Callaway MAVRIK Drivers
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- Jun 18, 2015
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I've got one on its way to me, and the wait is kiiiliiliiinnnggg me!
I feel like you wouldn't have posted this here unless you were looking for some motivation to just go through with it. Because, this isn't the group that is going to talk you down from an equipment purchase.
I feel like you wouldn't have posted this here unless you were looking for some motivation to just go through with it. Because, this isn't the group that is going to talk you down from an equipment purchase.
this is a pretty spot on analysis haha
So ... you're saying there's a chance...
I have in the past. I have played a 917d2 for the past two years. I am getting away from the subzero type stuff.
then you'll definitely see lower spin with max than your current gamer.
We all have been there....just on a waiting pattern to come up for more excuses to press that ‘buy’ button. Like one Youtube reviewer always say “Let’s do it, Let’s do it NOW“ !
realitycheck
Member
Any thoughts of draw bias in the 10.5* head?
In a Rogue 10.5 currently, and pondering whether to go in a 9* Max head and crank it up or just stay in a 10.5 head?
In a Rogue 10.5 currently, and pondering whether to go in a 9* Max head and crank it up or just stay in a 10.5 head?
I was able to hit the standard Mavrik four times today when I walked 9 before dark. The sound when struck near the middle is pleasing to my ear. Much less metallic than recent offerings in my opinion. I'd liken it to ther Optiforce drivers, which I think were right up there with the best sounding drivers I've hit. Looking forward to working with it more.
Wait....
I thought the Max was a more forgiving head, which I equate with higher spin...
I guess I have to reevaluate my biases.
I think I'm that situation, you'd want to try them out. From what I've seen, the Max has a slightly closed face. Cranking the lift up would close it even more. Could be perfect for you, but I don't know your game at all
just had this conversation with a friend based on the comment I made to you and here's what I based it on:
Max will be MAX forgiveness but being swing dependent, it may launch and spin exactly where you want/need it where as my experience with non D3 or TS models drivers, spin was high and affected performance. But of course, as was pointed out to me, it is swing dependent along with other variables.
Right. I was put into the D2 because I swing fast enough and miss just enough that having that forgiveness, over the D3, was a good idea.
scottmti
Passionate Hacker
Has anyone cut down the shaft length from stock 45 3/4”? Thinking about trimming to around 45”
I have Max with heavy weight in back and light weight at heel. How heavy weight kit do I need to get it to same swing weight?
where should I put them? Replace the heavy one or replace the heel one?
I have Max with heavy weight in back and light weight at heel. How heavy weight kit do I need to get it to same swing weight?
where should I put them? Replace the heavy one or replace the heel one?
3/4 inches in length would be 4.5 SW points in theory. To get that all back, you'd have to add 9 grams to the head. But, that's a rough guideline. And I'm not big on what the swing weight scale says as long as it feels good in my hands. I think a reasonable playing length is more important than swing weight. I'd start with the shaft and add a few grams as needed.
Can test it out with lead tape and get a weight after you figure out the sweet spot. Where you add the weight is up to you. I'd start with the heel since it would still be the lighter of the two weights.
Radiman beat me to the 'in theory'. Everyone's different, but to me if I cut a driver shaft down I try to go lighter in the grip first if it's an option. Or do that in combination with heavier head weights. I feel like when you start changing the weight of just the head it changes the feel a little more. Might be just me, but if you can get a couple points back in the grip you wouldn't have to add as much to the head.
Like most in these parts, I like to experiment with golf equipment. So basically, I am a golf HO. I admit it and love being one. Drivers always catch my curiosity, and I am always wanting the newest and best. I tend to buy on a whim. I do the typical no-no round here, which is I don't bother to get fitted. Fresno is a weird area (insert joke here)in which we have some pretty nice courses(most are private)but not much in the way of skilled fitters. So instead of going to the Bay Area or down south, I just buy of the rack.
I planned on buying a new driver but wasn't sure which one. Cobra's SpeedZone had me very interested because at the time, I was using the F9. After watching some reviews videos on YouTube, I was really leaning towards the TaylorMade SIM Max. Started looking at GlobalGolf as they were running a 50% bonus trade in towards any of the new SIM line of products. Right around the time I was going to pull the trigger on the SIM MAX, Callaway joined in on the fun and added their 50% trade in bonus.
So now I was stuck. Haven't hit any of these, but didn't want to miss out on the fun of getting a new driver on release. I have had every incarnation of Callaway drivers over the last 6 or seven years. Some I really liked and some were just OK. I really enjoyed the Rogue and before the announcement of the Mavrik, thought about going back to it. With the Mavrik being the replacement for the Rogue, it really began to catch my fancy. After some back and forth in my head and a flip of a coin, I ordered the standard Mavrik. I purchased the 10.5* head with the Project X Riptide 6.0 50 gram shaft. I got rid of the stock grip and had a Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align put on instead. While I won't claim its the longest driver(darn close) or the one with the best dispersion, it just may be the funnest driver I have ever hit. I absolutely love the sound of the club. It's perfection. No hollow ting or loud gunshot sounds, just a nice "THUD". Just because I said it's not the longest shouldn't scare anyone off from buying it. It's very long. I don't have any Trackman numbers to go by but I have played my home course over a thousand times and I have a pretty good idea of distance in relationship to markers and landmarks on the course. While I don't get the roll out numbers like I did with the F9, my carry distance has to be at least 10 yards better, if not a little more.
