Mizuno Long Game - 2023 Forum Review

[Beakbryce]

1 hour ago, Shrek74 said:

I think it's worth the inquiry with the team to see if they'd allow it. Especially if it could affect whether people keep them as gamers or just turn around and sell them. They may want you to finish the initial test before swapping, but they'll give that detail.

Pretty sure they are following the test so a response as to viability should be forthcoming. If not, we will ask when they indicate we should rap it up. I read their rules and I wasn't planning on selling it. They do suggest an option of sending the clubs to another tester that they had in mind for the original test which I was going to suggest as there is no way I foresee playing this driver. This wouldn't be any different.

They might wish totally new testers. But they would still have that option after the switch if the other clubhead doesn't work out.

Edited September 1, 2023 by Beakbryce

[Swood1994]

1 hour ago, Shrek74 said:

I think it's worth the inquiry with the team to see if they'd allow it. Especially if it could affect whether people keep them as gamers or just turn around and sell them. They may want you to finish the initial test before swapping, but they'll give that detail.

It’s not allowed to sell equipment you are testing. It’s part of the agreement of being a tester. Like @Beakbryce said it is encouraged if the equipment is not a good fit for you to reach out to other forum members to see if they would want to test it on their own. We will definitely be finishing our respective tests first, this would however be a nice addition to each of our tests that could add some color to which model is best for the individual. 

[Beakbryce]

Okay, I just have to ask. People are linking to other people on the forum. On my computer it shows up with the forum name with a brown background. I used to teach computer software like MS Office, figure it has something to do with the link button on the toolbar, but can't make it work. Please someone enlighten me. Old dog needs new trick.

[Shrek74]

2 minutes ago, Beakbryce said:

Okay, I just have to ask. People are linking to other people on the forum. On my computer it shows up with the forum name with a brown background. I used to teach computer software like MS Office, figure it has something to do with the link button on the toolbar, but can't make it work. Please someone enlighten me. Old dog needs new trick.

You just put the @ symbol and start typing the persons name you want to link.

[BallsLeon]

@Beakbryce type the @ symbol and then start typing the username, it should present you a list of users

Edit: @Shrek74 beat me to it 

[Beakbryce]

1 hour ago, Shrek74 said:

You just put the @ symbol and start typing the persons name you want to link.

Thank you @BallsLeon and @Shrek74. It actually worked. I am going to go take a nap now, learning is so tiring @ my age!

 

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by Beakbryce

[Beakbryce]

well heck. Found another problem. Folks reading this thread know I have a driver shaft in my 3 wood. When I originally ordered my driver, 3w, 5w, I ordered regular shafts. I didn't like that shaft in the driver so I ordered a stiff shaft. Easy peasy. Then when I ordered the heaven wood on Callaway Preowned, the cheapest I found it was as a ladies club. Like half price. Same clubhead, just a ladies shaft. I took the regular driver shaft and put it in the 3 wood, 3 wood shaft to 5 wood, 5 wood shaft to heaven wood. The Callaway fitting allows one to do this.

With the driver shaft, the 3 wood is awesome off the tee and when it gets wonky off the deck, can always choke up until it finds itself again.

Some day when the stiff shaft goes wonky, I can step down to the regular shaft and order a new shaft for the heaven wood. OR, maybe just a new heaven wood!

I decided the last test I would subject the Mizuno 3 wood to was putting the driver shaft in from the Mizuno driver. That would make it an even test against the Epic. Not that I thought the 3 wood would gain the 20+ yards it is behind the Epic 3 wood but fair is fair, right?

UMMMMMMMMMM. Not so fast sly fox. The adapters are different. Wait, what? There will be no switching shafts. Although you can turn the screw and attach the 3 wood head to the driver shaft, it is not fully seated and my guess that would void the warranty. When I figured this out, inspected the fittings, totally different.

I don't know who else would do this since you could just order a longer shaft with the 3 wood fitting but still, Callaway managed to make all their adapters fit all the clubs in the same line. Multiple lines actually.

