Nice little update there Seth. Glad to hear that it's not just me that feels that bit of flex/twist on the toe shots. I also see a little draw on that shot that really does still get out there very well.
Bridgestone J40 Driver Review Thread
The ZStar felt similar to me on toe shots.
White Rhino
SANDBAGGER!!!!!!!
After watching some HOTD videos with Jake and cookie, I am quite interested in checking out this club in Orlando.
bahester
Follow me: @bahester
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- Dec 2, 2011
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- 6,649
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- Raleigh, NC | Hillsboro, OR
- Handicap
- GHIN 9.6
Is there anyone thats hit the R9 460 that could compare it to the J40? I don't think I'd seen that yet, if so, I apologize.
- Thread starter
- Admin
- #555
I have played both. VERY different drivers. Deeper and lower spin with the J40 that will be a little less forgiving heel to toe and maybe slightly more sole to crown. Lower ball flight and different sound. All in all, just two completely different drivers.
bahester
Follow me: @bahester
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2011
- Messages
- 6,649
- Reaction score
- 17
- Location
- Raleigh, NC | Hillsboro, OR
- Handicap
- GHIN 9.6
- Staff
- #557
Got out on the course for a quick 9 tonight. Really raced the sun to get the full 9 in. Wasn't really looking for much when it came to scoring, all I wanted to do was to hit this beautiful driver. I was able to hit it off of 6 tees and I'd say I hit it well 4 of the 6. The other two times I hit out towards the toe, which is my normal miss. I saw my drives range from 225-250. It had rained prior to us teeing off so the course was soft and offering no roll. Still wasn't teeing the ball up high yet so I know that was probably costing me some distance. The ball flight was a nice high flight that didn't seem to balloon on my at all. I was able to hit the same type of tee ball that I was getting recently with the Z Star which is a little fade, that's just a shot that I have been able to control pretty easily right now so I am actually pretty comfortable on the tee box. I'm looking forward to getting this back out on the course this weekend, so far I am liking what I have seen from the 1 range session and the course time today.
Puttin4Bird
Say what again mf'er!
Nice update Mr. Nerfny. Glad you got out and played and it sounds like you're having some good results with the driver. I'm on cloud 9 with this driver right now, I'm on a honeymoon that I hope never ends. I feel like Nerfny feels being married to a stud like ddec.
So 9 holes for a cash game with the men's league boys tonight. Hole 1 I hit it low and a slight push to the right fairway. It only covered probably 220 yards at the most, by far the worst shot I've hit on the course with the J40 to date. Hole 2 I again pushed it (no slice at all, just dead straight but to the right) but I caught it right on the button, just wound up in the right rough. Total distance on this shot was 270 ish. Hole 3 was dead into the wind and I just reminded myself to stay down, don't open my stance/swing and trust it. I took a very aggressive line, if this thing had a whisker of draw it was wet. It was a tight frozen rope of a shot that was hit dead center of the sweet spot. Into the wind (10 mph or so) I hit it 265 and right in the fairway. Next hole was downwind and measures at 410. I am feeling confident and played the ball toward the left side of the hole playing a fade, it baby faded about 5 yards is all and wound up in the left side of the fairway 120 yards out. So 290 with a 10 mph tail wind. Next time I used it was on the par 5 6th hole. A wide fairway narrows to no wider than 15 yards between 2 ponds, this basically sets up for someone to easily lay up off the tee or if you're a bomber you carry it around 265 back to a wider fairway. I hit a laser that landed right between the ponds and rolled out nicely, total yardage 275 and again dead center of the fairway. 7th hole I caught it out toward the toe but still got pretty good distance considering (245) and still found fairway. While I had longer in than I intended it did setup a great 7 iron shot to within 18 inches, tap in birdie. Hole 9 was downwind, now just barely blowing, maybe 5 mph or so. Took aim on along the left to play a fade and again it faded maybe 5 yards and I was just off the fairway but only 70 yards from the hole on the 356 yard par 5. So another drive up over 285. Unreal.
Now I'm going to be the first person to admit that new drivers do this sort of thing to me where I will start out hot as hell with it, something tells me this thing isn't cooling off anytime soon...it is just SO SOLID. That's the best word I can use to describe it. My usual 4 some tonight could not believe how great I was hitting this thing. Hole 9 features a huge fairway bunker 250 from the tee forcing me to either play it well to the left side of the fairway, roll the dice with the sand, or lay up. While I took my ball out to the left of the bunker tonight it easily had the distance to clear it. This thing literally can be a game changer if this all holds up.
