Question:
Joseph, Wonderful article. Good data here. … The saga of the $150 cheap s**t steel shafted 10 degree Big Bertha vs the 11 degree $Great $Big Bertha continues. When last we met, I had just bought the 10 degree driver and had sent the 11 degree GBB off for reshafting. Today I got back the GBB with its new Strong flex shaft (Callaway’s somewhat tame version of Extra Stiff) and squeezed in some time on the range and 9 holes of practice-style golf.
Actually, the Callaway flex grades seem to correspond to Aldila’s. And and Aldila "Firm" is nowhere near a reasonable "Stiff"; it’s in between a normal "R" and "S". You have to go to an Aldila "Strong" to get anything like other brands’ "S". This seems to agree with your assessment of Callaway’s grading. — much snippage — Anyway, what should I (or anyone else who’s interested) take away from this? 1) If you are having trouble hitting your driver consistently straight, even though you can hit other clubs straight and long, you should investigate stiffer shafts…
This agrees with my experience, and with most of what I’ve read. 2) Stiffer is straighter, at least in the domain of reasonably high (or greater) clubhead speed, say 100mph+ driver at a guess.
Stiffer is straighter, within a range, at any clubhead speed. The range changes with clubhead speed, but the principle is constant. Dynacraft’s DSFI gives some quantitative kick to your principle. I also felt that the clubhead was much more controllable, positionable.
Makes sense. 3) Stiffer is lower and more boring. Once again this requires some clubhead speed, otherwise you just get a worm burner.
This is probably true within the range. Outside the range for your clubhead speed, stiffer COULD be almost anything. For me, it’s a high slice. But within the flex range for my clubhead speed, stiffer is lower and more boring — and less of a hook for most golfers. 4) Assuming you can get it a little up in the air, there is a lot to be said for low-lofted low-tech stainless steel drivers that hit those endless rollers. It doesn’t matter whether it carries 100 or 250 yards, really, so long as there’s clear fairway in front–the ball will roll out to the "correct" distance on anything approaching a decent hit.
This is personal taste, and the course you play. I agree with you… when I play at Shark River or Spring Meadow. If I play a "target golf" course, I disagree. Holes with forced carries, or deep rough to a fairway well over 100 yards out, require getting it up in the air. Likewise with hard, close-mowed fairways, where slope or the end of doglegs could take you out of the fairway with too much roll. BTW, last week, I hit a worm-burner that bounced 70 yards out, and finally stopped mid-fairway only three yards short of the best drive in the group — a beautiful high, straight trajectory. :-) 5) I find that I am personally (at this *very* early stage) more accurate with the steel shafted driver.
I agree completely. I keep experimenting with graphite shafts. I get a few more yards out of some. But I always seem to wander back to one of my steel-shafted drivers, because I can never seem to get consistent drives from any of my graphites. Cheers! Dave
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I don’t presently have a 2 iron. I was thinking that I might order a 2 iron with 1 iron length (+1/2"), or perhaps even +1". Also, although I am planning to change from graphite to steel shafts, I might prefer graphite for this club. [...] [...] Why not visit a clubmaker, or a pro, and discuss it with them? They might be able to knock you up a slightly longer shafted, correctly lofted, driving iron to suit you. Something I did notice is that Tom Lehman’s 2 iron is graphite shafted. I wonder if it’s slightly overlength, too.
Agreed. I forgot to mention shaft material. Ciao! David. David McAuliffe, | My views are not shared Acronym Computing Development | by my employer-
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Joseph, I too prefer to hit irons off tees and have tried the BB 1 iron. It’s a bit like hitting a butter knife, very thin face. I do, however, love my BB 2 iron. I bought the club with the RCH 96 graphite shaft [firm flex] and find it very easy to control and hit consistently. That’s what we’re all looking for! Hope this helps, Greg
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Dynacraft have a 0 iron (12 degrees) available in one of their ranges- can’t remember which.
