Callaway Releases Big Bertha B21 Driver

You are really selling me on it - I’ve got a gift card that can cover the expense so I want to try a fitting for it.

You should give it a whirl. I am not the target audience for this driver. I don’t have a slice that needs correction. I am a lower index. Nevertheless, something about it just works. I will tell you though, I tried four different shafts in it and it was when I plugged in the one I am using that this driver became so magical.
 
You should give it a whirl. I am not the target audience for this driver. I don’t have a slice that needs correction. I am a lower index. Nevertheless, something about it just works. I will tell you though, I tried four different shafts in it and it was when I plugged in the one I am using that this driver became so magical.
I’m really hoping that happens!
 
I will give one more example this evening of how well this driver works for me and then I will shut up. The course I played today has a lot of hills. Most people don’t walk it. I did. However, I usually have my electric push cart when I walk this course. Today, I did not, because I was Not planning to play today and did not charge the battery. So, I took my Click Gear 3 for the round.

There is a long walk from the 17th green to the tee box on 18 and there is a severe elevation change. It is an absolute bugger to push your cart up the hill. I was feeling it when I got to the tee box. I was sitting at one over for the round. If I parred 18, it would be a personal best for this course, but 18 is a 445 yard par 4. It is a tough hole. I was just hoping to give myself a chance and tried to put a good, smooth swing on the ball. Low and behold, I hit a 300 plus yard drive, in the fairway, leaving me a perfect pitching wedge to the flag stick. I two putted and walked away very happy. I just don’t see that happening with other drivers when I am that fatigued. This one is just so forgiving. It truly keeps the spin down on poor passes at the ball, as @Jman says over and over. When you know that you are not going to have a wild miss, your confidence results in making more aggressive swings and good things happen.
 
Once I put a very tip stiff shaft in it, it is just an absolute monster, but yet I am hitting a ton of fairways.
What exact shaft did you put on it?

Wow, I wish we were not at the end of the season.
I know that feeling. Being new, I'm discovering something new nearly every time I play, which then makes me anxious to play again :)
 
What exact shaft did you put on it?

Graphite Design Tour AD GP 6 Stiff. It is a unique profile. Many do not like it. When I am driving the ball well, I don’t think there is another shaft that I have ever used that seems to flatten out my ball flight like this one does.
 
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I would love to try an Hzrdus Green Hulk in this head. Hmm... I have one.
 
I will give one more example this evening of how well this driver works for me and then I will shut up. The course I played today has a lot of hills. Most people don’t walk it. I did. However, I usually have my electric push cart when I walk this course. Today, I did not, because I was Not planning to play today and did not charge the battery. So, I took my Click Gear 3 for the round.

There is a long walk from the 17th green to the tee box on 18 and there is a severe elevation change. It is an absolute bugger to push your cart up the hill. I was feeling it when I got to the tee box. I was sitting at one over for the round. If I parred 18, it would be a personal best for this course, but 18 is a 445 yard par 4. It is a tough hole. I was just hoping to give myself a chance and tried to put a good, smooth swing on the ball. Low and behold, I hit a 300 plus yard drive, in the fairway, leaving me a perfect pitching wedge to the flag stick. I two putted and walked away very happy. I just don’t see that happening with other drivers when I am that fatigued. This one is just so forgiving. It truly keeps the spin down on poor passes at the ball, as @Jman says over and over. When you know that you are not going to have a wild miss, your confidence results in making more aggressive swings and good things happen.
🔥🔥🔥🔥
 
I'm a little surprised at how many folks are going with a different shaft than the stock RCH shaft. I thought the RCH was designed specifically for this club head made to optimize that particular head? For those of you who did swap it out, was it because it wasn't working for you or just because it's your nature to tinker until you get a driver feeling perfectly dialed in?
 
I'm a little surprised at how many folks are going with a different shaft than the stock RCH shaft. I thought the RCH was designed specifically for this club head made to optimize that particular head? For those of you who did swap it out, was it because it wasn't working for you or just because it's your nature to tinker until you get a driver feeling perfectly dialed in?
My sample size is small.

I’m not a technical shaft guy, can’t tell you about load or this or that. I know if something subjectively feels good. I can tell if a shaft is more active in a tip or stiff in the butt. That’s about it.

I liked the RCH. It felt great. I was on an outdoor Trackman set up so I could see the ball fly then turn and correlate it to numbers. My spin numbers were too high with the stock setup so we started adjusting. But that’s me and my swing on that day. I suspect the vast majority of people would react favorably to the shaft.

(My guess is maybe I am not squarely in the sweet spot for this driver so adjustments were needed to optimize it for me)
 
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I'm a little surprised at how many folks are going with a different shaft than the stock RCH shaft. I thought the RCH was designed specifically for this club head made to optimize that particular head? For those of you who did swap it out, was it because it wasn't working for you or just because it's your nature to tinker until you get a driver feeling perfectly dialed in?
I believe that Callaway designed the RCH shaft for the BB21, but the target player is a mid to high index who struggles with a left to right (slice). My sense is that the RCH shaft is not very tip stiff, which would benefit the targeted player. The BB21 head is also pretty high launch, another thing that I don’t need.