At first I was a little worried about the Riptide shaft as its soooo light. I was seeing a a very high ball flight and even skied a few balls(thank goodness for clear tape on the head). I thought maybe this shaft just wasn't for me. However, I started teeing the ball a little lower and the skying subsided to where now I get a really cool, high trajectory ball flight. I made a subtle change to my swing that has really helped me keep the ball on a better line than previously, and with the Mavrik, has me really excited for 2020. As an example, on hole 17 at the home course plays as a short par four. Only 334 yards. The fairway is guarded with 3 very deep and large bunkers. The bunker on the right takes a carry of about 200 yards to clear. The left center of the fairway has 2 bunkers that sit back to back from one another. It takes a about 180 to get in the first and about 240 to clear the second. I always have trouble on this hole. It's my nemesis. I probably only hit this fairway 20% of the time. I usually will push a ball to the right and land in the first cut of worse...land in 2 foot high rough. However, since having the Mavrik, I am 6 for 6 in hitting this fairway. Shortest was 245 and longest was 10 paces from the front of the green. This hole just doesn't bother me anymore. Have I hit any bad ones? Oh yeah. Nothing is perfect, especially me. However, I haven't had this kind of confidence in a driver for a while. Best of all, it's just fun to swing.
I planned on buying a new driver but wasn't sure which one. Cobra's SpeedZone had me very interested because at the time, I was using the F9. After watching some reviews videos on YouTube, I was really leaning towards the TaylorMade SIM Max. Started looking at GlobalGolf as they were running a 50% bonus trade in towards any of the new SIM line of products. Right around the time I was going to pull the trigger on the SIM MAX, Callaway joined in on the fun and added their 50% trade in bonus.
So now I was stuck. Haven't hit any of these, but didn't want to miss out on the fun of getting a new driver on release. I have had every incarnation of Callaway drivers over the last 6 or seven years. Some I really liked and some were just OK. I really enjoyed the Rogue and before the announcement of the Mavrik, thought about going back to it. With the Mavrik being the replacement for the Rogue, it really began to catch my fancy. After some back and forth in my head and a flip of a coin, I ordered the standard Mavrik. I purchased the 10.5* head with the Project X Riptide 6.0 50 gram shaft. I got rid of the stock grip and had a Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align put on instead. While I won't claim its the longest driver(darn close) or the one with the best dispersion, it just may be the funnest driver I have ever hit. I absolutely love the sound of the club. It's perfection. No hollow ting or loud gunshot sounds, just a nice "THUD". Just because I said it's not the longest shouldn't scare anyone off from buying it. It's very long. I don't have any Trackman numbers to go by but I have played my home course over a thousand times and I have a pretty good idea of distance in relationship to markers and landmarks on the course. While I don't get the roll out numbers like I did with the F9, my carry distance has to be at least 10 yards better, if not a little more.
At first I was a little worried about the Riptide shaft as its soooo light. I was seeing a a very high ball flight and even skied a few balls(thank goodness for clear tape on the head). I thought maybe this shaft just wasn't for me. However, I started teeing the ball a little lower and the skying subsided to where now I get a really cool, high trajectory ball flight. I made a subtle change to my swing that has really helped me keep the ball on a better line than previously, and with the Mavrik, has me really excited for 2020. As an example, on hole 17 at the home course plays as a short par four. Only 334 yards. The fairway is guarded with 3 very deep and large bunkers. The bunker on the right takes a carry of about 200 yards to clear. The left center of the fairway has 2 bunkers that sit back to back from one another. It takes a about 180 to get in the first and about 240 to clear the second. I always have trouble on this hole. It's my nemesis. I probably only hit this fairway 20% of the time. I usually will push a ball to the right and land in the first cut of worse...land in 2 foot high rough. However, since having the Mavrik, I am 6 for 6 in hitting this fairway. Shortest was 245 and longest was 10 paces from the front of the green. This hole just doesn't bother me anymore. Have I hit any bad ones? Oh yeah. Nothing is perfect, especially me. However, I haven't had this kind of confidence in a driver for a while. Best of all, it's just fun to swing.
