Bomb Tech Grenade Driver

[shakogolfer78]

As far as I understand yes the shaft does feel more stiff the shorter it is. I ordered the 45.5 and have cut it down to 44.75. I wanted to try the longer(standard) length out. I hit it fine but the club just felt too long for me. You can always cut it down from a longer length of you need to. Sully uses pure grips bit he also uses tape instead of air. Bad sully! ;). Had to replace my grip. So, don't use the pure grips air tool to take off his grips.

Great thanks for the help. I think I will go for the 45" shaft as it is the same as my current driver (Adams Speedline 9.5 stiff). I am comfortable with that length, so the transition should be easy.

[LBlack14]

Butt cutting a shaft will affect flex next to nothing at most. Trimming the tip will affect flex noticeably.

[saevel25]

Butt cutting a shaft will affect flex next to nothing at most. Trimming the tip will affect flex noticeably.

Well depends on the shaft profile. If you clamp the shaft in the center of the shaft and try to flex it, it wont flex as much as if it was clamped at the end. The moment diagram changes.

This means that as you get closer to the tip of the shaft, the amount of force you feel from the weight at the end lessons.

Disregard the numbers. This is an example of a moment diagram were the right side is fixed, and the left side is were the weight is positioned. You can see as the distance increases the moment at the end increases. So let say you change nothing but cut an inch off the end. Now you shifted that right end to the left, effectively decreasing the moment.

Is the shaft stiffer, yes because there will be less bend in the shaft. Also the club should feel lighter because of there being a less moment at the hands.

If you take an inch from the left side you are also changing the tip stiffness or not, depends on the EI chart for the shaft. So taking an inch from the tip probably increases stiffness more. Because you are shortening the shaft and because you are making the tip stiffer.

[billchao]

I would wager it will be just as long and more accurate.

Yea, that's what I'm betting on, too. Everything I've read says that I won't lose much distance and the accuracy gain far outweighs the distance loss. There's a possibility that I'll actually gain distance, too, simply from better contact. We shall see soon enough.

[saevel25]

Yea, that's what I'm betting on, too. Everything I've read says that I won't lose much distance and the accuracy gain far outweighs the distance loss. There's a possibility that I'll actually gain distance, too, simply from better contact. We shall see soon enough.

That is what most studies have shown with shortening the golf club. Longer golf clubs are just too hard to control. You might get that random BOMB! Overall most people gain distance because of improved contact.

[LBlack14]

Trimming the butt end of shaft will affect flex minimal at most. I'm not holding the shaft in the middle or lower half. I stand by my statement. It's not rocket science. You want to affect flex, trim the tip. Pretty simple.

[shakogolfer78]

Below is a link to a great article on why having a shorter driver shaft might be a better option for most amateurs. It also points out some tests that can be done to see if a shorter shaft would be more beneficial to you without spending a fortune. All you need is your current driver and a dry erase marker! This makes me change my mind about my Grenade. New driver length is going to by 44.5! Only problem is that I have to wait until the end of March until they have more lefties. http://www.mytpi.com/articles/swing/will_a_shorter_driver_give_you_more_distance

[billchao]

Definitely do.  I have only used mine a couple times so far at the range and have played one round with it.  I was at the range last week with it and it was 16-17 degrees out and I was hitting it as far and as accurate as I hit my Anser driver in last summer temps.  I could not believe it.  I can't wait to try it more when it gets warm.  I am interested to see how it compares to the overly lengthened OEM drivers, at the shorter length of 44.5 for you.  I would wager it will be just as long and more accurate.  Mine is 44.75(I cut a bit off) and I think the standard length from them is 45.5.  So far I have been very impressed with mine.

@cipher the jury is still out on the 44.5" Grenade. I hit it on two separate occasions at the store and compared it to my 10.5° Speedline 9064LS and a new driver from this year. Here are the results from my poorly designed experiment:

Test 1: I compared the Grenade to my 9064 and the Ping G25 last week. I hit the ball like garbage. I was hitting everything off the heel on all clubs. It was terribly inconclusive. Scratch that, I concluded that I still suck at driving. It was the first time I hit a ball with the Grenade, and I can tell you, right out of the bag, the club didn't feel right to me. Usually, when I try out equipment, I'll test out a bunch of different clubs, but I can always tell right away if something swings just the right way for me. Better golfers can probably articulate exactly why a club feels right or doesn't, but I can't, so I just go with my gut. If I don't like it in the first three swings, it's probably not going to work, for me.

Test 2: I compared the Grenade to my 9064 and the Big Bertha Alpha today. Still hit it poorly, but after a while, I managed to straighten things out. All my misses with all three clubs were high and right. I seemed to hit the Big Bertha Alpha the best, followed by the 9064, and finally, the Grenade. I'm not catching the center of the club very often on the first two clubs, but I can't seem to find it at all on the Grenade. I'm almost wondering if it isn't some kind of swing weight issue. I tried the shorter shaft experiment with an old driver (original Speedline) without adding any weight to the head, and I just had no feel for the clubhead. I think the same is happening with the Grenade: I just don't know where the clubhead is during my swing.

