Driver Distances

Has anyone had a chance to hit a R7 and Big Bertha 454? If you have what was your option of the distances and trajectory with these drivers. Also assuming that both are 10* with the same flex in shaft.

Squint

I've hit just the R7, and it was at least 10 yards shorter on every drive than my Launcher, if that's any help.

Thanks for the info. I currently have the R7, but am awaiting the 454...hopefully it will be here by Tuesday! I guess I'll see which is longer off the tee here pretty soon.

Hit both and the 454 was longer for me. Also straighter. Still have the 454 but the R7 left very quickly. But after a fair try.

I hit the R7 425 against my Ping G5. The R7 425 looks great, felt very solid, and had a very adequate stock shaft. However, the G5 was every bit of 10-15 yards longer on a consistent basis. I also felt like the G5 was a little more forgiving. I am sure with the movable weight technology that a pro (or low handicapper) could benefit from the directional control benefits of the TaylorMade, but I sincerely feel there are better drivers out there (especially for the price). If you are going to spend $400 buy a Ping, Cleveland, or Callaway and upgrade the shaft. Your money will be much better spent !

haven't hit the big bertha 454, but the r7 (original not 425) is the shortest driver i've hit. hit at a demo day as well as a 905s, ignite 410 and 460, cleveland comp, callaway ft-3 neutral, and r5 neutral. i hit all but the r7 with in 10 yarads of each other. the r7 was coming up 15-20 yards short of them. the rep told me if i tried a differnt shaft than the stock i would gain distance. had me intrigued since the r5 had the same shaft as the r7.

you can't go wrong with the callaway. it'll be long.

I think that if a driver suits you swing characteristics has alot to do with whether or not one club is longer than another. A while back I tried a r7tp and it wasn't any longer than my current one, but then I tried out a r7ht and it was longer staighter and the ball flight that I wanted. So alot of it has to do with having a clear mind when your gonna try out a club and not have any preassumed judgements on how you think performance will be.

I have to disagree that the R7 is shorter than other drivers. Actually it is absolutely the longest driver I have wth the greatest carry distance, by at least 10-15 yards. I have heard others say that the R7 is both unforgiving and short, but I found the complete opposite, and I have absolutely no loyalty to any equipment company. The key is to hit on the hot spot on a consistent basis and get the right shaft/loft combination. Basically, I think you need to try out the drivers you are considering instead of getting other's advice. For me, I found that I need very low spin, penetrating flight, high launch angle to get the greatest distance and the R7/Speeder 757 gives me the best combination of those traits. Currently own the following:

Callaway FT-3 9.5 N Proforce V2 65 S

Titleist 905T 10.5 Proforce V2 65 S

TaylorMade R7 Quad 10.5 Fujikura 757 Speeder S

Callaway BB 454 10 Aldila NVS 65 S

TaylorMade R580XD 9.5 Mitsubishi Rayon Tour H. Kuehne 80 S

Titleist 983K 10.5 Fujikura Speeder S

I have a G5 NV 65 stiff flex 9* and a buddy has a 9* stock shaft r7 stiff flex. I out drive him on a average of 3:1. The 454 is o.k., but if I were to choose, go with the r7. Callaway has been spending too much time perfecting their irons, and they've done a great job, but their Drivers just can't compete, IMHO. If I were you, I'd try the X 460 Callaway, if you must have Callaway. Try PING, Titleist and Mizuno, the best drivers right now, IMO.

I'd have to say to try em all out and find what suits you. IMO no one driver is particularly longer than any other these days with all the technology behind them if you have them in the correct shaft and loft they'll all play relatively similar. The big difference is going to be forgiveness. I've tried almost every big name driver out there with all kinds of different shafts at this point and heres what I'd have to say:

Ping G2 and G5(all the high lofts) Comp NT, UST V2 75, Accra, Grafalloy Blue, etc.

I found this driver to be somewhat a shallow face for me forcing me to tee it lower and causing me to hit an undesired trajectory for me. Very forgiving club intentionally miss a few just a fraction of the sweetspot when trying all these drivers to see how it reacts. Distance on the slight mishit was pretty good but I found that the club face is too closed for me along with being too shallow. Distance was ok but not particularly longer than my Ping driver. I was also quite bothered by the alignment aid on the top as I am used to just having the K on the top of my driver.

Titleist 905s 9.5 UST v2 75:

Found this driver to set up much better for me than the Ping in that it seems to setup pretty much dead square and is fairly long, some improvement over my current driver. Ballflight was pretty good and the club seems very forgiving. Decided against going with this club bc it has a somewhat shallower face than I like and the head was a bit small to justify changing from my driver to this. Overall a pretty good driver with great solid feel and a nice sound unlike the Ping which had a very odd sound to my ear.

Taylor Made R7 TP 10.5 Speeder

This was a great driver and finished runner up to the driver I decided to get. I always have loved Taylor made woods in that even tho they keep up with technology and head size has continued to grow they maintain a pretty traditional shaped driver. This was a very long driver for me with a great ballflight and pretty good forgiveness. Taylor Made drivers are very deep faced which I like bc it allows me to tee the ball very high and just go after it without feer of balooning it or popping it up. The sound was great except for the fact that when I hit it people on the other side of the range 300 yards away probably had to cover their ears from how loud this driver is and the high pitched sound that it produces when hitting a good one. Overall a pretty good driver however now it is a little behind the times in that it is only 400cc.

Taylor Made R5 TP 9.5 UST v2 75

This is the driver i decided to go with. It has a great ballflight very similar for me to the height of the R7 10.5. The driver is very forgiving and for me very long. Shot dispersion is great as the shaft I have in it is very low torque and and has a high kickpoint. The feel is great and the sound is somewhat more sedate than the r7 tp imo. Overall a great driver havent really found anything out on the market that I hit better or longer. The head is very square which is great bc I never want to see the left side of the course again.

