Boccieri Golf Heavy Driver

By Blair Howard, About.com Guide

I received my Boccieri Golf Heavy Driver just a couple of weeks ago and, with limited time playing on the range and golf courses, here's my review of said Heavy driver. I’ve been playing with a Boccieri golf Heavy Put­ter for couple years now and, yes, it's definitely heavy (I also have a Boccieri Mid-Range Putter (which I will review separately). The idea behind the "Heavy" principle is that the extra weight concentrated in the putter head facilitates a smoother, more controlled stroke, and I think that's oh-so-true.

Now Boccieri Golf has hit the market place with a full line of "heavy" clubs: the 2011 Con­trol Series of coun­ter­-weighted golf clubs now includes dri­vers, fair­way clubs, hybrids, irons, and wedges. The design of the Control Series golf clubs incorporates an increased head weight to maximize force at impact and an exclusive back-weight system installed in the grip end of the shaft to raise the balance point for increased club head speed. The result is a perfectly balanced golf club designed to improve body mechanics resulting in greater distance and control.

Now to my own experience with the Boccieri Golf Heavy driver: There's no doubt about it, the club has a decidedly different feel compared to my regular driver. I found that the extra weight did force (maybe that's too strong a word - encourage is maybe a better one) to slow my swing, and thus, I think, make a more controlled swing - something I've been trying to achieve for decades. The down­swing was slower with a follow through controlled more by momentum than by me - again, I think, this is caused by the extra weight. Happily, it didn't take long for me to control that follow through, although it did force (there's that word again) me to concentrate on exactly that: controlling the shape and direction of the follow through. And that I found to be not only productive, but a lot of fun too - I thoroughly enjoyed myself - and the resulting extra distance gained was, for me, a tremendous payoff.

The overall result, then? More distance (as always, not as much as I would have liked) with a lot less effort, bearing in mind that I am, after all, a mere mortal and not a golf pro.

The downside: talk about being picky - with a heavy putter, a Heavy driver and a Heavy 60-degree wedge (the subject of another review), the old golf bag becomes less and less airline friendly, not to mention tough on the old bones. One has to wonder what a full kit of heavy clubs would weigh.

As is common in the industry, the writer was provided with complimentary sample for the purpose of review. While it has not influenced this review, About.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. For more information, see our ethics policy.