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FT Optiforce Vs. Razr Fit Xtreme


lmh3

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So I played with both drivers today, Matrix Ozik 7M3 in both heads. Both clubs were 45" in length, the RFX came in at D4 while the Optiforce is D2. I hit two balls off of each tee that called for driver, if I miss hit one, I hit another ball. I was very surprised at the results. On 5 of 6 holes the RFX was longer, between five and thirteen yards. The RFX flighted the ball lower and I definitely was seeing more run out of it than the Optiforce. I'm going to try and get out again on Saturday afternoon so that I can do the test again and to make sure it wasn't just the fact that I had never had the Optiforce on the course.

Ping G410 Plus Oban Kiyoshi Tour Limited
Ping G410 LST 3 Wood Oban Tour Prototype V430
Titleist U500 3 & 4 Oban Kiyoshi Purple Tour Reserve
Titleist 620 MB 5-9 Oban CT 125
Titleist Vokey 47* Oban CT 125, 51*, 55*, and 59* Shimada Tour Wedge Black
Bettinardi Studio Stock SS28

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It might not matter.. I've been hearing that Optiforce is nearly Sold Out, and that Callaway is not planning on reloading. Sounds like Optiforce was a one shot deal... Kinda sucks IMO....

Driver - Ping G430 Max 9° | Ventus Blue TR 
Hybrid - :srixon-small: ZX 16° & 18° | GD Tour IZ S

2 Iron - :srixon-small: ZU65 17° | AeroTech SteelFiber 110icw S

Irons -  :srixon-small: ZX7 MKII  4-Pw | TTDGTI S400, std length  1° flat
Wedges - :cleveland-small: RTX 6 Tour Rack 50° 54° 58° | TTDGTI S400, std length 1° flat

Putter -  L.A.B. Golf Link.1 | LA Golf P135 shaft | Garsen Quad Tour grip
 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have both the opti and the xhot all reg shaft.. I think I favor the xhot but the opti is great.. I use the opti at 11.5 and 12.5 closed and the xhot I will vacillate from standard to closed and it is a 10.5... Both are great tools.. The previous poster said that the opti is a one shot deal? Why would Callaway make one run of these? Did they not sell well enough? I am amazed at this if it is a one shot mfg???? By the way I tried the RFX and did not get the distance from it that I got from the other two.. nor the accuracy.

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It might not matter.. I've been hearing that Optiforce is nearly Sold Out, and that Callaway is not planning on reloading. Sounds like Optiforce was a one shot deal... Kinda sucks IMO....

 

rumor is that the optiforce driver is on hold till Callaway and the driver creator settle some form of dispute between each other $... just a rumor and not to be confirmed...

 

I've spoken to a few different people both inside and outside of Callaway about the "Optiforce Situation".

 

While I can't get into the specifics of what Callaway told me, I can say that production runs were smaller than they would have been for a Spring release. As crazy as it sounds...July is basically the end of the equipment season.

 

Everyone, proshops included need to start thinking about Spring.

 

It has been suggested to me that the way retail shops buy is starting to change. Nobody wants to get stuck with extra inventory (it's easier just to sell out than have to deal with Net Down, credits, exchanges, etc.). Basically, ProShops don't want to get stuck with inventory, so some are ordering less, and back-filling on the fly.

 

OEM's don't want to get stuck with additional inventory either, and so they're starting to order less from the factory as well.

 

Those two factors plus a fall release partially accounts for the inventory situation.

 

The other factor is distribution of the Optiforce (and Mac Daddy 2 Wedges) wasn't handled the way some think it should have been. Once again there are conflicting stories as to the hows and/or whys of it, but what I'm certain of is that when it came to the initial shipments, Big Box got inventory, while mom and pop and on-course, got close to squat.

 

One of the guys I've spoken with who is part of a larger buying conglomerate told me his inventory is finally caught up (and that's largely the story Callaway is telling).

 

A manager of what I suppose you can classify as mid-tier online and local presence told us he still doesn't have Optiforce or Mac Daddy, and is unsure when, if ever, he'll actually get them.