I find it odd that Bombtech would just cut the driver shaft down without making a weight adjustment; hell, I could do that myself. I'm not sure what the issue is (besides my swing). I do recall that I never liked the simulator they used at the store, but I can't tell you with any confidence that I don't like it because it's not accurate, or I don't like it because it tells me that I suck. I'll contact the Bombtech guys and see what they have to say, but I think I need to get out onto a real range and see what happens. If only the weather would cooperate...

[cipher]

@cipher the jury is still out on the 44.5" Grenade. I hit it on two separate occasions at the store and compared it to my 10.5° Speedline 9064LS and a new driver from this year. Here are the results from my poorly designed experiment:

Test 1: I compared the Grenade to my 9064 and the Ping G25 last week. I hit the ball like garbage. I was hitting everything off the heel on all clubs. It was terribly inconclusive. Scratch that, I concluded that I still suck at driving. It was the first time I hit a ball with the Grenade, and I can tell you, right out of the bag, the club didn't feel right to me. Usually, when I try out equipment, I'll test out a bunch of different clubs, but I can always tell right away if something swings just the right way for me. Better golfers can probably articulate exactly why a club feels right or doesn't, but I can't, so I just go with my gut. If I don't like it in the first three swings, it's probably not going to work, for me.

Test 2: I compared the Grenade to my 9064 and the Big Bertha Alpha today. Still hit it poorly, but after a while, I managed to straighten things out. All my misses with all three clubs were high and right. I seemed to hit the Big Bertha Alpha the best, followed by the 9064, and finally, the Grenade. I'm not catching the center of the club very often on the first two clubs, but I can't seem to find it at all on the Grenade. I'm almost wondering if it isn't some kind of swing weight issue. I tried the shorter shaft experiment with an old driver (original Speedline) without adding any weight to the head, and I just had no feel for the clubhead. I think the same is happening with the Grenade: I just don't know where the clubhead is during my swing.

I find it odd that Bombtech would just cut the driver shaft down without making a weight adjustment; hell, I could do that myself. I'm not sure what the issue is (besides my swing). I do recall that I never liked the simulator they used at the store, but I can't tell you with any confidence that I don't like it because it's not accurate, or I don't like it because it tells me that I suck. I'll contact the Bombtech guys and see what they have to say, but I think I need to get out onto a real range and see what happens. If only the weather would cooperate...

Interesting.  Thanks for sharing.  I have not tested many clubs myself, but I know I have gotten better numbers so far with the Grenade than I got with my Anser and with my R11 from 2-3 years ago.  I cut my Grenade down a bit as well.  I am curious to hear more with what you find out about cutting the shaft down a bit.  I cut my R11 down a bit back in the day and hit it better after doing so as well.   One of the things I like about the grenade is that it is not adjustable.  I don't get caught up in trying to fit the club to me, I just work on swinging it well.

[billchao]

Interesting.  Thanks for sharing.  I have not tested many clubs myself, but I know I have gotten better numbers so far with the Grenade than I got with my Anser and with my R11 from 2-3 years ago.  I cut my Grenade down a bit as well.  I am curious to hear more with what you find out about cutting the shaft down a bit.  I cut my R11 down a bit back in the day and hit it better after doing so as well.

I contacted them and asked about what adjustments they made to the club to shorten it. I'll let you know when they get back to me.

From what I understand, taking out 3" off the butt end of the shaft will remove about 3g of weight, which changes the swing weight of the club. I'm not too sure if that's really the reason, but I'm just not feeling the club. Maybe they trimmed it off the tip? I don't know, I'm not very knowledgeable about equipment.

One of the things I like about the grenade is that it is not adjustable.  I don't get caught up in trying to fit the club to me, I just work on swinging it well.

I'm the same way, but I might be changing my mind, soon. One of the pros at the store told me that an adjustable driver will fit you longer because, as you make improvements to your swing, you can readjust the club to match it. I thought that was a pretty good idea.

[saevel25]

I contacted them and asked about what adjustments they made to the club to shorten it. I'll let you know when they get back to me.

From what I understand, taking out 3" off the butt end of the shaft will remove about 3g of weight, which changes the swing weight of the club. I'm not too sure if that's really the reason, but I'm just not feeling the club. Maybe they trimmed it off the tip? I don't know, I'm not very knowledgeable about equipment.

I'm the same way, but I might be changing my mind, soon. One of the pros at the store told me that an adjustable driver will fit you longer because, as you make improvements to your swing, you can readjust the club to match it. I thought that was a pretty good idea.

