FrankThong

Just went through a sleeve of the Brills, compliments of a really nice guy. ;) I must say that they are my favorite brills of em all even though, like idrive said, it doesn't check up as much as I'd like them to. However, the SDJ Type-bite had been shaving these babies; I'd get 2 rounds tops, if it hasn't found a watery grave!

I'm a firm believer of custom clubs, i.e. clubs made to fit the golfer and not golfers having to adapt to fit the club. How much more technologically advanced can one good driver have over another good driver? Any new feature would render marginal gains at best, imho. Unless your built is the model manufacturers use to design their clubs, I'd say go for the one that lets you specify face angle, exact loft and most importantly -- LIE ANGLE. My personal experience with the Kamui against myriad of drivers (including the Ryoma) has proven this theory. For me, at least. :)

One other thing, you shouldn't take the lie angle of one iron and apply it to all the clubs, do test ALL your irons.

Dale, static measurements don't work because most golfers do not return the club to the exact address position at impact; the swing plane goes off, etc. Or the flex of the shaft alters the club head in motion, which could be the reason why I only needed 1 deg flat on my Epon/Crazy versus 2 deg flat on my Miura/Matrix. You'll need to consult a fitter to find out more. The more advanced places will have equipment to do dynamic lie angle fitting, which provides a quite comprehensive analysis of your swing. More often than not, you'll get a fitter using the lie board method that C was talking about, which is just putting some tape on the sole of your club as you hit golf balls. The markings on the tape, ie toward the heel or toe, will clue the fitter to whether the club is too flat/upright for you and the necessary adjustments made till the tape shows uniform markings on the sole. You'll know right away if you got the lie angle right; the hits are crisper and the flight/direction more consistent.

Lie angle measurement should not be done at a static position, ie like how Ping does it. With the flexing of the shaft at the point of impact, the actual ideal lie angle would be different from its static position. The variation may not be significant, depending on your shaft and swing, but if you're going to get fitted, you might as well get it done right. ;)

It's not just an 'itch', my friend, it's a frigging disease!!! I have a thing for shafts, especially those of premium quality or special technology. Plus I like the color -- I think it goes great with white ferrules and white iomics haha!

Honestly though, the LYI Neos are really going to be tough to beat...

Haha! If TSG would send me 1 demo shaft, I'll fit, test and put up a report on it. If it performs, I'll be the first customer too! ;)

Thinking of sticking these on my Miura 501 as a second set. Anyone knows if they play as good as they look? Especially when compared with Crazy LYI?

Oh yes, 1 deg flat. Strangely, that's 1 deg more upright than my Miura but was square on impact. Does it have anything to do with the Neos hmm?

I can't say if those shafts would suit you or not. You should get a good pro or club fitter to recommend the right shaft -- flex, swing weight, etc -- for you; trust me, it will make a world of difference. When you know your swing and game better, you can then experiment with different head-shaft combinations. By the way, did I mention the grip is more important than most people think? No? Heh, the grip is the most often overlooked component; you should think about getting the right type and size. I love the TRC. As a matter of fact, I just placed an order for the 26 deg. It's the first ute that sits down right for me, square at address. I could hit it high or low, work it right/left and vice versa; when I first got it, I thought the head was too heavy but now, it's a real joy to play with.

Oh singing! The sweetest song you'll ever hear haha! Seriously, I was told the shafts had to be 'worked in'; not sure if that was the reason that I was not getting my usual distance with some of the irons in the beginning, and now they are giving me half a club more -- I also strengthened the loft by 1 deg though. The dispersion is tighter than any other graphite iron shafts I've used but the distance loss on mis-hits is not so good -- that could be due to the head design too. On pure feel, the Crazy 'kick' is unmistakable and a real joy to hit. Very happy with the shafts indeed! :)

I yanked my 7-iron out of the bag, it did a flip in mid air and landed on the cart path head first. I don't even want to tell you guys what scars that did except that it'll make your marks look like speck of dust.

In my very humble opinion, the shaft makes a bigger difference than the head on the club. Other than the Epon 502s, which incorporates some technological extra into its designs, the differences in the list of irons mentioned are quite marginal, ie forged heads with less/more offset, slight variations in cavity design, weight distribution and other minute deviations. I'm not saying these are not important but the differences they make in the grand scheme of things are really quite insignificant. On the right shaft, any iron on your list, including the 702, will 'sing' to you. ;)

I have a k-grind and y-grind and both have the word 'genuine' engraved onto the hosel.

What about the umbrella? ;)

So do I! Good thing we don't all play together hahaha!

Nice. Though I think understated black grip on black shaft on these babies would be the better way to go. ;)

Haha, I was under a tree way left on a par-5, tried to hook the ball with the TRC 20 back on the fairway, failed, the ball flew a mile to the right of the next fairway, so I hit the TRC again, this time over the other green, over the trees, over the bunkers and onto the correct green 12 ft from the hole and then also 3-putted for bogey!

Good advice with bringing the long irons to practice, even though I hardly ever practice...

That's my plan. With 2 utes in the bag, I need to drop the 4-iron for an extra wedge, which is going to be used a heckuvalot more than any long irons.

Well, if I ever drop the 4-iron, I might have to make up for the loss of macho-ness by dressing 'dance with dragon' mean. Thought you guys were bringing on some cool dwd stuff? ;)

Ha, C, we're moving in opposite directions and bumped into each other with the same clubs. What irony! You're gaining distance, I might be losing a couple yards here and there. You're ordering a 3-iron, I'm thinking of shelving the 4-iron.

Stew, your ramblings are making more and more sense to me -- not sure if that's good or scary! My usual iron trajectory is high; with these new 302s, it has gone even higher (could be the Crazy Neos, not sure). The 4-iron goes up a mile on a full whack and averaged out, I think I may be losing a couple of yards. But it's not just that, I am finding the long irons to be such a pain to hit in comparison with the utes. I can hit the TRC high or low, with a bit of luck, draw or fade, or with ease, straight as an arrow. Such a joy, you know. Yeah, I know it's hard to drop the 4-iron, it is my go-to club when I need a super power fade or a punchy hook to get out of the jungle. I've not tried to do that with an ute yet! Hmm...

I have a friend who plays a $30,000 set of 5-star Honma irons. It's not just the shafts that are costly but the heads are also adorned with gold trimmings, yes, real gold. I've played 4-star Honmas for a long time and have also tried 5-stars clubs. They are, of course, very good shafts but IMO they are not 'better' than Crazy's shafts. And even if I was wrong about that, I don't think anyone can argue that they are 6x to 10x better being 6x to 10x more expensive. There is a physical limit to how much quality/performance money can buy. Then again, 5-star Honma owners are not paying for quality or performance, are they?