I don’t struggle with slices. The shaft that is working for me has really tightened down the dispersion. It also launches low for my swing, which makes the BB21 an uber forgiving, fairly low spin driver that pretty much takes away my concern of leaving it right. I had intended to try the shaft I am using from the moment I first swung the driver at the store. I happened to have one with a Callaway adapter, so it was no big deal.
 
This is where I disagree though..
I’m not a mid to high handicapper. I can pretty much pick up any club and hit the damn thing. Towards the very beginning I made a comment here on THP saying I hope people don’t think this is a “beginners” club or a high handicappers club. It’s not. Anyone can play this club. Is the shaft correct? Maybe not for everyone. But I truly believe most decent players can pick up a club and adjust to what’s needed for the clubs specifics. Is that good for everyone, no. Most don’t like to make adjustments needed for a club. That’s fine.
The B21 series is a forgiving lineup I want to take advantage of. If that means tweeking a few things, I’m fine with that. If you hand me a fairway finder that’s geared towards a 36 handicapper I’ll play it all day long..
One of the best things this lineup has done is get me out of the I gotta have a “players” “tours” looking, feeling, blah blah blah club, no I don’t need that. Regardless my handicap I want and need something that’s easy to hit!
 
This is where I disagree though..
I’m not a mid to high handicapper. I can pretty much pick up any club and hit the damn thing. Towards the very beginning I made a comment here on THP saying I hope people don’t think this is a “beginners” club or a high handicappers club. It’s not. Anyone can play this club. Is the shaft correct? Maybe not for everyone. But I truly believe most decent players can pick up a club and adjust to what’s needed for the clubs specifics. Is that good for everyone, no. Most don’t like to make adjustments needed for a club. That’s fine.
The B21 series is a forgiving lineup I want to take advantage of. If that means tweeking a few things, I’m fine with that. If you hand me a fairway finder that’s geared towards a 36 handicapper I’ll play it all day long..
One of the best things this lineup has done is get me out of the I gotta have a “players” “tours” looking, feeling, blah blah blah club, no I don’t need that. Regardless my handicap I want and need something that’s easy to hit!
What specifically are you disagreeing with?
 
What specifically are you disagreeing with?
but the target player is a mid to high index who struggles with a left to right (slice)
 
Thanks to Captain @McLovin I have a B21 driver inbound to test out. Should be here around Thursday and will be able to get on course Sunday. Looking forward to trying this one out.
 
but the target player is a mid to high index who struggles with a left to right (slice)

This is Callaway’s own promotional language from its website:

”And to help eliminate your slice or big miss, we’ve created our first high launch driver with an ultra-low forward CG for low spin.“

”Built to improve your launch angles, and stop your slice.”

Those words sound like the company is targeting a player who struggles with a slice. Just for fun, I used Callaway’s online driver selector tool and input 15 handicap, 245 yard average drive, low trajectory and below average accuracy. The recommended driver was B21, followed by Mav Max, followed by Mav.

All of this, in addition to the clever ad created by Callaway and very much discussed and enjoyed here on the forum (“Your slice is not your swing”), tells me that the target audience definitely is a mid to high index who struggles with a slice.

The magic of this driver is that it is definitely working great for players who are not within that target, at least from feedback here on the forum, and my own extremely pleasing experience.
 
I believe that Callaway designed the RCH shaft for the BB21, but the target player is a mid to high index who struggles with a left to right (slice). My sense is that the RCH shaft is not very tip stiff, which would benefit the targeted player. The BB21 head is also pretty high launch, another thing that I don’t need.

I don’t struggle with slices. The shaft that is working for me has really tightened down the dispersion. It also launches low for my swing, which makes the BB21 an uber forgiving, fairly low spin driver that pretty much takes away my concern of leaving it right. I had intended to try the shaft I am using from the moment I first swung the driver at the store. I happened to have one with a Callaway adapter, so it was no big deal.
Most golfers in the mid-to-high handicap range don't have the knowledge, time, resources, and especially money to go changing out shafts like a guessing game. To have several shafts and a brand new B21 driver head you're talkin $1,000. Is this really how Callaway is targeting?
 
Has anyone tried the Big Bertha Reva? It's supposed to be designed specifically for women golfers. Local PGASS doesn't have one to test.
 
