Callaway Releases Big Bertha B21 Driver

Finally broke the ice and gave the bb21 a run today. I ill go out on a limb and agree with jman. This thing is a bit of a unicorn type driver. I was not convinced that it was all the hype people had been raving about. I am not sure it is a driver for me. What i will say its easy to hit and does provide some help to the big ole cut swing. It was a little high spin and high ball flight for me but overall super straight. If I could get the launch and spin down and get a flatter trajectory then this thing is money. Not sure though changing the shaft out would have a big enough effect and get me the launch conditions i would like. I hit the stock shaft RCH55 in stiff flex with the 9 degree head in the neutral standard setting. It gave me some reasonabale carry yards with no roll out as the ball was landing from high trajectory with spin. In all honesty though i drive the ball exceptionally straight with this driver and giving up some yards due to launch and spin is not as bad as it seems. I would rather be 20 yards shorter but find a bunch more fairways. This thing is going to get a few more rounds to get a wider evaluation point. Its has me curious as to how it would stack up against the Ping G425 SFT. Anyone compared the two yet?
 
Finally broke the ice and gave the bb21 a run today. I ill go out on a limb and agree with jman. This thing is a bit of a unicorn type driver. I was not convinced that it was all the hype people had been raving about. I am not sure it is a driver for me. What i will say its easy to hit and does provide some help to the big ole cut swing. It was a little high spin and high ball flight for me but overall super straight. If I could get the launch and spin down and get a flatter trajectory then this thing is money. Not sure though changing the shaft out would have a big enough effect and get me the launch conditions i would like. I hit the stock shaft RCH55 in stiff flex with the 9 degree head in the neutral standard setting. It gave me some reasonabale carry yards with no roll out as the ball was landing from high trajectory with spin. In all honesty though i drive the ball exceptionally straight with this driver and giving up some yards due to launch and spin is not as bad as it seems. I would rather be 20 yards shorter but find a bunch more fairways. This thing is going to get a few more rounds to get a wider evaluation point. Its has me curious as to how it would stack up against the Ping G425 SFT. Anyone compared the two yet?
By design this is a pretty darn low spin head, so if you are getting large amounts of spin, you will not see a reduction in a head (425 SFT) that is designed to spin a little bit more. I have the differences at about 400-600 rpms higher with the SFT.
 
I put the B21 up against a Tsi2 and it was really not even a competition. Both at 9* and I struggled to get the Tsi2 airborne. B21 was hitting long, high bombs. I think if I upped it to a 10 or 11 Tsi2, with a different profile than the Hzrdus Black, maybe the Tsi would shine. Not really worth it, in my opinion. The B21-Rogue White combo is pretty much perfect for my swing. I may still experiment with some other shafts to squeeze out a little more performance, but it's pretty much glued to the bag at this point.
 
Think I'm going to get the opportunity soon to test out the B-21 in a RCH 55 R shaft vs. my current gamer, a RADSPEED XB with a Ventus Blue 6-R (Velicore) shaft. I've hit the B-21 before and was impressed, but I haven't done a serious comparison between the two yet - looking forward to hitting some range balls and seeing what happens. Might even be able to take both out for a round next week.
 
By design this is a pretty darn low spin head, so if you are getting large amounts of spin, you will not see a reduction in a head (425 SFT) that is designed to spin a little bit more. I have the differences at about 400-600 rpms higher with the SFT.
Sorry let me clarify. I am not saying the spin numbers are through the roof they appear on first test to be a little on the high side as the ball tends to flight quite high and falls with no virtually no run out. I typically use around the 65 gram weight shaft in x flex. Swing speed with the driver for me is around the 110 mark. My guess would be without going on a monitor would be around the 2700 spin mark. I would love to get it with the same type of flight around the 2k mark. I am tempted to try the RCH 65 shaft and see if that helps and take a degree of loft off as well. I think the degree of loft off and a 10 gram heavier shaft my just be enough to get it into that goldilocks spin and launch window. thoughts? I was only asking about the Ping G425 SFT as it is marketed as a anti slice/ most help for that shot shape club. 400-600 RPM is a lot really if both heads were the same loft. i could see ppl getting a spin difference of 400 rpm due to a degree or more of loft. Still I am a little shocked that the Ping would spin that much more. i guess the more back spin the less side spin so to speak wold help reduce curvature. Now I wish I had of tried this driver earlier as from what I have seen so far this thing may be a keeper.
 
