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Is there a massive performance difference between an old, cheap driver and the latest £500 GBP ($700 USD)+ model? We take five Callaway drivers to the range to find out how much technology has truly evolved over the years.
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00:00Today we're at the stunning Stoke Park Golf Club where we're going to be looking through the five
00:04generations of Callaway drivers. We're going to be looking from £45 with the FT5 all the way up
00:10to the newest Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond Max at £538 and we're going to work out is there
00:17massive performance gains to be had by purchasing the newest equipment on the market. For this video
00:22we have teamed up with Golf Clubs for Cash, the UK's leading retailer when it comes to second-hand
00:27golf equipment. The website itself is really easy to navigate, it's a breeze finding the right
00:33condition, loft, shaft flex and specs that you need. Let's get into the video.
00:47First up is the Callaway FT5 at £44.95. Yes, under £50. That is actually less than you can purchase
00:54a
00:54dozen premium balls for nowadays which is absolutely insane. Now it's safe to say looks and technology
01:01has come on quite a long way since this driver was released back 19 years ago now in 2007. It's
01:07got a
01:08very triangular head with a very very square leading edge and yeah I'm interested to hit some, get some
01:15data and see just what this driver has to offer still.
01:29Blimey that was loud. I mean let's have a look at the data that we picked up here. I'll flash
01:34it up on
01:35the screen. That's from my Foresight GC3 launch monitor. We've got 161 ball speed and 279 yards a
01:41carry so that's still really really solid from a golf club that came out 19 years ago. It does have
01:48that really high kind of composite tink to it when it took off off the face which I'm not such
01:54a fan
01:54of. I prefer that duller sound but for just over £44 there's some serious value to be had and
02:00beginner golfers could do a lot worse than putting one of these in the back.
02:07Right we have jumped up a price bracket now to £149 where I have the Callaway Rogue Sub-Zero. Now
02:15this
02:15was a real game changer for Callaway when it came out around 2018. This features their jailbreak
02:20technology here and it does have the forward weight here to bring the CG placement forward
02:26and reduce a bit of spin so this should be pretty hot. We've moved on 11 years so let's see
02:31what this
02:32technology has to offer. Wow it's absolutely incredible how different this driver actually
02:45feels and largely down to that jailbreak technology producing those faster ball speeds across the face
02:50but also this kind of addition of this carbon crown here really helped dampen the acoustics.
02:56It sounded much more muted than the FT5 and I saw a considerable pop kind of through the air
03:02producing a much higher flight with less spin so I definitely noticed some distance gains there.
03:08These ones I mean according to my data here on the GC3 it was only about 281 yards so it's
03:14minimal
03:15gains it's only a couple of yards here and there but the spin actually dropped to around the 2300 mark
03:21as you could see slightly less than the FT5 so we gained a bit of yardage but you know that
03:28was
03:28£100 more give or take so you have to weigh up these things whether you know that slight distance gain
03:35is worth it for a little more money.
03:41Okay we have now entered the what I would call the modern era of this challenge here. I have the
03:48Callaway paradigm triple diamond. Now these were a real revelation that came out you know Callaway
03:54talk about this paradigm shift in distance and technology through this forged carbon kind of
04:00crown here so we've got this carbon all the way across the top a banner strip here with this carbon
04:04that just kind of flows across the sole there as well. Again we've got jailbreak technology used
04:11through artificial intelligence and a fairly hefty 14 gram weight further forward to once again
04:17give us that forward CG lower spin down behind the ball. I think this club actually you know it's
04:25we've shrunk in size compared to the Rogue. It's a much more compact head obviously this is the triple
04:31diamond model so it's designed to do that but so was the Sub-Zero so let's hit a few with
04:34this and see how
04:35we get on. Wow that was a seriously impressive performance here from the paradigm and myself
04:54may I say so that's the best I've driven the ball in a long time maybe I need to actually
04:58invest in
04:58one of these and that's where I think the second hand market really shines is the fact that you can
05:02get some equipment that really isn't that old and the technology is still pretty new the performance
05:07is so good but you're picking these up for an absolute bargain. For £246 I saw about 164 mile
05:15per hour ball speed and 287 yards of carry so we're really seeing the kind of speed jump as well
05:21as the
05:21carry especially from the original FT5. Now obviously we are paying a bit more for that and that's up to
05:26you whether you need to or you're willing to pay a bit more for a bit more yardage but I
05:32was pretty
05:32impressed with that I would hesitate to say this would roll out a bit further as well it seemed to
05:37come out in a slightly lower window so we're carrying it further probably going to see a bit more run
05:41out so our total yardage gains are probably pretty significant but let's see what the AI Smoke has to offer.
05:50Okay we have jumped up a year to 2024 and at £335 we have the Callaway Paradigm AI Smoke.
