Big Bertha Alpha Driver Review
BogeyMan60
New member
I play mine at 11 and it doesn't look overly closed. Plus, you are supposed to square the face prior to gripping the club anyway, so while it doesn't lie on the ground perfectly square a slight turn of the shaft and you're square again
BogeyMan60
New member
Good point, I guess I've just lost the ability to reason here lately, Haha. I'm still surprised at how forgiving this club is and how much better it suited me personally vs the regular Big Bertha.
BogeyMan60
New member
Haha I was going to say it sounds like you're just trying to delay the inevitable
Yeah, I have been really just fighting the hell out of pulling out the old plastic and pre ordering it but it turns out after hitting both drivers but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I would've bought the wrong driver for myself. Guess I just need to get my butt on turbo tax tonight and file those taxes and blow that refund on Bertha. Guess she'll be the third women in my life beside my girlfriend and Little Debbie.
cpljohnst
Go Jackets! Go Sun Devils
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Hit the Big Bertha Alpha today at PGA Superstore. I think I made the right choice going with the regular Big Bertha for the king. I think I could make the Alpha work for me, and my spin uwas lower but at stock settings 9.0 degree was seeing better forgiveness with the regular Bertha. Did not get to fool around with the settings so might have worked better with a loft adjustment.
ATLGolfer
#ATLClive75
I tinkered with the Alpha this afternoon on the range. I had a little too much draw when I took the Alpha out on its first session, and I wanted to see if I could increase the performance with some adjustments from the stock settings.
I increased the loft to 10* and had the heel/toe weights changed to 3g/7g. The excess draw immediately disappeared. I noticed that the Alpha sounded a little hollow on the first few hits, and the ball did not seem to travel very well. The ball was hitting a little high on the face (my usual driver miss), so I flipped the gravity core up to raise the center of gravity. Immediately, the Alpha felt really, really solid at impact, and the ball just seemed to carry forever. I did not have a LM with me, but I was hitting spots on the range that I just don't usually hit. It was pretty fun to watch.
The Alpha is pretty forgiving, but it still requires a decent swing. I was struggling with my swing a little today (cold/wind didn't help), and really bad swings caused a nasty toe hook. But, generally speaking, a moderately good swing would get a nice result. A good swing would get a mashed drive.
I may lower the loft back to 9* and compare the ball flight. The drives at 10* seemed pretty high although I would take them as long as there was some roll out.
I increased the loft to 10* and had the heel/toe weights changed to 3g/7g. The excess draw immediately disappeared. I noticed that the Alpha sounded a little hollow on the first few hits, and the ball did not seem to travel very well. The ball was hitting a little high on the face (my usual driver miss), so I flipped the gravity core up to raise the center of gravity. Immediately, the Alpha felt really, really solid at impact, and the ball just seemed to carry forever. I did not have a LM with me, but I was hitting spots on the range that I just don't usually hit. It was pretty fun to watch.
The Alpha is pretty forgiving, but it still requires a decent swing. I was struggling with my swing a little today (cold/wind didn't help), and really bad swings caused a nasty toe hook. But, generally speaking, a moderately good swing would get a nice result. A good swing would get a mashed drive.
I may lower the loft back to 9* and compare the ball flight. The drives at 10* seemed pretty high although I would take them as long as there was some roll out.
After my time spent with the BB and the BB Alpha today I am wondering if I made the wrong choice for #TheKing. The Alpha was longer and has a feel that is more to my liking, and I saw nothing to make me think its less forgiving than the BB by any significant margin.
I imagine that if my swing was off the BB would be less punishing, but maybe not.
The stock stiff shaft in the Alpha is really nice and I was certainly surprised at the feel and the numbers it gave.
Callaway has some great products on their hands here, no doubt.
I imagine that if my swing was off the BB would be less punishing, but maybe not.
The stock stiff shaft in the Alpha is really nice and I was certainly surprised at the feel and the numbers it gave.
Callaway has some great products on their hands here, no doubt.
ATLGolfer
#ATLClive75
My impression is that the BB is more forgiving than the Alpha. I had some pretty bad swings with the BB that still produced some very nice results.
I think I hit the Alpha a little further, and I prefer the look of it a little more at address. But, I think the BB is a very nice driver that makes it incredibly easy to mash golf balls.
I had pretty much written off the Alpha in favor of the Bertha (regular), until today.
Hitting this with the gravity core up, set to 11*, had me grinning. JB had the gravity core down, and I hit a few with it and thought it was a decent setup, but then I popped out the core and switched, and talk about a night and day difference.
Marketed as a low spin driver, I did not expect it to be what I was looking for. However, changing the CG on this one made all the difference in the world to me. I hit some balls today on the range that I thought were some of the longest that I have EVER hit. And... straight. yeah, straight.
I was impressed.
Hitting this with the gravity core up, set to 11*, had me grinning. JB had the gravity core down, and I hit a few with it and thought it was a decent setup, but then I popped out the core and switched, and talk about a night and day difference.
Marketed as a low spin driver, I did not expect it to be what I was looking for. However, changing the CG on this one made all the difference in the world to me. I hit some balls today on the range that I thought were some of the longest that I have EVER hit. And... straight. yeah, straight.
I was impressed.
