try it. If I had just taken it out on the course and not been testing it, I might have been disappointed and given up on it quickly like I did with the original Cleveland Classic, another forgiving driver.
The reason I say this is because I'm used to consistent distances on mishits. The difference, and the thing that I had to learn, is that even though I was getting great distance on mishits with my old drivers, it didn't do me a bit of good if they were unplayable. So it took me a little bit to realize that it is a much better tradeoff to have mishits go straighter and a little shorter than to have them go full distance and way left or right. It's easy to hit a few drives and be disillusioned by the distance loss instead of seeing the big picture. The average golfer who has good and bad driving days may not be able to judge the forgiveness aspect unless they are specifically looking for it. Hopefully all the information in this thread will help people focus on that and compare it to their bad rounds, not just their good ones.
Pinhi
Keep it in the fairway
I'm playing with your setup, had the shaft cut down to 45.25" and added some led tape to the clubhead to bring the swingweight up from D0 to D4. This has really tightened up my dispersion. Don't think I lost much distance.
Smithfaced
New member
Brought the OptiForce in today to have the shaft shortened to 45". I'm hoping this gives me a little more consistency. I've mentioned the sound and feel of this club a few times already but oh my. I know sound and feel are subjective but when you hit one on the screws it really is incredible. Tomorrow will be day one on the range with the shortened shaft.
Smithfaced
New member
What settings are you using?
Pinhi
Keep it in the fairway
+1 and D. I hit down on the ball a little and I generally miss more on the fade side. My fitter thinks the draw setting reduces the loft by .5 degrees, so it will play like 11 degrees.
Kobey
I'm a French model
Does it work that way with the Optiforce? I was thinking that since they have the cogs for adjustment and they're both in the same place, that the loft and face angle adjustments would have been designed to keep from having to do any math after adjusting.
TNTCigarguy
2014 #THPMC @TntCigarguy
So does anyone else know if the part about the loft is true? Curious to see if that is the case.
dcbrad
locked and reloaded
While some drivers are worse than others when it comes to adding/subtracting loft by opening/closing the face, I think Pinhi's pro is pretty dang close with his assessment. When I was down at Pine Lakes with Chris Carfangia, we were talking about how some club's stated loft at a certain setting and actual loft at that setting were way off. He put the Optiforce through the test, and he said it was pretty close to what the loft was supposed to be. He never said exactly, but I would probably agree it could be within a half degree either way. I believe the Optiforce does a good job of minimizing the effects of closing the face in regards to changing loft.
Smithfaced
New member
Went to pick up my OptiForce today after having the shaft cut and it was sitting behind the counter right where it was when I left...With nothing done to it. Just a tad bit frustrating but they offered to do it free of charge now since they "forgot" about it.
Pinhi
Keep it in the fairway
I found this comment inside a review of the club on another golf forum: "While changing the loft of an OptiForce driver does change the face angle (adding loft slightly closes the face, while subtracting loft opens the face), the design of the new OptiFit hosel makes those face angle changes much more minimal than in previous models."
Smithfaced
New member
There has been quite a bit of talk about forgiveness with the OptiForce. Most golfers perceive forgiveness in different ways so I took my two trusty weapons out to the range to get to the bottom of this. Is the OptiForce really that forgiving? 150 balls later I found an answer, sort of. For this testing I decided to go with 12.5 degress of loft because a wise man (Let's call him Jman) has been known to say "embrace the loft" and that is exactly what I did.
If you can't tell that is foot spray. Cheaper than impact tape and lasts longer.
I wasn't excatly sure how I wanted to organize this post so I'm just going to flow with it and see what happens. Hopefully it helps some people out because that is what this is all about. I wanted to hit a myriad of shots which proved to be very difficult for me but I covered most of the "miss" spectrum.
No surprise with what this ball did. HIGH fly ball but it was to center field which was a somewhat common theme with the OptiForce. I don't mind a miss when it is in play.
This is about a ball under and a ball left of the sweet spot. Some of you refer to this as a worm burner and you can feel it in your hands with the OptiForce and it isn't nice. Worm burner might be an exaggeration here, the ball got about 10-15 feet off the ground and did have quite a bit of roll. My number one concern with a mishit is the ball being playable and this one was.