05:58Now we've still got this forged carbon design which I think looks really really cool and especially
06:03when the sun shines although we don't get much of it here in the UK unfortunately but this crushed
06:07carbon looks absolutely insane. We've actually got a new face design here this is where Callaway
06:12introduced their AI smart face using their supercomputer so they process thousands of shots
06:18here to determine where golfers are actually hitting the ball out the face believe it or not
06:22it's not the middle all the time so there are actually multiple sweet spots across this face to
06:27basically enhance ball speed and maintain consistency regardless of your strike location.
06:33I put this driver in play when it first came out and absolutely loved it so let's see what numbers
06:38we get out of the launch monitor.
06:54Well some pretty consistent numbers there which I was hoping I would see out of this with the new
06:59smart face design. I kind of hid it a bit all over the place where it felt like out the
07:03face there but
07:03I absolutely loved the ball flight I saw really consistent trajectory really consistent spin
07:09numbers as well and impressive speed and distance so around 165 mile per hour ball speed and a 288
07:18yard carry so we're only about a mile up and a yard further than the original Paradigm but the
07:24consistency I saw out of the ball flight was what really impressed me. Now you may have noticed and it
07:30threw me off at first as well that this one has this massive jumbo max grip on it which is
07:35kind of
07:36one of the quirks I guess of shopping secondhand golf equipment you are purchasing essentially what
07:41whatever shaft and whatever grip whoever had loved this golf club already had put on it to suit their
07:48game so obviously be careful of that this isn't something that I would necessarily buy or if I did buy
07:53it
07:53because of the shaft and the head makeup I would probably get this grip ripped off and I'd put a
07:59new
07:59grip on there but it is something to consider some people may like it and it is a good experiment
08:04you
08:04can you know potentially try some new things that you may not have done otherwise so check them out
08:10but let's move on to the newest in the Callaway lineup that is the Quantum Max triple diamond
08:20okay finally we are here in 2026 this is the Callaway Quantum triple diamond max now there is carbon
08:27everywhere AI everything and we've got this new face design here which kind of has this layering system
08:34of titanium and carbon and polymer so you get this really kind of well you're supposed to get this
08:40really hot ball flight you also get this cool weight track system here on the back where you can slot
08:46the
08:46weight between neutral or fade bias depending on your preference as well as obviously an adjustable
08:52hosel to change lie and loft it's a really really cool looking head I like the fact that they've actually
08:58almost digressed back to what the looks of the AI smoke were over the elite the elite triple diamond
09:05had this kind of just black gloss crown I like the fact you can now see this gloss carbon again
09:10on the crown
09:10I think it stands out and the banner strip on the front is really easy to align the ball
09:16right let's see what 538 pounds buys us
09:36wow that is absolutely incredible that is the highest ball speed I have seen in a while 168
09:42mile per hour I saw around 296 yards of carry which is considerably more than well a couple yards more
09:51than the last model but you know we're talking 15 yards or so more than the original FT5 we tested
09:57here today it's pretty incredible but it's a lot of money it looks great and it is by far the
10:02best
10:02performing driver out here I saw the ball kind of go up and it just wanted to keep going not
10:07wanting to
10:07come down nice high towering ball flight but in the world of golf we need to talk about diminishing
10:13returns okay so I'm going to pop up the data here next to me feel free to pause that and
10:19have a look
10:19at your own leisure but I'm going to run you through the data while I've got it in front of
10:23me here
10:23let's just look at those numbers so the Callaway FT5 actually gives you over six yards per pound which
10:30is by far the best out of the five drivers that I tested today the quantum while being the longest
10:36gives you just 0.55 yards per pound which is you know it's a pretty substantial difference between
10:42that and the FT5 obviously we then you know as I've talked about earlier mentioned how it does look
10:48much nicer it feels much nicer and the acoustics are far more bearable than the FT5 but these are all
10:53things that you need to consider you are paying a massive premium but that is for 17 years of technology
11:01and aesthetics that have gone into this design of the quantum triple diamond max so again it's
11:07something that you do need to think about but ultimately you still have to love the look of your
11:11club and while there is performance to be had out of the FT5 like I've just proven there and beginners
11:17could definitely benefit from that I do think the sweet spot would be somewhere in between around the
11:22paradigm and the eye smoke that was when I saw that kind of jump up in ball speed and distance
11:26performance without really breaking the bank so a couple years old product and it's still very good
11:31performance so what have we learned well the secondhand market is an absolute gold mine whether you're
11:37after a 45 pound bargain or a 500 pound powerhouse there is definitely value to be had and golf clubs
11:43for
11:44cash make it really easy to upgrade your bag without emptying your bank account if you've enjoyed this
11:50video make sure you hit the like button down below as well as subscribing so you don't miss any future
11:54videos
11:54from golf monthly but from me here at the beautiful stoke park i'm in a rush because i'm going to
11:59jump on
11:59my laptop and see if i can find a matching three wood to that callaway ft5
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