So I finally got a chance to test out the B-21 vs. my current RADSPEED XB on the range. Hit about 100-110 balls, and definitely came away with a few impressions:

Current Driver: Peacoat RADSPEED XB 10.5 with Ventus Blue 6-R (Velocore) shaft
Test Driver: Big Bertha B-21 10.5 with RCH 55 R shaft
About Me: High handicap golfer (shoots in the 90's) who has a slower swing speed (80-85 mph) in order to maintain control through the swing. Avg. drive = 200-225 yards.

LOOKS
I personally think the dark blue driver head for both drivers look amazing. I prefer the Ventus blue shaft pairing with the blue head for looks, but if I'm going by stock shafts, I think they are just about even. Headcover-wise, I prefer the way the Cobra RADSPEED one looks (I can't stand the cheap-looking [to me] chrome/reflective parts of the Big Bertha headcover), but the BB headcover fits waaay better, so it's pretty much even.

SOUND
They both have a medium, crisp sound to my ears, but the B-21 was the clear winner here - it just sounded better on just about all strikes, good or bad.

FEEL/IMPACT
I'm not even close to an expert on this stuff, but I preferred the way the B-21 felt on impact. Hard to describe, but definitely B-21 was the winner here for me.

DRIVING RESULTS
So I went into this having read all about how the B-21 is a unicorn, but I also know I'm driving the ball the best I ever have with the RADSPEED XB this year, so I was excited to see what would happen. I started off hitting about 10 balls for each driver, and I could easily and immediately tell the difference in weight and the active tip that the RCH shaft has. The B-21 definitely felt lighter to swing, which actually messed me up a bit initially because I'm so used to swinging the RADSPEED XB with the Ventus shaft, which is a little heavier. After about 30 balls for each, though, a clear pattern began to emerge, and I ended up hitting more of one driver then the other because I was enjoying it so much. In what probably won't be all that much of a surprise to people who have already reviewed this club, in the end the B-21 was a decisive winner for me.

When I put a good swing on the RADSPEED XB, distance-wise and direction-wise, it held it's own against the B-21. However, its when I had decent or sometimes even bad swings where the B-21 really came through. The vast majority of drives I hit today with the B-21 were either straight or close enough, and the distance was phenomenal - even on mediocre swings. In fact, I hit what looked to be some the longest drives I've ever hit at my local range, and that's with crappy range balls and someone who is still very much a beginner when it comes to driving. Can I slice this thing? Yes - I hit about 3-4 balls pretty far right. If anything, though, my misses became semi-big pulls to the left, which frankly happened at the very end when I was getting tired. Additionally, the ball flight was consistently where I want it to be - not too high but also not too low. One of the things I struggle with in using my RADSPEED XB is that each round I tend to hit a few really high, spinny drives that might stay in the fairway but can fade pretty badly and also don't go very far. I had maybe 1 or 2 of those with the B-21 during the entire range session, and even then the fade was really slight. The vast majority of my B-21 drives had a lower trajectory but often greater distance compared to my RADSPEED XB drives.

The one thing that really made me smile when using this driver was that as I hit more balls, I kept getting the same results - mostly straight, great distance shots even if I didn't have the best swing. Typically, the longer my driving session goes, the worse I get, but right up until the very end I was just getting the same result over and over and over again, unless I did something really stupid. Based on some of the ball impact marks I saw, some of the drives I hit with the B-21 had no business going straight, let alone pretty far, but that's what consistently happened.

CONCLUSION
I know I'm late to the B-21 party, but count me as a fan. I knew this could be good for me but I really didn't expect to like it as much as I do, or see the results that I did, right out of the box. I'm scheduled for 9 holes tomorrow night and 18 Thursday, so I'll be gaming the B-21 both times to see how things shake out. Really appreciate all the feedback everyone left before, as it definitely inspired me to give this a try!
 
