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Old vs New Callaway drivers

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greggdrews

greggdrews

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Pretty cool. New is just easier to hit....usually lol

Tazz
@bigtazzGOLF
 
Interesting to ponder. Not sure how much weight it carries considering that all you ever hear from retired PGA Tour pros is how much longer clubs are these days and on courses they used to play pros these days are hitting 9 irons into greens that the pros then were hitting 4 and 5 irons into.
 
SmoothC83 said:
Interesting to ponder. Not sure how much weight it carries considering that all you ever hear from retired PGA Tour pros is how much longer clubs are these days and on courses they used to play pros these days are hitting 9 irons into greens that the pros then were hitting 4 and 5 irons into.
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I think more distance in the modern game is some club but more new ball technology. Forgiveness in both has improved 10x though.
 
While I agree with previous posters about the ball and clubs having an impact on increased distance, I think it also has to do with the guys themselves, their strength and flexibility is much greater than it used to be. Also the way that they can get numbers optimized through Trackman/Foresight etc also helps maximize distance.
 
6mph faster with Xhot but only 5 yards further?
 
My very first set was the calloway '97 big bertha's. That driver was VERY hard to hit and I think thats the difference. Companies are designing clubs that amateurs with no discipline can still get in the air with some success. GI irons are night and day since then.
 
One point to consider is that he cherry picked which five drives to show. With those five drives, there doesn't appear to be a statistical difference (didn't put it into excel to confirm), but what would happen when we increase the sample size? We might start to see some differences then. Take home for me though is ... give me halfway decent technology (doesn't have to be the latest and greatest) and good mechanics and I can keep up with the Jonses on the course.

I kind of already knew this because when I do connect on a drive (which is rarer than I like), I can equal drives of the guys I play with who have the newest offerings. I can only imagine how well I will do when I get much better mechanics.
 
I watched another video comparing an old Callaway 3w to the RFE and there was only 3yards differnce. Goes to show that the manufacturers have been lying for many many years, "17% further" etc etc. Liars!
 
I started watching that video last night, and while he doesn't emphasize it, it seemed at a quick glance like his spin numbers with the XHot were way higher than with the GBB...also sapping distance.
 
greggdrews said:
I think more distance in the modern game is some club but more new ball technology. Forgiveness in both has improved 10x though.
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True that. It's actually probably a combination of everything come to think of it....balls, club heads, shafts. Put all of these advances together and that is probably pretty significant.
 
H-SC Tiger said:
My very first set was the calloway '97 big bertha's. That driver was VERY hard to hit and I think thats the difference. Companies are designing clubs that amateurs with no discipline can still get in the air with some success. GI irons are night and day since then.
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I totally agree with you there. While quite possibly the biggest difference in woods may be forgiveness, iron technology is where the true gains have been made.
 
His spin rate was 400 rpm's higher with the Xhot, probably why it was only a hair longer even though his club head speed was higher. With his club head speed though, I'm a little surprised at how short he hit. He said he was hitting regular balls, but I don't know.
 
SmoothC83 said:
Interesting to ponder. Not sure how much weight it carries considering that all you ever hear from retired PGA Tour pros is how much longer clubs are these days and on courses they used to play pros these days are hitting 9 irons into greens that the pros then were hitting 4 and 5 irons into.
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I don't think the old timers don't take into account how much bigger and stronger are these guys are these days either. The conditioning programs these guys go through these days and how much of a difference it makes.
 
BogeyMan60 said:
I don't think the old timers don't take into account how much bigger and stronger are these guys are these days either. The conditioning programs these guys go through these days and how much of a difference it makes.
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Well Kenny Perry said he is hitting the ball 20 yards further at 55 then he was at 35.


The ball technology is the major improvement here, not clubs.
 
It's all marketing. If the distance clams by the manufacturers were true, the tour average would be around 400 yards by now. People just want the easy solution and think new equipment will improve their game instead of putting in the work,
 
Borss said:
It's all marketing. If the distance clams by the manufacturers were true, the tour average would be around 400 yards by now. People just want the easy solution and think new equipment will improve their game instead of putting in the work,
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I said the same thing to a few guys I played with last week.
 
Borss said:
It's all marketing. If the distance clams by the manufacturers were true, the tour average would be around 400 yards by now. People just want the easy solution and think new equipment will improve their game instead of putting in the work,
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Its not all marketing. What people fail to realize is that sometimes its not about the shot on the sweet spot. Sure the marketing is over the top with distance claims by some companies, but people are nitpicking if they think that is the major difference. I would bet any player on here that if they took 20 swings on the launch monitor on a THP event with these 2 drivers that the new one would be SUBSTANTIAL in total driving. Total driving is distance and accuracy.

R&D has taught many things over the years and it is not only about the sweet spot distance that matters. Its about what happens when golfers miss the sweet spot by even a quarter of an inch that matters. How long the ball still goes. How straight the ball still goes.

Now I know on the internet nobody ever misses the sweet spot so that point is moot, but at THP Events, I do it all the time and I like not giving up 40 yards of distance.
 
tgtt said:
6mph faster with Xhot but only 5 yards further?
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Average smash factors were lower with the XHot so lower ball speeds. Not sure if he's just not catching it flush with the big head. Or maybe the longer shaft not doing him any favors. He was getting about all he could out of that old BB, three of the shots were at 1.45 on the SF. Pretty efficient.
 
The major advancements in drivers over the last 10 years or so have not been distance. They have been primarily forgiveness and adjustability.
 
DaBuckBoys said:
Average smash factors were lower with the XHot so lower ball speeds. Not sure if he's just not catching it flush with the big head. Or maybe the longer shaft not doing him any favors. He was getting about all he could out of that old BB, three of the shots were at 1.45 on the SF. Pretty efficient.
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I don't know how much spin rates affect smash factor but his spin rate was noticeable higher with the XHot. I imagaine if that was down closer to what he was seeing with the BB, he would have more distance with the XHot.
 
That was a pretty interesting video. I think (similar to what JB said) that the greatest gain in the clubs is the distance and dispersion on off-center shots. It said 19yd dispersion vs 9yd dispersion with the new. I'd love to see a comparo between the old and new Bertha models. I'm going to bring my biggest big bertha to golfsmith one of these days and have at it I think.
 
TeedUpThoughts said:
That was a pretty interesting video. I think (similar to what JB said) that the greatest gain in the clubs is the distance and dispersion on off-center shots. It said 19yd dispersion vs 9yd dispersion with the new. I'd love to see a comparo between the old and new Bertha models. I'm going to bring my biggest big bertha to golfsmith one of these days and have at it I think.
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This would be fun to see your results vs his.
 
niteowl03 said:
This would be fun to see your results vs his.
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I have the Great Big Bertha in the garage. Also the steel head. Just need the new one and we can take these out on the course and see real world differences.
 
afwcardinal said:
I have the Great Big Bertha in the garage. Also the steel head. Just need the new one and we can take these out on the course and see real world differences.
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Well then go buy one and we shall compare!

I wonder in this video if part of the dispersion difference may have been related to a fitted shaft in the XHot vs the BB. Not doubting the technology, Im just curious
 
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