Great job guys! Well done! Enjoyed coming in here and reading everyone's thoughts as I went through my journey with this bad boy. Thanks again!
Callaway FT Optiforce Driver Review - Forum Testing
Diezel Dawg
New member
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2013
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I hit my 9.5* Driver higher than my buddy hits his 14.5* Henry Griffitts. I hit a very high ball with any of my clubs
instant3
New member
It was nice catching up with this forum review, awesome job testers.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk
Johnny mojo
Mojovated!
Everyone did a great job and many of the reviews could be templates for how to do it right. Thanks to all of the testers. I still want to get my hands on one of these in R flex!
StraightForward
Banned
Hit this driver today, side by side with the X-Hot. 1st time hitting either. X-Hot hands down for feel and forgiveness out on the toe which is my miss. The OF actually felt hard/harsh imo. On the other hand, the X-Hot felt nice and soft faced like I could feel the trampoline effect.
- Staff
- #656
For me, I actually felt the exact opposite Optiforce vs X-Hot. I gamed the X-Hot for a long time this season and absolutely adored that driver, reg and pro versions. But to me the Optiforce sounds better (which is crazy as the X-Hot IMO was one of the best sounding drivers released in YEARS) and the ball just feels like it jumps for me. With the Opti I feel like I crushed the ball. This driver is just silly for me right now, and frankly, I never ever saw it coming. I like surprises like that though.
Shows how personal this wacky game is, and I love it!
Smithfaced
New member
Thank you to THP and Callaway for giving me the opportunity to test the OptiForce. I'm keeping it in my bag for now and will be coming back to this thread and posting my thoughts. I'm still looking for deals on some other shafts to try out.
- Thread starter
- #658
Job well done, Smithfaced. You killed it bro.
Smithfaced
New member
Likewise dude. It might have been a shaky start but it was a start. I've been thinking of some things I would change if I'm lucky enough to test any other products for THP. There is more to putting together good reviews than I had originally thought but it was a good experience for sure. I'm learning from the vets though.
manlai
New member
Here are some of my thoughts in the xhot vs optiforce discussion.
Distance: The xhot was... well... hotter. The ball really jumps off the face and the distance is better than the optiforce. It had very good forgiveness in terms of minimizing lost distance all across the face. The optiforce isn't really a long driver in my opinion.
Feel: If I put my jman hat on for a moment, part of the feel in the optiforce is the sound - especially the sound feedback. The Optiforce is the clear leader in that for me. It has a great "thwack" off the center and then a little lighter "tink" as I got further off the sweet spot. I didn't get the same feedback from the xhot. *jman hat off* The xhot swings at D3 while the optiforce swings at D0. The much lighter swing weight works against feel for some people. I personally like it but that's just me. I found the optiforce to have a little more softer feeling face. You made an interesting comment about the optiforce feeling harsh. Did you by any chance check the adapter settings? I found that it felt a little "harder/harsher" at certain other-than-standard settings. -1* draw felt noticeably harsher for me for example.
Lateral Forgiveness: The optiforce really wins for me in this category. It's my favorite part of this driver. It is much much straighter than the xhot all across the face. The xhot was similar to my RBZ in producing foul balls - it hits them where I swing them. Conversely, the optiforce really wants to go straight. Heel shots cutting and toe shots drawing back to the center were a common occurrence.
Overall: I found them both very easy to hit. The xhot was silly easy distance while the optiforce was silly straight. I found that the optiforce responds better to a smoother transition and tempo while the xhot handled my more aggressive swings better. I think it has to do with the higher torque, slightly softer flex Diamana shaft. In any case, they're both great drivers. As I spent more time with each, I could definitely see why they might be targeting different people.
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Great job guys. I really enjoyed following along. I too am interested in hearing your thoughts over the coming months.
