TrueTemper EvenFlow Riptide Driver Shaft Review

TrueTemper EvenFlow Drive Shaft Review

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

There are two models of the 2020 EvenFlow Riptide driver shaft from TrueTemper. One is noted CB for counter balanced. As I have seen many times, counter balancing has more effect on the shaft profile that it will have on the balance of a driver. Lets take a look at the profiles of the two models. 

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Russ

Golf Shaft Radial Quality

RADIAL QUALITY AND CONSISTENCY OF GOLF SHAFTS

Golf Digest 2013 Americas 100 Best transparent.fwBy Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

I made a video about shaft alignment and the feedback I received prompted me to take a hard look at the issue.  I learned from discussions and research that the concept of SST Puring was Approved by the USGA soley as a method of identifying the orientation of a shaft that would cause it to play as if it was round.  There is a USGA rule that says a shaft should be round.  During the time when the SST system was developed this was not always the case.  It was discovered that if a shaft had significant radial stiffness anomalies, it could be oriented to created a tendency for the face to come to impact open, or in another orientation closed.  This is contrary to the USGA’s rule. The process was approved to compensate for manufacturing tolerances of the time.  Today, with most shafts essentially ’round’ to start with, shaft alignment brings nothing of benefit to the golfer.

With the shafts we see today, the simple rule is if you have a shaft that needs alignment, it should be in a dumpster not in a golf club. Most of today’s premium shafts are functionally round, but not all. Even some of the ultra-premium shafts I have measured do not pass my simple quality check.

There is a simple way to test a golf shaft.  It requires a weighted laser pointer and a frequency device with a good clamp.  Club makers know that a shaft can be rotated in a clamp to a position where it will oscillate on a flat line. Approximately 90 degrees from that point is another position where a second flat line oscillation can be found.  These two spots represent the hard and soft planes of the shaft.  A presentation of a study of several shafts can be seen at this Fit2Score article: “Radial Profiles of Driver Shafts“.

The radial quality of a shaft can be determined by comparing the frequency of the strong and weak planes.  If the numbers are the same, or within 1% of each other, the shaft is excellent. High quality tour grade shafts will have very little or no difference.  Consumer grade shafts can have as much a 2% difference. The shaft in this illustration had a 3% difference. In my test equipment, 258 vs 266 CPM, a difference of 8 CPM. The difference between the strong plane and weak plane was a stiffness step in this model of shafts.

RadialQualityProfileDifference

Lets step back to the origin of using frequency to measure stiffness. It was created by Dr. Joe Braly and his son Kim Braly.  The same Kim Braly whose initials appear on KBS shafts.  In that system 10 cycles per minute, CPM, represented the stiffness difference between a Rifle 4.5 and a Rifle 5.5.  In that system 10 CPM is a stiffness point. A shaft that is 266 CPM on the hard plane and 258 CPM on the soft plane is an R flex on one side and an S flex on the other.  A 1% difference on that shaft is 2.6 CPM .  That qualifies as tour quality.  A 2% difference is 5.2 CPM.  That is the limit of acceptable quality for a recreational golfer. Beyond that, the shaft is an R flex at the top of the backswing, an S flex at the horizon where the toe is up, and an R flex at impact where the toe is out.  Or turn it around, S at the top, R at mid downswing and S again impact.  That shaft belongs in dumpster, not in a golf club. This shaft is not usable in a driver with a rotating hosel tip. It cannot be re-orientated without causing a significant change of stiffness. It will perform differently at different orientations. 

Range Testing

Mark Maness, our DFW Iron Byron did some testing that gave some interesting results. I had two shafts that were identical in every respect, same make, model, weight, & flex. One had no difference in CPM from hard side to soft side. The other had an 8 cpm difference. During the test, neither of us knew which shaft was which. They were 70 gram S flex shafts. Mark was playing a 70 gram X flex of a similar design. The shafts were set in the standard position then turned 90 degrees, delofting the head 1.5 degrees. This put the soft plane then the hard plane toward the target line. This was repeated on the second shaft. The results were revealing in more ways than we expected.

SpineGroupingComposite

The image on the left is of the perfect shaft, on the right the shaft that had an 8 cpm difference between hard and soft planes. You can see the dispersion pattern of the perfect shaft was the same in both planes. On the shaft with the 8 cpm difference there was a significant difference in the two. On the hard side, the grouping was tighter, and on the soft side larger. It just so happened that the hard side was a better fit for Mark the unexpected finding of the test. Being properly fit for stiffness will decrease your shot dispersion.

This test show how important radial quality is when drivers today all have rotating hosels. Unless you are playing with a quality shaft, rotation may have a greater influence on your shot patterns than simply changing loft.

Fujikura Speeder Driver Shaft Review

FUJIKURA SPEEDER 757, SPEEDER 661, SPEEDER 569 & SPEEDER 474 DRIVER SHAFTS

Golf Digest 2013 Americas 100 Best transparent.fwKirk James & Mark Vallier, Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
MK Golf Technologies,San Antonio, Texas

Measurements: Russ Ryden, Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

The Fujikura Speeder 757 – possibly the most iconic shaft in the history of the PGA Tour. It has never left the Tour since its debut in 1998. The new Speeder shaft line, including the 757, 661, 569 and 474 models, have been brought back by Fujikura for 2014. These shafts have been designed using Fujikura’s Triax Core Technology, a three-directional woven graphite material on the inside layer of the shaft that contributes to increased speed and stability. Ultra high modulus materials provide excellent feel and stability. The weights – ranging from 48 grams in the 474 R2 to 79 grams in the 757 X, fit a wide range of players and swing types. 