The Project X shaft is just the icing on the cake for this driver. The lower (mid really) flight is absolutely gorgeous, it's the kind of trajectory that gets you through the breeze yet still gets you in the air to take advantage when you're downwind. I'm gushing like a school girl here....freakin' good Lord I love this driver! All told tonight's score was a 37 (+1) with 2 bogeys and 1 birdie. The performance off the tee has so much to do with this good score, I cannot wait to get out there again. Wow.
So 9 holes for a cash game with the men's league boys tonight. Hole 1 I hit it low and a slight push to the right fairway. It only covered probably 220 yards at the most, by far the worst shot I've hit on the course with the J40 to date. Hole 2 I again pushed it (no slice at all, just dead straight but to the right) but I caught it right on the button, just wound up in the right rough. Total distance on this shot was 270 ish. Hole 3 was dead into the wind and I just reminded myself to stay down, don't open my stance/swing and trust it. I took a very aggressive line, if this thing had a whisker of draw it was wet. It was a tight frozen rope of a shot that was hit dead center of the sweet spot. Into the wind (10 mph or so) I hit it 265 and right in the fairway. Next hole was downwind and measures at 410. I am feeling confident and played the ball toward the left side of the hole playing a fade, it baby faded about 5 yards is all and wound up in the left side of the fairway 120 yards out. So 290 with a 10 mph tail wind. Next time I used it was on the par 5 6th hole. A wide fairway narrows to no wider than 15 yards between 2 ponds, this basically sets up for someone to easily lay up off the tee or if you're a bomber you carry it around 265 back to a wider fairway. I hit a laser that landed right between the ponds and rolled out nicely, total yardage 275 and again dead center of the fairway. 7th hole I caught it out toward the toe but still got pretty good distance considering (245) and still found fairway. While I had longer in than I intended it did setup a great 7 iron shot to within 18 inches, tap in birdie. Hole 9 was downwind, now just barely blowing, maybe 5 mph or so. Took aim on along the left to play a fade and again it faded maybe 5 yards and I was just off the fairway but only 70 yards from the hole on the 356 yard par 5. So another drive up over 285. Unreal.
Now I'm going to be the first person to admit that new drivers do this sort of thing to me where I will start out hot as hell with it, something tells me this thing isn't cooling off anytime soon...it is just SO SOLID. That's the best word I can use to describe it. My usual 4 some tonight could not believe how great I was hitting this thing. Hole 9 features a huge fairway bunker 250 from the tee forcing me to either play it well to the left side of the fairway, roll the dice with the sand, or lay up. While I took my ball out to the left of the bunker tonight it easily had the distance to clear it. This thing literally can be a game changer if this all holds up.
The Project X shaft is just the icing on the cake for this driver. The lower (mid really) flight is absolutely gorgeous, it's the kind of trajectory that gets you through the breeze yet still gets you in the air to take advantage when you're downwind. I'm gushing like a school girl here....freakin' good Lord I love this driver! All told tonight's score was a 37 (+1) with 2 bogeys and 1 birdie. The performance off the tee has so much to do with this good score, I cannot wait to get out there again. Wow.
April 11, 2012, Driving range on Airport Hwy in Swanton Ohio.
I hit a small bucket of 50 balls. There was 5-10 mph winds behind me. First ball I sort of topped. So I tee'd it a little forward in my stance. Then I hit it out on the toe. So I stepped back a few inches. Third ball I tried to kill and just sliced the heck out of it. After that, I took a nice smooth swing and Bam! Dead straight and long with some good roll out. I couldn't tell how far it went cuz I was at the range but man was it nice. I proceeded to line up the same way. Put the ball about 2" forward in my stance. I kept hitting these long bombs. After about 10 of them I got lazy. And sure enough slice. Okay, so I set up like I did before took a nice solid focus'd swing and bam! Straight again. It went on like this for the rest of the bucket every few balls I would slice (got lazy again). I was really surprised to see the ball flight was about 3/4 the height of what I was used to with my SF 2.0. I can see myself getting this thing dialed in quickly.