[GolfSpy_APH]

7 hours ago, Beakbryce said:

well heck. Found another problem. Folks reading this thread know I have a driver shaft in my 3 wood. When I originally ordered my driver, 3w, 5w, I ordered regular shafts. I didn't like that shaft in the driver so I ordered a stiff shaft. Easy peasy. Then when I ordered the heaven wood on Callaway Preowned, the cheapest I found it was as a ladies club. Like half price. Same clubhead, just a ladies shaft. I took the regular driver shaft and put it in the 3 wood, 3 wood shaft to 5 wood, 5 wood shaft to heaven wood. The Callaway fitting allows one to do this.

With the driver shaft, the 3 wood is awesome off the tee and when it gets wonky off the deck, can always choke up until it finds itself again.

Some day when the stiff shaft goes wonky, I can step down to the regular shaft and order a new shaft for the heaven wood. OR, maybe just a new heaven wood!

I decided the last test I would subject the Mizuno 3 wood to was putting the driver shaft in from the Mizuno driver. That would make it an even test against the Epic. Not that I thought the 3 wood would gain the 20+ yards it is behind the Epic 3 wood but fair is fair, right?

UMMMMMMMMMM. Not so fast sly fox. The adapters are different. Wait, what? There will be no switching shafts. Although you can turn the screw and attach the 3 wood head to the driver shaft, it is not fully seated and my guess that would void the warranty. When I figured this out, inspected the fittings, totally different.

I don't know who else would do this since you could just order a longer shaft with the 3 wood fitting but still, Callaway managed to make all their adapters fit all the clubs in the same line. Multiple lines actually.

This is the same with several other companies as I recall not just Mizuno. Whether it be different loft or or setups driver sleeves are meant to go with drivers and fairways work fairways. 

It's only recently some oems have gone with a more universal adapter for their lineups.

A large part of this is many ppl don't know what they are doing when they make all these changes and end up doing more harm than good. Changing swing weights and so on. For some it can lead to much worse experiences and really not enjoy the clubs as they were meant for the original shafts.

[vandyland]

Played in the club championship and while I didn’t win I played well. Shot 78/75 and my lost shots were down to putting. Hit several good shots with the fli hi and a lot of good shots with the driver but the hybrid was a star. 
 

I had 280 into a par 5 and put it on the green almost pin high. Hit a 265 yd tee shot and came up just short of the green from 290. Granted, it was dry and there was some run out but that is all I would ever want from a 3W. ALSO, I didn’t like the lower flight setting on the range (great numbers on trackman but I didn’t like how it was tailing off a bit on the range) so I set it at standard again. Loved the flight and distance. Driver was great as usual. Still not sure I can hit the fli hi off the deck under pressure. I had one chance to hit and I didn’t trust it so I hit a hard 5 iron instead.

[Beakbryce]

Play conditions this afternoon were 96 degrees and 10 mph wind. While we had a gully washer last night, by waiting until the afternoon it was mostly dry.

I know you all will love this, exactly 2 hours to play 18 holes. Never saw a soul except the marshal.

another experiment: decided the discussion regarding the shorter shaft on the Mizuno needed a yardage check vs the Epic. I choked up 1" for the entire round today. Averaged 212. Pretty much what I get with the Mizuno.

I think Mizuno should have found a way to use a longer standard shaft.

Also took the Mizuno 3 wood. Average 185. still 20+ yards short of my Epic. I really wish the driver shaft would fit.

Edited September 2, 2023 by Beakbryce

[Beakbryce]

17 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

A large part of this is many ppl don't know what they are doing when they make all these changes and end up doing more harm than good. Changing swing weights and so on. For some it can lead to much worse experiences and really not enjoy the clubs as they were meant for the original shafts.

I agree totally. From what I have read, most golfers don't try to change anything even if they have adjustable clubs. It was a revelation for me to learn that increasing loft closed the clubhead along with all the other permutations. 

It is a boon to be retired and play several days a week. I have the ability to change things for a few days to see what havoc the changes make to my game. I don't have to worry about or even keep score. When I was working and playing on the weekend I lived and died by my scores. Now a bad day just leads to the next day. No worries. 

