2021 Callaway Epic Speed, Epic Max, Epic LS drivers (in-hand photos)

[jds101086]

Interested in any gains/differences guys have seen with Max LS vs Mavrik/Flash TD...

 

I have zero reason to change but these are looking better and better.

[fishn]

1 hour ago, liptrot said:

IM10 worked really well for me. Smooth with a nice kick on the bottom. I’m 98 mph - 102 mph w an occasional 104 mph. Ordered max LS w IM10 6.0 at 45”.  Will see how it compares to my Atmos Blue

Thanks Liptrot, trying to decide whether I need a 5.5 or 6.0, I am probably 5mph slower than you at least. I do want to feel some kick in the shaft and not to stiff but want to go with a 50 gram and not sure which way to go. Thanks for sharing your feedback 

[SwooshLT]

5 minutes ago, fishn said:

Thanks Liptrot, trying to decide whether I need a 5.5 or 6.0, I am probably 5mph slower than you at least. I do want to feel some kick in the shaft and not to stiff but want to go with a 50 gram and not sure which way to go. Thanks for sharing your feedback 

I'm even slower than you and the 50 5.5 seemed softrr.....want to hit 60 5.5 before making decision.....I believe you could handle 6.0 in the 50

[fishn]

15 minutes ago, SwooshLT said:

I'm even slower than you and the 50 5.5 seemed softrr.....want to hit 60 5.5 before making decision.....I believe you could handle 6.0 in the 50

Thank you, I am guessing maybe 95-98, I really don’t know for sure. I have a Fubuki ZT in stiff flex and I like it ok but it is very boardy. But I was a little afraid of what you experienced with the 5.5 being too soft. But never thought of going the route you are wanting to try. I appreciate your thoughts and sharing your experience with the 5.5. Thanks 

[noodle3872]

8 hours ago, Rogtsaamokin66 said:

What’s everyone’s thoughts on the MMT 60 if any have hit it with the Epic LS 

While the LS isn’t a good fit, I did enjoy the MMT 60S. Read a page or two back to see some MMT chat. 

[hef63303]

20 hours ago, juggernaut0629 said:

I ordered the smoke black stiff with mcc+4. I wanted to try the black rdx but was worried I wouldn't be man enough for it. 

Unfortunately, that shaft is one of the ones that are backordered right now. Same for RDX.

[third-times-a-charm]

4 hours ago, jds101086 said:

Interested in any gains/differences guys have seen with Max LS vs Mavrik/Flash TD...

 

I have zero reason to change but these are looking better and better.

 

Same-ish here.

 

I have a mav standard and am looking really hard at the huge MOI boost in the max heads this year. Over 5000 for the LS is pretty crazy given the speed/mav standard are around 4500.

[noodle3872]

I’ll say this, I’ve had EF SZ, EF SZ TD and Mavrik SZ. LS is by far the easiest to hit of the bunch. I gravitated to the toe with my strike point which caused some nose diving hot hooks. Button it and she is gone! 

[Dsevans8]

9 hours ago, noodle3872 said:

I’ll say this, I’ve had EF SZ, EF SZ TD and Mavrik SZ. LS is by far the easiest to hit of the bunch. I gravitated to the toe with my strike point which caused some nose diving hot hooks. Button it and she is gone! 

My miss is usually on the tow with my Mav SZ TD and I know all too well about that nasty toe hook.... Did you do anything with the sliding weight in your LS to help out with those toe strikes?

[bjno1300]

Two questions. Is the max ls the same as the Mav td most of the pros were using? Also anyone have a ventus black in one and do you know the up charge ? Cheers 

[Rogtsaamokin66]

1 hour ago, bjno1300 said:

Two questions. Is the max ls the same as the Mav td most of the pros were using? Also anyone have a ventus black in one and do you know the up charge ? Cheers 

I’ll take a stab. Having the Mavrik triple 💎 and now the Max LS the top line of the LS is rounder not as squared off as Mavrik triple 💎. Feel I don’t know yet we have 20” of snow here 🤦‍♂️.  And I’m tired of wasting money on simulators. But the look of it at a dress it looks pretty darn close in size. I love the look of the new LS   Some pros are using a speed triple 💎. The up charge on the Ventus would probably be the $350 that they are I would think?  Supposedly the triple diamonds are coming to retail within the next week or two around the 22nd or after February. One rep told my club guy that exciting news is coming.

[noodle3872]

2 hours ago, Dsevans8 said:

My miss is usually on the tow with my Mav SZ TD and I know all too well about that nasty toe hook.... Did you do anything with the sliding weight in your LS to help out with those toe strikes?

