Callaways FTi square head driver

Played with the new Callaway FTi driver yesterday and fell in love with it. Got consistently straighter, and 10-15 yards, longer drives. Don't like the price at $499 though.

Has anyone tried any of the generics of this club that sale for $65 to $130 generally? i.e. XQ Muto, Acer XP or any others..

Anybody want to buy a Talormade R7 425 (with adjustable weights) at a good price? Only a year old and in very good shape. I can drive with it but have never developed the confidence in my consistency with it to really let loose. I am not a long driver to begin with. Others who have used it while playing with me fall in love with it. I haven't been willing to part with it, of course, till now. Maybe,,,,,I think,,,,, probably....

__________________
I would suggest that any golfer who says they've never thrown a club is either a liar or a poser. To all of you "gentlemen golfers" out there, respectively..
Jim

hi teevino
had one hated it!
luckily managed to get my money back on it by selling to a mate who loved it.
it performed no better than 40 quid ben sayers zero in driver

Hello slater, plz clarify. You had an FTi and hated it or an R7 425 and hated it??

R7 425 is the dogs bollix, I recently tried the FTi and it was truly truly stinking in a way that I havent thought a club stunk since the Titleist 983...

My hatred of the Swoosh is well documented in a great many threads in this forum, but I have to say that I tried a SQ Sumo with a Aldila VS 'ByYou' Proto on it and it was awesome.....darn it....

D.

i had the r7 425
to be honest with my swing i could make any premium driver appear cr*p

Hello slater, yeah i've struggled with it mostly. Can hit it in the fairway now but waste a lot of good club head with not distance. I let one of my golfing buddies use it today and I used his r5 460. He drives much better than me and drove quite well with the r7. I drove better with the r5.

Mizuno, "the dogs bollix" ???? Is that like very good or very bad. I am not linguistically fluent in "English".. The Kings that is...

hi teevino
the dogs bollix is good! something to have! the best!
lol!
bill

indeed, Bill, but maybe I'm just biased cos I have one....

D.

Thanx for the clarification Bill and Mizuno. We might say it is the "cat's pajamas" over here. But then we may have stolen that from you Brits..

I must say ... I hit the FT-i in several configurations at a recent demo day and compared it to the latest generation Big Bertha as well as the FT-5 all in several configurations.

For distance: The FT-5. Massively solid contact - sounds like a baseball bat and instills enormous confidence, resulting in a more relaxed swing and even MORE distance! Great product. My choice would be the 11deg draw setup with a stiff shaft.

For precision: The FT-i is DEAD STRAIGHT. I'm a slicer and prefer my driver slightly closed and in a draw config, but the 11deg neutral stiff was just amazing. Hit more fairways with this box!

For all-round recreational use, I'd think that the Big Bertha is a brilliant piece of kit, price and performance considered. I had a few problems hitting it consistently, but hitting 150 balls with the FT-i and FT-5 might have made it difficult to adjust. Clubhead speed was higher with the BB than the FT-i and on good hits the ball just went and went. Not FT-5 distance but definately as long as the FT-i.

A final comment on a detail that I really liked on the FT-i ...
The top of the clubhead - while square - has a curved line (actually 2) that kinda points to a good inside takeaway line, which makes it easy to come back to the ball from the inside. Because of this, the driver doesn't "feel square".

I think it is massively overpriced, and I'm not sure it's value for money all the way. You can bag the Big Bertha, a discounted FT-3 or even an early model R7 425 and have $200 left over for lessons. Even if you choose the FT-5, you'll have money left to spend on your swing. That might well be the better option.

However - sell me one, properly fitted, at appx. $299 and I will definately put balls well in play with it!

__________________
//Mox
2008 bag:
Mizuno MX-500 460cc 10.5* Fujikura Tour Platform 26.3 stiff. (about to be replaced by MP-600 10,5* UST Proforce V2 stiff)
Mizuno F-50 3w 15* Fujikura Tour Platform 26.3 stiff.
Wilson Deep Red 5w 18* Graphalloy Fatshaft stiff
Cleveland HALO 3i hybrid 22* graphite regular
Mizuno MP-60e forged 5i-PW True Temper Dynamic gold R300 steel
Mizuno MP Black OX raw haze 50/6 GW, 54/9 SW, 58/10 LW
Heavy Putter B3-M
Titleist NXT Extreme

I tried a FTi and loved it! I also didn't like the price once it has a fitted shaft added in. So, I still have my MX-500.

I need to get a Callaway contract ...

I'm not sure about the generic or knock offs. At the sort of prices some of them go for, it may be worth trying and if it doesn't work it's not 500 bucks down the loo. Like a friend of mine says "buy it, try it, E-bay it..."

Don't anyone steal that saying - I want to trademark that!!!

__________________
Golf is easy ... once you know how.
Graham Arnott, teaching professional
Kelrosa Golf Studios
www.kelrosagolf.com
Class 'A' PGA Member
Full Member: World Golf Teachers Federation (GB&I)

I'm sorry. And you are...?



Good to see you posting again, Graham - does this mean you're all set in the UK now?

I shafted up the Integra Quadratic (one of the cheaper squares).

It's not any longer, but it's certainly more forgiving (when I'm squarish at impact). An open clubface will still slice it off the planet, though.

Consider it stolen.. LOL

Thanx for the feedback, you too Mox. I agree the price is just too much. Soon as I come across a generic though I may just buy it, try it and well, you know the rest.. lol
Edit: thanx lowpost

My philosophy is to demo it in a proshop then go looking for it on Ebay and similar sites and buy it there if possible.

That way, the loss is minimal if I need to sell it again later on.



(and about throwing clubs ... I dropped it, I swear)

Hey All!

There is some great info on here about square drivers.

I've tried both the Callaway and Nike square drivers, and their 'traditional' counterparts.

Besides the mis-hits going straighter on the square heads, the sound amazed me the most. Talk about impact sound! The first time I hit the Callaway FT-i (first square driver ever hit), I don't know where the ball went because I nearly jumped out of my shoes. The sound was that loud!

The traditional counterparts allow for more workability. I'm not quite there ability wise. Every now and then I can get the ball to do what I want (draw or fade) at the practice range. But I am playing the Nike Sumo Square for consistency. I'm also practicing with the r5 Taylormade at the range to work on my ability to move the ball either direction.

I can swing harder with the square and know that I will be pretty consistent.

[**On a side note, I got my first EAGLE ever the first time I played with the Nike Square. 480 yard par 5, Nike Square off tee about 325 yards. 8 iron 155 yards to within 10 feet, drained the putt!!!!]

I think the square can work for certain people, but I recommend trying them out first. They are pricey, but how bad do you want to improve your game? How much do you think it will improve your game? How much of a golf addict are you? Confidence in golf goes a long way. I'm sold on them, because of where my game is ability wise. It's helped me!

__________________
-Buck
"Solid shots come from solid thoughts" -Unknown
"You miss 100% of the putts you leave short" -Unknown
====================
Driver: Nike Sumo Squared X-Stiff
3 wood: Taylormade r5 Stiff (Grafalloy Blue)
Rescue clubs: Callaway Fusion 2 & 3
Irons: Callaway X-18 Pro Series 4-PW
Putter: Heavy Putter
Ball: Callaway HX Hot