I actually plan a couple of experiments every day. For instance, today I played from the longest tees a couple of times to have a specific yardage for the Mizuno 3 wood into the green on par 3 holes. Tomorrow I am going to add a degree of loft to the 3 wood to see if I can eke out a few more yards. I am playing at the base course tomorrow and there is one par 4 that I always use a 3 wood on, but it has to be a max hit. Otherwise, there is a big tree in the way. 

Edited September 2, 2023 by Beakbryce

[Beakbryce]

Uh-oh

Don't tell my Epic driver that it might be in trouble!

Just got an email that PXG is lowering the price of the Gen6 driver $100 for service members. I have a buddy who hit one and loved it. I see a trip to the local store for a fitting. Might have time to make it part of the Mizuno test!

[russtopherb]

I was able to break away from my in-laws cookout for a bit today and I got some work in with the Mizunos on the range. The fairway was much improved and it looks like I've got that figured out finally.

Driver continues to impress with how straight it is for me now. Getting that tee height/position nailed down along with the bump up in loft has paid dividends. I was able to get a quick vid of the sound at impact once the range cleared out, hopefully you can hear the "thwack" we've been talking about as testers. This shot was dead straight.

 

[Beakbryce]

Played this afternoon. Supposed to be no one on the course according to the tee sheet but half of my neighbors showed up! 2.75 hours to play the front nine twice. Both times I caught the crowd on 7 and the waiting was agonizing. Played the Epics.

Windy. About 15 mph with gusts. Short drive of 205 dead into the wind and long of 268 downwind. 229 average. 2 3 woods downwind with one 228 and the other 230 so that average also 229! Not talking about the 3 woods into the wind, dismal! Average for all 3 woods 209. 

Playing tomorrow morning.

 

 

[Beakbryce]

On 9/1/2023 at 11:41 PM, GolfSpy_APH said:

A large part of this is many ppl don't know what they are doing when they make all these changes and end up doing more harm than good. Changing swing weights and so on. For some it can lead to much worse experiences and really not enjoy the clubs as they were meant for the original shafts.

Some more random thoughts on this. 

This is why the companies should have a clear explanation that either comes with the clubs or a reference on the internet that explains in plain English what each change made in the hosel would result in what deviation from their standard ball flight. As well as a discussion of what would happen if they insert a longer or shorter shaft. It wouldn't hurt to discuss what changes one might see with stiff, regular, etc. shaft changes referencing their standard shafts. I know every company defines stiff shafts differently or use different terminology, like "firm" instead of stiff, but a discussion of which shaft for swing speed suggestions for their standard shafts wouldn't hurt either. Wouldn't this just take a few hits on a robot for each 5 mph change from 60-120 mph swings? 

The picture provided by Mizuno isn't half perplexing. Minus this and plus that. Which means hook and which means fade? You mean loft changes aren't exactly 1 degree? It's not helping most people. In fact, the people that can understand the chart are the people most likely to have been fitted. 

Maybe MGS would want to have a tech section that explains this information? Or maybe you already have that and I am not aware. The site is large and I try to read everything I can but haven't read the entire site. Yet! Not just a forum thread where everyone and their uncle are giving their own theory, but a robot tested no holds barred test of a current club or 2 that have adjustable hosels. That information would be as relevant as the Driver test each year. Especially as this year every driver had an adjustable hosel. 

I may have these changes wrong, but can you really fix a slice by a right hander by taking a 9 degree driver and changing the hosel by:

adding 2 degrees of loft which should close the clubface,

making it as upright as possible which I think also results in more right to left shots,

and moving the sliding weight to the heel to encourage the closing of the clubhead.  

I think each of those is supposed to help in their own way but would it be effective?

During my fitting, the fitter tried to work towards the longest straight shot by swapping shafts. I wonder if a hosel change would have made a better choice. It was at PGA Superstore and was free, but if I had been paying for his time I would have asked for some hosel changes for a more complete fitting. I have read a lot of threads on MGS about fittings and I rarely see a thread where the fitting included hosel changes, it was always about the shaft. 

I would be curious to hear what others think about their fittings and if hosel changes were used at all.

 

[GolfSpy_BOS]

35 minutes ago, Beakbryce said:

Some more random thoughts on this. 