Well, well. I was just pondering yesterday if there was such a thing as an 0 iron, and now I know. The thing is, what is a 9 degree iron called? Steve
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Dynacraft have a 0 iron (12 degrees) available in one of their ranges- can’t remember which. Well, well. I was just pondering yesterday if there was such a thing as an 0 iron, and now I know. The thing is, what is a 9 degree iron called? Steve
Phillip or Steve, Why don’t you ring up Dynacraft, since it was their idea to call it a 0 iron? Some people’s children… Ciao! David. David McAuliffe, | My views are not shared Acronym Computing Development | by my employer-
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Dynacraft have a 0 iron (12 degrees) available in one of their ranges- can’t remember which. Well, well. I was just pondering yesterday if there was such a thing as an 0 iron, and now I know. The thing is, what is a 9 degree iron called? Steve Phillip or Steve, Why don’t you ring up Dynacraft, since it was their idea to call it a 0 iron? Some people’s children…
I could be wrong, but I thought the first 0 iron was a custom job that Wilson made for John Daly. -joseph
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I could be wrong, but I thought the first 0 iron was a custom job that Wilson made for John Daly.
There was a tour pro in the late 70s or early 80s carrying a 0 iron. I think he was somebody Burns (I think maybe George, but that might be because of the more famous comedian named George Burns) And he isn’t necessarily the first. — Douglas Siebert Director of Computing Facilities He who lives in a glass house should not invite in he who is without sin.
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The saga of the $150 cheap s**t steel shafted 10 degree Big Bertha vs the 11 degree $Great $Big Bertha continues. When last we met, I had just bought the 10 degree driver and had sent the 11 degree GBB off for reshafting. Today I got back the GBB with its new Strong flex shaft (Callaway’s somewhat tame version of Extra Stiff) and squeezed in some time on the range and 9 holes of practice-style golf. While my GBB was out being tweaked by Callaway, I had gotten to like the 10 degree driver more and more. Despite its being a noticeably heavy steel clunker, I’ve started to hit it pretty straight (generally in the fairway and rarely OB) and even better pretty long (a pure "85%" stroke goes 250-260). Boy, does that the ball roll off that club. Also, as I figured I would, I’ve started to hit it a little higher–for the first few days it was like bowling for dollars, but now it has a nice gently arced boring trajectory. It impresses the onlookers too. Anyway, today the GBB came back, looking pretty much like it had been swapped for a new club at the factory, new grip and all. (For $100 I’d expect a nice looking club back.) I hit a half dozen balls in the shop and the difference in the feel of the club was *immediately* obvious. I swing my driver 105-110 mph now and the R shaft from the good old days was a ball sprayer like you’ve never seen. The difference in feel with the stiffer shaft was really obvious–the clubhead was in an "honest" orientation and position at impact. If you haven’t experienced this you probably won’t know exactly what I mean. So off I went to the driving range. It wasn’t a great day to compare clubs because there was a 10-20 mph breeze blowing alternately across and down the range. However, I felt like the ball left the reshafted GBB with much more authority. Also the ball generally went straight–I hit some straight pulls and some straight pushes as well as a number of totally straight shots while fiddling around. Curving flights tended to be draws. I was never able to consistently draw the regular flex GBB (well, I was never able to hit it consistently in any direction!), but I think I could draw this one consistently. The ball flight was also dramatically different. The R flex GBB produced high balls with arcing trajectories a lot like a stainless steel 3 wood. The new extra-stiff shaft produces a lower, nearly straight "hovering" trajectory that rises slowly and then abruptly drops. Cool. I’d estimate that at the range the GBB was 10-15 yards longer than the BB, including roll. Hard to say since I was driving the range (270-280 yards?) with any decent shot downwind. Anyway, late in the day I headed out onto an empty back nine with both drivers. I hit 3-4 balls off the tee on every hole. First was a 315 yard par 4, elevated tee. I pushed the BB into the rough, but safely enough. The GBB went a good 20-30 yards longer, leaving me 20-30 yards from the front of the green (both balls). Seemed promising. On later holes, though, the advantage of the GBB over the low-tech steel BB wasn’t so apparent. I slightly mishit the GBB most of the time and generally it was even