So I finally got a chance to test out the B-21 vs. my current RADSPEED XB on the range. Hit about 100-110 balls, and definitely came away with a few impressions:

Current Driver: Peacoat RADSPEED XB 10.5 with Ventus Blue 6-R (Velocore) shaft
Test Driver: Big Bertha B-21 10.5 with RCH 55 R shaft
About Me: High handicap golfer (shoots in the 90's) who has a slower swing speed (80-85 mph) in order to maintain control through the swing. Avg. drive = 200-225 yards.

LOOKS
I personally think the dark blue driver head for both drivers look amazing. I prefer the Ventus blue shaft pairing with the blue head for looks, but if I'm going by stock shafts, I think they are just about even. Headcover-wise, I prefer the way the Cobra RADSPEED one looks (I can't stand the cheap-looking [to me] chrome/reflective parts of the Big Bertha headcover), but the BB headcover fits waaay better, so it's pretty much even.

SOUND
They both have a medium, crisp sound to my ears, but the B-21 was the clear winner here - it just sounded better on just about all strikes, good or bad.

FEEL/IMPACT
I'm not even close to an expert on this stuff, but I preferred the way the B-21 felt on impact. Hard to describe, but definitely B-21 was the winner here for me.

DRIVING RESULTS
So I went into this having read all about how the B-21 is a unicorn, but I also know I'm driving the ball the best I ever have with the RADSPEED XB this year, so I was excited to see what would happen. I started off hitting about 10 balls for each driver, and I could easily and immediately tell the difference in weight and the active tip that the RCH shaft has. The B-21 definitely felt lighter to swing, which actually messed me up a bit initially because I'm so used to swinging the RADSPEED XB with the Ventus shaft, which is a little heavier. After about 30 balls for each, though, a clear pattern began to emerge, and I ended up hitting more of one driver then the other because I was enjoying it so much. In what probably won't be all that much of a surprise to people who have already reviewed this club, in the end the B-21 was a decisive winner for me.

When I put a good swing on the RADSPEED XB, distance-wise and direction-wise, it held it's own against the B-21. However, its when I had decent or sometimes even bad swings where the B-21 really came through. The vast majority of drives I hit today with the B-21 were either straight or close enough, and the distance was phenomenal - even on mediocre swings. In fact, I hit what looked to be some the longest drives I've ever hit at my local range, and that's with crappy range balls and someone who is still very much a beginner when it comes to driving. Can I slice this thing? Yes - I hit about 3-4 balls pretty far right. If anything, though, my misses became semi-big pulls to the left, which frankly happened at the very end when I was getting tired. Additionally, the ball flight was consistently where I want it to be - not too high but also not too low. One of the things I struggle with in using my RADSPEED XB is that each round I tend to hit a few really high, spinny drives that might stay in the fairway but can fade pretty badly and also don't go very far. I had maybe 1 or 2 of those with the B-21 during the entire range session, and even then the fade was really slight. The vast majority of my B-21 drives had a lower trajectory but often greater distance compared to my RADSPEED XB drives.

The one thing that really made me smile when using this driver was that as I hit more balls, I kept getting the same results - mostly straight, great distance shots even if I didn't have the best swing. Typically, the longer my driving session goes, the worse I get, but right up until the very end I was just getting the same result over and over and over again, unless I did something really stupid. Based on some of the ball impacts marks I saw, some of the drives I hit had no business going straight, let alone pretty far, but that's what consistently happened.

CONCLUSION
I know I'm late to the B-21 party, but count me as a fan. I knew this could be good for me but I really didn't expect to like it as much as I do, or see the results that I did, right out of the box. I'm scheduled for 9 holes tomorrow night and 18 Thursday, so I'll be gaming the B-21 both times to see how things shake out. Really appreciate all the feedback everyone left before, as it definitely inspired me to give this a try!
Looking forward to your continued thoughts. Good stuff so far.
 
The B21 will get its second run tonight in a SIM league game. It will be interesting to see if my course results flow into the SIM game. I will try and get some numbers and see if my original thoughts match up up with actual numbers.
 
Looking forward to your continued thoughts. Good stuff so far.

Thanks a ton @JB!