This is why the companies should have a clear explanation that either comes with the clubs or a reference on the internet that explains in plain English what each change made in the hosel would result in what deviation from their standard ball flight. As well as a discussion of what would happen if they insert a longer or shorter shaft. It wouldn't hurt to discuss what changes one might see with stiff, regular, etc. shaft changes referencing their standard shafts. I know every company defines stiff shafts differently or use different terminology, like "firm" instead of stiff, but a discussion of which shaft for swing speed suggestions for their standard shafts wouldn't hurt either. Wouldn't this just take a few hits on a robot for each 5 mph change from 60-120 mph swings? 

The picture provided by Mizuno isn't half perplexing. Minus this and plus that. Which means hook and which means fade? You mean loft changes aren't exactly 1 degree? It's not helping most people. In fact, the people that can understand the chart are the people most likely to have been fitted. 

Maybe MGS would want to have a tech section that explains this information? Or maybe you already have that and I am not aware. The site is large and I try to read everything I can but haven't read the entire site. Yet! Not just a forum thread where everyone and their uncle are giving their own theory, but a robot tested no holds barred test of a current club or 2 that have adjustable hosels. That information would be as relevant as the Driver test each year. Especially as this year every driver had an adjustable hosel. 

I may have these changes wrong, but can you really fix a slice by a right hander by taking a 9 degree driver and changing the hosel by:

adding 2 degrees of loft which should close the clubface,

making it as upright as possible which I think also results in more right to left shots,

and moving the sliding weight to the heel to encourage the closing of the clubhead.  

I think each of those is supposed to help in their own way but would it be effective?

During my fitting, the fitter tried to work towards the longest straight shot by swapping shafts. I wonder if a hosel change would have made a better choice. It was at PGA Superstore and was free, but if I had been paying for his time I would have asked for some hosel changes for a more complete fitting. I have read a lot of threads on MGS about fittings and I rarely see a thread where the fitting included hosel changes, it was always about the shaft. 

I would be curious to hear what others think about their fittings and if hosel changes were used at all.

 

Not sure I’ll hit in all your questions as I’m in mobile, but let me try:

1. The hosel adjustments differ from each company based on how the system is set up, but generally you’ll see a combination of plus or minus loft, and upright or flat settings as well. Each OEM is different, but they generally work the same way. If you want more info I’d Google “how adjustable drivers work” there are A few good ones from reputable club builders like Tom Wishon that will get you up to speed on them. 
2. A hosel adjustment is very unlikely to take a slice to a draw. If we’re talking ball flight correction, Outside of taking a lesson, I think the most influential factors of a fitting are:

-club head

-shaft choice (maybe more for feel, which can impact how you deliver the club)

-adjustable weights and hosel for fine tuning flight and look. 
 

3. as far as going down in loft generally will open the face, but it depends on how you set up and grip it. And people react differently to the different settings, so someone may hit the lower loft setting higher because they see less loft and naturally change their delivery to produce more height. There’s not really a one size fits all. 
 

TL;DR - golfers are weird, while there’s plenty of info out there non what might happen with a change to the loft sleeve, length, weight, etc… a lot of it is try it for yourself and find out. 

[Beakbryce]

18 hours ago, GolfSpy BOS said:

Not sure I’ll hit in all your questions as I’m in mobile, but let me try:

1. The hosel adjustments differ from each company based on how the system is set up, but generally you’ll see a combination of plus or minus loft, and upright or flat settings as well. Each OEM is different, but they generally work the same way. If you want more info I’d Google “how adjustable drivers work” there are A few good ones from reputable club builders like Tom Wishon that will get you up to speed on them. 
2. A hosel adjustment is very unlikely to take a slice to a draw. If we’re talking ball flight correction, Outside of taking a lesson, I think the most influential factors of a fitting are:

-club head

-shaft choice (maybe more for feel, which can impact how you deliver the club)

-adjustable weights and hosel for fine tuning flight and look. 
 

3. as far as going down in loft generally will open the face, but it depends on how you set up and grip it. And people react differently to the different settings, so someone may hit the lower loft setting higher because they see less loft and naturally change their delivery to produce more height. There’s not really a one size fits all. 
 

TL;DR - golfers are weird, while there’s plenty of info out there non what might happen with a change to the loft sleeve, length, weight, etc… a lot of it is try it for yourself and find out. 