Launcher Comp (various lofts)

never gave the driver too much consideration as I didnt really like the setup of it, seemed a little closed to me in the higher lofts. As well after having cracked the faces on a few Ping drivers I didnt want to take a risk by using a driver that is composite bc it wont have the structural support that an all titanium head will have. I also like a very heavy driver head, my current PING driver is a D7.5 swing weight on a grafalloy blue, so this head wouldve had to been loaded down with a ton of lead tape in order to give the feel i was looking for. To me it wasnt worth all of the hassle that this driver wouldve brought with it.

It's personal preference. Many people dog PING. I love PING. I can only guide you in my personal experiences. The deal here is for you to get on that launcher and let it tell you. Callaway is fine, but not for me. The launcher said that the PING G5 was my driver. It might say something different for you.

Having both, I don't think you can go wrong with either one. I do think the 454 is more forgivng and you will get a playable shot regardless of where you hit on the face. I do not think it's short by any means and I have gotten 260 yard drives with it. Actually, I do think my longest drive of the year was with the 454 on some very firm fairways. The 10 degree I have gives a mid trajectory, and I hit a consistent slight to mid fade with it.

The R7 is longer consistently for me than any driver, with a very high launch angle but very boring flight trajectory. with average carry of 240-250. Most of the other drivers I get about 220-230 carry on average. I get very little sidespin with this driver and it goes very straight. I sometimes push it occasionally, but still gives me a playable second shot since it doesn't slice when I do this. It is very hard for me to draw/fade this driver though because of the low spin.

Callaway has been spending too much time perfecting their irons, and they've done a great job, but their Drivers just can't compete, IMHO.

Huh? FT-3?

I used to own the R7 and found it pretty long and accurate. I stuck with it for a good year (mainly because I couldn't hit the grapefruit drivers...460cc). As said above, you need to find the sweet spot on a consistent basis for it to pay dividends.

Redbird-

As said it was IMHO. I did a trial run and I hit a PING, Mizuno, Titleist, FT-3 Tour, 454, r7, and the Cleveland Comp. The Callaway 454 didn't have much pop for me and I hooked the crap out of it. The FT-3 tour was good for me, but why does a 17 handicap need a Tour model, and they don't. The r7 was an expense I wasn't prepared to make, first of all I am notorious for losing stuff and today's technology is just as good or everybody would be putting screws in it's driver. The Cleveland Comp was o.k., but it just wasn't what I was looking for, it just felt flat. The Mizuno was great as was the Titleist both had good draw bias, but in the end it was the G5.

It's personal preference. Many people dog PING. I love PING. I can only guide you in my personal experiences. The deal here is for you to get on that launcher and let it tell you. Callaway is fine, but not for me. The launcher said that the PING G5 was my driver. It might say something different for you.

I agree with slicer. Get on a launch monitor as soon as you can and hit every single possible driver that you can. In fact, go and hit them without paying any attention to what the bottom of the club says. Seeing what brand driver might sway you into getting something that isn't right for you because of the name or reputation. I hit A LOT of drivers and the Hogan was best for me. The spin rate and launch angle were optimal, the feel was good, and the ball flight for me was ideal. Until I saw the results on a launch monitor I never would have thought it was for me, but seeing those concrete numbers really helped.

I have a G5 NV 65 stiff flex 9* and a buddy has a 9* stock shaft r7 stiff flex. I out drive him on a average of 3:1. The 454 is o.k., but if I were to choose, go with the r7. Callaway has been spending too much time perfecting their irons, and they've done a great job, but their Drivers just can't compete, IMHO. If I were you, I'd try the X 460 Callaway, if you must have Callaway. Try PING, Titleist and Mizuno, the best drivers right now, IMO.

That is not a fair comparison, I play with guys that I out drive with my three wood and there are guys who out drive me no matter what the driver. Do a side by side comparison with your friends driver with the same person swinging.

I have played the R7, Adams 460 Dual, Ping G5 and have hit the R7 425. Of those (all had simular shafts/setups) I found the Adams the longest, followed by the PING and R7, the jusy is out on the 425 because I haven't hit it on course, though it felt solid and the ball jumped it also was vey accurate.

Redbird-

 

As said it was IMHO. I did a trial run and I hit a PING, Mizuno, Titleist, FT-3 Tour, 454, r7, and the Cleveland Comp. The Callaway 454 didn't have much pop for me and I hooked the crap out of it. The FT-3 tour was good for me, but why does a 17 handicap need a Tour model, and they don't. The r7 was an expense I wasn't prepared to make, first of all I am notorious for losing stuff and today's technology is just as good or everybody would be putting screws in it's driver. The Cleveland Comp was o.k., but it just wasn't what I was looking for, it just felt flat. The Mizuno was great as was the Titleist both had good draw bias, but in the end it was the G5.

You made is sould like Callaway's drivers have turned to crap. Sorry :)

I think the whole "Tour" thing with the FT-3 retail clubs is simply a alteration from the "Typical" type of club that a average golfer would look for. Something with an open/square face vs. a slightly shut face, it's just a way for Joe golfer off the street ot distinguish between the two. Now the R7 and R7TP is a different thing that TM has goin on.

You made is sould like Callaway's drivers have turned to crap. Redbird

I was a Warbird man for years until this past season, in fact, when my shaft snapped at the hosel. I was pretty upset and swore I'd never use Callaway again. I tried several products, I actually liked the Titanium 360cc Driver, but wanted to move up into the 400cc class so I ended up buying a 540xd (I hated it). I don't know, man golf is a funny beast, (i.e. Cobra might be one guy's choice while PING might be another guy's). That's the beauty of golf, CHOICES!!! AMEN