JMCMB

I just grabbed the last new set in Japan... Cost me three zeros with shipping C, these things are solid gold right now.... Email T though, before we found the new set he had found a used set for sale. J.

I agree, The REP is awesome, I have it with me everyday on the range, I won't hit on the range without it.... Honestly, this thing may wind up saving me 25 grand, I had been planning on buying a Trackman launch monitor for a while that I could have gotten from a pro shop that was going out of business, but the REP gives me all of the basic readings I need AND I can take it with me anywhere which I could never do with a launch monitor that I would have to build an entire room for in my father's house, granted the Trackman gives me a lot more info, but the REP really gives me the basics of what I want and really makes me doubt the need for a launch monitor.... The readings are dead on every single time once you get the placement right, which is really awesome.... I use it more on the range or when I'm out on the course just messing around and practicing than when I'm actually playing a round..... I find that the impact percentage is much better for short irons and wedges than it is for long irons, utes, woods, and drivers, not because the REP is flawed but because you can very easily hit the middle with long clubs and still hit a bad shot for various reasons, also, when working the ball(which is done far more often with woods and long irons) the impact percentage will be less than perfect even if the shot is perfect, the impact on a draw should be the slightest bit towards the toe for the most effective shot because of the more rapidly closing face, not much, but just a tiny bit towards the toe which will not read as absolutely pure contact, the opposite is true for a fade, the slightly open face should result in impact the slightest bit towards the heel, not a large margin, but the optimal contact for a fade should be a tiny bit towards the heel resulting in a less than perfect impact reading.... For me personally I find the REP to be very versatile and I use it to do a few things specifically, first off I can really figure out EXACTLY how fast I'm comfortable swinging, and what really is the optimal SS that yields the best results, I also figure out how that number varies from driver to driver, and I can figure out how efficient each driver is as far as I know how far I'm hitting each of them at what swing speeds and ball speeds.... For example, with the CRZ460 I find I can swing with less aggression and the ball will go further than any other driver I have, the speed that yields the best results is about 112-113, I find the perfect balance of control and distance right around there, I can very easily get the club moving faster, but its not needed which is why I love this driver so much, the fact that its longer than anything else with less effort, now with another driver, say the Jbeam, for me to get the most out of it I need to swing about 114-115 which requires me to go after it a bit, but what's very interesting is how much more difficult it is to get to 115 with the Jbeam than it would be with the CRZ460 even though I don't need to swing that fast with the CRZ, its very simple to get the extra few MPH's with it, whereas with the Jbeam I need to step on it a bit to be where I need to be for the driver to fire on all cylinders. Its also just really nice to know how fast the club is moving and what my ball speeds are every swing, it helps a lot when I'm choosing flexes for certain shafts... Its really just a useful tool to have and I'm really glad I picked it up... Just a tip for the placement, I have found the best results come when I lay my gap wedge on the ground with the heel of the sole at the ball and place the unit right before the butt end of the grip, also I get better readings when the unit isn't dead even with the ball, but about an inch maybe an inch and a half closer to me than the ball is, it may have to do with my swing plane which is rather in to out, but I have just found that the readings I get are the most consistent when I place it like that.

C, I'm giving this a shot with a Sky Dream 48' bent to 46' as a PW, i went for the SP blue in it..... In a PW you can get away with a wedge shaft if you replace it with a wedge head, but if you go for 8 and 9 iron replacements def go for iron shafts, you'll get the extra spin with the wedge head, especially the Raw Gekku, but a wedge shafts would throw off the feel, ball flight, and distances your looking for in your 8 and 9 irons and you would have to make adjustments to compensate.... Also, I'm not sure if a wedge shaft could hit 8 iron length, the raw length might be too short, not 100% sure and both you and T would know way more about the club building aspect of it than I would... J.

Both the Shimadaand Crazy wedge shafts are beyond awesome, and anyone looking for a wedge shaft should really not look past these... The two shafts are VERY similar, borderline the same, the Crazy is a bit stiffer and a hair lower while the Shimada gives a touch more feel and spin, honestly though I highly doubt most people would be able to tell the difference... You can also order the Shimadas(both 110 and 120) with deign tuning finishes that look aweessoommee!!! Really fantastic shafts that will suit a pretty wide variety of players. J.

Ahhh screw it, nothing was ever accomplished by being indecisive... MINE! Lol C, email me with the details, I'll send the paypal. J.

