BryanAC

Jimmy, I am glad to hear that you are thinking of getting this driver. I hit it and get plenty of distance with it. There are many comments about teeing it lower, which I have found to worked for me too. I typically hit drives very high because I try to lift the ball off the tee instead of letting the loft do the work. Bogeydog has it right IMO in that hitting it like a 3 wood (meaning a shallower swing) is the way to go. When I shallowed out my swing to hit the .388 the ball flight was absolutely beautiful. In Japan, I try to hit it high because the fairways are softer and the drives don't seem to run as much. Often times, my drives stop pretty near my ball mark if I hit the fairway. I get the most distance on high shots with a tail wind of course, but on every other wind direction other than a tail wind, the .388 is most likely going to be not only more accurate (barring my lucky streak of 100% fairways on the last 2 rounds) but also longer because as you know, hitting the ball too high is losing energy going up instead of forward. In order for me to get that lower ball flight with my other clubs, I have to dip into drivers in the 7*- 8* range. So, if you are on the fence, don't let the lower tee recommendation worry you. I'll probably get one for my bag in the near future as well.

I typically tee the ball high which I feel frees me up to go after it. This results in high bombs that go fairly straight even if not maximizing distance due to less run. Seeing my playing partners tee the ball lower and hit penetrating balls with their drivers always leaves me envious because they maximize their distances while exposing the ball less to winds not coming from behind. I have 5 drivers already in my home, 3 of which I hit well already, so I don't really need another driver. 2 of those heads are 460cc and are 9* and 10* loft. The third driver is 8* and under 400cc. However, a friend has the .388 in 9* which I hit recently. The first thing he said was to tee the ball lower, so I did and I have to say that I love the club. The ball flight was lower than my two 460cc drivers, and matched my 8* driver, while being much easier to hit and is more workable than all of them. It was impossible to tell how much distance I was getting due to the drives hitting the back net, but I could tell that the face was hot. I can't wait to try it out on my home course, and I have a pretty good idea that I will be hitting less club than normal into the greens. About the matte black paint... I love it. I played a round on a sunny day with my normal driver which has glossy black paint and noticed that the sun reflecting off the head was a distraction. I understand the appeal that shiny new clubs have for owners concerning confidence and pride. We are all susceptible to that to varying degrees. But, I am more of a "function over form" kind of guy, so I just might take a piece of sand paper and rough up the paint on my current drivers to reduce the glare ;) I know that it won't match everyone, but would I recommend it? Oh, yeah. The sound was nice, the feel was nice. I can't wait to get my hands on one.

I realize that this is a bit late, but I was in the same situation as you. I had a King Cobra F-speed 3+ wood in a red Aldila NV shaft that I could barely get off the ground. I found a Callaway 3w in the new orange Aldila NV shaft and did a head swap hoping the kick point on the orange shaft would help get the ball up a little higher with the Cobra. it didn't. I found that I hit the Callaway better than the Cobra so that one stayed in my bag until I hit the S-Yard GT Type S 3 wood. Typically, I hit the ball pretty far all across the bag. However, my new favorite club is the S-Yard GT Type S 3 wood. I can tee it up and hit it high to let it ride the wind, or hit it low for a more piercing trajectory. It is deadly accurate, and I can shape shots with confidence with it because it sets up nicely behind the ball. The sound took a little getting used to because I was coming off a Cobra which sounded like 2 bottles clinking together, but the "click" of the Type S sounds more like an iron shot than a wood, and is now music to my ears. The last 2 rounds I hit 100% of the fairways with my driver, and 6 of them were particularly long with help from the wind, hard fairways and elevated tees. I was really itching to hit my 3 wood though. Just pulling it out of the bag got me excited for my approach shot on the par 5 18th at my local course. I blew it over the water and the green and almost onto the cart path in front of the club house, and was happier than a pig in slop even though I blew an eagle chance. I know that a club doesn't match all players, but If you have a chance I recommend trying one out. I think you might like it. I don't see this one coming out of my bag for a really long time.