Smithfaced
New member
9 holes today with the OptiForce and I feel like things are getting better and better. I only had to use it twice and was 1/2 on fairways but the miss was manageable and I walked away with a par. I think I jinxed myself by saying I rarely miss off the toe because I've been doing it more lately. The club definitely rattles in your hands a bit when you strike it out on the toe but I still hit a high baby draw right down the center measured at 282. That is minimal distance loss for me and I ended up with a birdie on that hole. I won't go so far as to say that tee shots are becoming a strength of my game but the OptiForce has brought me closer than any other driver.
- Staff
- #664
I love this driver. I love the shaft combo in it too. I'm being completely serious when I say I have not had this confidence in a driver, or this consistent of a high ball flight that I seek, in years. There is just something about it all that clicks for me. The sound is phenomenal, the adjustability is really good IMO, and the forgiveness across the face reminds me a LOT of the Amp Cell.
Oh, and its long.
Oh, and its long.
- Thread starter
- #665
Now you are just making me miss it.I love this driver. I love the shaft combo in it too. I'm being completely serious when I say I have not had this confidence in a driver, or this consistent of a high ball flight that I seek, in years. There is just something about it all that clicks for me. The sound is phenomenal, the adjustability is really good IMO, and the forgiveness across the face reminds me a LOT of the Amp Cell.
Oh, and its long.
- Staff
- #666
Dude. Its SO similar to the Amp Cell IMO, but at the same time, the shaft pairing just sets it apart right out of the box IMO. The S+ is really really good.
- Thread starter
- #667
I am a big fan of that shaft.
Thanks for the reviews. Based on this thread and your feedback, I am looking forward to the S+ Optiforce I should be getting on Wednesday.
Smithfaced
New member
James are you contemplating trying any other shafts out?
- Staff
- #670
Not even the slightest desire to....and I'm a tinkerer from waaaaaaaaaaaay back.
Ballsohard
Member
Just an update from me; I was originally hitting this about 220 pretty straight consistently; I finally feel really comfortable with the club and am taking much more aggressive swings; I'm knocking the ball 250-270 now. I'm finding as long as i load up my backswing correctly with this club, it's really really straight and I can just focus on hitting the crap out of the ball. I Actually hit one about 290 which got a bunch of guys in front of me complimenting me (although I almost hit them; i'd never driven near that far). I'm certainly not saying it's all club, as i'm learning still but I moved from a RBZ to the 460 Optiforce and do not regret it one bit.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
mikedean441
6X HOF
Club or no club that's one impressive gain there
Smithfaced
New member
What do you think it was that inspired that confidence to go after the ball more with the OptiForce?
Ballsohard
Member
Callaway FT Optiforce Driver Review - Forum Testing
I think it's the forgiveness tbh. I know if I keep a good tempo and draw my club near my body on my backswing it's going to be a good hit; and at worst I shift my club outside in .. most of the time it's not going to be an embarrassing slice 2 fairways over.
Don't get me wrong, it still happens like once a round where I get a little too bold and try and swing out of my shoes and mess up; but driving was my least confident shot before this driver. Now it's top 3. It's really helped my score on my home course which is pretty short; I'm hitting 25 to 50 yard second shots often... Now if I can only learn to putt..
I think it's the forgiveness tbh. I know if I keep a good tempo and draw my club near my body on my backswing it's going to be a good hit; and at worst I shift my club outside in .. most of the time it's not going to be an embarrassing slice 2 fairways over.
Don't get me wrong, it still happens like once a round where I get a little too bold and try and swing out of my shoes and mess up; but driving was my least confident shot before this driver. Now it's top 3. It's really helped my score on my home course which is pretty short; I'm hitting 25 to 50 yard second shots often... Now if I can only learn to putt..
Ballsohard
Member
Callaway FT Optiforce Driver Review - Forum Testing
I also want to note that it took me a good month or two of playing this club to get to this point. When I first got the club I sliced badly and had to set it to a draw; I'm now neutral neutral.
I also want to note that it took me a good month or two of playing this club to get to this point. When I first got the club I sliced badly and had to set it to a draw; I'm now neutral neutral.