FT-I LCG

[yedi015]

Distance Issue's

I read alot of people are having distance issues with the Callaway FT-I LCG. Is their that much of a problem with this driver falling that short from the others when it comes to distance.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

Of all the drivers I demo'd before settling on the Hyper X. The FTI lcg was by far the straightest and most consistent accuracy wise, however it did fall short in the distance department by 10-15 yards over others including the FT5 G10 Hyper X Taylormade etc, I honestly dont know why this is but it has been mentioned to me by a few others as well. I was hitting the same excact degree and shaft combo as the FT5 as well.

If you want the ball to go straight consistently for you this is the club, but IMO you will sacrifice some yardage for it.

[Maceo920]

Of all the drivers I demo'd before settling on the Hyper X. The FTI lcg was by far the straightest and most consistent accuracy wise, however it did fall short in the distance department by 10-15 yards over others including the FT5 G10 Hyper X Taylormade etc, I honestly dont know why this is but it has been mentioned to me by a few others as well. I was hitting the same excact degree and shaft combo as the FT5 as well.

If you want the ball to go straight consistently for you this is the club, but IMO you will sacrifice some yardage for it.

 

 

I agree with the above... The FT-I LCG is as forgiving and accurate as it is going to get. Nonetheless, it's bark is bigger than it's bite. I found the driver to be consistently 10-15 yards shorter than other drivers. I recently purchased the Hyper X (w/ Matrix X-Con 6) from CallawayGolfPre-Owned for $209.98 with shipping. I hope this driver can compliment my FT-I LCG (w/ Matrix X-Con 6), as I don't anticipate getting rid of it anytime soon.

 

That being said... The FT-I LCG is for you, IF you're looking for a driver that will consistently land in the short grass. However, you may need to look else where, if you want more distance.

[Mike_C]

I put an FT-i LCG in the bag a couple of weeks ago, and I actually have struggled with hitting it straight. I had a Rapture before with an Blue by you X, and was hitting it pretty long and straight most of the time, but got the hooks now and then. I thought I would give up a few yards to give up the hooks. But the Callaway, I really struggled at first, I was all over the place, fades, hook, pulls, pushes.... After about a week I started hitting it better, actually last Saturday when I played it hit it great, maybe its just adjusting to a lighter club, or the Xcon 6 shaft. But at the range tonight, I didn't hit it that great again.

 

When I have it it good, I've hit it just about as far as my Rapture, and I'd say on par with my older J33 460 I played last year. It does have to be launched high, if not, the ball does knuckle and sort of fall out of the sky, very different than the regular Ft-i.

[Samsquanch]

The FT-i Tour LCG is longer for me compared to the FT-5 Tour and it has a tighter dispersion.. Both with the same shaft (Blueboard 73S) That's what I found anyway.

[epixep]

I haven't found the FT-i LCG to be any shorter than my FT-5, and my misses are a little straighter...

 

BUT - nothing is as straight or as far as my FT-3 :)

[LONG&STR8]

Short and straight usually means high spin. The opposite of what this driver is supposed to be. Have any of you measured the spin on a launch monitor? For me the regular FT-I spun like a wedge and ballooned like crazy and I was so put off by it that I didn't think the LCG would make enough of a difference to make a purchase worthwhile. Are any higher swing speed players liking the retail LCG?

[epixep]

Short and straight usually means high spin. The opposite of what this driver is supposed to be. Have any of you measured the spin on a launch monitor? For me the regular FT-I spun like a wedge and ballooned like crazy and I was so put off by it that I didn't think the LCG would make enough of a difference to make a purchase worthwhile. Are any higher swing speed players liking the retail LCG?

 

As posted earlier, the club is great. It's the player's version of the FT-i. What shaft did you use the LCG with?

[1plane]

At its current price I'm not surprised this club is attracting attention given the stock shaft. It should be straighter for many golfers as the head is designed to keep square to the plane and reduce sidespin. The problem for the vast majority of golfers with the lcg head though is that it takes off about 600 rpm of backspin compared to the regular fti (with similar loft/shaft). Most golfers will not get enough carry with the lcg. For example with my 107 mph SS (and launch angles of between 12 & 13), I got the following numbers:

 

9.5 lcg 2100 rpm

9 fti 2750

9.5 ft5 tour 2550

 

That's just not enough backspin on the lcg. Now I just can't come to terms with a closed face so I went with the ft5 tour. My advice fwiw: get fitted or on a reliable launch monitor and then hit it outside if possible. Also don't get sucked in by the "tour" on the tour lcg. I was hitting the ft5 tour and the fti pretty much the same in terms of distance and accuracy. It was just a case of personal preference for me (and the $100 price difference) that made me choose the ft5 over the regular fti - I even bought mine as imix in case direction starts to let me down and I want to go square.

