00:00Okay, welcome back to Golf Monthly and a new series that we're doing called Retro Review.
00:04Well, we're going to be taking some game-changing equipment from its time, some iconic stuff,
00:09and comparing it to its modern counterparts.
00:11We've partnered up with Golf Club for Cash, one of the leading retailers of pre-loved
00:15equipment, and they've supplied us with some absolute gems to test.
00:18So if you want to check those guys out, look in the description below.
00:21Without further ado, let's get straight into it.
00:24Okay, so first up, we've got an absolute classic, and it is the Callaway F-Fusion FTI driver.
00:31Now, this was released in 2006, and it had a retail price back then of £400.
00:36We've picked it up for the bargain price of £63.99.
00:40Now, first off, the elephant in the room, you might have noticed, it's square.
00:44Now, that might put a few people off.
00:46I actually quite like the visual.
00:47I like the straight lines.
00:48They do a lot for me in terms of alignment, and I actually really enjoy that.
00:51Now, this was in the bag of players like Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els at the time,
00:56so he was actually a really popular driver on tour.
00:59Now, the tech story behind this is a super high MOI, so they put a lot of weight back
01:04to create a really stable driver on mishits, so really, really forgiving.
01:09But as a high-speed player, generally higher MOI drivers, I can spin a bit more,
01:13so I can get a little bit excessive spin.
01:15So it'll be interesting to see how that pans out in the testing.
01:18To explain the MOI a little bit, I always like the analogy of if I tried to push you over
01:22and you were just stood like this, it's going to be fairly easy for me.
01:25If all of a sudden you put a foot back and you've got more weight and stability back,
01:29you're going to be more stable and more difficult to push over.
01:32So that's the principle behind the FTI.
01:34I'm going to head to the range, get a few away, and get some initial impressions.
01:49Okay, so we've come down to the range now at the Oxfordshire Golf Club,
01:52and it's probably a good time to introduce what we're comparing the FTI to.
01:55So we've got the standard Callaway Paradigm.
01:58When you put them down beside one another, the contrast in looks is pretty stark.
02:02Obviously, the FTI is square, so there's a huge difference straightaway,
02:06but also the face is quite on set from the hosel.
02:09The hosel goes in quite a long way behind the face, which is quite an interesting look.
02:13So, yeah, two very, very different-looking drives.
02:15I'm going to hit a couple away now to start to get an idea of the feel and the sound from the FTI.
02:31So, first of all, acoustically, pretty audible there.
02:35It's a very loud noise that comes off the face.
02:38I hope that was picked up on screen because that is a very, very loud sound,
02:42and it did feel quite, almost like a hollow quality to it.
02:45Yeah, it's quite unique.
02:47So let's have another go.
02:54Yeah, I really hope you can pick that up on the audio because it is pretty offensive.
02:57We've got a few people on the range here.
02:58I hope I'm not disturbing their practice with that noise.
03:01So, yeah, let's compare and contrast the Paradigm.
03:04So it should be a very different feel.
03:13So, yeah, that's just a completely different gravy in terms of feel.
03:17Much more muted, a much deeper sensation off the face.
03:20It's really, really very different.
03:22So I think it feels a lot more sophisticated than its older counterpart,
03:25but it'll be interesting to see how the performance goes.
03:28So, probably at this point, it's a good time to pop up some data on the screen
03:32and have a little chat about what we saw when testing the two.
03:35So, as you'll probably see here, FTI had a significant amount of noise,
03:40and as you'll probably see here, FTI had a significant amount more spin,
03:43which is probably to do with the MOI, the increased MOI on the club head weight back,
03:47increasing that spin, increasing the stability and reducing curvature,
03:51which also alludes to why it's probably a little bit tighter in dispersion.
03:55As you can see from the Paradigm, ball speed up, spin down.
03:58So it was getting a lot more carry distance and total distance out of it.
04:02But, yeah, some interesting numbers to compare there.
04:04Let's see how it goes on the course.