Shaft: I have never had a PX shaft before. I really like it. It gives pretty good feedback on miss hits. Hit I hit it out on the toe the club sort of wants to twist outwards on me. Which is to be expected, I think since it was a toe shot. When I hit the ball on the bottom of the face, the shaft wants to turn inwards if that makes sense. When you hit this on the screws, it's just unbelievable!!! Holds true. And handles the flex perfectly. I'm glad that I went and hit the shaft optimizer. I could have easily have chosen the wrong flex if I hadn't . So far, I feel that I definitely made the right decision. They put the PX shaft in there stock for a reason!!
Now I'm gonna go thru my tee shots during my round. Afterwards I will elaborate.
White Pines Golf Course Swanton Ohio:
J40 445 W/ PX 5.5 shaft midsize grip
I was pretty excited to get to the course after the range session that I had with the J40. I was just bombing it on the range, felt really nice! Well, I get to the first tee box tee it up. Took my time, lined up my shot and blasted one down the left side of the fairway. The ball flew easily past the 150 yd marker. Which before with my 2.0, it would land just before the 150 and roll past. This one was 25 yards past the 150 marker. I was 129 out (gps) for a 256 yrd tee shot with some wind into my face (nice!). On the second hole I had a mishit. I sort of topped it and it was a low screamer that went 213 yds. Not bad for a mishit. On the forth hole I topped it again, another 215 yd tee shot. On hole 5 I absolutely killed the ball, dead on the screws. It's a 356 yd par 4 and I was 78 yds out for a 278 yd tee shot! Hole 6 I got lazy and sliced it. But was still next to the 150 marker. On hole 7 I just missed the sweet spot and had a medium fade to hit. Still went out 245 yds. Hole 9 topped again but still hit the fwy. Shot a 42.
Back 9:
On hole 10 I topped it again but was about 160 out so not bad. Hole 11, oh my gosh!!! I decided to make a HOTD for hole 11 before teeing off. And man was I happy I chose this hole! The audio on my phone wasn't turned on so you can't hear anything I'm saying. So, I edited it and put captions in for the finer points!! I will let the video tell you about hole 11.
[video=youtube_share;v-Av5-y0rmE]http://youtu.be/v-Av5-y0rmE[/video]
Hole 12, normally when I tee off here I land about the 150 marker. Like a lot of holes at my home course. Today I was a good 25 yards past the 150 in the middle of the fairway. Hole 14 is the #1 hc hole. Pond on the left creek on the right. Normally on a bad shot on this hole, I either fly to the pond or land into the creek. I never make it over the creek. Today it was heading towards the creek. Thought "Oh no". Get up to my ball and I was 20 yards past the creek. This was like the 5th tee shot today that I had flew past my normal spots. Definitely getting more distance with this beast! Hole 15 was 3w tee off. Hole 16 I topped it again with a low screaming flight for a 220 tee shot and 105 out. Hole 18 topped it yet again. This ball only went 190. Shot 42.
Total: 84 with 9/14 fwys, 29 putts!!
When I top the ball it gives me a low screaming flight but still not bad distance. I was 9 of 14 fwys with my first full 18 holes with the J40! When I wasn't on the fwy I wasn't far off every time except hole 9. Where I lacked today was my 100 yds and in. I pulled every stinking one of them to the left. Every one!! Dammit... I added up all my tee shots distance and divided them by the number of times I used the J40 off the tee. Average of 233! Not too shabby with having 5 of them topped which only went the 190-220 range. That brought the average down. I definitely hit this further than my 2.0 and I think it has to do with the shaft! The PX shaft is much more stout than the Ozik matrix in my SF 2.0. I really believe that I made the right decision when I chose this shaft. I'm really excited to get the FW's with this shaft in it also. Gonna be a sweet set up.
Recap: On mishits still gets pretty good distance. But when you hit it on the sweet spot man the ball just flies!! I have to disagree with Cookie... You are a fibber... this club isn't sneaky long... As soon as you hit it you tell that its long right away.... So it's not sneaky... it's a "Sleeper"!!! It has a fine classy look like nice ride but when you floor it, takes off like a bat out of heck!!! "SLEEPER!"
With more range time I will be bombing this on all my tee shots! Just have to get use to setting up a little closer to the ball since it is shorter than my SF 2.0. Plus putting the ball forward about 2". Once this comes natural, LOOK OUT Team THP and Team Paradise.
