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Callaway Epic Speed and Epic Max Drivers and Fairway Woods

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SuperStroke
I had a lesson to go over driver on Wednesday, and I played 9 holes yesterday. I only used driver twice, but both were well struck.

First was on a dogleg left par 5, and I hit a draw and left myself 190 yards to the center of the green.

Second was a slight dogleg left par 4 where my drive didn't quite draw enough to miss tree branches hanging over the right side of the fairway. It hit the branches and dropped straight down, but it still left 120 yards to the center of the green. Those branches were at least 50 feet in the air, so that drive would have left me with an easy Sand Wedge if it hadn't hit the branches. Next time.
 
Epic speed was a good performer today. I’m not long averaging 230-240 off the tee but I hit 12 FIR
The 2 I missed where just bad lazy swings I sliced but let in play.
 
Snickerdog said:
Epic speed was a good performer today. I’m not long averaging 230-240 off the tee but I hit 12 FIR
The 2 I missed where just bad lazy swings I sliced but let in play.
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That’s great @Snickerdog, well I can say that my fairways hit are not as high as yours I’m usually just a couple yards off as my home course has many jogs here and there. One thing I can say is that my strokes loss to out of bounds or penalty areas is basically nonexistent these days. My Max LS is just so consistently in play and longggggg! It is just a very forgiving driver.
 
Snickerdog said:
Epic speed was a good performer today. I’m not long averaging 230-240 off the tee but I hit 12 FIR
The 2 I missed where just bad lazy swings I sliced but let in play.
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After reading how many fairways you hit, it was a blast to watch how consistent you are in person Mr. Fairway!
 
Today was the maiden voyage for my Epic Max LS 9* with Smoke Hzrdus S staff.

I played with my usual group on our home course. They typically have more length off the tee box and that's why I decided to buy this club. Happy to report, I was the long ball on several holes. New toy effect??? I had two pushes and one pull...the rest were down the middle. The impact feel is not my favorite. Jailbreak doing its thing? The distance is very impressive so I'll get over it quickly. I hit my farthest drives ever on two of the holes. That's a huge plus!

I'm going to see if our club pro will help with a shaft fitting. Smoke Hzrdus feels very stable but I'm working hard to get through the ball. Again, results are good but I need more comfort before the shot.
 
Snickerdog said:
Epic speed was a good performer today. I’m not long averaging 230-240 off the tee but I hit 12 FIR
The 2 I missed where just bad lazy swings I sliced but let in play.
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This description is similar to my game. Trying to stretch length to 250 but don't want to give up FIR %. The fairways at my home course are fairly generous and things get tougher as you approach the green.
 
Love the epic speed 💎💎💎 but would love to try the LS version at some point to compare.
 
Well I took a little adventure today to the LGS to take some swings with the EPIC line of drivers. Unfortunately I didn't have time to do a real deep dive since I was using a different shaft in each head, but surprisingly the winner for me wasn't an EPIC at all but a Mav Sub-Zero. I started with the Max LS and it was pretty good, but the spin numbers were still in the 3k - 3.5k range. Moved into the Speed for some swings and was still seeing the spin up there above 3k. The guy who was nice enough to set these up then mentioned he had a Mav Sub-Zero that might be good to hit and it definitely was for me. It easily had the best length (granted sim numbers) where I was routinely clearing 290 and had several over 305. I then took a few swings with the Standard Max version and I just didn't get along with that, backspin getting up over 4k at times. It just shows me how important it is to actually hit a club before buying, as honestly I might have just gone with the EPIC Max if I was in the market since its supposed to be the most forgiving. If I find myself with some more time I think I'd like to go in with my B21 and take a dozen or so swings with that and each head plugged into my LinQ shaft.

I will say that I definitely enjoyed the LS as well, and they all felt great to hit. Would be interested to see what the numbers looked like with my gamer shaft in there to see which one I actually wind up searching for next year to replace the B21.
 
I could hold out no longer...
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Man, I moved the weight back into the neutral position on my LS (I had it out close to the toe) and it has slightly changed the sound of the club. Really like it.

