Golf forum

For anyone thinking of investing in one of these 460cc heads ($249. plus delivery plus approx. 25% for VAT, import duty, duty collection charge etc.) www.krankgolf.com       before investing take care as to what loft you order as these fantastic specialist heads  do their job extremely well not only insofar as distance but also in reducing backspin.

The latter benefit of course reduces launch angle and so instead of using my usual 7-8 degrees of loft I use 9 degrees with an El Diablo head.  

So, how does this top of the range head compare with other leading Long Drive heads vis a vis distance? My tests suggest as follows:

Krank El Diablo 460cc (9 degree): 100% 

Callaway Fusion 360cc (8 degree):  100% 

Alpha C830.2 Plasma Welded 460cc (7.5 degree): 97%

Cobra Speed XX 460cc (8.5 degree):  95%

MOI Intruder 460cc (7.5 degree):  93%

Bangomatic 460cc:  (7.5 degree) 91%

Whilst the El Diablo is immensely powerful it is far more expensive than the now obsolete ERC Fusion, but Edwin Watts Golf still have a few in stock at amazingly discounted end of line prices. I have recently bought 4 x 8 degree new drivers (yes drivers, not heads) for $100. each! The heads alone are worth more than double that. I prefer the 8 degree head (as opposed to the 7.5d) as it is manufactured with a square face whilst the 7.5 degree has an open face which makes it easier to accidentally push the ball out to the right with a slight mis-hit.

If, like me, you prefer a face with a slightly closed face angle then the El Diablo and the Cobra XX are the heads to go for. But, the XX is as hard to find as hen's teeth as it was essentially manufactured for the Cobra Long Drive team. Occasionally however one can be sourced off www.incepta.ca - the world L.D. forum.

Although I have tried the Killer Bee LD. I did not really have enough hits to grade it. It did however give me the impression that it ought to be able to hold its own with the C830.2.

P.S. Having now checked the Edwin Watts site I see that that the 8 degree ERC Fusions have been further reduced from $400. to $50. so have bought four more before you guys get the last few new ones in the world. I'm not THAT big hearted. 

spam? no thanks i just had dinner

Are you guys IMBECILES? What on earth do you think that I am possibly spamming? I have nothing at all do with either Krank or any other company mentioned. No sponsorship, no discount, no anything! Have you never seen equipment reviews? I posted over one hundred reviews at reviewcentre.com, how many links with products did I have. Not one. 

Last year I spent £12,500. on Long Drive competing world wide, and much of that money was wasted on equipment which was not right for me - just striving for the best.  

I have got a hell of a lot out of my sport and try and put something back. Cash is tight with most people and unbiased info. on top products extremely rare. I sell off my discarded equipment but have not even provided my name or my web site address on this site. I did not even post under my regular name which I usually write under on this forum!

I won't bother helping you sad guys in future. 

Deep breaths Viper. 

A new name posting "This gear is great, you should get it" is spam 99% of the time on here.  There was a dearth of it (along with "Rent my villa" adverts) a short while back and it got many people's backs up.  Needless to say there is a cynicism whenever a post like yours from a new name comes along.  I know Danny well enough to know that if your post is a genuine review as you have indicated then he will be man enough to admit his mistake.  Tim was just taking the piss in the way Tim does - bloody engineers!

I've a question for you if you don't mnd answering.  I've watched some of these long drive comps on TV and always wondered if their general golf game suffers for it.  Obviously with a handicap of 7 you're not that bad, but has developing all that power mean that you've lost some of the 'feel' on the short game?

Hello Chris,

Sorry that I got 'hot under the collar.' I hate guys that shoot from the hip without asking questions first.  As an amateur with last year's 'winnings' amounting to a pair of golf shoes, a VGS shirt, and a box of balls, conversely 'expenditure' included having my spine straightened (immensely painful) and a broken hand fixed perhaps understandably I get hurt when kindness is spit on.

To answer your question (which is an extremely good one): Not all golfers appreciate that when swinging irons one's swing  is far far shorter than when driving and power should be around 80% with irons (according to Tiger) and around 95% with a driver (I made that up). Most golfers swing all clubs (bar putter) the same way and with the same power application. Clearly you well understand the dilema, which is stretched further when one lashes a ball in Long Drive competitions with an over-length driver, and a back swing which often goes way beyond parallel.

Yes, if you mix golf with L.D. your golf game can suffer unless you carefully mentally reherse each shot before striking. Except with long irons and even longer clubs I have a 'safety stop' mechanism insofar as I do not allow my left arm to go beyond parallel on the backswing.

Having said that I can only play good golf in spells when I lay off the L.D. and concentrate on golf. When I do not then I can play off 24 quite easily and be accused of not trying. 

Your question raises so many interesting side issues, one of which is the vital one of the mental game, and more particularly concentration. My attention span is 2 mins. 45 secs. (a L.D. six ball hitting round pack) and I find it very difficult to maintain concentration for a full round of golf. I can regularly play to par for 3 or four holes and then finish twelve over.

Maybe I should hire a golf buggy. No thanks!

(I won't be monitoring this thread, so 'Goodbye' to you all).

Viper,

Sorry if i caused offence, however as Chris stated above this site has seen shed loads of spam and a few of them are in the same format as your post. Also (and again dont take offence) with your login ID and lack of posts my SPAM sense started to tingle.

Ive never heard of Krank products before, but ive taken a mo to have a look round the site. And they seem to do some intresting products, are many of these used in stardard play or are they more suited to the LD game? (as with the original bang-o-matic etc) 

Cheers, 

Danny 

I have been lucky enough to have played golf with The Viper and my goodness can he hit a long ball. We quite often see on this forum some 28 handicapper claiming that he can hit it 300 yds, well this man hits it further than that.

When he talks about heads and shafts, he knows what he is talking about, I can assure you.

How does somebody go about getting into long drive? Not for me, that would be absurd but there is this guy that plays in my society swings at about 200 mile an hour and over 50% of the time the ball goes straight.

We have clocked a couple of his drives at 320 yards ish and this is on the course without him really going for it. Dont get me wrong i am the last person to big up how far i hit or others hit the ball but credit where credits due this guy can hit the ball into next week.

What sort of distance do you need to hit it to be any good in an amateur long drive comp. Also what is the format best of 5, combined distance?

Regards

Col

Col,

Check out the last post in this topic for info on Long Drive comps, posted by The Viper: http://www.golfshake.com/forums/view/2128/Dont_spend_Hundreds_of_s_on_a_Driver_g
et_a_20_Junior_Club.html