Mjr. D

I am. Simply outstanding.

Best shaft I've ever used is the Diamana X. However, the Ahina in X is absolutely brilliant as well. The new W series coming out should be considered.

New, Nippon Modus 3 Tour 120 stiff flex shafts professionally pulled from a set of Tourstage 709 MC irons. 3-Pw. New Tourstage (GolfPride) grips $230 100% ebay'er. Shafts are shipping from Canada $30 shipping to anywhere in the US & Canada (excluding Hawaii and Alaska).

How do you like you Machine putter? Also, what does Damascus feel like? How much did you pay for it, if you don't mind me asking?

Very coo! You'll make it work.

Ya man, I really want to try it. I think, consistently speaking, Diamana make the best shafts out there. Crazy's are good (pricey), graphite Design are definitely good. I'd say those three manufacturers would be be my top choices. Quadra being a close 4th.

Nice feedback, Stew. I played the Maxima again today. I'm still not seeing the high launch, at all. Low, low-mid at most. Still fought hooks but man, when I can manage to hit this thing straight, it's unbelievable. Most explosive drives I've ever had. The ball just explodes and pierces through the air. Definitely the longest club I've hit. Also, what's interesting to note is how much more club head speed you can generate (or at least it sure seems like it...) from dropping 10 grams in shaft weight. The ahina is 72g while the Diamana X is 80-82 I believe. It feels much more difficult to swing fast than the ahina. Both are great feeling shafts, the Ahina is lower launching for me, the X better dispersion (probably has to do with the face, too). Also, the only time I felt a mis**t is when I've hit the ball low on the face. Every other spot on the face feels pure. Never experienced anything like this with a driver, before.

Charles Swartzel.

Haha, I have three witnesses. Thanks man.

I played the Maxima V spec 8.5 again today. Very windy conditions. I played it better today. Hit more fairways but all my misses were still hooks. I will say, although I did have a 40k wind, I hit the furthest drive of my life. Hole 4, 498 yard par 5. The fairways are not hard at all and not overly short and it was flat, not downhill. I was 67 yards out for a total of 431yrds. Wind aided or not, I was impressed. I was also using a Bridgestone E7 ball. Doesn't spin worth s**t but it's extremely durable, straight and long. Two holes later I flew it over the green on a 367 yard par 4. This is the longest driver I've hit, bar none. Extremely penetrating ball flight. ULTRA low spin, low sometimes mid low launch. I absolutely love the feel of this driver. I love everything about it. If it were perfectly square it would be the "holy grail" of drivers (hate that term), for me. Photo of the closest double eagle I've ever had.

Both were positioned in the exact same spot shafts at the exact same angle. Callaway is on neutral setting. Maxima appears to be closed a degree or so.

Here are pictures on there own, of the Maxima (top) Callaway (bottom)

No they only checked the Egg 7 which was 1 or 1.5* closed. I can't remember exactly. I didn't have the Ryoma when I was there, last. I'll try to figure the thing out until I'm back in the US in a month, then if it's still a hook machine, I'll send it to Goodsie and go from there. Thanks Chris.

Will do, when I get home. I'll take a few pics.

Thanks T. The reason I'm so adamant that it's closed is because a) the hooks and b) when I've lined it up next to other drivers that are square it absolutely is more closed. I played a round with the provincial ladies champ, a former male provincial champ and a former nationwide player the other day and asked them if thought it was closed at address and they all absolutely thought so. Not saying that means it is, if measured but to the eye and at address, it seems to set up that way. True, I'm probably not the targeted golfer for this club but that can be said for almost every club on the market, save Krank and Callaway's HOT long drive clubs. I had no problems with the Crazy 435 or the Epon 460, though... I'll try it at the range and in a few more rounds before I decide to send it to Stew (I'm in Canada right now so knowing customs sending it now will probably tie it up for weeks). Thanks man.

Thanks, I'll try some different balls but I've had no problems with smash factor and this club. In fact, I've only hit one ball that wasn't extremely explosive feeling, off the face. Unfortunately 90% of them have been hooks. Ball absolutely explodes off the face though! Exactly the reason I so badly wish I could hit it straight!

Yep. My club builder at UST (great guy) built my club and I asked him and he said the 8.5* was actually closer to 8.7*. Doesn't bother me because it's launching perfect and every single USD driver has, I'm sure, been inaccurate when it comes to loft. My point is that if Japanese companies, especially highly regarded ones such as Ryoma, are supposed to be extremely precise with their lofts, and they're not, it's not surprising the specified face angle isn't exact as claimed, either.

Thanks man, I appreciate the support. Ya the photo definitely accentuates the closed face but it's still at least 1* closed, in the flesh. Interesting you're a little disappointed. I never hit the original but everything I read regarding this one has been positive up until this point (other than the high launch, which I'm not seeing at all). Like I said, the few times I have hit a straight drive it's been fantastic! Love everything about it. Cool Clubs measured the Egg 7 - 1* closed. I've used a Ahina before, in a Titleist 910D3 and it was great! Hit it beautifully! That's why I decided to go with it again (and the fact it was low spin/low launch and the weight was where I wanted it). Not really following you on the shaft install part...

