Can a driver fix your slice?

Many golfers across the world each year drop thousands of dollars on shiny new golf clubs, and quickly become disappointed when the subsequent equipment upgrade doesn’t fix their ailing swings. One of the most common issues an average hack golfer like me struggles with is the dreaded slice. For a right-handed golfer this is the lovely ball flight where the golf ball makes a seemingly 90 degree-turn off the tee directly into the trees. We try many things to shake the slicing ball flight, but usually fail as we slip back into our old ways.

However, what if I was to tell you that you can fix your slice or at least minimize it with a new driver on the market? I was skeptical as well, but that was before I went for a driver fitting during the pandemic.

My old driver going into my driver fitting was a Callaway XR Speed driver with a 10.5 degree-loft. I hit it fairly well for the most part. However, any time I tried to get into it I would always send my drives slicing far right. Since all the craze these days is getting fitted for clubs, I finally bought into the hype, and decided to go try this new glamorous fad out for myself. I chose to go to Dicks Sporting Goods since it was closest to my house, and surprisingly they had the best prices for a driver fitting that I had seen advertised. I was met there by a young kid that kindly got me setup on their new Trackman system for the fitting session.

Admittedly going into the fitting session, I had experienced working with a Trackman system, and was well aware of what my numbers were. On any given day my total distance with my current driver would average 230 yards, with a club speed of 93 mph, but with an astronomical spin rate of 5000-6000 rpm. I personally felt like those high spin numbers were causing a lot of my problems. So, I admittedly went in with a goal of driving that number down.

We started the session off by simply having me hit 12-15 balls to warm up and get a baseline for where I was at. Given that I was a Callaway fan, we started off by trying the Mavrik of which I desperately wanted to work because I loved the color scheme. After about a half dozen swings, I knew it was not going to work out so perfectly. I absolutely hated the way the Mavrik felt, and my numbers weren't much better than my existing driver. Considering they were highly marked down at the time, we proceeded to try out the Callaway Rogue. To my surprise going backwards in technology did seem to give me slightly better results. My spin rates did slightly come down and I really liked the way the Rogue felt at impact. Keep in mind we were using the same shaft for all these trials. After a few rounds with Rogue, we didn't like the outcome enough to call it quits. So, we started branching out.

We went on to try the Titleist TS1, the Cobra Rad Speed, and the Taylormade Sim 1 and 2. Out of those, the only club that stuck out as a potential option was the Titleist TS1. Which was no surprise because it had been touted as being one of the top forgiving clubs that year in Golf Digest. The quest just didn't seem complete yet though. I was still getting some nasty slices even though it was dropping my spin rates down to the three thousands, and while it might be picky, I just didn't like the way the club sounded at impact. Suddenly out of the blue my guy hands me a mystery club from the back. He exclaims don't look at the label, don't look at the price tag, just hit this for me out of curiosity.

With trepidation, I stepped up on the mat, and proceeded to hit my first with the no name wonder. The crown of the club had a blue carbon fiber-look that I really liked at address, and the shaft was shiny silver almost like that of a steel shaft. Suddenly with the swing of the club, the heavens opened up, a mystical beam of light shined from the driver face, and I watched the most beautiful ball I had ever hit in my life float flawlessly down the virtual green fairway in front of me. I turned to the young man and exclaimed "What is this thing"? "The new Callaway Big Bertha B21" he proceeded to tell me. He explained that this club was designed to eliminate the slice for an average golfer. I continued to smack away, every ball looking just like the last, and I couldn't help to think I had just found the miracle drug for my golf game. Not only was I now hitting every drive 250-260 yards now, but my spin numbers had even dropped down into the low 2000's. I was simply amazed and did not want to put the club down. After the session, trying to not be so quick to bite on the snake oil, I decided to walk away from the store without buying the club that night.

A week later I convinced my wife to go back to the store with me to see the magic for herself. As we walked into the store I went back to the shelves where the driver sat, and as if the golf gods were trying to tell me something - they were sold out. I had the clerk look to see if another store had one in stock, and to my surprise another store nearby did indeed have one. So, we made the twenty-minute trek to the other store, and sure enough there it was. I grabbed the nearest store rep and had them set me up on their simulator range. The very first ball off the face was exactly as the last time. Straight down the middle, 250 yards, and low spin rates. Skeptical again I had my wife grab one of the Callaway Mavrik's off the shelf. Immediately sliced right first one off the tee as well as the following 12 shots. My wife shook her head in disbelief and proceeded to tell me that I had no choice but to buy the driver. I agreed and I walked out of the store a very happy man.

Fast forward to 2023 and I must say I am still playing the Callaway Big Bertha B21. The driver has served me well and I am still getting great results from it. However, the question everyone is asking is can I honestly say that this driver has cured my slice? Initially, I will say this Callaway snake oil worked like a charm. I was hitting balls straight down the middle every time just as on the simulator. After I got more comfortable with the driver though, I started getting a little too cocky, and the next thing you know I'm starting to see the return of that pesky old slice. I adjusted the driver down even more to increase the draw bias settings, but nothing seemed to work. Suddenly, the driver that had appeared to completely cure my slice was no better than the old club I had traded in for it.

Eventually I broke down and did what I should have done long before the driver fitting. I went and got some lessons. I would later learn that the culprit to my slicing woes was centered solely around my club path and face angle at impact. After a half dozen lessons and many hours on the Trackman, I can say my driver is one of my favorite clubs in my bag again. Long story short, the Callaway Big Bertha B21 did not cure my slice. However, what it did do is mitigate the severity of the slice, and it did indeed get me lower spin rates. Now that I have corrected some of my swing flaws, the Callaway Big Bertha B21 is still giving me better spin rates than any other driver I have tried to date, and the stock RCH shaft may be the nicest feel in any shaft I have tried as well. In my opinion it is still one of Callaway's best and most forgiving creations for the average golfer to date. Even in comparison to the all-new Paradym driver.

In closing, the next time you start to buy in to the latest golf snake oil, fight the urge to go all in, and just go get yourself a lesson. I promise you that a few hundred dollars will be much more beneficial than new equipment, and once you know you can trust your swing you can then start determining what equipment fits your corrected game the best.

Til the next time, Yinz get out there, hit em straight, and keep on hacking!

-The Pittsburgh Golf Hack