So I was able to take the B-21 out for a spin earlier today - started on the back nine and got in 15 holes before sunset. I was super excited to try out the new driver...and slightly less excited to chunk 3 straight drives way left into OOB territory :cry:. I was by myself, and no one was within three holes of me, so I took a deep breath, tried to relax...and smashed a 240 yard drive straight down the fairway. After that, things quickly got on track (this is probably a sign I should warm up before rounds). Here are my additional thoughts:

- I am really enjoying the feel and sound of this driver. Definitely one of the better sounding drivers I've used or seen used during my rounds.

- If I can put at least a halfway decent swing, this beauty definitely performs. After my rough start on 10, I was able to hit great drives on the next four par 4/par 5 holes. My nemesis hole is the par 5 13th, where there is sand to the right that creeps just enough towards the middle that even a slight fade ends up in a bunker. Can't go too far left, though, because there's water. Trusting I could hit the B-21 straight, I aimed a little left of center...and hit a 240ish yard drive exactly where I was aiming, right on the left edge of the fairway and past those stupid bunkers. That great drive allowed me to try and cut the corner over the water with my 3h...and wouldn't you know, I'm 10 ft. off the green in two! A chip, a putt, and one birdie later, I was well on my way to declaring this the best driver ever.

- With that said, something others have mentioned in this thread definitely holds true - this club will not cure your swing, and if you swing bad enough, the results will not be pretty. My great driving fell apart on 18, where I saw my first high spinny, sharp fade drive of the day. I was unable to get the driver going the rest of the way playing the front nine, struggling to make even decent contact or ending up with multiple drives off to the right. For my bad drives, I would say 90% was a result of just poor swings and 10% was because I was still getting used to the different feel of the RCH 55 R shaft compared to my heaver, stiffer Ventus Blue 6-R/RADSPEED XB combo. I'm up for another golf lesson soon, and I definitely will be working with my instructor to see if he can help me figure out better swing mechanics. I'm wondering if maybe I should go with a 65 shaft, but I can discuss that with the local fitter - in the past he's generally recommended a shaft in the middle in terms of weight and in regular flex, so we shall see. I really think I just need to get more comfortable swinging a lighter club and working on my mechanics.

- Compared to drives I've hit with my XB on these same holes, I'm a little surprised to say that although the B-21 came out ahead most of the time, it wasn't as big of a jump as I would have guessed. I've hit drives just about as far (if not farther) with the XB as I did today with the B-21, but I needed really great strikes to do so. A miss with the XB almost always results in a strong fade. With the B-21, even on more marginal strikes, I could easily see the ball fight to stay straight. That said, I definitely was able to get some pretty bad shots off to the right, but again I get those with my XB as well. Right now I'd wager that the B-21 is probably the better driver for me based on my current skill level, but I'm more comfortable hitting the XB at the moment (having hit it every round since March until now). Also, the XB is a darn good driver anyway.

- I remembered the RCH shaft has an active tip before teeing off, and then promptly forgot about it the entire round. For me it's not something that I noticed or that bothered me in anyway during my round.

- I miss the XB's Infinity Face - I much prefer that look to the B-21's, and it's much easier to tell precise ball impacts with the XB as well.

I'm scheduled to play 18 on Thursday, depending on weather and work schedule. If I do play I'll be gaming the B-21 again and I'll add any further thoughts if I have any.
 
Thanks a ton @JB!

So I was able to take the B-21 out for a spin earlier today - started on the back nine and got in 15 holes before sunset. I was super excited to try out the new driver...and slightly less excited to chunk 3 straight drives way left into OOB territory :cry:. I was by myself, and no one was within three holes of me, so I took a deep breath, tried to relax...and smashed a 240 yard drive straight down the fairway. After that, things quickly got on track (this is probably a sign I should warm up before rounds). Here are my additional thoughts:

- I am really enjoying the feel and sound of this driver. Definitely one of the better sounding drivers I've used or seen used during my rounds.

