Golf Equipment Review: Callaway’s 2010 Diablo Edge Hybrids

After reviewing the Callaway Diablo Edge Irons, I was so impressed with their tremendous playability that I decided to review the entire line up of 2010 Callaway Diablo Edge products; fairway woods, hybrids, and driver.

Hybrids are continuing to expand their popularity among all levels of golfers. Why? They are so much easier to hit than the long irons they replace. Because hybrids have much more body than even cavity back irons, the center of gravity can be moved low and deep in the club head. This results in a higher and more powerful ball flight than a conventional iron can produce; especially with lower swing speeds. Of course pros have the power and mechanics to hit 2 and 3 irons successfully, but even these top level golfers are increasingly switching to hybrids. If you haven’t experimented with hybrids, you are missing a huge opportunity to improve your game.

The Diablo Edge Hybrid uses Vertical CG Optimization to achieve the highest MOI of any Callaway steel hybrid that they’ve ever produced. By thinning the crown by 30%, Callaway has lowered the CG (center of gravity) to a position that most amateurs will benefit from; lower on the club face. This is especially important when the ball is on a tight-lie surface like the fairway. There is nothing worse than hitting a really nice drive that settles on the short grass, and then proceeding to blade your approach or layup shot because you just didn’t have the confidence (or right equipment) to go down after the shot aggressively. With the Callaway Diablo Edge Hybrid in hand, you should feel the self-assurance you need to play your best. From the beautiful look at set up, through the solid sound at impact, the Edge Hybrid is a joy to hit!

The Diablo Edge Hybrid has an offset hosel that makes squaring the face at impact much easier than it would be with a traditional design hybrid.

Callaway uses their Variable Face Thickness (VFT) Technology to ensure that all areas of the face are optimized. Now I’m not going to tell you that this guarantees great results from poor hits, but I am going to say that the consequences of miss-hits are minimized. The typical toe and heel shots that I still (unfortunately) regularly make, produced acceptable results; slightly less distance with better-than-I-deserved lines of flight. When striking a ball poorly, you can’t ask for much more than that.

Callaway Diablo Edge Hybrids:
3 Hybrid 21 degrees
4 Hybrid 24 degrees
5 Hybrid 27 degrees
6 Hybrid 30 degrees
Available with Light (A), Regular, and Stiff flexes.

Callaway Diablo Edge Tour Hybrids:
(The Tour model has less offset in the hosel which allows better players the ability to work the ball more easily)
2 Tour Hybrid 18 degrees
3 Tour Hybrid 21 degrees
4 Tour Hybrid 24 degrees
Available in Regular, Stiff and X-Stiff flexes

OK. Enough of the specifications. How did they perform when tested?

I preferred the Tour Hybrids because they felt a bit more solid, with a lower more boring ball-flight. Their sound was a little lower pitch which I happen to prefer; very small differences I admit.

Shot after shot, the 3 and 4 Tour Hybrids performed magnificently! The contact felt solidly powerful and the 210 yard practice green suddenly looked a whole lot closer. Confidence building results! Just what I want in any club.

The distance-gap between clubs was precise which leads me to consider adding a 5 hybrid to fill the void between my 5 iron and my Diablo Edge Tour 4 Hybrid. For those who struggle with long and mid-long iron play, a full set (3, 4, 5, & 6) of Diablo Edge Hybrids would, without a doubt, be an incredible boost to the enjoyment level of your golf game.

You can’t go wrong with either model of Callaway hybrid. Just choose which one fits what you are trying to accomplish with your game; Choose the Diablo Edge Hybrid if you want maximum playability and forgiveness , or try the Diablo Edge Tour Hybrid if your main goal is workability and long, powerful, piercing ball-flight. Both worlds sound pretty good don’t they?

Want to Cure Your Slice? Don’t Just Apply a Golf Band-Aid, Change Your Swing Path

Are you among the majority of golfers who struggle with slicing? Don’t just adjust your aim to play your slice, eliminate it.

There are numerous fixes we could explore, but we will focus on the Back-Foot-Back Drill because it is highly effective. If this drill straightens your shot, you won’t have to search any further or purchase new equipment. Just shoot straighter and score lower!

Here’s what you do: Take a 7-iron and address the ball with a narrower-than-usual stance. Take your back foot and shift it directly backward so that it is 12 inches behind your front foot. You may feel awkward at first, but take a normal swing while focusing on an inside-to-outside swing path. Make sure you release your arms through impact to promote a squaring of the clubface.

There are several potential reasons for slicing the ball; poor grip, improper alignment, wrong shaft flex, or outside-to-inside swing path. The Back-Foot-Back Drill makes it virtually impossible to cut across the ball from the outside. It is an exaggerated position that lets you feel how an inside-to-outside swing path feels. If you perform this drill regularly, you can ingrain the inside-to-outside path that eliminates slicing and enables you to hit straight shots or even draw the ball if desired. Good luck!

Golf Equipment Review: Callaway’s 2010 Diablo Edge Irons

I feel compelled to write a review on the 2010 Callaway Diablo Edge Irons. Why? They have revitalized my game to the point that I can’t wait for my next round! I can’t think of another golf equipment purchase that has excited me as much as these super-forgiving irons.