Right now it's name your price for ANY set of Protos guys, Stiff or X, any model, doesn't matter.... J.

You guys are killing me lol, ive been dying for a set of these protos lol, just can't seem to find em anywhere... J.

What a great review/comparison, I enjoyed reading this alot... One thing though C.... You haven't tried the Crazy ute shaft yet;).... I have always loved steel shafts in driving irons, and in some hybrids, but the Crazy just does everything that steel does well, improves upon them, then adds all of the positives of graphite... I recommend the Crazy ute more than any other shaft I have hit, it just wins, nothing in a ute or drivingniron can touch it in my opinion, If you grab one and don't prefer it to steel I would buy it from you for whatever you paid for it... J.

I think that combo would work in just about any set of irons Stew. I'll get really combo-y 3-4 Crazy Target Tour Lite or Shimada Tour Lite 5-6 Modus 7-8 Shimada Tour or Crazy 120 9-PW SP Blue J.

I would give the Tour lite a shot, you'll enjoy the flight alot, you'll get a bit of height without having to swing out your shoes, but at the same time, the trajectory will stay very strong and be really easy to manipulate for a lighter shaft... Do you still gave the Yonex heads? If you do, I think those would be a great to give the Shimada 120s a shot in, possibly SP Blue as well... One thing that's def good to note with the Shimadas is the major strength of them is the utter lack of weaknesses, I don't think you'll hit them and be blown away by anything in particular, but you will notice that there is just straight up nothing wrong with them, I mentioned in another post that I would consider them almost a boring shaft, but what makes them such a joy is how consistent they are, they just flat out perform and do exactly what they're meant to do without anything that jumps out at you as over the top fantastic, but also nothing that gives you a reason to dislike them... It takes a little bit to realize why they're such a solid shaft since nothing jumps out at you right off the bat, but they're just soo balanced that you can almost forget about them entirely, and I really like that alot... I know the Modus in the 302 5-PW for you are working fantastic, so there's def no reason to mess with that at all(unless you want to)... I figured the height would be the only thing you might have wanted more of from the SP Blue in the 4 iron from the 302, I don't know exactly how the 302s play yet but I figure that they fly lower than the AF Tours considering the lofts are stronger, hopefully I'll receive my 302 Coppers soon and I'll be able to give a much more educated opinion of how they play... But I do know that for me the SP Blues are perfect in the AF Tours because the Blues have such a low, strong trajectory, the AF Tours really fly quite high, and the lofts are some of the weakest and most traditional I have seen, just for some perspective, the AF Tour 7 iron is 2 degrees weaker than the Miuraism 7 iron and 3 degrees weaker than the Yururi Flat back 7 iron, both are blades with quite traditional lofts although the Yururi are a bit stronger than most blades... Pair the very weak lofts with the naturally high flying iron head and they get way up in the air, lol... That's really the reason the SP Blues do so well in the AF Tours in my opinion, they just do such a fantastic job of bringing the flight down to somewhere around perfection ;), and for me, the Blues just feel fantastic with the AF Tour heads, in my opinion it's a perfect match.... So if the 302s have a naturally lower flight, I could def see wanting a bit more height than the SP Blues would give in the long irons... J.

Carlo, Your probably going to prefer the Modus to the heavier, stiffer SPB and Shimada Tours in a 4 iron with a pretty strong loft(302), def try a 7 iron, I think you'll see some different results.. You may still just flat out prefer the Modus(it's a great shaft, and I prefer it in the Yururi Flatbacks to everything else) but I think you'll appreciate the Shimada 120 and SPB a bit more in the 302 7 iron(or any # iron in the AF Tours) than the 4 regardless of if you still prefer the Modus or not. J.

No, there really won't be any place to demo most of the clubs you see on TSG, hence JDM- Japanese Domestic Market ;) but I'll say beyond pretty much any doubt that if you pick up a Ryoma it will be longer and more forgiving than anything you have ever hit.... Especially if you pair it with a really solid shaft. I highly recommend the Crazy shafts if they're in your price range. J.

Emails, there is no direct line, T would be on the phone day and night if there was.... Yes, Tario is Gocchin. You'll have no problems at all getting a great setup for the Ryoma, it's an incredibly popular driver and I'm pretty sure T has fit just about every type of swing physically possible for this head. J.