 

So again...what I'm hearing...and what you can confirm for yourself by putting stuff in your online shopping carts, Optiforce and Mac Daddy are available through Big Box and large online, while the local guys, and small to mid online simply don't have them.While I'm sure they'd have a viable explanation...to the casual observer, and no doubt the guys running the shops, it sure looks like Callaway screwed the little guy.

 

I haven't heard anything about a dispute...there is inventory out there...it's just not at green grass or mom and pop.

 

As far as the driver itself is concerned...it's a beast. Long, very forgiving, and with a 70g shaft in it, the lightweight thing hasn't been an issue for me.

 

And that too has been part of the problem. Optiforce outperformed expectations both in terms of sales and actual performance. I'm guessing if Callaway knew then what they knew now, they would have ordered a larger production run.

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The hosels/tips aren't compatible so I didn't hit head to head. What i think the LM would show is that RFX launches lower and probably spins less with same shaft, and perfect contact to perfect contact probably is longer for aggressive high SS players.

 

That said the 440 Optiforce is not far off on perfect to perfect distance and is noticeably longer and straighter on less that sweet spot contact. It's as forgiving as any driver I've hit this season.

 

I don't know if it's the best all-around driver of the year, but it's been a huge surprise for me.

 

Full disclosure - never played it stock. Callaway sent me a Fijikura Motore Speeder 6.2 Tour Spec. It's working so well I can't bring myself to try the Diamana D+.

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The hosels/tips aren't compatible so I didn't hit head to head. What i think the LM would show is that RFX launches lower and probably spins less with same shaft, and perfect contact to perfect contact probably is longer for aggressive high SS players.

 

That said the 440 Optiforce is not far off on perfect to perfect distance and is noticeably longer and straighter on less that sweet spot contact. It's as forgiving as any driver I've hit this season.

 

I don't know if it's the best all-around driver of the year, but it's been a huge surprise for me.

 

Full disclosure - never played it stock. Callaway sent me a Fijikura Motore Speeder 6.2 Tour Spec. It's working so well I can't bring myself to try the Diamana D+.

 

So you're saying get fitted lol

Driver:   :callaway-small: Epic 10.5 set to 9.5 w/ Tour AD-DI 44.5

FW:   :cobra-small: F6 baffler set at 16º

Hybrid:  NONE
Irons:   :taylormade-small:  3i 2014 TP CB  4-PW 2011 TP MC w/ TT S400

Wedges:   :nike-small: 52º :nike-small: 56º  :edel-golf-1: 60 º w/ KBS C-Taper XS Soft-stepped

Putter:   :ping-small: Sigma G Tyne 34 inches Gold dot

 

 

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So you're saying get fitted lol

 

Not truly custom fit. Truth be told (and some might find this shocking), I haven't actually been fit for a driver in 4+ years. The only driver I've ever been fit for was a Callaway FT-9. I've hit enough drivers to have a ballpark idea of what works and what doesn't. In the case of the Callaway (and the Cobra AMP Cell Pro I've played most of the season), I talked to the guys who know a little about how things perform in their clubs, and went with their recommendations.

 

So far it's better than stock, but there could be more on the table too.

 

I'm not saying I have a solution...or even a better plan, but the way drivers are fit is inherently flawed. The research shows that all but the very best players in the world have swings that differ from one day to the next. Actually...they differ from morning to afternoon. While better players are generally more consistent, there is still enough deviation to suggest that today's ideal fit won't be nearly as ideal tomorrow, and could be anything but ideal the day after that.

 

Which is the real swing?

 

Even for single digit players it's a moving target. Do you try and fit for your absolute best day or do you try and fit for the cumulative average of a given golfer. Given that most driving fitting sessions are conducted on a single day, and take less than an hour, you could argue that custom fitting for the driver is almost a myth.

 

When tour players are working with new equipment, very often they'll spend days...even weeks testing, re-testing, tweaking, and testing again before they make any changes. Average guys...most of us get 1 hour with whatever swing we happen to bring to the fitter.