I have a 9* Max head that I have been playing around with and comparing to my Standard 10.5. In regards to the Max being draw biased I have not seen that at all and my miss is a pull hook. I have had the heavy weight in back for most of my testing and can honestly say there is no draw bias in this setup. I have been experimenting with 70 and 80 gram shafts so that could be the reason for shots staying out to the right. The launch of these two heads is identical to my eye even though there is 1.5 degrees difference in loft. Both launch nice and high even with the 80 gram Hzrdus Smoke Black that I have been toying with. I am giving the Max every opportunity to unseat the Standard but it has not happened, the Standard flies straighter for me and the Aldila Rogue White 70 gram shaft seems to give the the best dispersion. It is so fun playing around with these two heads, both are fantastic drivers. Looks like rain this weekend so I will get back on Trackman and get some better comparison numbers.
My Mavrik Max arrived today (12°, Evenflow Riptide 5.5 shaft). Picked it up and proceeded to hit about 100 balls on the range to give it a work out.
First thoughts: It's about 10-15 yards longer than my old driver (Ping G30, 12°) - the range at my home course isn't marked well for distance, so I'm just going by visually comparing it to how far I normally hit driver on that range. So a little improvement in distance - but THE FORGIVENESS!!!
You almost can't NOT hit this thing straight. You have to put an absolutely rotten swing on it to make it do anything else. My default driver shot shape is a fade, occasionally overcooking into a slice, but the Mavrik completely took the right side out of play (weights are in the stock configuration - 14g in the rear, 2g in the heel, and the Opti-Fit hosel is set to D/S (draw lie, standard loft)). I finally purposely put a huge outside-to-in swing on it and got it to fade, but it took a really deliberate, exaggerated move to get it to do it. Everything else was dead straight or a slight draw. I started getting tired toward the end of the session and hit a few pulls, but even those were mostly just straight pulls, with a couple slight pull draws - as sloppy as I was getting, it never went to a full-on hook.
I don't always hit the sweet spot on the club face, so it got tested with both heel and toe misses, high and low on the face. I was pretty amazed by how little distance I lost and how decent the ball flight stayed - very forgiving. About the only miss that really robbed me, predictably, was a straight pop-up - hey, a club can only atone for so much. Also, I don't know if it just lines up better to my eye or I was having an unusually good day or what, but I had a lot more impacts on the sweet spot than I normally do - aside from a few misses, I had a nice cluster of ball marks right on the "bulls eye" of the clubface. Unsurprisingly, as a 17 handicap my shot dispersion isn't a very tight circle, but the dispersion with the Mavrik today was significantly tighter than my usual with the G30. The more I hit it, the more confident I felt with it. With my old driver, I addressed the ball every time half-wondering where this one was going to go - with the Max, I was standing over it feeling very confident that it was going to go where I aimed it. Nice feeling.
Man, I really hope today wasn't just the "new club honeymoon" - because if this is how it's gonna be, my game just got a lot more fun.
One tip: Grab the wrench and check the tightness on your club head when you get it. Mine sounded kinda squeaky after the first few hits, so I took the wrench to it and sure enough, the head was a little loose.
First thoughts: It's about 10-15 yards longer than my old driver (Ping G30, 12°) - the range at my home course isn't marked well for distance, so I'm just going by visually comparing it to how far I normally hit driver on that range. So a little improvement in distance - but THE FORGIVENESS!!!
You almost can't NOT hit this thing straight. You have to put an absolutely rotten swing on it to make it do anything else. My default driver shot shape is a fade, occasionally overcooking into a slice, but the Mavrik completely took the right side out of play (weights are in the stock configuration - 14g in the rear, 2g in the heel, and the Opti-Fit hosel is set to D/S (draw lie, standard loft)). I finally purposely put a huge outside-to-in swing on it and got it to fade, but it took a really deliberate, exaggerated move to get it to do it. Everything else was dead straight or a slight draw. I started getting tired toward the end of the session and hit a few pulls, but even those were mostly just straight pulls, with a couple slight pull draws - as sloppy as I was getting, it never went to a full-on hook.
I don't always hit the sweet spot on the club face, so it got tested with both heel and toe misses, high and low on the face. I was pretty amazed by how little distance I lost and how decent the ball flight stayed - very forgiving. About the only miss that really robbed me, predictably, was a straight pop-up - hey, a club can only atone for so much. Also, I don't know if it just lines up better to my eye or I was having an unusually good day or what, but I had a lot more impacts on the sweet spot than I normally do - aside from a few misses, I had a nice cluster of ball marks right on the "bulls eye" of the clubface. Unsurprisingly, as a 17 handicap my shot dispersion isn't a very tight circle, but the dispersion with the Mavrik today was significantly tighter than my usual with the G30. The more I hit it, the more confident I felt with it. With my old driver, I addressed the ball every time half-wondering where this one was going to go - with the Max, I was standing over it feeling very confident that it was going to go where I aimed it. Nice feeling.
Man, I really hope today wasn't just the "new club honeymoon" - because if this is how it's gonna be, my game just got a lot more fun.
One tip: Grab the wrench and check the tightness on your club head when you get it. Mine sounded kinda squeaky after the first few hits, so I took the wrench to it and sure enough, the head was a little loose.
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It been wanting to do the same. Interested in seeing your final results.