I agree. I took time to do this when my first adjustable Callaway showed up. As you indicated, each company has different settings and results. That's why I think and why I am suggesting it is imperative each company has a web page explaining their hosel. That's all I was trying to say.

I also don't think you can change a slice to a draw. What I wonder is how close one can get the flight straighter.

[Swood1994]

3 hours ago, Beakbryce said:

That's why I think and why I am suggesting it is imperative each company has a web page explaining their hosel.

I will say Mizuno had one of the better charts explaining the loft, Lie, and face angle changes for their hosel adjustments that I’ve seen. I could be wrong but I do not recall TM having that for their sleeve adjustment when I was playing the Sim 2 Max nor did Callaway. 

[Nick_D]

1 hour ago, Swood1994 said:

I will say Mizuno had one of the better charts explaining the loft, Lie, and face angle changes for their hosel adjustments that I’ve seen. I could be wrong but I do not recall TM having that for their sleeve adjustment when I was playing the Sim 2 Max nor did Callaway. 

Yeah I agree, I just cruised through a couple OEM sites and Mizuno was the only one with any sort of graphic specific to the hosel adjustments

[Swood1994]

1 minute ago, Nick_D said:

Yeah I agree, I just cruised through a couple OEM sites and Mizuno was the only one with any sort of graphic specific to the hosel adjustments

Not to mention Callaway and Titleist run a 2 cog system so the loft adjustment (to my knowledge) isn’t a true 1-2° adjustment. I could be wrong in that but during my Paradym fitting the fitter told me the +1 setting would add more like .6-.75° of loft and then when you add the D setting on the cog it’ll get really close to a full degree after the lie and face angle change. Mizunos was clear and they also gave different charts based on model and stated head loft. 

[russtopherb]

9 minutes ago, Swood1994 said:

Not to mention Callaway and Titleist run a 2 cog system so the loft adjustment (to my knowledge) isn’t a true 1-2° adjustment. I could be wrong in that but during my Paradym fitting the fitter told me the +1 setting would add more like .6-.75° of loft and then when you add the D setting on the cog it’ll get really close to a full degree after the lie and face angle change. Mizunos was clear and they also gave different charts based on model and stated head loft. 

Agreed as well on the sleeve charts on the Mizuno site. I really like that you can cycle through the different lofts of the club to see the exact changes you’ll get if/when you make the adjustment. 
 

I had wanted to leave things based on the fitter recommendation, and have done so with 2 of the 3 clubs. But I wasn’t seeing the driver flight on the course we saw in the fitting so I opted to make the slight change and I don’t feel like I need to mess with it any further. 
 

If I make changes to another club it’ll be to boost the 4h loft slightly. But the fairway was set at 17* as soon as I got it, and that’s where it will stay. 

[Swood1994]

11 minutes ago, russtopherb said:

Agreed as well on the sleeve charts on the Mizuno site. I really like that you can cycle through the different lofts of the club to see the exact changes you’ll get if/when you make the adjustment. 
 

I had wanted to leave things based on the fitter recommendation, and have done so with 2 of the 3 clubs. But I wasn’t seeing the driver flight on the course we saw in the fitting so I opted to make the slight change and I don’t feel like I need to mess with it any further. 
 

If I make changes to another club it’ll be to boost the 4h loft slightly. But the fairway was set at 17* as soon as I got it, and that’s where it will stay. 

I was the opposite and I think it hurt my on course data a little bit. During the fitting I found +1 upright to be a solid setting for the mizuno. But when I got the clubs I left everything on standard to get a baseline. I’m seeing a mix of misses on course but most seem to be left. So I was a little afraid to shut the face down anymore. But during the simulator testing that same +1up setting netted some nice numbers with a little baby fade. I haven’t had a chance to play but right now the  driver is at +1UP, 3-wood is set at standard, and the Hybrid is +1UP as well. Hoping this helps tighten up my dispersion with a higher flight. If the left miss gets bigger with the driver I’ll be turning loft down to see what we can get out of it. 