Yes, if you do not add weight to the end of the club then cutting off weight will make the club feel extremely lighter. I cut off about an inch on my G10 driver a few years ago, I added about 6 1.5" lead tape strips to the bottom. That is the downfall for those who want a shorter golf shaft, especially with a driver with no adjustable weights, that it is very hard to maintain swing weights. Also a shorter club will just feel lighter naturally because it is shorter. There is a reason why irons add about 7 grams per club head and why the shafts usually decrease about half an inch per club.

[billchao]

Yes, if you do not add weight to the end of the club then cutting off weight will make the club feel extremely lighter. I cut off about an inch on my G10 driver a few years ago, I added about 6 1.5" lead tape strips to the bottom. That is the downfall for those who want a shorter golf shaft, especially with a driver with no adjustable weights, that it is very hard to maintain swing weights. Also a shorter club will just feel lighter naturally because it is shorter. There is a reason why irons add about 7 grams per club head and why the shafts usually decrease about half an inch per club.

Yea, I read about the ridiculous amount of weight you have to add to the club head from cutting just 1" of shaft back when I shortened my original Speedline as an experiment. I never bothered to add the weight on it because, at the time, I was hitting my 9064LS so well that I didn't care anymore.

[cipher]

I'm the same way, but I might be changing my mind, soon. One of the pros at the store told me that an adjustable driver will fit you longer because, as you make improvements to your swing, you can readjust the club to match it. I thought that was a pretty good idea.

I don't really get this, IMO most of us, myself included are not good enough for these subtle changes to really make a difference.  The only way I can really change how the ball reacts is to change my alignments.

Yes, if you do not add weight to the end of the club then cutting off weight will make the club feel extremely lighter. I cut off about an inch on my G10 driver a few years ago, I added about 6 1.5" lead tape strips to the bottom. That is the downfall for those who want a shorter golf shaft, especially with a driver with no adjustable weights, that it is very hard to maintain swing weights. Also a shorter club will just feel lighter naturally because it is shorter. There is a reason why irons add about 7 grams per club head and why the shafts usually decrease about half an inch per club.

Good stuff.  I will wait to hear what @billchao gets back from sully.

[billchao]

I don't really get this, IMO most of us, myself included are not good enough for these subtle changes to really make a difference.  The only way I can really change how the ball reacts is to change my alignments.   Good stuff.  I will wait to hear what @billchao gets back from sully.

I think the pro meant, for example, if you need a certain loft or weight setting, and you improve your swing, you can readjust it later. Think like needing a draw bias at first, but then being able to set it to neutral at some later point in time. Sully emailed me back, he's at a show ATM and will get back to me tomorrow.

[cipher]

I think the pro meant, for example, if you need a certain loft or weight setting, and you improve your swing, you can readjust it later. Think like needing a draw bias at first, but then being able to set it to neutral at some later point in time.

Sully emailed me back, he's at a show ATM and will get back to me tomorrow.

Sounds good!  That makes sense.  I guess I just like a more neutral setting with the right loft.  I cut mine down .75" so I probably changed it quite a bit.

[cipher]

Drivers seem to be the subject today.  The Grenade seems to be a higher spin driver.  What is the idea behind creating a higher spin driver vs a low spin driver like the new SLDR or my old Anser?

[iacas]

Drivers seem to be the subject today.  The Grenade seems to be a higher spin driver.  What is the idea behind creating a higher spin driver vs a low spin driver like the new SLDR or my old Anser?

You should tag the Bomb Tech people. Get them to answer that question for you.

@BombTechGolf can you help Matt out?

[cipher]

You should tag the Bomb Tech people. Get them to answer that question for you.

@BombTechGolf can you help Nathan out?

The only thing that I can think is that the club as advertised adds ball speed.  Maybe that comes with the price of adding some spin to the ball as well.  So it gets more spin and launches a bit higher at a faster speed, all things in using the club for a short time that I would tend to agree with...so far.    On the FlightScope Trajectory Optimizer, I have been playing with this a bit this morning I was looking at this.

First here is the image from the site.  Basically showing the club generates faster ball speeds with more spin.

Using the Trajectory Optimizer:

Club A launches at 15 degrees with 2000 RPM, 140 ball speed and gets 224 carry and 263 total distance.

Say the Grenade is able to bring BS up to 144 which is about what they are saying it adds compared to the other clubs.  It the backspin is around 3000, you then carry 238 with 262 total distance.  Even if the launch is a little higher or the same at 15 it is about the same.

I will take the added carry and height any day in that situation even if the total distance is the same. However, what if the Grenade would spin around 2000 at the added +4 ball speed, and 15 launch angle. Now we are looking at about 235 carry(a few yards less, but the total distance is 273 adding about 10 yards.

One of the things I will say is that with a low spin driver like my old Anser if you don't hit the near the center of the face you will lose a ton of distance.  I have noticed with the Grenade that even if you miss hit it slightly the ball still stays up in the air nicely and is pretty forgiving in that way.  That is a plus for many players, myself included.

Any thoughts @BombTechGolf ?

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@billchao have you heard anything on the swing weight issue as well with varying shaft lengths?