Tario knows the clubs he is fitting you for better than you can imagine... He is extremely knowledgeable and will work with you to get the correct fit. Trust me on this one, I work with him on creating the right setups for all sorts of different clubs pretty much daily. Achieving the proper fit for you will also have alot to do with how well you know your own game, and knowing what has worked for you before... J.

Love the white shaft, but the white crown doesn't quite do it for me.... It doesn't look bad paired with the white shaft, just not my cup of tea, I prefer a dark crown. J.

Gracias señor, much appreciated. J.

Pebble is awesome... One of the few very well known courses here in the US that I enjoy every time i get a chance to play there. I'll be at Bandon Dunes very soon(thanks to a timely heads up from Stew), anyone who has played there before, which of the courses there do you recommend? I really like the look of the Old Macdonald course... +1 on a caddie at Pebble. J.

C, I think you'll really like the EGG I+, just based on what you have told me about your swing and the fact that you like the 901 alot I think it would be a really good match, it feels kinda similar to the 901 at address, I personally prefer the shape of the EGG though... Also, a steel shaft would probably be the way to go if you have certain yardages in mind as the EGG ute is crazy long. One thing I notice with the EGG ute I have is the lie angle plays very upright for me, i normally play my lies rather flat, and this club just feels very upright whenever I set up, doesn't bother me at all, just something I figured I would put out there. J.

I really, really do swear by Crazy shafts, but I have the Epon/ Quadra FEX Proto coming from Stew and I'm interested to see how the Quadra stacks up to the Crazys, from what I hear, the Quadra is the best match in the Epon head, so I really think it comes down to how a shaft matches up with the given head, yes, the Crazy shafts are marvelous, but I'm sure there are plenty of heads that they just won't match up in as well with as something else.... The whole status symbol thing just brought to mind a little experience I had on the range about a week ago... I had just got to the range, was filling up a bucket of balls and had stood my bag up a few feet away, two younger guys about my age walked up and were glancing at my bag(that day I had AF Tours, Yammy wedges, TRC ute, EGG ute, Jbeam 425, Miura Putter), one of em was looking at the AF Tours said something like "Man that's really a true blade" his buddy kinda looked over the bag, replied something like "ive never heard of any of those clubs, EEE-PAN(love how people forget how to read when they pronounce a word for the first time), probably some cheap copies, that Nike staff bag is hot, should be filled with some better clubs" the first guys started to reply, but at that point I had my bucket grabbed my bag and had a good chuckle as I walked away... One thing I have noticed here stateside is that for the most part, the average guy on a golf course or at the range just won't have a blessed clue about all of the JDM goodies we all know and love so much, I have gotten some comments about the JDM gear when I bring it in to my builder to get reshafted, and one or two guys I've played with have heard of and admired the baby blades, but for the most part, ive never met anyone over here that knows anything about the JDM goodies I play. I actually kinda like that most people over hear aren't "enlightened" to Premium J gear though... Just means more for us in the know ;) J.

But a stsus symbol that performs :D J.

Crazy is such an awesome company.... They really come put with some cool gear, on top of the most fantastic shafts ive ever played. T sent me pictures of some Crazy staff bags... Sold out though.... Honestly the sickest bags I have ever seem... Gorgeous. J.

Better is subjective... They all feel and play differently for sure and different players will def prefer different irons. J.

I don't really understand what your actually asking... you own both sets already? You hit them both well? Then play whichever you feel like playing on any given day, or rotate them depending on the course or conditions your playing... It really doesn't matter what any of us think if you hit them both well and enjoy gaming them. J.

That's kinda disturbing that any professional fitter would make comments like that... I'll even go so far as to say they really shouldn't be fitting people for clubs if they are willing to tell someone what is "better" without knowing anything about that person's game or exactly what they need from a piece of equipment... If everyone here on this forum can understand that "better" is a subjective term in regards to golf gear, than any professional fitter should have more than a passing acquaintance with the concept.... J.

The + are absurdly long, if you have a yardage gap in mind they'll probably be quite a bit over vs other clubs of the same loft.... As strange as it is to say, I wish they weren't as long, they're sooo damn easy to hit, and fly soo beautifully with the Crazy ute shaft, if I could get my yardages right I would def bag a few of them... So I'll give this EGG 4 iron a go with the steel shaft, if it's still too long then I'm gonna have to test it for performance enhancing drugs ;) lol J.