ATLGolfer
#ATLClive75
A lot of the discussion concerning the gravity core focused on the amount of spin. It's important, because it clearly changes the spin rate independently of everything else.
With that said, changing the gravity core also seems to change the sweet spot. Normally, I would think that the gravity core down would help my swing more. But, flipping it up today seemed to raise the sweet spot right to where I was hitting the driver. It was a pretty amazing thing to experience.
With that said, changing the gravity core also seems to change the sweet spot. Normally, I would think that the gravity core down would help my swing more. But, flipping it up today seemed to raise the sweet spot right to where I was hitting the driver. It was a pretty amazing thing to experience.
My thoughts exactly.
sparksjr
Active member
To my simple mind, this is the game changer.
kc720
Active member
I need the 10.5° and I cant wait until 4/1
mikedean441
6X HOF
Didn't u just get or will be getting the bb?
kc720
Active member
Got the bb. I needs the alpha too lol
Had my first range session today. Took a bit to get used to the feel, coming from the G25 that is audibly louder and clangor if that makes sense. The Alpha has a much more muted feel that one might mistake as soft, but the results were anything but. I am also coming back to stiff shafts from the TFC Tour X flex and I could feel the difference, but I was OK with it. I think I am liking it in the 11* position right now, but I think I will settle back down to 10* once I get grooved. The Fubuki shaft feels powerful and I am enjoying the results so far. I will have my first round tomorrow with it.
Spent two hours today with the SLDR, Alpha, and my G25. The Alpha and the SLDR dropped my spin numbers by an average of 800 and gave me about 7 yards of carry and 15 yards of "simulated" roll out (that's 24 yards total).
The G25 is staying in my bag as my go to fairway finder but I'm trying to figure out what to do with my summer time gamer. It's down to the SLDR 12* (set to 11* + Fade) with the Motore Speeder 7.2x or Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 9* (set to 11* N) Fubuki ZTx.
I'm going to wait to pull the trigger till April when Callaway ships the 10.5* Alpha. Would like to try that out and get a shot at a 70x version of the Fubuki shaft.
The G25 is staying in my bag as my go to fairway finder but I'm trying to figure out what to do with my summer time gamer. It's down to the SLDR 12* (set to 11* + Fade) with the Motore Speeder 7.2x or Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 9* (set to 11* N) Fubuki ZTx.
I'm going to wait to pull the trigger till April when Callaway ships the 10.5* Alpha. Would like to try that out and get a shot at a 70x version of the Fubuki shaft.
I had my first 18 today with the Alpha and it is even more impressive outside then it was in the sim.
The feel takes some getting used to, its not bad, but coming from a all titanium driver I was not familiar with the more muted feel and sound that the composite crown creates. It sets up to the ball well. much deeper than the G25 it replaced but still looks compact for its size. I played it at 11* with the core up as i hit the ball higher on the face typically. The feel from the Fubuki ZT shaft is something to get used to as well, as I have been using the TFC 189D Tour X in my G25. It didn't feel noodlely, but certainly more reactive to my swing. I hit some monsters, at least 3 drives were 280-290. After a few holes, I settled in and made some adjustments and changed the weights to 5G in the toe, 3 in the heel and I found the sweet spot, light fade and strong with the ball flight.
This club is amazing and I know the MSRP produces some sticker shock, but confidence is something I would pay for and this thing brings it in spades.
The feel takes some getting used to, its not bad, but coming from a all titanium driver I was not familiar with the more muted feel and sound that the composite crown creates. It sets up to the ball well. much deeper than the G25 it replaced but still looks compact for its size. I played it at 11* with the core up as i hit the ball higher on the face typically. The feel from the Fubuki ZT shaft is something to get used to as well, as I have been using the TFC 189D Tour X in my G25. It didn't feel noodlely, but certainly more reactive to my swing. I hit some monsters, at least 3 drives were 280-290. After a few holes, I settled in and made some adjustments and changed the weights to 5G in the toe, 3 in the heel and I found the sweet spot, light fade and strong with the ball flight.
This club is amazing and I know the MSRP produces some sticker shock, but confidence is something I would pay for and this thing brings it in spades.
I'm following your Alpha posts closely since you are also coming from a G25 too. I agree on what you say about the shaft, in the sim the Stiff dispersion was pretty good for me but I would constantly lay off it at the top and end up hitting a block. When I went to the X-Flex of the ZT it actually feels "responsive" like the Stiff but I felt I could go after it a touch more from the top. Compared to the 'ahina I play the ZT feels pretty close, touch softer, but coming into the ball the load feels right in my hands.
Excited to here how it holds up for you over time.
I'm purposely trying to develop a more balanced swing and avoiding the X Flex in anything right now. I think the stiff ZT hold up well if your in the 100-105mph range. I can jump on it and not worry about overloading it.
Balanced swing is good to have. I've been working with the orange whip for a while to smooth out my transition. I'm in the 110+ and usually go between S and X depending on the manufacture. Aldila I'm normally Stiff, Mitsubishi I pretty much stay in the X. Fujikura I'm all over the place depending on shaft.
sf_loft
Member
Picked up mines yesterday and in a couple of hours will be my first round with them. Will give an update on how it performs, but it looked good on the range yesterday. The only thing I don't like about the driver is the obnoxiously loud head cover and I had to replace it with something more discreet.