with the BB. The BB was definitely more accurate. I attribute this at least partially to the difference in shaft length–toward the end of a round I sometimes begin to set up up too close to the ball with my driver and Bad Things (chunking, flyballs) start to happen. Today the winner in the drive-off was the Big Bertha, but not by much. I suspect I was setting up with the GBB too close to me some of the time, the BB less. Anyway, what should I (or anyone else who’s interested) take away from this? 1) If you are having trouble hitting your driver consistently straight, even though you can hit other clubs straight and long, you should investigate stiffer shafts. Although I have hit balls very long off my R flex GBB (280-290 yards straight on occasion) the feel is somewhat "spongy." The Strong (XS) shaft makes it feel more like I am driving tacks with a long hammer. "Ping" rather than "sploot." If you don’t have a reasonably high clubhead speed you will probably not enjoy this sensation, but in my case, hitting way too flexible a shaft for quite some time, it really opened my eyes. 2) Stiffer is straighter, at least in the domain of reasonably high (or greater) clubhead speed, say 100mph+ driver at a guess. I also felt that the clubhead was much more controllable, positionable. 3) Stiffer is lower and more boring. Once again this requires some clubhead speed, otherwise you just get a worm burner. 4) Assuming you can get it a little up in the air, there is a lot to be said for low-lofted low-tech stainless steel drivers that hit those endless rollers. It doesn’t matter whether it carries 100 or 250 yards, really, so long as there’s clear fairway in front–the ball will roll out to the "correct" distance on anything approaching a decent hit. I have seen this many times now and it no longer bothers me when I drive a wee thin but straight, since I know I get 95%+ of my regular distance. 5) I find that I am personally (at this *very* early stage) more accurate with the steel shafted driver. Also I feel that I can learn to work it. Working the R flex driver was a complete impossibility. We shall see about the XS flex driver. 6) I was never able to hit a driver well with the "extended arms" feeling until I got into the stiffer shafts. I can hit long irons off the tee very well (3 iron 220-240) and for me it involves standing far enough from the ball that I can hit it with a fully extended front arm at impact and a fully extended back arm coming immediately after in the followthrough. Having dispensed with whippy shafts I can now do this with a driver, and the result is EASILY another 20 yards of distance plus noticeably improved accuracy. (Luke! Let go! Trust your feelings!) Again, if you don’t have reasonably high clubhead speed you will probably not have this problem. I didn’t have any troubles at all until the drives got longer than 240 yards. What I would like to do next is to play a couple rounds with the 11 degree XS GBB and see if I can turn 250-260 into 270-280 or some similarly concrete gain. But even more, I’d like to try a 9 degree GBB. (The titanium Callaway clubs are supposed to hit 1-2 degrees higher than the steel counterparts.) I feel like the ball comes off the GBB faster than the BB but that the loft is taking away from my distance–especially out here in the land of dry fairways. One thing I’m definitely looking forward to is getting the GBB 3 wood reshafted. 240-250 off the tee straight almost for sure, I think, maybe more. Also I think it’ll be a lot easier to hit off the fairway. My faster swing has corrupted what used to be a very reliable fairway wood game back in the 220 yard 3 wood days. Is there anyone out there who might be interested in an 11 degree LEFT_HANDED Great Big Bertha with Strong (Extra Stiff) shaft? If it doesn’t clearly beat out the 10 degree BB in the next couple weeks I’ll be ready to either get rid of it or try a lower-lofted driver. The price I have in mind is $275. It is in *mint* condition now. If you’re interested, let me know by email and I’ll let you know if I decide to let it go in favor of some other club. If you’re not willing to part with $275 + postage then don’t bother me …. Remember: LEFT HANDED LEFT HANDED LEFT HANDED More later, -joseph — Proprietor, 5 Sigma Productions P.O. Box 6250 Chandler AZ 85246 Perl training & software, C++/C/etc. software, web stuff, original music
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[...] Today I got back the GBB with its new Strong flex shaft (Callaway’s somewhat tame version of Extra Stiff) and squeezed in some time on the range and 9 holes of practice-style golf. Actually, the Callaway flex grades seem to correspond to Aldila’s. And and Aldila "Firm" is nowhere near a reasonable "Stiff"; it’s in between a normal "R" and "S". You have to go to an Aldila "Strong" to get anything like other brands’ "S". [...]