Edited September 6, 2023 by Swood1994

[Shrek74]

I've seen several YT vids on various adjustment cogs and explanations. PXG has their own vids on their adjustment. Other brands tend to have 3rd party vids for their explanations. At least that's what I've seen to date. But I agree, there needs to be more explanation out there for everyone's cog. I'm sure their excuse is that no one other than fitters should be making adjustments, but not everyone goes for fittings. So this info is valuable to golfers.

[Swood1994]

Had our final position night for league for the year.. I decided to keep the Paradym in play. But kept the Mizuno 3-wood & Hybrid in play as well. Spoiler alert.. we won 1st for the league! But not quite because of my play. 3-wood strokes were very solid but my swing is pulling the ball left. No fault to the clubs. Had a long drive on 17 (played the back 9) of ~325 but ran out of room on the dog leg and was stuck behind a tree. 

The main reason for not putting the ST-X in play was due to a change in settings where I did not feel comfortable using our final league championship to test out. 

I’m hoping to get to the range and a couple 18 hole rounds this week in order to test out the new setting for the driver. More to come on that front!

Edited September 7, 2023 by Swood1994

[vandyland]

@Beakbryce we have the vanquish adapter set and it is 1/2” longer so not groundbreaking but it will be slightly closer to the other OEMs’ standard length of 45.5” - 46”.

But I am interested at how the two profiles might differ or be very similar. I am happy with the LIN-Q but this will help tell me how much might be the head and how much is the shaft.

 

 

also finally got around to weighing the head. 197 grams which is about 7 grams less than my cobra head which had a .25” longer shaft so that probably balances out.

 

Edited September 7, 2023 by vandyland

[vandyland]

So got on Trackman today and I will say I wasn't swinging it my best (based on my Club path being negative/neutral which is odd for me) but I still got a good sample with both the Vanquish shaft and the LIN-Q shaft. They were actually very close on launch, dispersion and on the best strikes they were nearly identical. On average, I was able to swing the VANQUISH (1/2" longer) about 1 mph faster and my average ball speed was up about 2 mph. As a result carry was longer and total was longer but not by much since the LIN-Q had slightly lower spin on average. I highlighted the longest in each and the numbers between the two are VERY close. 

So in my testing, on a substandard swing day, there wasn't much separating the two of them. VANQUISH might be the better option just because it is slightly faster BUT the LIN-Q feels more natural now since I have been playing at that length for the last month. 

[Beakbryce]

20 hours ago, vandyland said:

we have the vanquish adapter set and it is 1/2” longer so not groundbreaking but it will be slightly closer to the other OEMs’ standard length of 45.5” - 46”.

should prove to be an interesting test. Do you have somewhere that can measure swing weight? 

It does look like the numbers are very close. Did it feel like the clubhead was heavier with the longer shaft?

Edited September 7, 2023 by Beakbryce
Didn't go down far enough on the page to see the swing results

[russtopherb]

I got out for my weekly 9 hole solo walking round and had the course pretty much to myself, so I was able to hit both the Mizuno ST-X 230 and the Callaway Mavrik Max on every driver hole. I used a Q Star Tour with both clubs. Conditions were HOT - it was 86* with a feels like of 98* when I teed off at 5pm, and it was 83* with a feels like of 92* when I was done. I ended walking an additional 4 holes just so I could get in a few more driver comps. Here's how things stacked up.

Hole 1
Mizuno - 229 yards (no warmup, slight pull into the rough)
Callaway - 242 yards

Hole 2
Used the ST-Z 230 fairway, hit it 201 yards into the left rough

Hole 3
Mizuno - 241 yards
Callaway - 248 yards

Hole 4
Mizuno - 231 yards, weak slice off to the right
Callaway - Yanked OB into the woods (overcompensation, for sure)

Hole 6
Mizuno - 251 yards
Callaway - 213 yards after the ball found leaves up the left

Hole 8 
Mizuno - 257 yards
Callaway - 241 yards but well to the left, would have left me in terrible position

Hole 9
Mizuno - 285 yards
Callaway - 279 yards
NO THOSE ARE NOT TYPOS! On this hole, if you catch a downslope after a small rise correctly, you can ride it right down the fairway. In the dry conditions on the course, I hit two nearly perfect drives. I was actually dumbfounded at first because I couldn't find either ball in my normal landing zones on that hole. That 285 may be my longest drive of all time.