No, I left the slider in the center.  Aside from a quick test, I've never moved the weight to my miss side and left it.  I find it makes the club feel unbalanced.

[jeffrey r]

I had a chance to hit the Max LS today at PGASS, and color me impressed.  I am not typically a SZ or LS guy, favoring forgiveness over lower spin.  But, since I can benefit from lower spin as well, the fitter did prioritize the Max LS head for me.  Unfortunately, since I could not monopolize his time for too long, I could not try different shafts, or the Speed and Max heads.  He threw the Smoke IM 10 60 6.0 in there for me, which I wanted to try along with the MMT 60 S (did not have the chance to throw in there).

 

I liked the look and feel of the Max LS.  I confirmed that the B21 and Rogue White 60 is a nice combo for me.  No need to really change.  But my best drive of the session was with the Max LS.  The trick with these LS heads is can I replicate those perfect strikes with success on my less than perfect strikes.  For the first time, I felt that this Max LS had that potential for me, balancing low spin and forgiveness, without being too small of a head, etc.  I will trade some stuff in and pick one of these up, or perhaps the Max.

 

All of the golf stores by me in NJ are packed, as the new gear is out, and there is a ton of snow on the ground.  So, any demo sessions will be limited.  YMMV. 

Edited February 13, 2021 by jeffrey r

[third-times-a-charm]

Just got back from hitting the Max LS head in a bay at the store. Also impressed here as well. As soon as Callaway opens on Monday I'm placing an order.

 

I'm a high spin player so the LS wasnt anywhere near too low for me - I was still 2900RPM average.

 

The thing that got me is almost every shot wanted to go straight even on my mis-hits. As other posters mentioned....its pretty awesome in this regard.

 

[SwooshLT]

On 2/10/2021 at 7:35 PM, SwooshLT said:

 

 

Any rounds or practice sessions yet?

 

 

@Yanger anymore input with beastly LS?

[MH2]

I ordered a custom 9* LS on the first pre-order day with the rdx black. Also have a GD tour ad-hd and ad-vr with Callaway adapters ready for testing. Not liking reading that the rdx is back ordered, hopefully I got my order in early enough

Edited February 13, 2021 by MH2

[Steelhead]

Played the first round with Max LS 10.5 and find it very forgiving with startling roll out compared to the TSi2 I had been playing. Carry distances were similar but overall many yards longer with the mid trajectory and lower spin. TSI2 is pretty forgiving but every round I get lazy and put a couple duck hooks into neverland and reach for a provisional ball. I had a couple yesterday but for first time in weeks, I stayed in bounds! Barely. Very forgiving and may add or trade for the Speed when more start showing on BST. Amazingly great driver from Callaway. 

[mattman]

Does anybody know anything about the TD prototype? Is it supposed to be shaped like the TSi3 / is it gonna be significantly lower launch/spin than the Max LS? I really dig the look of this line but I'm thinking I should wait to test TD in April.

[SwooshLT]

2 hours ago, Steelhead said:

Played the first round with Max LS 10.5 and find it very forgiving with startling roll out compared to the TSi2 I had been playing. Carry distances were similar but overall many yards longer with the mid trajectory and lower spin. TSI2 is pretty forgiving but every round I get lazy and put a couple duck hooks into neverland and reach for a provisional ball. I had a couple yesterday but for first time in weeks, I stayed in bounds! Barely. Very forgiving and may add or trade for the Speed when more start showing on BST. Amazingly great driver from Callaway. 

 

 

What's the thought behind Speed head, just curious or.....

[SwooshLT]

31 minutes ago, mattman said:

Does anybody know anything about the TD prototype? Is it supposed to be shaped like the TSi3 / is it gonna be significantly lower launch/spin than the Max LS? I really dig the look of this line but I'm thinking I should wait to test TD in April.

 

 

If it looks at all like the pics , seems slightly bigger than retail speed head.....more traditional shaped LS maybe? 

also weight forward for spin reduction? 

Edited February 14, 2021 by SwooshLT

[SwooshLT]

Here's retail head vs possible TD model....again , besides wgt fwd the TD head looks slightly longer from front to back .....I don't have any official measurements however 

[mattman]

Good stuff guys, thanks. Seems like it might have a look somewhere in between the speed/LS at address. I didn’t realize it doesn’t have a weight track either... I guess I’ll wait to try them until I can hit the TD. No reason not to.

[juggernaut0629]

Seems everything New callaway has coming  out is delayed. I ordered the 21 Apex 4 h with evenflow black, & that  is 4 weeks out. 3 doz of the New super soft & also 3-4 weeks out. 