I have to admit that the first thing that drew me to the Diablo Edge irons was their looks; the angular/geometric cavity opening looks great, not overly gimmicky. The dark red color and slick logo work well, and the dulled chrome finish ties the whole look together. They are just plain good-looking! There’s nothing wrong with beauty as long as there is performance behind those good looks, right?

Well, after one test drive on the range, performance was no longer a concern. After a short warm-up, my first easy 9-iron shot flew higher than my normal trajectory and landed just short of the 150 yard marker. Now understand my normal 9-iron averages around 130 yards. And that’s with my game ball, not the range balls used in this Diablo Edge trial. I quickly checked the sole of the iron to make sure I hadn’t inadvertently grabbed an 8 or 7 iron. Sure enough; 9-iron it was. A dozen shots later and warmed-up, I was peppering the 150 yard marker with shot after shot while imagining the short birdie putts they would have followed had I been playing a round.

My next pleasant surprise was the consistency of performance right up through the 5-iron and then into the 4 and 3 hybrids that round out the standard set. After bouncing several 3-hybrids off of the 200 yard practice green, I made up my mind to own this super-game-improvement set.

Halfway through the first round with my new irons, I hit a horrible tee shot on a short par-3 with a large pond lurking in front of the green. The way the impact felt, I was sure I would be witnessing an ugly splash-down seconds later. To my surprise (and relief) the ball bounced twice and rested on the fringe! I couldn’t believe the results, especially after investigating the damning evidence on the tee; my divot was almost entirely inside the still-in-the-ground tee. I re-enacted the crime by placing the 8-iron back into the divot it had just created. To my amazement, it proved the ball was struck by only the slimmest margin of the club’s toe. I had used 1/10 of the club face and got 95% of my expected distance. Incredible!

What’s the technology behind the performance? Callaway studied amateur golfers and identified their tendency of striking the ball lower on the club face than low-handicappers who are more adept at aggressively attacking and pinching the ball with a steeper angle of attack. So, they lowered the center of gravity and resulting sweet-spot to the area of the face that mid and high-handicappers use; the lower third. The sole shape is also designed to lessen the effects of both thin and heavy shots.

The lofts are stronger than average irons which produces longer shots. But long isn’t the only goal, accuracy and high trajectory also help approach shots hold the green. Compare the following lofts to your current or prospective iron sets:

Irons

·         3 iron 19 degrees

·         4 iron 22 degrees

·         5 iron 25 degrees

·         6 iron 28 degrees

·         7 iron 32 degrees

·         8 iron 36 degrees

·         9 iron 40 degrees

·         PW 44 degrees

·         SW 54 degrees

·         LW 59 degrees

Hybrids
3 hybrid 21 degrees

·         4 hybrid 24 degrees

·         5 hybrid 27 degrees

·         6 hybrid 30 degrees

The Callaway Diablo Edge irons are available in steel shafts and graphite shafts. The all-irons steel shafted set is $599.99. The six irons and two hybrids set goes for $699.99 with steel shafts and $799.99 with graphite.

These irons are classified as super-game-improvement, meaning maximum help for us amateurs that need it. But low-handicappers should also give these powerful and ultra-forgiving irons a try. If they can get past the classification, they just might find that they too will shave strokes, and really, that’s what it’s all about.

Putting Tip: Think Distance and Speed Control on Longer Putts

Let’s simplify putting into three basic elements; line,speed, and equipment (Let's leave putters out of the equation for now, and focus on line and speed). Golfers tend to concentrate on line more than distance, especially on breaking putts. But, does it make sense to practice that way? Read on and consider a different way of prioritizing your focus.

Did you know that professional golfers make no more than 50% of their 6 footers? If it seems like they make a lot more than that, it’s probably because the golfers we watch on TV are generally the ones on or near the leader board and are therefore the players who are hot that week. If you average in the entire field, you would see about half of their 6 foot putts missed. So, if you are practicing longer putts, do so with the intention of improving your distance control, not just making them. If you are expecting to roll in a high percentage of 16 footers, you will only dent your confidence. That doesn’t help anything. Instead, try the putting drill below and build your technique, touch and confidence.

Here's what to do; place 4 tees in the green in increments of 8 feet. Putt from one location to each of the tees. Putt one ball to 8’, the next to 16’, another to 24’, and finally one to 32’. Putt one ball only to each tee. This duplicates real golf more effectively; we rarely get two putts of the same distance one after the other. Next, repeat the sequence in reverse; putt to 24’, 16’, then to 8’. Or, mix it up. Just make sure each putt is a different distance. You will soon get a feel for the take-away distance required for each putt length.

The longer the putt, the more you should focus on distance control. Let’s face it, the odds of making a 40+ foot putt are slim. Long putts that are a fraction of a degree off-line will not threaten the hole. So, even though direction is important, there is more potential variance in distance. How many times have you putted too long or too short by 6 feet or more? That’s the stuff 3-putts are made of. Work on distance/speed control and significantly reduce those round-ruiners!