In 2013 Callaway doubled its market share in the fairway wood category, thanks in part to its popular X Hot fairway wood which they claimed was "longer from everywhere".
In order to keep that success going, the company has redeveloped that club and made it even hotter. By adding a thinner, lighter face as well as improved head design, Callaway say the X2 Hot is up to seven yards longer than the original X Hot fairway wood.
As we know, distance claims are only as good as the technology behind them, so what's new about the X2 Hot fairway?
Firstly, the face. The Hyper Steel Face was the highlight technology in the original X Hot range, and Callaway have improved it for the second generation. Based on data of where peoples hit the ball on the face of a fairway wood, Callaway were able to thin the face in a variety of ways to not only make the overall face thinner, but lighter and also stronger. Testing has shown that ball speeds are up an average of 1.4mph over X Hot.
Callaway found a lot of players hit their fairway woods low on the face, especially off the fairway, which can lead to shots that balloon or spin too much. To improve the performance of these shots they improved their Internal Standing Wave.
The standing wave, shown in the photo below, is a number of piece of metal shaped like a wave in the lower portion of the clubhead. The wave in the X2 Hot is larger than before and has been moved even lower and closer to head. This positions helps lower the centre of gravity and produce a better launch, especially on those shots hit low on the face.
Long-time Callaway users will remember the days of the original Warbird designs. Well, Callaway still use those designs and shapings to create their modern clubs. The X2 Hot fairway wood features a modern Warbird sole. The improved shaping is designed to make the club more versatile and playable from a wider variety of lies, not simply off the tee, hence the X Hot's "longer from everywhere" tagline.
More and more golfers are looking to add fairway woods to their bag and bridge distance gaps with their longer clubs. Callaway are well aware of this and it shows in the X2 Hot options. Golfers can carry six different X2 Hot fairway woods in their bag, should they choose to, with six different lofts available ranging from a 15-degree 3-wood up to a 25-degree 11-wood.
Add the X2 Hot Pro and X2 Hot Deep fairway woods and there is a total of 12 clubheads to choose from.
The Callaway X2 Hot fairway comes fitted with an Aldila Tour Blue shaft. The high-launch, low-spin shaft offers mid-level torque which Callaway say improves the feel and control of the club.