Most golfers in the mid-to-high handicap range don't have the knowledge, time, resources, and especially money to go changing out shafts like a guessing game. To have several shafts and a brand new B21 driver head you're talkin $1,000. Is this really how Callaway is targeting?
No. Where did I suggest that Callaway was targeting anybody who has several shafts? I have continued to maintain that the B21 was intended for the average golfer who fights a right to left miss and that the RCH is a good stock shaft for that profile of player. What I also have said is that, happily and surprisingly, the driver also is sort of a unicorn for certain other players. I am one of them. I have a Mavrik Sub Zero. Callaway’s fitting tool puts me into a Sub Zero. The Sub Zero is a great driver and I like it, but it is not doing for me what the B21 is in terms of on course performance. It has been a very happy surprise.
 
Most golfers in the mid-to-high handicap range don't have the knowledge, time, resources, and especially money to go changing out shafts like a guessing game. To have several shafts and a brand new B21 driver head you're talkin $1,000. Is this really how Callaway is targeting?

I also may actually quibble with you about whether “most golfers in the mid-to-high handicap range don’t have the ... time, resources and ... money” to experiment with shafts and equipment. Certainly the vast majority of all golfers are not like those here on the forum, but I know of quite a few people who love the game and go through clubs and equipment like crazy, but are middle of the road players. People all choose their hobbies and they don’t all gravitate to the hobbies where they excel, relative to others.

All of that being said, the beauty about the B21, is that there are a lot of golfers who could go pick one off the rack with a stock shaft and have a wonderful experience.
 
Has anyone tried the Big Bertha Reva? It's supposed to be designed specifically for women golfers. Local PGASS doesn't have one to test.
We did a fun live stream on the Reva with Callaway.!!
 
This is Callaway’s own promotional language from its website:

”And to help eliminate your slice or big miss, we’ve created our first high launch driver with an ultra-low forward CG for low spin.“

”Built to improve your launch angles, and stop your slice.”

Those words sound like the company is targeting a player who struggles with a slice. Just for fun, I used Callaway’s online driver selector tool and input 15 handicap, 245 yard average drive, low trajectory and below average accuracy. The recommended driver was B21, followed by Mav Max, followed by Mav.

All of this, in addition to the clever ad created by Callaway and very much discussed and enjoyed here on the forum (“Your slice is not your swing”), tells me that the target audience definitely is a mid to high index who struggles with a slice.

The magic of this driver is that it is definitely working great for players who are not within that target, at least from feedback here on the forum, and my own extremely pleasing experience.
You said mid to high index.
A 0-10 can struggle with a slice also and still play it.
I understand Callaway’s stance on this club as being a driver made to help that big miss as their saying.
Your categorizing this club 2 ways.
I‘m saying any handicapper can play this club.
 
Yeah I don’t agree with the shaft thing either with high handicappers.
I know a ton of $hitty golfers with a ton of money that will spend thousands of dollars to get the clubs they think they need. I’m baffled by it but whatever you do you you spend your money not my problem.
 
You said mid to high index.
A 0-10 can struggle with a slice also and still play it.
I understand Callaway’s stance on this club as being a driver made to help that big miss as their saying.
Your categorizing this club 2 ways.
I‘m saying any handicapper can play this club.

I agree that anybody can play it. Hey, I am saying it is transformative to my own game. I am gushing over it and I am not a mid to high capper. Who the company is targeting to be the primary consumer of this offering and who can successfully use it are quite different questions and have different answers. I think it is really cool, though, that this can be a unicorn piece of equipment in certain hands.
 
Yeah I don’t agree with the shaft thing either with high handicappers.
I know a ton of $hitty golfers with a ton of money that will spend thousands of dollars to get the clubs they think they need. I’m baffled by it but whatever you do you you spend your money not my problem.
Yep, We all get to spend our discretionary dollars the way we want to and in a manner that is fun. I know that I have spent a lot of money on equipment that many people would deem as wasted. Others spend it on watches or handbags or firearms. It’s all good.
 
Just for grins I quickly demo'd a B21 driver when I was over at my favorite LGS picking up a couple boxes of balls, yesterday. Was a waste of time, other than getting to hit a small bucket for free, as I was well out of my groove and not swinging/hitting well at all. The times I did fire correctly, though, it didn't seem to do anything for me my X2 Hot doesn't.

I'm going over there this morning to hit a bucket. If I've my groove on, maybe I'll ask to demo it again.

I wish somebody with whom I golf had one of these. The time to test it is when I'm clicking, and, right now, that's somewhat highly variable
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This, btw, speaks directly to @TCB2010's point: I'm not going to go out spending $100's or $1000's on equipment expecting it'll magically fix my swing flaws. Yes, there are clubs I bought because: 1. The club I had I just knew was not working for me and, 2. I demo'd replacements in which I had what I felt to be reasonable confidence would work well for me. So far, in three-and-one-half-out-of-four such purchases, I got it right. (The one half is doubt about whether the 58° CBX is going to work for me out of bunkers. Same problem there as with the B21, yesterday, really. Then again: We're talking $60 as opposed to $500+.)
 
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