Looking.

[namvet66]

What is your opinion of the GBB II driver?

Is this a club that a beginner should be using ?

Do you think that it help a new golfer to hit the ball straighter?

I'm taking lessons would you suggest I use this driver while taking lessons?

I'm just blending things in my mind about drivers and wanting to get a better
driver. The driver I have now came with my Wilson club set.

 

[DaveE]

What is your opinion of the GBB II driver?

Is this a club that a beginner should be using ?

Do you think that it help a new golfer to hit the ball straighter?

I'm taking lessons would you suggest I use this driver while taking lessons?

I'm just blending things in my mind about drivers and wanting to get a better
driver. The driver I have now came with my Wilson club set.

I think most of what Callaway makes is ok for beginners. They make a real effort to make the game easier to play.

From my experience your lessons and practice will help you hit the ball straighter.

Rockford should be able to help you with GBBII as he plays one. As for switching during lessons, I would really ask your pro. You've hired him/her to help you play better and should be able to depend on their advice.

In general, you can do much better than a driver that comes with a set. There are many very good drivers and I would again talk to your pro then hit several until you find one that feels good.

 

[Rockford35]

Agreed. Hit all the drivers you can and play the one that works best for you in terms of feel and playablility. You will probably find the more forgiving drivers will work better for you (obviously), and that you will play yourself out of both your set and driver as you improve. Now, this may take a long time, so don't read much into that.

If the Great Big Bertha II is the driver you are set on, buy a Great Big Bertha Titanium. It has a bigger sweet spot and lower center of gravity which will get your ball airborne easier. Also, try it out before purchasing. Callaway shafts are notorious for playing softer than they actually are. I swapped mine out for a Grafalloy Blue Stiff, which actually plays a bit stiffer than the norm, but that's built for my swing.

I think if you are just beginning, stay with a regular flex until you obtain good control. Then you can start to increase your swing speed and may warrant a stiffer shaft in the future.

As for changing equipment during lessons, i wouldn't shy away from this. Your instructor should be teaching you "the golf swing", not "how to use your equipment". If he is, he's going about it the wrong way, which i would say wouldn't be the case. If you feel as tho a change is needed, by all means go for it. Being positive and having a good mind set with optimism is a huge battle with golf, especially when you are learning.

I had a friend that i gave some "pointers" to when he was starting out. His driver was giving him fits and he asked me to hit it. Well, it felt like i was hitting the ball with the bumper of his car, no feel and zero feedback from the shaft. Terrible. He opted to go with a new driver and found a new sense of well being when it came to the game. He now wanted to practice and did so when he wasn't much in the mood for it. That single peice of equipment took serious strokes off his game, not so much because of the added distance and accuracy, but for the positive outlook he now had for the game.

My GBBII is somewhat tailored for my game. It's 1.5" over "standard" length and the shaft has been splined. It's the Pro Series, which is less offset and has a higher center of gravity versus the regular Great Big Bertha.

If you have any questions Nam, let me know. I've hit pretty much every club Callaway has out there and i can give you my two cents worth on each.....except the new ERC Fusion fairway woods, i haven't hit those.....yet.

R35

 

[Slingblade61]

Dunlop Loco Pro is only $99

Great driver for a great price......of course you could spend $500 on an R7

 

[Rockford35]

Problem is, you'd have to work up enough guts to take it out onto the first tee!

The Loco is a great driver for the money. It may not be as easy on the eye as some others, but it sure works well. And for 99 bucks, you're not selling any cattle to buy it.

R35

 

[Slingblade61]

I love that bright yellow shaft....LOL!

 

[Rockford35]

I love that bright yellow shaft....LOL!

Hot! (sizzling sound)

 

[Slingblade61]

That's my baby....cept I have the pro titanium version ....sounds like a howitzer too.

It goes a LONG way too, if I ever get my weird partner to stop lurking and register he'll tell you how far it goes....not as straight as I'd like but that's my fault.

I figure I average about 280.....315 would be the longest so far.

 

[Rockford35]

That's not bad for 99 bucks. Pretty damn good investment!

I used to have a Warbird driver. Steel head, good shaft in it. I still wish i had that club. It gave the best sound when you hit one on the screws.

I've mentioned before that if they ever came back to the Warbird as a Ti Model and VFT, they'd sell a million of them. I think alot of guys would be interested in the "throw back" model.

R35

 

[namvet66]

Demo

I went to the golf shop and got the GBBII stiff shaft to demo, (only because their GBB Titanium regular shaft was out on demo).

