jamnguy1

My understanding is that butt trimming driver graphite shaft 1/2" is not that noticeable, and may depend on butt stiffness vs. softness. You would have to cut 2" from the butt to get a flex difference. That's why some shafts are great for fairway wood and not driver (eg., Kai'li for some players). If you tip trim 1" you could get a flex difference and lower ball flight as well. Also when you start trimming, your SW will change. You can choke down on the driver to get an idea of butt trimming.

I had the TJ46 in 6.2 which is regular flex and it did not feel as stable as the RD in SR flex which may be due to the flex itelf. It's likely the longer length forced me to be smoother with the swing to get good impact. When I get handsy (which happens with an aggressive swing), I turn the clubhead over too fast, and that negates all of the benefits of the shaft. The ball goes low and left. (Pulling the ball left is another issue for me.) That said, overall the differences in both shafts are not really night and day, and I think the tj46 has a slightly more glassy/fiberglass (as opposed to a tight rubbery) type of feel which I like. Like I said before, i did not have any problems getting the ball up in the air with the tj46. It's hard to say for sure, but my impression is that if you have difficulty with the Tj46, you could have difficulty with the RD as well.

I love milled faces on irons. dgs200 are standard fare and of course there are better options but the s200 for me are so much better than s300 which is standard in the US

Jeff, great minds think alike ;)

That's a good question because I forgot. Once I get a 2nd RD shaft, I'm planning on putting it in my epon 151 and I will weigh that head beforehand. I'll try to post at that time. I know that I was going to build it as long as possible maybe even 47", but the SW was just too high like D5. I thought about back weighing it but that would add total gross wt to the club, and I've not had good success with backweighting in other drivers or any other clubs for that matter. I think this shaft would be stable even at the max limit length of 48". I was playing 45" exclusively in the past, but now alot of drivers are made longer. The TM burner is what 46" and Ping K15 is 45.5". I haven't had much problem going the longer length as long as my tempo is good.

I've been fitted, put on the machine who knows how many times. SS is usually somewhere 90-95. I think the longer length gives me an increase in ss. I'm surprised you have a tj-46 noir 6.2 and can't get the ball in the air. Let me guess, maybe a low duck hook? I don't know, that was my bad miss when I try to over-swing even with the tj-46 noir 6.2 which I had in a different head. I didn't have a problem getting the ball in the air with that shaft. Just from feel, I think the profile of the 2 shafts are slightly different. Tario told me the RD has a stiffer butt section and that feels about right. Both shafts can feel whippy at that flex and really requires a smooth tempo. It feels whippy when I'm taking a practice swing but doesn't feel whippy when I take a real swing. For that flex, I have to think about tempo alot. So the only thing I can think of is that if you have an aggressive transition or some swing mechanics, it won't work as well. I think others have talked about experimenting and finding the right crazy shaft which if found is rather blissful or otherwise frustrating. For a really good all around shaft, even for avg ss like mine, the quadra is a safe choice. For me, this RD shaft is really making me feel I can tackle those long par 4s.

I'm getting this bag ready for the winter when it can get windy here.

Ryoma V-spec 10.5 Royal Dec SR flex 46" length SW D2 For what it's worth, here are the pics from my phone.

There's been lots of posts about the Ryoma driver. The Ryoma driver is forgiving and launches high, but I didn't get the distance gains out of it compared to some of my other drivers ... Not until I put a Crazy royal decoration shaft in it. I did play it about 1 inch longer at 46", but the gains are quite noticeable. At the range, there's this big tree about 210y away. Usually I would hit some of the big branches off the middle or top of the tree. With this combination, I'm able to hit it over the tree. I think what did it was the shaft. This is a lightweight shaft with a BIG kick. I was able to let this shaft work with little effort on my part. I will be getting another royal decoration shaft with an even softer flex just to see if I can control an even bigger kick. BTW, I was going to upload some pictures, but the site is not allowing it.

Smash factor is really a measure of "centerness" of the impact. Sometimes decreasing swing speed will increase smash factor. Could be the hot face of the spoon. Could be the better tempo of slower ss. Sometimes i think it should be clubhead speed instead of swing speed in the equation but thats another issue.

Amazing that you can bend a cast model that many degrees without risk of fracturing. Also can get undesirable bounce as well.

I didn't know they had an 8i replacement. But that is a thought as 8,9 and pw are scoring irons as well.

Plays like an iron shaft with all the benefits of graphite. Also plays stiffer than flex. Can easily be played in the wind.

Pretty awesome to be able to break par.

Try to get the prototype version. They are super soft.