ant

unfortunately it doesnt translate the specs table tho its intuitive enough. problem is they seem to list total club weight with S200 shaft at specific length and the weight of S200 uncut and I have no clue what weight S200 would be in any given iron in their build. plus RC is known to build with weight plugs etc which makes it even more difficult to guess their real head weights. I'm somewhat familiar with Miura, have 5003 currently and had a chance to handle 1957 which are about the same weight as 5003 I would say. this is of course roughly as I havent ever seen full specs on 1957 and 5003 being produced in two diff weight specs (for steel/graphite). I'm not very familiar with metallurgy and forging techniques involved but my understanding is that they either hammer 1957 more or use more force/weight to make it more dense.

Thanx! Based on specs they do seem to look (I cant read Japanese) significantly heavier than Miura. Their standard build is listed at D1 with S200 so if thats what you tried you definitely felt total weight not swing weight. I'm a little disappointed they are larger heads but I guess thats where the weight comes from. For some reason I thought maybe they made a small, dense head with alot of muscle to account for that. "Well balanced hammer" sounds very good to me tho.

Can you comment regarding RC head size compared to Miura 5003 or 1957 ? You also say RC felt hefty. Did they feel noticeably heavier to you based on head weight or total club weight or they just simply felt heavier because of heavier swing weight build compared to other demos ? Would appreciate any info on this. I'm thinking of building a very heavy but compact set and ideally would want the weight to come from natural components weights and not artificially added ad hoc.

Probably old news for WRX regulars here but I've stumbled upon tour spy pics of new Mitsubishi Rayon prototype shaft which one poster saying rumor has it its the new Stinger. Whether it is or it isnt its definitely something new as it does look like a real prototype being all black with only Proto 70X sticker on it vs all singing all dancing "check it out, I look like a tour player, bitch" retail "prototype" models. Just wanted to share this and see if anyone here perhaps knows more. Here is the link to original WRX thread golf wrx/forums/topic/520753-new-mitsubishi-rayon-prototype-shaft/

There is nothing to load, its not a bow. The effect of shaft kick affecting affecting clubhead speed thus ball speed thus distance is marginal at best and that is if you manage to make it kick right thru impact. You just got used to the feel of swinging a softer shaft and that is all there is to it. Stronger shafts makes you uncomfortable but demo a few and give them a honest try keeping your mind clean from any rationale and that includes what I'm writing, see if it makes a difference, thats all I'm saying. Regarding distances I'm not calling BS on you, dont worry about that, I just thought it was funny match as somebody mentioned Tiger stats. People are always touchy with distances on internet and its always seems to be some sort of d**k measuring contest. If you know your distances right pay no attention as thats simply irrelevant.

Actually old Tiger stats is exactly 172 for 7i :) tho he's been using weaker lofts, dunno if still does. 2OP: get on TrackMan with your Epon and figure out whats going on. From what you said it sounds like you are hitting carry only fly high then plop balls. This could be caused by both high spin and launch angle you are getting, launch monitor will tell you that. You might need a stronger shaft to get a stronger trajectory and not as steep angle of descent and as result more roll that you wanna get. I find it hard to believe that 9.5 true loft Epon head can be the cause for that sort of thing. That might also help with more of them pure hits because if the shaft is too weak for you that clubhead is all over the place thru impact and it would take hell of a timing to score a pure hit more or less consistently which is just folly.

Great post! I dont follow your thinking about more upright swing in relation to blade size/shape/dimensions tho.

if that Nike driver also feels like persimmon I would take it from you, I can use a forgiving persimmon :) seriously, I dont think any of modern metal heads, no matter how well they made, sound or feel better than persimmon hit on the screws pure and really compressed but thats just me. I know what you mean about Nike drivers tho, had them before, SQ and Dymo, they aint exactly great in sound/feel department, especially sound and especially SQ.

of course none of that really matters when hit on the second groove but then who can really do that on purpose ;) but for those who love super soft and are on a budget, as far as JDM stuff goes, go with Mizuno.

dont think anybody can tell you with certainty if its real or not, there been some pretty good fakes out there like these Kai’ Li http://golf wrx/forums/topic/325052-counterfeit-diamana-kai-lis/page__p__2124775#entry2124775 http://golf wrx/forums/topic/325052-counterfeit-diamana-kai-lis/page__p__2124070#entry2124070 [edit: no idea why this forum gabbles links]

Ah, I see, didnt know about those new models but looking at description and specs that driver looks like total opposite of VS Tour to me ie larger volume, forgiving head which is not surprising since they design/build it at 45.5 and good luck hitting smaller head sweetspot consistently at that length. I havent tried Tour VS FWs so cannot say, still have Pro TP I got from TSG here and no plans of replacing it. In fact I made a mistake and changed Nippon steel it came with to graphite so plan on changing it back unless I can find a heavy but alive graphite shaft to perform similar to original steel I really liked so much.

you mean VS Tour ?! I have one for awhile now and I love it but then again I'm an odd duck and seem to like clubs other people normally dont. If they made it under 400cc instead of 425cc it is that would have been beautiful. Other than that I think its great. No idea why they put that small signature rail at the bottom, maybe its weight distribution thing, maybe just esthetics but it certainly has no use in terms of channeling anything other than air, its pretty deep faced and unhittable off the deck anyway or at least I cant do it with this one. Because of the face design it performs best off high tee so you catch it slightly above middle of the face. The sweet spot is very small for a face that big and anything towards heel or toe feels very different and weak, vertical misses are better tolerated but not very forgiving either, with worst case vertically being lower part of the face. Thats why I think sub 400cc but similarly shaped head and face would have been beautiful on this one but even at 425cc it doesnt look anything like frying pan at address, if anything it looks rather small for anybody coming off anything like real 460cc frying pans unless someone is switching to this one from persimmon or something.