Are the reports of a Callaway "Tour" flex available by special order true? (Well, I could always just call Callaway and ask, but ….) -joseph
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I don’t presently have a 2 iron. I was thinking that I might order a 2 iron with 1 iron length (+1/2"), or perhaps even +1". Also, although I am planning to change from graphite to steel shafts, I might prefer graphite for this club. [...] [...] Why not visit a clubmaker, or a pro, and discuss it with them? They might be able to knock you up a slightly longer shafted, correctly lofted, driving iron to suit you.
Something I did notice is that Tom Lehman’s 2 iron is graphite shafted. I wonder if it’s slightly overlength, too. -joseph
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – (No, this is not a Controller pitch!) I hit my 3 iron well off the tee, unusually well for an 18 hcp actually. A while ago I bought a Callaway 1 iron and although I have gotten to where I can hit it fairly well, it is not quite the panacea I was hoping for. I’d like to have an iron I can hit 240-250 with a full tee shot. The 1 iron does that but it is has such a vertically small sweet spot that I’m thinking a more lofted club might be more the ticket. I don’t need the loft for height–I can hit long irons very high if necessary. I don’t presently have a 2 iron. I was thinking that I might order a 2 iron with 1 iron length (+1/2"), or perhaps even +1". Also, although I am planning to change from graphite to steel shafts, I might prefer graphite for this club. Would anyone out like to share any experiences with (non paid programming) driving irons? I’ll probably try a BB 2 iron but I was also considering the Ti100 2 iron. -joseph
There are a few different ways of approach this. Dynacraft have a 0 iron (12 degrees) available in one of their ranges- can’t remember which. Several companies/component shops put our driving irons, which seems to have caught on to some extent. I saw one in Wayne Grady’s bag out here late last year. I haven’t hit one, so can’t vouch for their effectiveness. Why not visit a clubmaker, or a pro, and discuss it with them? They might be able to knock you up a slightly longer shafted, correctly lofted, driving iron to suit you. Just a thought. Ciao! David. David McAuliffe, | My views are not shared Acronym Computing Development | by my employer-
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One thing I’m definitely looking forward to is getting the GBB 3 wood reshafted. 240-250 off the tee straight almost for sure, I think, maybe more. Also I think it’ll be a lot easier to hit off the fairway. My faster swing has corrupted what used to be a very reliable fairway wood game back in the 220 yard 3 wood days.
My theories about stiffer shafts improving my fairway woods would also seem to be confirmed by the roughly one dozen drivers I hit off the (fairly short) grass at the driving range yesterday. With a controlled 75% swing I was able to hit some solid low balls that carried 210-220. The whippy 3 wood is very hard for me to hit off the fairway with anything approaching a full swing–generally the best I can hope for is a thin hit that goes straight. -joseph
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(No, this is not a Controller pitch!) I hit my 3 iron well off the tee, unusually well for an 18 hcp actually. A while ago I bought a Callaway 1 iron and although I have gotten to where I can hit it fairly well, it is not quite the panacea I was hoping for. I’d like to have an iron I can hit 240-250 with a full tee shot. The 1 iron does that but it is has such a vertically small sweet spot that I’m thinking a more lofted club might be more the ticket. I don’t need the loft for height–I can hit long irons very high if necessary. I don’t presently have a 2 iron. I was thinking that I might order a 2 iron with 1 iron length (+1/2"), or perhaps even +1". Also, although I am planning to change from graphite to steel shafts, I might prefer graphite for this club. Would anyone out like to share any experiences with (non paid programming) driving irons? I’ll probably try a BB 2 iron but I was also considering the Ti100 2 iron. -joseph