Hole 10
Mizuno - 253 yards
Callaway - 247 yards

Hole 11
Mizuno - 238 yards, hit leaves and was in the right rough but playable
Callaway - 244 yards

Hole 12
Mizuno - 242 yards, right rough
Callaway - Yanked left OB into the trees

Hole 13
Mizuno - 261 yards
Callaway - 205 yards (popup after teeing it a bit too high)

Avg Mizuno distance - 247.8 yards (7/10 fairways, all balls playable)
Avg Callway distance - 239.8 yards (6/10 fairways, 2 balls OB)

Based on this one round, the Mizuno is a definite leader in distance & dispersion. Now, both OB balls with the Callaway were just poor swings. As soon as I hit the ball I knew I had put a terrible swing on it. No driver is going to save you from that. While all the Mizuno tee shots were playable, the Callaway wanted to go left more while the Mizuno wanted to tail slightly off to the right. Both were set at the 11.5* setting. I also feel like I handicapped the Callaway slightly with the popup on the last hole, and putting two bad swings on it, which definitely impacted the overall avg distance with the Mavrik Max.

I will say, when hit back to back - I like the feel of the Callaway a lot more. The Mizuno has a bit of a deader feeling, for sure. It's not *bad*, but a definite different feel. I don't mind the sound of either - the Mizuno as I noted a few days ago has a nice solid THWACK sound that I rather like. The Callaway sound is more forceful, if that makes sense.

I definitely want to try this experiment again when it's not so darn hot and muggy out!

 

[russtopherb]

I also want to add- the 4h continues to impress me. On the par 5 8th hole, I was 215 out from the middle of the green (my tee shot was straight but had me right at the dogleg with trees right in front of me so I had to just chip it up the fairway instead of trying the hero shot), and I hit the 4h to the left side fringe (after rollout). Conditions today were extremely dry due to the heat we've had like I noted in my post about the driver, so I got some extra rollout there. I still want to play for the fade I'm used to seeing with longer clubs so my aim was off to the left of the pin, if I had aimed straight the ball would have most likely ended up on the green.

The one time I used the fairway wood to tee off on hole 2 was fine, it was a slight pull into the rough which robbed me of a few yards but the ballflight was excellent. I need to find ways to use it more, but the darn driver has been so consistent for me I haven't felt the need to bench it in favor of the fairway wood (yet). 

There's a course headed out towards the Cape that's extremely tight and favors more fairway woods off the tee, so I'm going to see if I can get out there for a round since I'll be forced to keep the driver in my bag on most par 4s there.

[vandyland]

Played 9 holes today and had a phenomenal day driving the ball. 5/5 on Fairways hit, +3.8 strokes gained and a 292 driving average....I will take it. Overall, just felt really confident with the driver (was using the LIN-Q shaft which is 45") and the flight is just phenomenal. Went 1/1 on the hybrid out of the fairway, hit it 220 into the wind, 25 ft uphill to setup an easy pitch shot on a par 5. Had one shot with the Fli-Hi and made a bad swing and got away with it though I missed the fairway, clanked it off the toe and still went 195. But, again, the star of the show is the Mizuno STZ 230 Driver. It is not necessarily a ball speed monster based off of my Trackman testing but you can hit it all over the face and it just goes. Also it is quite straight for me. Bragging below....

That is pretty good by any standards. I think my driving distance was down a touch due to having a few holes into the wind today. 

This was #10 and I truly just babied this drive down there as I didn't want to land in the greenside bunker(s)....

This is an uphill tee shot that was slightly downwind but 30 ft uphill, very good position (disappointing bogey after hitting such a good drive but I short sided myself). 

This is the 4iron Fli-Hi that I toed. Still playable. 

Smoked this drive and also flushed that Hybrid uphill and it got no roll so it carried 217 and plugged 25 ft uphill. 

This was a massive drive that was slightly wind aided and got a big bounce on the firm turf but still probably carried 285 yds. 

Closed out the round with a drive into the wind and slightly uphill. Just a stock swing and a ho-hum 270 yds in the fairway. 

Edited September 8, 2023 by vandyland