matrix tphd is another one. pure boron is very expensive, no idea tho what they use in those shafts exactly.

they are definitely not XX, more like X, have a standard programs set from TSG here, 6.5 as well, similar CPMs if i recall correctly not that i care much about CPMs. anyways, dont worry they aint gonna be super stiff and boardy or anything like that, 1150s X i had before definitely felt stiffer than 6.5 programs. after having programs and also altus hybrid shaft i think i'm becoming one of those cuckoo matrix fans. they certainly know how to make super solid stable shafts that also feel alive.

hey what about that Tourstage Limited 365cc Tario has mentioned in the latest Srixon review, i assume its a typo and he actually meant 385, anybody here got to try one of them ? i was seriously considering it but then decided it would probably be too high risk low reward for me.

Stew, yeah i got 23 with matrix altus x from the last demo sale and very happy with it. one thing i wanna say up front that i'm not spoiled in terms of hitting this and that and as far as hybrids go this is my first ever hybrid as i have tried to steer clear of them in the past because the ones i have seen and tried occasionally just for kicks, off the shelf stuff from someones bag or demo bag, i didnt like any of them at all. this one i really liked the look and the fact that it had altus in it and at the price Chris let it go made it no brainer really. anyway, about the club, it sets up nicely, what Miura says about it isnt bs, looks more like an iron than wood, feels hefty which is what i like, no offset, no closed face crap like you usually see with hybrids and you think oh this is going left off the planet, so its square and frames the ball proper. unlike irons it has face bulge but still kinda looks like fat iron anyway. now the most amazing thing about this club is that its nearly impossible to mis**t, in fact i dont think i have tried anything lately that is as easy to hit as this. i have no idea why that is and whether its the head or the shaft or both but its just is for me. and it wants to go straight, again no idea on head/shaft contribution in that area either. its kinda workable but not as workable as irons for me. personally i found both feel and sound are very muted, not bad just muted, again head/shaft contribution dunno. the club flat out performs tho and if you are not bothered with working the ball with long irons surgically you can just replace them with these hybrids, i have mb5003 set which fit well with this, or like i do carry it as utility like when it gets dicey or you just wanna hit it easy and straight. overall definitely more of an iron than wood i would say. so these are my thoughts on it. i decided not to talk things like trajectories etc because i believe that is so much on the shaft in this case, suffice it to say i'm personally very happy with that altus here.

probably S, that shaft is super solid and stable and very tight overall no matter how hard you go at it.

dont see how re-grooving would help here. new grooves are smaller in volume ie smaller depth and width than the old ones so unless the face is blasted clean and then new grooves are pressed or milled i dont see how it can work. even so you end up shaving quite a bit of material off the face in the process and that would mean altering club properties to some degree. plus as others pointed out there is no guarantee they are gonna be proper unless submitted for official testing/inspection. same goes for common groove sharpening tools in general. you might wanna find out if the tournaments you gonna play in apply new groove rules because amateur events are not expected to enforce them til 2014 but may do so if they choose to i believe. another thing about it is that new rules apply to wedges and irons with more than 25 degrees of loft so depending on what you got if you get the specs or measure you might actually be able to keep half of your set. maybe not the best option but some people mix irons for other reasons and seem to be good with that, certainly an option.

even tho RC is a very small company i would still be surprised if they actually messed with weight plugs. it could be shaft design itself where weight is moved up the shaft, there are shaft designs like that. it might look that way because RC puts those pos iomics x or whatever they called on them and they have that distinct cap like end on them. the counterweight is supposed to give you more speed and control or at least thats the idea and while the physics of it does indeed make sense practically ymmv because it seems that some people clearly benefit, some see no practical difference and some cant get right feel for them. its further complicated by the fact that there is no exact fitting science to it developed as of yet and experimenting with it on your own can get pretty time consuming, eg head weight / shaft weight / counter weight combinations, unless you got access to a tour van or one working for you exclusively or got lucky. if you like the club you might wanna take it a clubfitter to get measured and then you can have that as your reference as in what works great for you personally.

thats funny, i had steel previously so that might explain my preferences. neither driver or fw shaft feels boardy to me tho and definitely not left for me, i hate everything thats trying to go left on its own. havent tried their irons shafts. sorry for going a wee bit offtopic here but since you have tried so many shafts whats your take on Stinger and TPHD ? i think you mentioned elsewhere that you didnt like TPHD feel and really like the Stinger and both utilize boron in their construction so in my mind that would make them feel pretty boardy but you like the Stinger alot. these two are the ones i'm interested to get and try at some point if i see anybody selling quality pulls at reasonable prices.

i'm just the opposite and like how fubuki feels and i dont think its draw biased at all, in fact any shaft that is biased to either side and can be shown to do so on a machine would not comply with R&A and USGA equipment rules. yeah i know its stupid especially since closed or open faces are norm and compliant but those are the rules what you gonna do. i havent hit quadras or crazys or anything from that price range so maybe fubuki doesnt feel good compared to those but otherwise it feels pretty good to me.

i think TP-7 was designed with a slightly different golfer in mind. AK used to play it and he was very aggressive with a driver and got swing speed to match as well. i didnt try it and frankly wont even get it on my list of shafts to consider, especially at that kinda price.

you can get 70x alpha ;)

like the way they look but wish all those brands stopped overusing "prototype" and "tour" on their gear.

because the balance point of equal length graphite shaft will be higher so you gonna have a problem building up swing weight comparable to what you are used to and comfortable with steel so heaving heavier head helps to offset that and build to desired swing weight easier.