I hit a small bucket of 50 balls. There was 5-10 mph winds behind me. First ball I sort of topped. So I tee'd it a little forward in my stance. Then I hit it out on the toe. So I stepped back a few inches. Third ball I tried to kill and just sliced the heck out of it. After that, I took a nice smooth swing and Bam! Dead straight and long with some good roll out. I couldn't tell how far it went cuz I was at the range but man was it nice. I proceeded to line up the same way. Put the ball about 2" forward in my stance. I kept hitting these long bombs. After about 10 of them I got lazy. And sure enough slice. Okay, so I set up like I did before took a nice solid focus'd swing and bam! Straight again. It went on like this for the rest of the bucket every few balls I would slice (got lazy again). I was really surprised to see the ball flight was about 3/4 the height of what I was used to with my SF 2.0. I can see myself getting this thing dialed in quickly.
Shaft: I have never had a PX shaft before. I really like it. It gives pretty good feedback on miss hits. Hit I hit it out on the toe the club sort of wants to twist outwards on me. Which is to be expected, I think since it was a toe shot. When I hit the ball on the bottom of the face, the shaft wants to turn inwards if that makes sense. When you hit this on the screws, it's just unbelievable!!! Holds true. And handles the flex perfectly. I'm glad that I went and hit the shaft optimizer. I could have easily have chosen the wrong flex if I hadn't . So far, I feel that I definitely made the right decision. They put the PX shaft in there stock for a reason!!
Now I'm gonna go thru my tee shots during my round. Afterwards I will elaborate.
White Pines Golf Course Swanton Ohio:
J40 445 W/ PX 5.5 shaft midsize grip
I was pretty excited to get to the course after the range session that I had with the J40. I was just bombing it on the range, felt really nice! Well, I get to the first tee box tee it up. Took my time, lined up my shot and blasted one down the left side of the fairway. The ball flew easily past the 150 yd marker. Which before with my 2.0, it would land just before the 150 and roll past. This one was 25 yards past the 150 marker. I was 129 out (gps) for a 256 yrd tee shot with some wind into my face (nice!). On the second hole I had a mishit. I sort of topped it and it was a low screamer that went 213 yds. Not bad for a mishit. On the forth hole I topped it again, another 215 yd tee shot. On hole 5 I absolutely killed the ball, dead on the screws. It's a 356 yd par 4 and I was 78 yds out for a 278 yd tee shot! Hole 6 I got lazy and sliced it. But was still next to the 150 marker. On hole 7 I just missed the sweet spot and had a medium fade to hit. Still went out 245 yds. Hole 9 topped again but still hit the fwy. Shot a 42.
Back 9:
On hole 10 I topped it again but was about 160 out so not bad. Hole 11, oh my gosh!!! I decided to make a HOTD for hole 11 before teeing off. And man was I happy I chose this hole! The audio on my phone wasn't turned on so you can't hear anything I'm saying. So, I edited it and put captions in for the finer points!! I will let the video tell you about hole 11.
[video=youtube_share;v-Av5-y0rmE]http://youtu.be/v-Av5-y0rmE[/video]
Spoiler
Hole 12, normally when I tee off here I land about the 150 marker. Like a lot of holes at my home course. Today I was a good 25 yards past the 150 in the middle of the fairway. Hole 14 is the #1 hc hole. Pond on the left creek on the right. Normally on a bad shot on this hole, I either fly to the pond or land into the creek. I never make it over the creek. Today it was heading towards the creek. Thought "Oh no". Get up to my ball and I was 20 yards past the creek. This was like the 5th tee shot today that I had flew past my normal spots. Definitely getting more distance with this beast! Hole 15 was 3w tee off. Hole 16 I topped it again with a low screaming flight for a 220 tee shot and 105 out. Hole 18 topped it yet again. This ball only went 190. Shot 42.
Total: 84 with 9/14 fwys, 29 putts!!
When I top the ball it gives me a low screaming flight but still not bad distance. I was 9 of 14 fwys with my first full 18 holes with the J40! When I wasn't on the fwy I wasn't far off every time except hole 9. Where I lacked today was my 100 yds and in. I pulled every stinking one of them to the left. Every one!! Dammit... I added up all my tee shots distance and divided them by the number of times I used the J40 off the tee. Average of 233! Not too shabby with having 5 of them topped which only went the 190-220 range. That brought the average down. I definitely hit this further than my 2.0 and I think it has to do with the shaft! The PX shaft is much more stout than the Ozik matrix in my SF 2.0. I really believe that I made the right decision when I chose this shaft. I'm really excited to get the FW's with this shaft in it also. Gonna be a sweet set up.