[Stonebridge]

4 hours ago, SwooshLT said:

Here's retail head vs possible TD model....again , besides wgt fwd the TD head looks slightly longer from front to back .....I don't have any official measurements however 

The Speed TD front weight appears further forward than the Speed LS TD model?

[jeffrey r]

I was able to give all three heads a pretty good run this morning at GG.  This was a demo, not a fitting.  Yesterday at PGASS, I hit the IM 10 60 6.0, which was a solid shaft.  Today at GG, they only had the IM 10 50, and the MMT 60 X (not the S I would have liked to try).  But I used these two shafts to demo the heads.  And then they only had the 10.5* Max head, so I had to dial that down to get spin to a manageable level.  My SS was generally 90-94mph.

 

Epic Speed is a very different head than the Max and Max LS.  Noticeably less forgiving for me, and not what I am looking for in a driver.  The good news is that I love both the Max and Max LS heads.  The bad news is that neither completely distanced itself from the other, so it's a tough decision.  The Max is uber forgiving while controlling spin decently.  The Max LS controls spin very well, while still being forgiving.  Small trade-off either way, but both nice options.

 

Really nice job by Callaway with these IMHO.

[SwooshLT]

24 minutes ago, Stonebridge said:

The Speed TD front weight appears further forward than the Speed LS TD model?

 

That's retail head on left.....I'm unsure which model is V2 speed TD or speed LS TD .....

[fishn]

1 hour ago, jeffrey r said:

I was able to give all three heads a pretty good run this morning at GG.  This was a demo, not a fitting.  Yesterday at PGASS, I hit the IM 10 60 6.0, which was a solid shaft.  Today at GG, they only had the IM 10 50, and the MMT 60 X (not the S I would have liked to try).  But I used these two shafts to demo the heads.  And then they only had the 10.5* Max head, so I had to dial that down to get spin to a manageable level.  My SS was generally 90-94mph.

 

Epic Speed is a very different head than the Max and Max LS.  Noticeably less forgiving for me, and not what I am looking for in a driver.  The good news is that I love both the Max and Max LS heads.  The bad news is that neither completely distanced itself from the other, so it's a tough decision.  The Max is uber forgiving while controlling spin decently.  The Max LS controls spin very well, while still being forgiving.  Small trade-off either way, but both nice options.

 

Really nice job by Callaway with these IMHO.

Was the Im 10 50 regular or stiff shaft and how did you like it. Thanks 

[jeffrey r]

20 minutes ago, fishn said:

Was the Im 10 50 regular or stiff shaft and how did you like it. Thanks 

 

I hit the IM 10 50 in 6.0 (stiff).  Perfectly good shaft.  Felt stable, not too stiff, and not whippy at all.  Spin management was pretty good with it, and not much different from the MMT 60 X.  In contrast, the MMT 60 X was stiffer than I would usually play, but I got perfectly good numbers with it, though probably not ideal.  I would still probably decide between the IM 60 (5.5 or 6.0), and the MMT 60 S.  Bottom line though, between the MMT 60, IM 10, other HZRDUS and Smoke options, Rogue White and others, Callaway has terrific no-upcharge shafts.

 

My focus was really on the heads, as I personally have a bunch of quality Callaway-adapter shafts at home that I can always plug in.  For that reason, as opposed to a fitting where I would have been more thorough about trying different shafts to really dial things in, I really wanted to at least be consistent with the shafts today in the different heads, so that I could compare as closely as possible with few variables.  And I did not really implement the full ability of the sliding weight to dial things in.

 

Plus, I really don't know how a driver performs until I get it on the course.  The Max LS could win on numbers, but could be more unforgiving than I like out on the course.  Never know based on indoor monitors.  That said, I have no qualms about saying that both Max heads are legit.

 

And the doofus that I am, when I left with my trackman numbers, I did not check or take my dispersion stats.  So, while I have some data on spin, distance, etc., I don't know for sure which combos were the best for dispersion.  From what I recall, the Max was straighter than the Max LS, which is not surprising.  And knowing me, I'll end up with both of these heads sooner rather than later anyway...

Edited February 14, 2021 by jeffrey r

[fishn]

Thanks Jeffrey, I appreciate the info, and for what it’s worth, I have hit at PGA Superstore one time to try and dial in my yardages and didn’t get my sheets either, and when I realized I, they had already cleared the slate, so to speak. I am hopefully going to go with the LS but trying to decide between 5.5 and 6.0 in the IM10, so I appreciate your feedback. 

[JamesG12]

I think I saw this earlier in the thread, but I hit the LS today with the MMT and it does feel like forgiveness of the TSi2 with a good but more total distance.