This is a more common miss. I wore this part of the face out until I started grooving a really nice swing. The magical feel and sound that some of us rave about isn't there with this miss. The distance isn't there either. I can't tell you how much distance this miss lost but it was noticeable.
Now here is where we start hitting bombs. I'll be honest though, inside of the sweet spot didn't seem to produce that sound that I love so much. Distance and trajectory were right on however.
For me, this was the pinnacle. If I could hit the ball just above the center of the "X" a good time would be had by all. Some people have a hard time understanding "hitting through the ball." When you hit a ball on this part of the face with the OptiForce you understand hitting through the ball. It is almost like hitting a ball of feathers that can fly 300 yards. It is tee shot heaven and I wish I could live there and golf there every day of my life.
As I was wrapping things up I realized that I hadn't missed a single ball off the toe. I didn't want to leave you guys hanging so I tried over and over to do it. It is super rare that I miss off the toe so this took some effort. It almost feels like the shaft rattles in your hands when you miss off the toe but no club feels perfect off the toe. There was minimal distance lost and I still hit a nice draw with this miss. If the toe was my normal miss than I would be very happy with the OptiForce.
I sincerely hope that this is able to illustrate some things for you guys that might be on the fence about this driver. I'm not going to sit here and say it is or isn't forgiving because everyone has a different perception of forgiveness. I was glad to see that most of my misses were in play and I was happy with MY perceived forgiveness of the OptiForce. If I consistently missed a ball or more towards the heel and low I might have a different opinion. If you guys have any questions at all about this testing let me know. I'll be on the course this afternoon but I will get back on here afterwards. Thanks for reading.
If you can't tell that is foot spray. Cheaper than impact tape and lasts longer.
I wasn't excatly sure how I wanted to organize this post so I'm just going to flow with it and see what happens. Hopefully it helps some people out because that is what this is all about. I wanted to hit a myriad of shots which proved to be very difficult for me but I covered most of the "miss" spectrum.
No surprise with what this ball did. HIGH fly ball but it was to center field which was a somewhat common theme with the OptiForce. I don't mind a miss when it is in play.
This is about a ball under and a ball left of the sweet spot. Some of you refer to this as a worm burner and you can feel it in your hands with the OptiForce and it isn't nice. Worm burner might be an exaggeration here, the ball got about 10-15 feet off the ground and did have quite a bit of roll. My number one concern with a mishit is the ball being playable and this one was.
This is a more common miss. I wore this part of the face out until I started grooving a really nice swing. The magical feel and sound that some of us rave about isn't there with this miss. The distance isn't there either. I can't tell you how much distance this miss lost but it was noticeable.
Now here is where we start hitting bombs. I'll be honest though, inside of the sweet spot didn't seem to produce that sound that I love so much. Distance and trajectory were right on however.
For me, this was the pinnacle. If I could hit the ball just above the center of the "X" a good time would be had by all. Some people have a hard time understanding "hitting through the ball." When you hit a ball on this part of the face with the OptiForce you understand hitting through the ball. It is almost like hitting a ball of feathers that can fly 300 yards. It is tee shot heaven and I wish I could live there and golf there every day of my life.
As I was wrapping things up I realized that I hadn't missed a single ball off the toe. I didn't want to leave you guys hanging so I tried over and over to do it. It is super rare that I miss off the toe so this took some effort. It almost feels like the shaft rattles in your hands when you miss off the toe but no club feels perfect off the toe. There was minimal distance lost and I still hit a nice draw with this miss. If the toe was my normal miss than I would be very happy with the OptiForce.
I sincerely hope that this is able to illustrate some things for you guys that might be on the fence about this driver. I'm not going to sit here and say it is or isn't forgiving because everyone has a different perception of forgiveness. I was glad to see that most of my misses were in play and I was happy with MY perceived forgiveness of the OptiForce. If I consistently missed a ball or more towards the heel and low I might have a different opinion. If you guys have any questions at all about this testing let me know. I'll be on the course this afternoon but I will get back on here afterwards. Thanks for reading.