Recap: On mishits still gets pretty good distance. But when you hit it on the sweet spot man the ball just flies!! I have to disagree with Cookie... You are a fibber... this club isn't sneaky long... As soon as you hit it you tell that its long right away.... So it's not sneaky... it's a "Sleeper"!!! It has a fine classy look like nice ride but when you floor it, takes off like a bat out of heck!!! "SLEEPER!"
With more range time I will be bombing this on all my tee shots! Just have to get use to setting up a little closer to the ball since it is shorter than my SF 2.0. Plus putting the ball forward about 2". Once this comes natural, LOOK OUT Team THP and Team Paradise.
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Great updates from yesterday Dean, Jake, and bullfrog!
Sounds like several of us are finding the toe quite a bit on this driver. I will be messing with my setup a bit to see if I can get it figured out. Good thing is that the toe shots are still playable.
Sounds like several of us are finding the toe quite a bit on this driver. I will be messing with my setup a bit to see if I can get it figured out. Good thing is that the toe shots are still playable.
Good stuff from Jake, Bull and my Cap. I'm thinking the deeper face on the J40 has been a good thing.
I just can't get over how warm you are dressed Bull. I'm sweating balls and getting sunburned down this way. On a good note, the Snow Birds are making their yearly migration North and the courses are being freed up!
Excellent updates on this driver.
I just can't get over how warm you are dressed Bull. I'm sweating balls and getting sunburned down this way. On a good note, the Snow Birds are making their yearly migration North and the courses are being freed up!
Excellent updates on this driver.
Chunkylover77
Proud JakeNation Member
You guys are making me want one of these. If Dean is hitting bombs with this, its a miracle club
TC
Keg Thrower
I saw this driver in action months ago. I remember saying then that it was like the Razr Hawk, but better. I don't know if a golf club can give a guy 20-30 extra yards but maybe.
LOL rep added. I saw Jake and Deans HOTD videos, they both hit it very well.
Edit: Rep attempted but failed. Need to spread myself around
Chunkylover77
Proud JakeNation Member
Rep Fail!!
That's why I hate putting a number on it because it can vary for everyone. I have been thinking about it and see it like this:
I am getting similar carry as I was previously although on a lower trajectory. So, if a FW is wet or something I don't see myself losing any distance. However, on a dry track that lower trajectory hits and you see that rollout. I realize that is not the best for everyone's games but it sounds like 3 of us with the PX shafts are seeing 30-40 yards of rollout post landing. I know that is where the additional distance is coming for me. It will be great on my home course which is mostly dry especially in the TX summer but not as much of an advantage perhaps in FL or SC if the fairways are softer and more lush so to speak.
Chunkylover77
Proud JakeNation Member
Man Bridgestone must be super impressed by the comments so far guys. I just saw a new Youtube promo for this driver
Can you insert the video? I can't seem to find it. I would really like to see them pushing ads for the clubs - something I was asked about this past weekend.
Chunkylover77
Proud JakeNation Member
Its in the MC video thread
- Staff
- #571
I was bombing it 230 with no issues. Shake weight workouts FTW! I'm still not sure info hit it as far as the stock razr hawk setup, but like Marcs mentioned it seems sneaky long. All joking aside I would think this low spin head would be a great fit for you. Even with a snatch and grab swing hehe
Jersey Nate
#JourneyToBetter #THPMC
The sound also cuts out at around 10 seconds, too.
- Staff
- #574
yup same here
Puttin4Bird
Say what again mf'er!
I see what you're saying and for me it's a combination of a few things that has gotten me my distance back. First and foremost it's my swing. I'm not bailing out of the swing at impact thus adding loft and skying everything anymore. Staying down allows me to hit it solidly and not nearly as high. Second the combination of a low spin/low launch is my ideal setup for a driver, I am able to get the exact trajectory that I strive for and that has gotten me a lot more distance. Last it's dry as the desert around here right now so I'm getting just a ton of roll out, which also is attributed to that driver setup and the trajectory.