I also feel like I may be fighting the club when the weight is toe side, so moving it more neutral felt really good. Hit some screamers at the range.
 
Now that I have the RadSpeed XB figured out, I will be going back and forth more than likely between it and the Max LS. Both fantastic drivers!
 
How do you guys find the spin profile of the regular speed head to the mavrik? Ive really been working on my over the top move and made a lot of progress but I'm seeing really high spinny flight (no numbers, just observation). I played the rogue white in the mavrik and put that into my speed for league play last night. The dispersion was good but I was shorter than normal and definitely noticed higher launch than the smoke black RDX. I am much more inconsistent with the RDX so I probably need to get on a monitor and see what's happening. I do think the LS head would probably be the right fit for me now since I'm swinging quite different than my fitting for the speed in the spring.

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
 
Played a practice 9 and had a few swipes with the Max LS. This driver is definitely more forgiving than my std. Mavrik. I didn't see quite the same distances that I'm seeing out of the Mavrik, but 7 swings is a pretty small subset. On the range it felt like it was going pretty close to the same distance. I did mess with the weight a little, but left it in the center for the practice round. The MMT seems like a great stock combo with this head. I expected to have to loft up the 9˚ driver, but it's completely playable for me at 9˚ with the shafts I tried yesterday (MMT, Velocity & HZRDUS Yellow). Need to get some range time to really get this one dialed in. I was not a fan of the Mavrik Max at all, and this seems to be a decent compromise from that to the std. Mavrik or the Epic Speed.
 
I found Mavrik and Speed in the same brand shaft, just slightly different weight, to play similar except that Speed has slightly more draw bias. It may also flight higher - play the Speed adjusted to 8, hit the Mavrick adjusted to 9.5. At the same time, I am playing the Speed at D4, the Mavrik is a bit lighter. The above is a general conclusion, no numbers. I like them both.
 
rizzo269 said:
How do you guys find the spin profile of the regular speed head to the mavrik? Ive really been working on my over the top move and made a lot of progress but I'm seeing really high spinny flight (no numbers, just observation). I played the rogue white in the mavrik and put that into my speed for league play last night. The dispersion was good but I was shorter than normal and definitely noticed higher launch than the smoke black RDX. I am much more inconsistent with the RDX so I probably need to get on a monitor and see what's happening. I do think the LS head would probably be the right fit for me now since I'm swinging quite different than my fitting for the speed in the spring.

Sent from my SM-N986U1 using Tapatalk
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Definitely get in a monitor if you can. Trying different shafts could surely help
 
Desmond said:
I found Mavrik and Speed in the same brand shaft, just slightly different weight, to play similar except that Speed has slightly more draw bias. It may also flight higher - play the Speed adjusted to 8, hit the Mavrick adjusted to 9.5. At the same time, I am playing the Speed at D4, the Mavrik is a bit lighter. The above is a general conclusion, no numbers. I like them both.
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When I demo'd them the Speed was definitely the fastest of the three for me. I'm going for some forgiveness with the Max LS.
 
JonD said:
When I demo'd them the Speed was definitely the fastest of the three for me. I'm going for some forgiveness with the Max LS.
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I think the Speed is great. The Max did not do that much for me. Am testing out the Mizuno ST-G220 as a second driver.
 
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I made some adjustments to the Epic Max LS for round #2. Changed loft from 9* to 10* and moved Optifit adapter from D to N. My Ping driver is 9* and I hit it plenty high. Very different ball flight with the Epic Max LS which is related to the shaft.

Hole #1 is 395. We had a little tailwind and I found the center of the club. 2nd shot from 104!!! Pin was toward the front so 270 yards is a safe yardage which is way longer normal. Consistency was a bit sketchy today but the good shots were incredible and the misses surprised me with their distance. We played as a twosome so we had time to hit a couple of extra balls. I compared drivers. Ping G400 SFT is super-easy to hit and I'm very comfortable with this club. However, Epic Max LS mishits went farther than average shots with the Ping. The AI face technology is real. Very impressive.

