Fujikura Ventus Blue TR VeloCore Golf Shaft Review

Fujikura Ventus Blue TR VeloCore Golf Shaft Review

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Builder
The Highlands Performance Golf Center, Carrollton Texas 
Golf Digest Certified America’s 100 Best Club Fitter

The Fujikura Ventus Blue TR adds a woven fabric to the shaft reducing hoop deformation where the thin walls of a driver shaft collapse. I have seen a number of woven materials in this area over the years. There have been many attempts to stabilize driver shafts were the wall thickness is thin. The  effectiveness of this reinforcement can be seen by  measuring hoop deformation. Only recently have materials been developed that have a measurable effect on reducing hoop deformation. The first I recall was the carbon kevlar weave used in the Mitsubishi Tensei driver shafts.

When I first got interested in golf shaft technology Fujikura was promoting the Speeder shafts as controlling hoop deformation. I did a quick check of and old 757 and a 553 and did not see the hoop deformation decreases I currently see from woven carbon which Fujikura calls TOW. This can be seen across all weights but is especially pronounced in lighter weigh shafts. In heavier shafts, 70g and 80g, the weave control of hoop deformation is slight. But in light shafts, 50g for example, it is pronounced. The lighter weight models have significantly less material in the butt and the wall thickness is so thin, hoop deformation is pronounced.  

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Russ

TrueTemper AMT Red, AMT Black & AMT White Irons Shaft Review

TrueTemper AMT Iron Shafts

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Club Maker
The Golf Center at the Highlands, Carrollton Texas

AMT stands for Ascending Mass Technology. It is not a new concept. Ping has had ascending weight shafts for many years. The True Temper AMT is one of the stock shafts offered by Titleist in 2018. Several shafts I worked with and played, the Nippon 999’s and the Aerotech Players Spec were ascending. The TrueTemper AMT White is a relabeled Dynamic Gold AMT Tour Issue that I reviewed in 2016. See that review for a discussion of Ascending Mass shafts.

The AMT Red and the AMT Black are new, lighter weight shafts You can see in the chart below how they differ from the AMT White. 

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Russ

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Russ

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Russ

Mitsubishi Thump Hybrid Golf Shaft Review

Mitsubishi Diamana Thump Hybrid Shaft Review

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Club Maker
The Golf Center at the Highlands, Carrollton Texas

I cannot recall how long the Diamana Thump Hybrid has been in my bag.  I am playing the original 95 gram Thump that was made with a .350 tip. For many years I has been available as an unlisted special order shaft to Mitsubishi Dealers. I have ordered and installed them for many of my fitting clients. At last, the Diamana Thump has been reissued with a .370 tip and new graphics. There are three models, 90S, 90X and 100X.

I have long described the Thump Hybrid as a steel shaft made out of carbon fiber. It sits in the same weight range as mid weight steel. And it is every bit as stiff, if not stiffer than steel in the weight range. The low torque that is an inherent property of steel is built into the Thump. If the $200+ price of a Thump, or other high performance carbon fiber hybrid shafts, is not in your budget then go with steel. However, there are a few reasons you would choose carbon fiber over steel. 

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Russ

The .370 tip fits most all current generation hybrids. No longer will you have to shim the .355 tips of the older design. If you have used the earlier generation you will find the tips to ever so slightly firmer in the new design. Torque is slightly lower as well. It is time to put some new hot face hybrids in my bag.[/restrict]

True Temper Dynamic Golf 105 Iron Shaft Review

True Temper Dynamic Gold 105 Golf Shaft Review

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Club Maker
The Golf Center at the Highlands, Carrollton Texas

DG105 ImageAs with the Dynamic Gold 120, True Temper has again responded to the trend for lighter iron shafts with a redesign of the Dynamic Gold. The Dynamic Gold 105 is around 105 grams uncut. When cut it will be in the 100 gram range. The R and S are ever so slightly lighter. In my experience, 105 grams is the fitting sweet spot for the recreational golfer. It is good to see the more companies developing products in this range.

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Russ

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Russ

Project X EvenFlow Blue Black Driver Shaft Review

Project X EvenFlow Blue & Project X EvenFlow Black Driver Shaft Review

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Club Maker
The Golf Center at the Highlands, Carrollton Texas

EvenFlowBlueHandCraftedThe Project X EvenFlow, introduced in late 2017 is made in San Diego where the Project X HZRDUS shafts are made. It adds a unique pair of profiles to the Project X HZRDUS shafts that have released over the last few years. It has a softer midsection than the HZRDUS Black, It has a firmer butt section than the HZRDUS Red. It has a firmer mid section than the HZRDUS Yellow. The profile is a popular design and it has a great many close matches from just about every manufacturer in the golf shaft business. 

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Russ

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Russ

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Russ

Mitsubishi TENSEI CK Driver Shaft Review

Mitsubishi Tensei CK Driver Shaft Review

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Club Maker
The Golf Center at the Highlands, Carrollton Texas

TenseiCK_Images

The past focus of Golf Shaft Reviews had been aftermarket shafts. With this review I am creating a new category, OEM shafts. The typical market price of an aftermarket driver shaft ranges from $300 to $1000. Those shafts are not supplied in off the rack drivers. In the not to distant past we would see the notation “Made For” or “Engineered For” on these shafts. That notation came to be recognized by the golfer for what it was. Several years ago it disappeared and the labeling of the OEM ‘Made For” shaft became much more subtle. A reasonable person understands that he is not going to get a $400 ultra premium shaft in a $400 driver. Unfortunately, many of the clerks in the retail side of the golf business are unaware of the subtle changes in graphics now used to label aftermarket and OEM shafts.

This is not a condemnation of the shafts made for the club companies that are installed in off the rack drivers. A great many golfers play a lot of good golf with these shafts. And generally the quality of all shaft has improved over that last several years. The difference is in the materials used. Those differences are most easily seen in the measurements torque and hoop deformation. In my experience those two properties affect dispersion. It is not difficult to produce bargain shafts with the same linear stiffness properties of some of the premium shafts. It is impossible to reproduce the matrix of stiffness, weight, torque and hoop strength that comes with exotic materials and high density prepreg that is used in premium shafts.

BoronTipThe Tensei CK Pro BlueTensei CK Pro White and Tensei CK Pro Orange have been reviewed earlier. They feature a long section of Carbon Fiber Dupont Kevlar “CK” material woven into the butt section of the shaft. The Pro Blue and White feature Boron reinforced tips. The notation Boron Tip is printed on the tip of the shaft. The Boron material is not included in the tip of the non “Pro” version of the shafts. The Tensei Pro Orange has a material called MR70 which Mitsubishi states is stiffer than Boron. The EI profile of the Tensei CK Pro Orange validates that claim.  Let’s take a look at other subtle graphics and what the profiles of the Tensei driver shafts you will find in off the rack clubs. 

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Russ

To continue reading this section of the review, you must be registered at a higher level membership.
Russ