Anyway I will try this one. I have a lesson tonight and a game Saturday. I also will make a trip to the driving range and return this demo to the shop Saturday.

The demo loft is 9*, which I will probably need at least a 10*, but this only for demo........I still have my money in my pocket.

 

[Rockford35]

Nam,

If the stiff shaft isn't working for you, definitely try the regular. Shafts are so particular for individuals, you'll need to experience both.

Good for you on giving it a go. That's the only way you'll ever get a true sense of what you need for yourself.

R35

PS.....if it's any consolation, i love my GBBII, but that's me

 

[namvet66]

I went to the golf shop and got the GBBII stiff shaft to demo, (only because their GBB Titanium regular shaft was out on demo).

Anyway I will try this one. I have a lesson tonight and a game Saturday. I also will make a trip to the driving range and return this demo to the shop Saturday.

The demo loft is 9*, which I will probably need at least a 10*, but this only for demo........I still have my money in my pocket.

I used the Callaway driver during my lesson lastnight.....lets just say I have aways to go .

It felt good but I want to demo others before purchasing.

 

[jc@bg]

NV,

I too have played nearly every driver that Callaway makes (except, like Rockford, the ERC fusion). The GBBII is a very solid driver, but I never got completely comfortable with any of their stock shafts. And now that I've had some experience with aftermarket shafts (frequency analyzing, splining, and measuring for best flat line oscillation), my money is on custom-built drivers. Going custom-built, you can get the shaft that exactly matches your swing, and you can also trade heads and shafts until you get the ball flight (trajectory, launch angle, direction) that you are looking for. Try this customization with a high-dollar factory club like the GBBII and you'll have a grand invested in a driver before you can say, "Fore right!" You can have a club builder put together a top-quality setup for you, though, for under $200, have something much more tailored to your present game, and have practically unlimited component-swapping capabilities at a later time if you want to do some further tweaking.

My home course had the GBBII in every conceivable loft and shaft flex for demos last year, and I tried most of them on the range. With my swing speed of approx 95 mph in the driver, I hit the 10 degree with regular flex with the nicest ball flight. 11 degrees might suit your game better, at present, but you'd know that better after you hit them. If you're not "quick from the top" or violent in your change of directions with the club, you might hit best of all with a "senior" or A flex. I've hit some A flex drivers very, very well, but if I tried to muscle up on a flexy shaft (as when into a strong wind), I could hook it off the world. The main goals with a driver should be: fairly straight and in the fairway, whether a little fade or a little draw, moderately high with no effort at "helping" the ball, solid feel so you have confidence in it.

It can be a long search for the "perfect" driver. Sometimes the best advice is to keep an open mind.

Good luck! Let us know what you're trying and how it goes. -- JC

I went to the golf shop and got the GBBII stiff shaft to demo, (only because their GBB Titanium regular shaft was out on demo).

Anyway I will try this one. I have a lesson tonight and a game Saturday. I also will make a trip to the driving range and return this demo to the shop Saturday.

The demo loft is 9*, which I will probably need at least a 10*, but this only for demo........I still have my money in my pocket.

 

[Rockford35]

JC,

I read through your points to Nam that you made nodding my head in agreement through the whole thing, except where you mentioned customizing an OEM head would result in a poor showing.

I would have to disagree. I customized my GBBII to my swing type, speed and preference and have never been happier with any driver that i have ever hit. I feel the control and confidence that one needs when they step up to the tee with the big stick. My driver is an 8.5*, which is what i found to deliver the ball trajectory for me. If i could in fact get a lower degree loft i would have as i hit the ball a little high now even for my liking. I'm averaging 280+ off the tee , but i get very little roll because of the high, boring drives.

But something that's a good thing.

I agree with many of your points, you've brought up a bunch of good ones. But i personally think it's unfair to say that OEM clubs are difficult to tailor make to someone's game. I agree, stock OEM shafts are inconsistent, but aftermarket shafts can help out tremendously in that respect. I'm loiving proof of that.

No hard feelings, just wanted to point that out.

Cheers,

R35

 

[bdcrowe]

MMMmmmmmmMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmm.....
LoCo Pro............
That is in my bag. I love the yellow shaft. I love the .22 calibre sound at impact. It took no time to work up to taking it out on the 1st tee. I am secure in my manhood; my self perception isn't based on the looks I got from my playing partners. My self perception is based on the looks I got from them when I outdrove them by 25+ yrds.

I average about 280, 290 with it with longs of around 320. I've driven many par 4s. But that was when I was hitting straight. Now I need to regain the vigor of last month and get it back into old form. LOL