flog2424
Philippians 4:13
I picked this gal up on the way home from work
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Callaway Big Bertha Alpha 815 Double Black Diamond Driver Review Thread
What's wrong with! Put a seat belt on precious cargoI picked this gal up on the way home from work
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Really enjoyed the DBD with the Speeder 661 Stiff today, played 9 with the core up and 9 with it down (practice round). I seemed to make better contact with the core up, it was very windy so I really could tell much distance wise between the core settings.
But Core down launched higher as would be expected. Had it set N +2, might need to go to +1 and see if I get more roll out.
Love the sound of this club
But Core down launched higher as would be expected. Had it set N +2, might need to go to +1 and see if I get more roll out.
Love the sound of this club
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I was simply asking. You said there was a weight in the butt. I was genuinely curious because you then didn't mention it again.
ATLGolfer
#ATLClive75
I picked this gal up on the way home from work
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I'm almost happier for you than when I purchased my 815. The DBD was made for you.
Miller Time
Twitter - @joshmlr
Put the DBD back in play today. It's so weird that I hit this driver a lot better than the X2 Hot. The DBD head feels a lot heavier and for whatever reason that helps me? Can't really figure it out. Currently looking it up to see if there's a difference in the weight of the heads. I haven't been swinging it well at all lately, but I saw some good success with the DBD today.
You should had a 3g washer to the head.
ATLGolfer
#ATLClive75
You were really smothering your woods when we played last week. Maybe heavier head is keeping you back a bit?
Maybe Kyle's DNA rubbed off on it?
The DBD is not designed to be counter balanced other than the grip being slightly heavier compared to some of our other grips but that difference is minor and not as a result of trying to design it to be counterbalanced.
Thanks
Too be clear, the stock DBD grip is not selected because of the weight, correct?
tpluff
I <3 GAWLF
And thank you Finley! Was going to ask you tomorrow but why wait? See you then!
Miller Time
Twitter - @joshmlr
I'm fighting a lot of stuff right now. I will say that Sox Fan hit the daylights out of the DBD today as well. It surprises everyone that hits it.
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I must say that I was surprised how easy this was to hit. No practice, just stepped up and whacked balls on 3 different holes. Absolutely nailed (for me) 2 of the 3 and the other one would not have disappointed me even on my best driving day. All 3 balls had slight draws which is my typical ball flight when I am swinging the club well. Distance seemed to be on par with my 815 Alpha and felt like I hit all 3 balls very close to the center of the club face so fortunately did not get to test the forgiveness. The Rogue shaft felt very smooth as well. This was my first time ever hitting a club with that shaft in it.
ProZoneGolf
Clubmaker/Fitter
Thanks for your info. Like I mentioned to the forum earlier, I had a change of 2 swing weight points 'lower' with the Callaway grip, compared to a std golf pride Z Cord. I also weighed it against another (orig) new decade grip and it was 8.5 grams lighter than the DBD grip. I see Callaway have their own logo on the grip.
I see this as a good thing for building heavy shafts in the 70-80gram range, as too often hot melt has to be injected into the head, heavy shafts set in the DBD at approx 45' combined with a sub 50gram grip weight balancing out at D3/4 which is very acceptable.
Currently I am using a perfectly sized washer (2grams) under my 1 gram weight that works well, however I like to balance my weighting. Can you reply as to the availability of different sized DBD weights. I am looking for a few 3gram & 4gram weights.
Will there be avail a gravity core with equal weights at both ends?... to transfer weight/momentum to both the crown and sole plates simultaneously, I see this a 'could be' a better balance to engage the face plate COR, however I have no data on this perhaps you could ask Cally Tech dept, I am sure they have already done this.
I feel the core down works best for 'me'... I do like the gravity up also when I loft up 2 degrees, but prefer the trajectory/flight when I loft up only 1 deg (with the core up). The issue I see or feel 'for me' is the core up is very solid feeling with only +1 on loft and the center of gravity a feels tad too high or solid. A gravity core with equal weights both ends I think would be perfect.
I think this head could set up more balanced with same sized heal and toe weights and equal top bottom weighted gravity core to balance the weighting equal on all 4 sides, actually I see it as a bigger cannon.
Overall I think this head is awesome!
I see this as a good thing for building heavy shafts in the 70-80gram range, as too often hot melt has to be injected into the head, heavy shafts set in the DBD at approx 45' combined with a sub 50gram grip weight balancing out at D3/4 which is very acceptable.
Currently I am using a perfectly sized washer (2grams) under my 1 gram weight that works well, however I like to balance my weighting. Can you reply as to the availability of different sized DBD weights. I am looking for a few 3gram & 4gram weights.
Will there be avail a gravity core with equal weights at both ends?... to transfer weight/momentum to both the crown and sole plates simultaneously, I see this a 'could be' a better balance to engage the face plate COR, however I have no data on this perhaps you could ask Cally Tech dept, I am sure they have already done this.
I feel the core down works best for 'me'... I do like the gravity up also when I loft up 2 degrees, but prefer the trajectory/flight when I loft up only 1 deg (with the core up). The issue I see or feel 'for me' is the core up is very solid feeling with only +1 on loft and the center of gravity a feels tad too high or solid. A gravity core with equal weights both ends I think would be perfect.
