Cleveland XLS Draw Driver - review

[azflying]

The club is the anti-slice!

I grew up playing baseball and didn't take to golf until recently due to my slice. After many lessons and lots of buckets my slice became a fade and if everything was right I actually hit it straight. The only way I hit a draw was with some weird insideout swing that really didn't feel natural.

After so much time and emotion spend getting rid of my slice any left-to-right ball flight psychologically represented failure, I would rather hook it into a house, than fade it down the right side of the fairway because that meant the slice was creeping back into my swing and the dragon would once again need to be slain.

NOT ANY MORE!

I bought the 10.5 deg, gold regular flex (85-90mph swing speed), took it out to the range. Nothing went right, everything was straight or left no matter how hard I swung (swing hard usually caused a cupped left wrist and over-the-top swing). I am now confident that if an error creeps into my swing I'm not going to banana one OB. Also, I no longer need a stronger grip with my driver than my irons and the associated low-left tee shot.

If you fight a slice, this club will guarantee a nice right-to-left.

The 10.5 hit it high and far, typical of modern high-launch drivers.

It is pretty loud at impact. I may have disturbed some of the other people on the practice tee.

[azflying]

Took it out on the course Sunday...

This thing hits the ball a long ways. WOW, very impressive compared to my 2004 Taylormade R5. The size of the head and all that right-to-left technology really inspires confidence. I did get lazy on a couple shots and it did fade which is probably a good thing. Obviously the club won't do all the work correcting your slice, you still need to do something right on your swing AND if it's a dogleg right it is possible to open it up a little and it still goes far (the result is not high and short).

I highly recommend this club if your errors tend to go right. It is really cool being able to aim down the right side and not worry about breaking a window.

[! Tennis]

I say spend your money on lessons, I've seen a guy at our local course come out with the classic Cleveland 460 Launcher and tear up everyone with 350 yard drives. I asked, "how do you do that". He answered... practice...

[meeks7]

The draw drivers arent bad but practice is better than fixing your problems with a club i think...just keep at it and eventually your game will come around

[geezer]

If anybody is interested on another take on this club, TheSandTrap has just got their review up too: HERE

[FlopShotArtist]

I say spend your money on lessons, I've seen a guy at our local course come out with the classic Cleveland 460 Launcher and tear up everyone with 350 yard drives. I asked, "how do you do that". He answered... practice...

Exactly. I bought an R7 Draw about 2 months ago, and it was the worst purchase of my golf career.

Lessons > Draw club.

[skates87]

just started using this club, got to say that i love it, it feels like all i have to do is swing and i can hit it a mile, i had a R7 quad before with a speeder 757, hit it well but nothing like this, the look of it took some time to get use to but and the sound, but other than that love it

[vladie22]

hello everyone ! My name is Vlad and I just joined the sandtrap three days ago .So far its been a great source of info ....anyways , onto the topic : I just purchased a Hibore XLS on Saturday and played a round on Sunday with it and I absolutely love it ! It replaced a Callaway FT-5 that I thought I was getting good distance off the tee with,until I used the XLS . My drives were 20-25 yards longer and no slice at all. one word of caution though-words dont do justice,this thing is LOUD...

[Golfaway]

I just got an XLS though neutral not draw. Haven't hit it a lot, but the times I hit it it was great. The sound is too loud though, I was startled on the first hit. I still sliced using it, but with more practice I think I'll do better.

[brassdoss]

First real driver I've ever owned. I love it! Just bought the matching 3w.

Mine is the 12* model, as it helps me air it a little more with my avg. swing speed.

I still slice with it on occasion, but it's usually when I don't go through my mental swing checklist at address and get overzealous. I naturally tend to push (in attempt to send my hands through first), so the closed face does help that a little.

I realize that a fancy club won't fix your swing, but I'll take all the help I can get!