I'm hoping to schedule a shaft fitting at 2nd Swing this week.

Shot -1 on our back 9 (35). Think my previous best on this 9 is 37 or 38. I've crushed numerous good rounds on the back 9 (it plays much harder than the front 9..for me). Anyway, I had a couple of good putts with 5 of 7 FIR which is below average for me. The two fairways I missed had plenty of distance so that's a plus.
 
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JonD said:
When I demo'd them the Speed was definitely the fastest of the three for me. I'm going for some forgiveness with the Max LS.
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This has been my journey. went from std MAV to std speed and now playing MAX LS. MAX LS is definitely more forgiving for me than the std Speed (at the expense of sound) but I am confident that I'm hitting the ball as far now with MAX LS as I was with the std Speed now that I'm used to it. I did end up moving to Ventus Red from Blue as I'm seeing better dispersion.
 
Speed TD continues to impress. During a recent round I hit driver - 3/4 swing 7 iron from 160 yards on a 530 yard Par 5 and made the eagle putt. Next hole was a 400 yard Par 4 that I made birdie on hitting driver - SW. I’m getting more carry and roll from this driver than I have in ages!
 
I visited 2nd Swing yesterday about a re-shaft project. The current shaft in my Epic Max LS is Hzrdus Smoke Green. I'm not a good fit for this shaft but that's what happens when you buy a driver from your cart partner on the 18th hole. :) I like 2nd Swing but very disappointed with this visit. They said my spin rate is too low for the Epic Max LS head and immediately talked about a trade-in. The club has <100 swings they offered $211 for a below average head. Get the truck outta here!

They said I need more spin so I tested their suggestions which included Titleist TS2 and TaylorMade SIM2 with several different shafts. Max LS spin rate of 2000 to 2100. The SIM2 produced the highest spin rate of 2350. Again, I appreciate their input but moving on.

I visited Golf Galaxy today. They were slammed because 2 workers called in sick (tough to find labor in today's market). I asked if it was okay to test on my own with their demo shafts. The employee said; "sure!". The Project Evenflow Riptide seems like a good candidate and I was encouraged with the initial results.

I brought my Ping G400 SFT into the store. The same-same data blew me away. Average distance with Epic Max LS is 260-265. Ping....240-245. Wow!

I talked to the pro at my home course and he offered to help with the shaft change. I played today's round with a Riptide S from their fitting cart. I'll do the same on Saturday & Sunday followed by an indoor/outdoor test session early next week. The Riptide is a very promising option. I might go with a R flex vs S for a slightly higher ball flight. The data needs to prove this assumption.

Here are a couple of video's I used to educate myself about the Riptide shaft. Riptide + Epic Max LS = :unsure:...think we're onto something with my swing tempo/speed! FWIW, my swing speed is ~95 mph. Planning for -1" on the shaft length. Again, need data to prove this decision.





 
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Depending upon you angle of attack, 2100 rpm may not be low. I’m +5° to +7° on GC Quad with my 105 mph CHS and 2100 rpm is right about where my spin sits.
 
@Snickerdog found another shaft combo that could be the meal ticket.....graphite design AD-TP 5R .....allowing me to shape confidently unlike Tensei Blue (steady cuts) I also believe I'm gonna see distance gains while still keeping fairways in OUR zone (a TON) lol
 
noodle3872 said:
Depending upon you angle of attack, 2100 rpm may not be low. I’m +5° to +7° on GC Quad with my 105 mph CHS and 2100 rpm is right about where my spin sits.
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Completely agree. I'm looking forward to an indoor/outdoor fitting to determine AoA, spin, ball flight, carry, total distance, and dispersion. In general, my driver spin rate is fairly low and that also applies to the Ping G400. I tried the Evenflow Green today and its a good match for the Max LS and my swing.

The distance gain continues to impress. We've all seen commercials saying XYZ driver added 15 or 20 yards. This was absolutely true for about 10 of 14 drives today.
 
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