 

Good luck with that.

 

END OFF TOPIC RANT

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New iron coming soon as well. Suppose to be "leaked" before the NFL starts the regular season.

 

T: I'm sure you have more data after your testings then I, but the fitting data I have does not support the statement about swings varying so much from day to day even amongst mid cappers. Yeah, there might be a degree or two different in path or launch angle but that doesn't amount to much visible difference on the course.

 

Even with the higher cappers I've helped fit over time, the biggest variable is their strike point. Path, angle of descent, speed, release have all been fairly common. Where the swing bottoms out is where I've seen the largest variable, and yeah, it's pretty large. Tempo variation is the next largest issue and that can muck things up royally but can be worked with. But even with golfers with an awful tempo, I still see a lot of consistency.

 

That being said, nearly everyone I've helped via this shop is or was a top level athelete so perhaps the consistency factor is because of that.

I laught at your claims to fight a zombie apocalypse when most of you can't stand up to a Spider

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New iron coming soon as well. Suppose to be "leaked" before the NFL starts the regular season.

 

T: I'm sure you have more data after your testings then I, but the fitting data I have does not support the statement about swings varying so much from day to day even amongst mid cappers. Yeah, there might be a degree or two different in path or launch angle but that doesn't amount to much visible difference on the course.

 

Even with the higher cappers I've helped fit over time, the biggest variable is their strike point. Path, angle of descent, speed, release have all been fairly common. Where the swing bottoms out is where I've seen the largest variable, and yeah, it's pretty large. Tempo variation is the next largest issue and that can muck things up royally but can be worked with. But even with golfers with an awful tempo, I still see a lot of consistency.

 

That being said, nearly everyone I've helped via this shop is or was a top level athelete so perhaps the consistency factor is because of that.

 

My info comes from not only my own experiences with our core group of testers, but also from two separate OEMs I've discussed testing/fitting with who have mentioned the variances they see from week to week and day to day.

 

We're not necessarily talking about a tremendous visible difference on the course (what's 5 yards actually in the real world - we all want it, but we don't often notice it), but absolutely... the 1 or 2 degrees launch you mention along with and 600-1000 RPM of spin totally changes the math on what's optimal.

 

Using some data provided by an OEM, along with FlightScope's Trajectory Optimizer you can see what happens when launch angle and spin rates change.

 

OEM data I have suggest spin increases by about 300-500 RPM per 1 degree of change in loft. So even on the conservative end a 2 degree increase in launch with an additional 600 RPM of spin actually increases carry distance by 5 yards (assuming 140 MPH ball speed and the happy starting point of 12/2400, and just for good measure a 5° axis tilt).

 

If those gains are the result of an increase in Angle of Attack, the total distance gain is actually more substantial. Within Trackman's optimization charts for example, with a 95 MPH clubspeed, a 2.5° change in angle of attack (level to +.25 for example) changes the ideal launch angle by roughly 1.5 degrees.

 

Lose launch and spin with that same swing, and the ball starts falling out of the sky.

 

For the scenario above, the distances work out to 209 (-loft -spin) 217 (starting point) 226 (+loft +spin). As you might expect distance differences are more substantial at higher swing speeds.

 

As I said...on the course...what's 5 yards really? But in a fitting when you're trying to optimize every possible variable, 1 degree, 300 rpm, and 5 yards are all reasonably significant, especially if you're fitting for what proves to be the perimeter of an individual's shifting abilities.

 

If you're a fitter, a degree or two is certainly enough to change both the optimal launch and optimal spin rate, and ultimately the equipment you recommend. So if you accept that variances are real...how can you really optimally fit for a driver in a single session?

 

Tour guys, I'm told...from day to day their average launch angles change by 10ths of degrees, as Tuna pointed out...the rest of us...1 or 2 degrees of variance is the norm...and while it may not sound like much, at some swing speeds, and with a corresponding change in angle of attack, we're talking about 5-10 yard shift from one day to the next.

 

 

 

 

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