So at long last I received my Maxima with an Ahina 70x flex shaft, tipped one inch and playing at 45". First things first. It's a stunning looking driver. From the paint to the gold weight, everything reeks of top quality. Same can be said for the Ahina Ion flowerband shaft. I'll cut to the chase. It's long, it's quite long. Probably as long as anything I've played and the longest driver I've played on mis**ts, without question. I can assure you, don't base your decision on distance. Distance is definitely not a concern. Feel - I've played Crazy 435, Epon 460ZR, RAZR FITs, SMTs, Egg 7, Nike Covert Tour (nice feeling!), Cobra, Titleist 905, 983, 910, R9 SuperDeep, on and on. This is my second favorite feeling driver of all time. I love it. I think it's a perfect combination of crisp and soft. The sound is perfect and, at least with the Ahina, so is the feel. The only better feeling driver I've hit is the Epon 460zr with a Roddio shaft (also my first JDM driver so there may be bias, but it was unreal!). Ball Flight - I have absolutely no idea what anyone is talking about regarding high ball flight. I s**t you not I haven't hit a ball higher than pine tree height with this thing, yet. This is as low launching and low spinning a head as I've ever played. Launches lower than the SuperDeep, lower than the Crazy 435 with Crazy 50 and only slightly higher than the Egg7 with Matrix Ozik 7m2 XX. I'm thrilled with the ultra low spin and launch. The ball just explodes off the face and bores like hell, through the air/wind. Which brings me to my next point, this is the best driver i've ever hit in wind. Surprisingly there is little distance loss in wind. I've never seen anything like it. Not sure why, I'm not biased, I'm not brainwashed. It's just bizarre. Control - This unfortunately, is the bad part. Is it forgiving? Absolutely! Like I said, the most forgiving driver I've ever played when considering smash factor/distance. Can you work the ball? I have no idea, I don't try to. The one issue (and it's unfortunately it's a big one and quite frankly i'm pretty bummed/pissed off) is that this driver, the V-spec at 8.5 is definitely NOT square at address. It's at least closed 1* and possibly more. It's hook central off the tee. I played two days ago and I literally hit one fairway. Every other drive was a gnarly hook. This wasn't the case with my RAZR-FIT/Diamana X nor my Tourstage 12.5* fairway/Crazy Sigma. Unfortunately this was only with the Maxima. I tried adjusting the face at address but that just leads to inconsistency. I'm really actually pretty pissed off considering I was assured this driver was totally neutral. I was also assured the Egg 7 was totally neutral. It's also absolutely not. It's closed. I had it measured at Cool Clubs in Scottsdale and it's 1* closed. The problem is, us people in N. America unfortunately don't have the luxury to demo clubs before we buy them, so we rely on forums and Chris/Tario for feedback (which is almost always superb!). I don't know if both PRGR or Ryoma claimed these were both neutral face drivers or if things are measured differently in Japan than over here (I can't see how) but this is now the second driver in a row that I can't use because the face isn't as advertised. Really sucks considering this is probably the best overall driver I've ever hit (when I adjust the face properly and fluke a straight shot). So bottom line, if you want or need a new driver and care about looks, feel, ball flight, forgiveness and distance, don't even think twice... this is it. However, I would HIGHLY caution anyone who tends to hook the ball to at least get a demo before purchase. I'm going to spend some more time with this thing to see if I can figure out some way to use it effectively and I'll definitely update this if and when I do. P.S. No hocus pocus. This photo is of the Maxima V 8.5 on the left, resting on the ground, shaft totally vertical next to the Callaway RAZR FIT 8.5 on the Neutral setting. The camera makes the shaft look a little angled but I assure you it was not.

There are so many putter makers out there today I think it's almost impossible to find one that is far superior to another. Go with a brand/design you like the look of as well as a company that offers customization. Gold's is a good place to start, if you have the coin. I personally love Bettinardi, I think his putters are fantastic, especially for the price.

Well f**k. I should have waited and bought this instead of the Ahina. Although, I will say, the ahina in the Maxima V has been phenomenal so far!

I got these in the mail today from my club builder who ordered them direct from Fujikura. We both thought all the MCI's came in silver but the rep said these are a tour prototype... Says "Tour" just where the red oval is. Not sure if this is true or not or perhaps just the 120x version comes in blue/black/orange...

God I hope they're not low kick!

In all honesty and obsessive equipment ho'ing aside, unless you are a scratch golfer/pro, spending anything over $350 on a shaft is probably a waste of money. My swing reeks, I'm a half decent golfer that has no business spending what I do on golf equipment. A $150 lesson would do more for me than any $500-$1000 shaft ever would but most of us on here are golf equipment enthusiasts, regardless or not if it's practical. By all means, I'm fine with that and especially if it's not a financial concern. I simply do this because I enjoy technology, collecting, and knowing I have something hi-tech and unique. I have fun with it and there's nothing wrong with that. Speaking realistically however, a 10HC spending $500-$1000 on a shaft is pretty much a waste of money, haha. Oh well!

I agree.