- If I can put at least a halfway decent swing, this beauty definitely performs. After my rough start on 10, I was able to hit great drives on the next four par 4/par 5 holes. My nemesis hole is the par 5 13th, where there is sand to the right that creeps just enough towards the middle that even a slight fade ends up in a bunker. Can't go too far left, though, because there's water. Trusting I could hit the B-21 straight, I aimed a little left of center...and hit a 240ish yard drive exactly where I was aiming, right on the left edge of the fairway and past those stupid bunkers. That great drive allowed me to try and cut the corner over the water with my 3h...and wouldn't you know, I'm 10 ft. off the green in two! A chip, a putt, and one birdie later, I was well on my way to declaring this the best driver ever.

- With that said, something others have mentioned in this thread definitely holds true - this club will not cure your swing, and if you swing bad enough, the results will not be pretty. My great driving fell apart on 18, where I saw my first high spinny, sharp fade drive of the day. I was unable to get the driver going the rest of the way playing the front nine, struggling to make even decent contact or ending up with multiple drives off to the right. For my bad drives, I would say 90% was a result of just poor swings and 10% was because I was still getting used to the different feel of the RCH 55 R shaft compared to my heaver, stiffer Ventus Blue 6-R/RADSPEED XB combo. I'm up for another golf lesson soon, and I definitely will be working with my instructor to see if he can help me figure out better swing mechanics. I'm wondering if maybe I should go with a 65 shaft, but I can discuss that with the local fitter - in the past he's generally recommended a shaft in the middle in terms of weight and in regular flex, so we shall see. I really think I just need to get more comfortable swinging a lighter club and working on my mechanics.

- Compared to drives I've hit with my XB on these same holes, I'm a little surprised to say that although the B-21 came out ahead most of the time, it wasn't as big of a jump as I would have guessed. I've hit drives just about as far (if not farther) with the XB as I did today with the B-21, but I needed really great strikes to do so. A miss with the XB almost always results in a strong fade. With the B-21, even on more marginal strikes, I could easily see the ball fight to stay straight. That said, I definitely was able to get some pretty bad shots off to the right, but again I get those with my XB as well. Right now I'd wager that the B-21 is probably the better driver for me based on my current skill level, but I'm more comfortable hitting the XB at the moment (having hit it every round since March until now). Also, the XB is a darn good driver anyway.

- I remembered the RCH shaft has an active tip before teeing off, and then promptly forgot about it the entire round. For me it's not something that I noticed or that bothered me in anyway during my round.

- I miss the XB's Infinity Face - I much prefer that look to the B-21's, and it's much easier to tell precise ball impacts with the XB as well.

I'm scheduled to play 18 on Thursday, depending on weather and work schedule. If I do play I'll be gaming the B-21 again and I'll add any further thoughts if I have any.

I have been getting similar results thus far with myB21 trial. I played last night in SIM league and the driver was solid. My original thoughts on spin being a smidge high was right. I was getting around the 2600 - 2800 range and the launch was very high on the SIM. Distance carry on the SIM seemed to be low compared to my Speedzone. But strangely enough on the course I was only say 10 yards behind a solid drive with the Speedzone. Anyway the straighter flight and more fairways is a big advantage over my current gamer and I feel over time will lead to better scores. The club for me in the stock setting does fly a little high but that is part of the design. So hard to criticise the club for doing what its is designed for. I may try dropping the loft a degree and trying the 65 gram shaft to see if that changes things a little launch and spin. I don't really want to mess with the club as its performing well in its current guise. I guess I am just being greedy and looking for more yards. Ideally I would like to see a little lower launch and spin. We are always chasing those elusive numbers to give us optimum distance. I have also been working with a coach to try and sort my driving out and I feel the combined work and this driver will improve my accuracy a lot. Hopefully we all will see continued driving improvement and these type of drivers will be in out rear view mirror soon enough.
 
I hit 12 of 14 fairways yesterday with the B21 and had the 4 longest drives of the season. Had a slight left to right ball flight.
 
Been struggling a lot with this one on the range all of a sudden - definitely need to have another lesson to figure out what I'm doing wrong. It's definitely me, though, because when I get a good swing with this, it goes straight and far. Still love the feel and sound.
 
I hit 12 of 14 fairways yesterday with the B21 and had the 4 longest drives of the season. Had a slight left to right ball flight.
That's great to hear John, was looking forward to seeing how you got on with this, looked to be the perfect driver for you.
 