I think this head could set up more balanced with same sized heal and toe weights and equal top bottom weighted gravity core to balance the weighting equal on all 4 sides, actually I see it as a bigger cannon.
Overall I think this head is awesome!
I would think that a gravity core with equally weighted ends would defeat the purpose of the gravity core.
Miller Time
Twitter - @joshmlr
That's what I was thinking as well. I almost flunked every science class I took in college, so what do I know?
ProZoneGolf
Clubmaker/Fitter
Yes that is obvious, in the same relation that moving the heavy weight to the toe would defeat draw bias...its just moving weight around...Just think of the center of gravity core down, then core up...it would be half way in between those two with the same head weight, like a in between feel or performance in relation to trajectory
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I think it would be fun to have the tools you have to experiment. I know your just throwing thoughts out there of what you've seen changing things up. This is already a beast and sounds like you are just wanting to see what more you can get out of it. Good read (don't understand a lot of it...but fun)
ProZoneGolf
Clubmaker/Fitter
I see this a better solution than to drop another $300 on a similar shaft in order to fine tune ball flight / trajectory other than loft, if we can optimize heal toe weights...why not the core?
Callaway has a real winner here. This head is the best yet, and I think their R & D dept need a standing ovation!:clapp:
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Amazing how many experts are here...
tpluff
I <3 GAWLF
Demoed this puppy again today. It was on a swing caddie but it was consistently 5-7 yards longer than the 815 for me. Much lower flight in the same stock setup than the 815 and, I found it to be minimally punishing on miss hits. My toe miss was greeted with a lower pull that went a little left, maybe due to the weights being heel heavy. Surprisingly I was putting some decent swings on the ball. Really got along with the Rogue shaft in there too. The weighting ports were a little off to my ideal setup (heel heavy) but this thing is a beast. Still unsure of the way I'm wanting to go this year for driver, but this is right there at the top of the board.
ProZoneGolf
Clubmaker/Fitter
I believe driver head mass/weight does have a small effect on COR
For me getting every ounce of distance out of this head is important. The additional head weight has helped. I have two fairway bunkers at my local on par 5's that I need to carry, they come into play. 50% of the time I carry them, hit the down hill and set up for a easy approach that could set up a eagle putt. The other 50%...well you can probably vision this! Yes catches the lip, misses the carry by 1 foot! etc...it can sure change my round by 2 shots. So the DBD is my ticket, and so far the F3 shaft is carrying the bunker, I am just working on ideal trajectory to do it with out getting too high launch
Today I take out to the range a Fujikura Speeder VC 7.1 x, 46, D5.5, 268cpm. I expect it to fly lower than the F3 on a straighter line...will report back later on distance etc
For me getting every ounce of distance out of this head is important. The additional head weight has helped. I have two fairway bunkers at my local on par 5's that I need to carry, they come into play. 50% of the time I carry them, hit the down hill and set up for a easy approach that could set up a eagle putt. The other 50%...well you can probably vision this! Yes catches the lip, misses the carry by 1 foot! etc...it can sure change my round by 2 shots. So the DBD is my ticket, and so far the F3 shaft is carrying the bunker, I am just working on ideal trajectory to do it with out getting too high launch
Today I take out to the range a Fujikura Speeder VC 7.1 x, 46, D5.5, 268cpm. I expect it to fly lower than the F3 on a straighter line...will report back later on distance etc
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I'm not very smart, so take that into account, but I don't believe adding weight will change the COR. I'm not sure how COR is tested, but I am willing to learn.
ProZoneGolf
Clubmaker/Fitter
Here it is from Tom who knows the physics, thanks for your input and remarks
Tom Wishon February 23, 2015
Hamish
Yes, in the math that dictates the COR of a clubhead, increasing headweight can increase the ball speed for any given COR, but only very slightly. The increase in headweight does not directly increase the COR. It has its effect in the area of energy transfer from the clubhead’s mass. But again, this is VERY SMALL in its effect. As such a 5g increase in headweight is really not going to be visible in ball speed change as that is too small. So the problem with this is the fact that the amount of head weight increase necessary to see a definite ball speed increase for the same clubhead speed is such a greater addition of weight to the head that it would increase the swingweight so much that this would start to lower the golfer’s clubhead speed. And any decrease in clubhead speed would bring about more of a ball speed drop than the increased headweight could offer as an increase. Hence for all intents and purposes, the only goal of increasing headweight is to get the swingweight to a point that it best matches to your natural sense of timing and tempo so that your swing consistency and repeatability is better.
TOM
Tom Wishon February 23, 2015
Hamish
Yes, in the math that dictates the COR of a clubhead, increasing headweight can increase the ball speed for any given COR, but only very slightly. The increase in headweight does not directly increase the COR. It has its effect in the area of energy transfer from the clubhead’s mass. But again, this is VERY SMALL in its effect. As such a 5g increase in headweight is really not going to be visible in ball speed change as that is too small. So the problem with this is the fact that the amount of head weight increase necessary to see a definite ball speed increase for the same clubhead speed is such a greater addition of weight to the head that it would increase the swingweight so much that this would start to lower the golfer’s clubhead speed. And any decrease in clubhead speed would bring about more of a ball speed drop than the increased headweight could offer as an increase. Hence for all intents and purposes, the only goal of increasing headweight is to get the swingweight to a point that it best matches to your natural sense of timing and tempo so that your swing consistency and repeatability is better.
TOM