04:06Okay, so I'm going to start with the FTI, and then the 10th hole is a little dog leg
04:09longish par four.
04:11So I'm just going to hit a couple away, take some data and see where we are.
04:21Little fade, started left side, cutting back.
04:24Just going to make the fairway quite floaty.
04:28Now, these balls are marked with an F, so I can check where they end up down the fairway,
04:32or hopefully the fairway.
04:39Very similar to the first one, could be on top of it, in fact.
04:46Again, seeing a fair bit of spin.
04:49Let's go again.
05:01Just a touch further left than the other two, so we're going to stay in the left semi,
05:05but really similar flight window.
05:07Okay, so let's hit a couple away now with the Paradigm and see how that compares.
05:10It's worth noting that there is a slightly stiffer shaft in this.
05:14This is extra stiff as opposed to the stiff in the FTI.
05:17And we're very similar in loft.
05:18This is 9, and that's 9.5, but worth noting those differences.
05:21So let's see how it goes.
05:30Little out the heel, just started straight, cutting onto the right edge of the fairway,
05:34that one.
05:36A little bit more fade than the FTI.
05:40Let's go again.
05:50Okay, that's pretty comparable line-wise to the ones I hit with FTI.
05:54Again, just down the left half of the fairway there.
05:58Certainly lower in spin.
05:59It was a bit more of a penetrating ball flight.
06:03Let's try a last one.
06:07And similar to the first one there, a little bit of an overfade, started straight, just
06:15going to the right edge of the fairway, so it'll be interesting to see where those are
06:19distance-wise.
06:20Okay, so we've come down the hole to actually see where those shots have ended up now.
06:23And I've already taken a look at the data, and there were some interesting points.
06:27Probably most notably, we had ball speed, spin, and carry distance.
06:31And I'll get on to that in just a moment, but firstly, if you can see here, I've got
06:34quite a nice tight grouping with the FTI.
06:36I've got two on the bank, and one just probably five or six yards further right up the fairway.
06:40A really nice tight grouping, but what I did notice is with the additional spin that the
06:45FTI was creating, curvature was minimal, so that's great if you are trying to hit a straight
06:50shot.
06:51I was setting up for a cut here, so if you are thinking of going to a higher MOI driver
06:55or a square driver like FTI, you might want to start sort of reconsidering some start
06:59lines and where to set the ball out, because they started great exactly where I was aiming,
07:03but didn't deviate as much as I would hope.
07:06When you go over to the paradigm, moving up the hole here, I've got two in the fairway
07:09over there on the far corner, so they actually cut with the shape of the hole like I wanted
07:13to.
07:14It had a little bit less backspin, which helps you facilitate a little bit more curvature.
07:19It sort of allows the spin axis to be altered more, and when you've got a lot of spin with
07:23FTI, that spin axis is more difficult to manipulate and more difficult to shape the ball, so that's
07:28worth thinking about.
07:29I've got a further paradigm that's just a bit over that hill.
07:32There was more ball speed on paradigm.
07:34We're talking up to, like I said, five miles an hour was some of the shots, which has translated
07:39to about a 10-yard difference in overall distance, so something worth noting there, but yeah,
07:45if you are looking for a straight-hitting machine, FTI seems to be doing a really good
07:48job for me.
07:49Okay, so the Callaway Fusion FTI, what did we find?
07:52Well, if you're looking for distance, there is more available from a more modern equivalent
07:56in the paradigm that we tested, for example, but if you're playing a shorter, tighter golf
08:01course and you're on a budget, we've got a real fairway-finding machine here.
08:04Loads of spin, loads of MOI, and plenty of safety to keep it in play, so in that sense,
08:09it really does stack up against its modern-day counterpart.
08:11For $63.99, it's a real bargain in the right circumstances, so check out the description
08:17below.
08:18Go and have a look at Golf Clubs for Cash for some other best pre-loved equipment, and
08:21that's it from me from the Oxfordshire Golf Club.
08:23See you next time.
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