 

Hope this helps

[stevesxm]

i hit the ft-5 , 230 straight each time. i tried the ft-i because i have faith in the company and found it to be as straight as they said but was consistently significantly shorter. i went back to the ft-5. i see the ft-i as a " solution club" for someone that is inconsistant off the tee ... not an improvement over their ft -5 . i sold the ft-i to a friend with driver slicing issues and he took 8 strokes off his game immediatly... and the rounds are a 1/2 hour faster because we aren't in the woods all the time looking for his ball.

[Johnny]

it's as long, if not longer then anything I have hit.... if it was not it would not be in the bag.

[epixep]

I think people are using the wrong shafts (for them personally) when they use an FT-i. It shouldn't that much shorter than the FT-5.

[stevesxm]

I think people are using the wrong shafts (for them personally) when they use an FT-i. It shouldn't that much shorter than the FT-5.

well thats not what callaway says. i called them after my experience ( and i encourage you to do the same) and they said definitively that , yes... the ft-i was shorter because the design was centered around accuracy and resulted in that compromise. that is also why it comes from the factory with a comprehensively different ( and more expensive) shaft.

 

the fact is that the guy i sold mine to who would hit 200 into the woods all the time, now hits 220 straight... so a big plus for him.

 

my guess is that i would have had to swing harder to go further than the ft-5... a compromise i wasn't willing to make.

[Jbarbour]

I hit my FT-i LCG 285 to 300 on every tee I swing it and I don't think I've got that fast of a swing speed. I've never been tested on a monitor or anything though, just guessing. I play the stock Xcon 6 in stiff.

[Tiptx1122]

Well I must say when I hit it on the sweet spot it's long as my (now gone) TM Burner Tour. If I miss the sweet spot it goes fairly straight something my TM didn't do. I haven't played it much but I hit 2 monsterous drive on this one course that requires acuracy of the Tee & I was very impressed. Maybe I give up 5 - 10 yds but is that asking too much for acuracy. I know the right shaft will make the difference in any club as the Matrix Ozik X-Con6 is a good combo. I still need to get used to looking down at a square head as this is all new to me. My biggest challenge is not be so hard on myself as my golfing days have been limited due to work as I just bought this new driver & now I can't golf but maybe once a week....bummer as I was out there 3 times min. a week. Those days are over. Anyhow I like how its feels & I like the trajectory I get so I see it staying in my bag for a very long time. I can hit them all good & mis-hit them all just a well but there is something about owning this driver that get's me excitied about wanting to hit this club.

[BJG718]

check my new post on my FT-i LCG vs. FT-5 as I think it goes hand in hand with this post.

 

http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=193436

[Tiptx1122]

Ok my 3rd time out with this driver & I spent some time on the range 1st & then took my swing out to play 9 holes & I only missed 1 fairway & that was with a 3 wood. I drove the ball better than I can ever remember. 2 drives over 300 yds & I'm 52 yrs. old. So when it comes to distance I'm very pleased as this club is a fairway finder. For those having trouble with this driver spend some time working on the tee height, your grip your address & most important try out different shafts. No club will work magic but no other club has given me as much confidence as this FT1 LCG 8.5* with stiff Matrix Ozik X-Con shaft as this is a wonderful combo. When your constantly in the short grass every drive seems long. I did shoot a 32 -4 as ok some may say it was an easy course as what course isn't when you stripping the middle of the fairway. I just can't say enough positive things about this club so for those who have no love for this club just keep experimenting as I hope you find the Holy Grail of Drivers as I have

[PeteMTG]

I first tried this club in a 9* with a Speeder 652 shaft. LOVED the club, but the speeder was WAY too light/high spin/high launch for me. So I switched and went to the 9.5 Tour head and the Speeder 686. HUGE difference. Pure fairway finder. BUT I saw a lil loss in distance. Stuck on the fact that it is always the arrows and never the indian, I sought out the solution.

 

I tried the 9.5* Tour LCG. I tried it with Matrix XCON but it launched a little high for me. I now have a Fujikura 6W06 Rombax in it and I MIGHT miss 2 or 3 fairways a round. About 250-270 everytime. Cant beat it! Im still thinking it spins a little bit too much for me so I am about to do ONE more shaft experiment. A friend of mine let me hit his FT-5 TH. I had one and sold it but I tried his with an ACCRA XC65 X Flex and I was hitting that 290+. So, the characteristics of that shaft in the FT-I LCG head I think will be a solid combo until the new head comes out.

 

I really do love this driver... My index has gone down by 3 since playing it. Your not losing strokes off the tee, where I had a problem before with that. 2 or 3 holes I was good for the OB ball off the tee.