That's great to hear John, was looking forward to seeing how you got on with this, looked to be the perfect driver for you.

It was yesterday. Long, for me and accurate. Very controlled fade. If you put a good swing on it, the results speak for themselves.

I’m still accurate with the Xtreme, but the ball flight and distance with the B21 are mind boggling to me. B21 is straighter, lower and longer. I hit 8 consecutive drives yesterday that were almost identical as to ball flight and distance.
 
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As long as I'm not lazy or the odd pull, this things a monster for me. Played with a guy yesterday and I hadn't played with in a while and he even commented on how well I was driving the ball.
 
As long as I'm not lazy or the odd pull, this things a monster for me. Played with a guy yesterday and I hadn't played with in a while and he even commented on how well I was driving the ball.

I had my best day yesterday with the driver in as long as I can remember.
 
This club is a very unique one and the amount of ppl it works for is amazing. I am shocked by this driver. One of the times when marketing hype is reality. It won't fix a shocking swing but it helps the minimising the damage the cut/ott swing causes. A guy I know ho isn't a slicer of the ball has one in play and he loves it with no issue with hooking the ball.
 
5 out of 7 fairways last night. Two misses were right and were about 3-5 feet off of fairway. That’s 17 of 21 fairways hit this week. And all 4 misses were in right rough and playable. Two of my drives last night were the longest drives I have hit on those holes in the 2 years I have been playing that course.
 
The B21 continues to be a great club for me. Just wrapped 72 holes in 48 hours, so had many swings with it. I discovered a swing flaw that no club could fix early during the 2nd 18 and it came to life nicely. When I put a halfway decent swing on it, this thing just wants to stay in play and I love it.
 
5 out of 7 fairways last night. Two misses were right and were about 3-5 feet off of fairway. That’s 17 of 21 fairways hit this week. And all 4 misses were in right rough and playable. Two of my drives last night were the longest drives I have hit on those holes in the 2 years I have been playing that course.

And 9 of 14 yesterday with three misses left and two misses right. The two misses right were wind affected. The three misses left were pulls, long, for me, and playable out of the rough.
 
I can’t keep posting here how wonderful this driver is, can I ? Had another good driving round last night - every drive in play. Misses are right but only a few yards off the fairway.
 
I can’t keep posting here how wonderful this driver is, can I ? Had another good driving round last night - every drive in play. Misses are right but only a few yards off the fairway.
You were the last one to post on here, so you get my question.
Can this driver be set to a square (not closed), or slightly open face angle? I need a new driver and this one is very interesting to me. But I don’t fight a slice at all. My stock shot is about a 15-25 yard draw off the tee. So the closed face is the only thing that is turning me off to it.
 
You were the last one to post on here, so you get my question.
Can this driver be set to a square (not closed), or slightly open face angle? I need a new driver and this one is very interesting to me. But I don’t fight a slice at all. My stock shot is about a 15-25 yard draw off the tee. So the closed face is the only thing that is turning me off to it.
To my eye, it sits pretty neutral at standard. If you want to open the face, you can buy a higher lofted head and set it down 1*, or get a quality builder to install a tour strong sleeve and loft it down 2* to really open it up.
 
To my eye, it sits pretty neutral at standard. If you want to open the face, you can buy a higher lofted head and set it down 1*, or get a quality builder to install a tour strong sleeve and loft it down 2* to really open it up.
I need to just check one out in person and get a store employee to let me set a 10.5 to 9.5 to see how it looks.
It just looked pretty closed to me on their website pics and the couple of YouTube reviews I’ve watched both mentioned it sitting closed at address. The numbers don’t lie, though. The whole face is hot and it flies high and straight no matter where on the face it’s hit, within reason.
 
You were the last one to post on here, so you get my question.
Can this driver be set to a square (not closed), or slightly open face angle? I need a new driver and this one is very interesting to me. But I don’t fight a slice at all. My stock shot is about a 15-25 yard draw off the tee. So the closed face is the only thing that is turning me off to it.

It’s adjustable to either a draw or neutral setting.
 
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