The technical discussion and measurements are available only to registered readers

Here is Alex Dee, Vice President of Fujikura Golf shafts talking about the research being done at Fujikura and the 2014 shaft designs:

Mitsubishi KuroKage Blue Driver Shaft

Mitsubishi KuroKage Driver Shaft Review

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

MRC_KuroKageBlue_Image

In 2014 Mitsubishi reintroduced the Bassara V shaft as the dealer only KuroKage. It is a great looking shaft, Blue ion finished. It has a great history, this was Lorena Ochoa’s shaft. Many years ago I fit a great many of these. It is a Diamana Blue with about a half degree more torque. The radial consistency of all the samples measured was 99.6% with a 0.3% standard deviation. Translation, excellent. Install this shaft in any orientation, use it in a rotating hosel. Shaft to shaft consistency; as good as it gets, the fitter and the shaft your club gets built with will be indistinguishable from each other.

MRC_KuroKageBlue_EiGjTbIf you are familiar with the Misubishi Blue Board design, you know this shaft. In a former life it looked like this:

MRC_BassaraV_ImageSome of the shafts I measured for this review came from the fitters that were still in my shop. I was impressed that many years ago when this shaft was first available that the radial quality was exceptional.

 

Matrix Ozik Black, Red and White Tie Driver Shaft

Matrix Ozik Black Tie, Red Tie, White Tie

By Grant James, The Golf Doctor
Sydney Australia

Matrix Golf introduced the Ozik Black Tie, Ozik Red Tie and Ozik White Tie early 2013. The M3 Black Tie came first and it was met with instant success and popularity on the professional tours. A few months later the Red & White Tie series were introduced. Each shaft is marketed with different launch/spin characteristics:
Black Tie M3; low launch, low spin
Red Tie Q3; Mid launch, Mid spin
White Tie X3; High launch, Low spin

The Tie series incorporates many cutting edge golf shaft manufacturing processes, two of which I feel contribute to the performance benefits of the Matrix Tie series.

HD internal structure

Matrix uses 16 sided mandrels, the metal core around which the graphite sheets are wrapped during manufacturing. This creates a straighter structure than steel and in their testing transfers more feel to the golfer in the heavier shaft designs.

T T R Tip Torsional Resistance

My fitting experience has taught me the importance torque, especially tip torque in containing shot dispersion. The Ozik Tie series of shafts from Matrix has the necessary tip torque resistance.

Shaft to shaft, the EI Bend profiles are very contestant, which as a Club-Maker is something of very high importance to me. I can trust the shaft coming out of the bin is the same as the shaft I used during the fitting.

DevotedGolfer.tv had a chance to talk to Nathan Fritz, PGA Tour fitter for Matrix, at the 2013 Colonial and talk about the Ozik Tie series.

The charts below, show exception Radial Quality and Torque.

The technical discussion, measurements and testing results are available only to registered readers

The Tie Series is a fantastic product, they do what they say they will. Excellent shaft to shaft consistency, and a favorite in my fitting kit.

AeroTech SteelFiber Constant Weight Iron Golf Shaft Review

Aerotech SteelFiber Iron Shafts – constant weight taper tips

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

Aerotech_SFi110_image
Aerotech Logo

I have known Chris Hilleary, owner of AeroTech almost from the day I started club building. He has always been an active supporter of the club building & fitting organizations. When Matt Kuchar started playing and winning with Aerotech Steel Fiber iron shafts, the brand became better known.

The SteelFiber constant weight taper tip model is the most popular of the Aerotech iron shafts. It comes in five weights, 70, 80, 95, 110 and 125 grams.  The profiles change slightly with each weight.  The torque is slightly higher than steel, but certainly in range for tour grade iron shafts.

AeroTechFiberDraw

Aerotech SteelFibre shafts have a stainless wire wrapped over a filament wound graphite core, combining the properties of steel and graphite into the shaft.  The construction of the ‘wire’, 1/10 the diameter of a human hair is illustrated here.

Having heard Chris say that the design of the Aerotech SteelFiber shaft eliminates ovaling in the shaft, I tested the claim. In golf shafts, the wall thickness near the butt end of the shaft is thin. In light weight shafts this creates ovaling. The shaft flattens, becoming elliptical when it is loaded. I clamped an 85 gram steel shaft and deflected it 5 inches. I could measure 0.005″ of ovaling. The 80 gram Aerotech SteelFiber shaft ovaled .001″. The combination of carbon fiber and a stainless steel wire wrap does virtually eliminates ovaling in the Aerotech SteelFiber iron shafts, even in the 80 gram version.

Perhaps more significant, Aerotech is one of the few, if not the only company, filament winding carbon fiber shafts.  The material is wound around the mandrel much like thread is wound on a spool. Other carbon fiber shafts are made of sheet of material wrapped around the mandrel. That can create seams, which can create radial stiffness differences around the shaft. The radial consistency of the filament wound Aerotech Steelfiber review samples measured averaged 

The technical discussion and measurements are available only to registered readers

Overall this is a great iron shaft.  If your looking to shed some weight from your irons, the 80 and 95 gram versions will do that without giving up dispersion control. With the success AeroTech is having on the professional tours, availability is now longer limited to custom fitters. AeroTech iron shafts are now available as upgrades from Bridgestone, Cleveland/Srixon, Nike, Ping, TaylorMade, Titleist and Wilson.