chiromikey

yes, the fx435. the ryoma is said to be the most forgiving but i was fortunate enough this session to not get far enough off center to really say which was better. as far as playing, before the test i would have said hands down the ryoma but i'll be taking the 435 with me in my golf trip this weekend! totally agree and i will absolutely do this and report back!

decided to test some drivers now that i have a few. the ryoma vspec is 9.5* and shafted with the crazy la bomba at 46.5"...just how it came from eca. the kamui works ray 9* (non conforming) and the jbeam 435 9.5* are shafted with ust mamiya tour red 69 to the same length as the ryoma. i know this shaft well so i shafted these heads up for comparison purposes until i decide which ones i'm going to keep and what shafts to put them on. they're all stiff flex and my average ss is 105mph. to my eye, the ryoma easily looks the most comfortable and pleasant at address. the kamui sets up well also but just not as well as the ryoma. the 435 looked odd. it's face seemed really tall and the head much more compact. i honestly didn't like the way it looked at all and immediately decided i probably wouldn't be keeping it for that reason. because of that i think it took me a few extra swings to get comfortable with it. all three drivers were very accurate and forgiving for me. however, it seemed the 435 had a slightly more upright lie angle than the kamui or ryoma and i believe because of that it was easier for me to put a draw on the ball when i wanted to. it also made it easier to have slight low pull on my misses rather than than a high fade as with the ryoma. i can't say i'd really give the advantage to any one here. feel. here's where the kamui ray shines. it feels so much better than the others. the ryoma is good, but the kamui just feels like the ball smashes against the face and stays there a bit longer. the ryoma sound is the normal sound i'm used to with my old ping i15. the kamui is still a metalic sound but a bit more muted and soft. not a dull thud that some drivers have but a good sound that definitely aids the perception of a soft feel. the 435 is horrible! it felt like an old ping ti-si tec and sounded every bit as bad. totally metalic like the face does not give one single ounce. they all gave me comparable trajectories so i don't think the minimally stronger loft of the kamui ray played a factor. the 435 and kamui ray were both the longest, indiscernible overall distance between the two but at least 10-15yds past the ryoma. i was a bit surprised by this, one because the ryoma has the much better shaft and two because the 435 easily kept up with the non conforming kamui ray. the distance the 435 gave actually pissed me off me because i really wanted to hate this thing due to the way it set up, it's unruly sound, and it's gawd awful feel. anyways, that was my morning. i thought i'd have some things sorted out after my range session but now i'm more confused than ever!

ok, just bought an adams pnt2 tour...but still open to considerations.

at this point, as long as it's decent quality i don't care what it is. i seriously need something to fill my 215-225yd slot. my current 21* utility only gives me 210yds (only a few yards longer than my 4iron) and my 3w averages 250. choking down and trying to put an attenuated swing on my 3w is really costing me accuracy and strokes.

definitely looking for hybrid shape rather than iron shape...but the offers are much appreciated!

head or shafted for a good price. by "players" i mean anything with a square or open face. i have a 21* onoff fairway wings or an egg spoon that i might be willing to trade.

they look to be the exact same size as the af-tour which puts them a size larger than miura tb's.

wish it was a little more compact...

thank gawd...it's been torture trying to be responsible but knowing these were still available and wanting them soooo bad!!!

i got out of work late last night so i skipped my workout and took my new egg out for a quick session. 15* is just a little higher trajectory than i'm looking for as the egg is about 15-20yds shorter than my 13* rbz tour spoon. i'm still looking forward to giving the 14* yamaha a try but i think the f2 is going to be exactly what i'm looking for.

still looking!

many manufacturers are following the trend of more compact "players" style drivers but when i say compact it's relative compared to the 460cc heads that are now standard rather than a 270ish cc head of the pings. i don't know anything about the honmas except that the more stars the better the shaft but persimmon will probably have a slightly different feel than your maple pings with their face insert. regardless, it will still feel better than and metal driver. as for modern fairway metals, most, if not all, manufacturers have gone to a more shallow elongated face/body compared to the square compact style of old. the new taylormade rbz is the first 3w that i've found to be significantly longer than my ping 3w (ryoma would probably do also), enough so that it got my last wood wood out of my bag. something you could look into if you give in to a ti driver is having sound deadening material inserted inside or even a little hot-melting done. much of the feel we interpret comes from the sound and these two techniques will definitely get you some of that feel back.

i played my ping wood woods and driver up until this year and there's nothing else like feel, sound, and workability of those clubs. ping was the last major oem to make the switch from wood to steel/ti and their innovations allowed them to keep up with early metals. if you really want that wood feel i'd suggest you pull your blondies out of retirement, there's not much better. a few years after ping's last isi wood clubs left their factory and my freind at ping said they would no longer refinish or repair their woodies i got 2 extra sets of 1, 3, 5 woods...just in case! easily some of the best clubs ever and until the rbz came out this year i hadn't found a 3w that was significantly longer.

damn, i wish this was a littler longer so i wouldn't have to extend it so much to my playing length! glws

i've got 4-pw but if i do part with them they'll come shafted with aerotech steelfibers...

i bet 3m automotive clear bra would work well!

it's like the new e class benz...i don't think i like it but i have a feeling it will grow on me.

i want it. pm on it's way...

it's actually a recreational golfers dream. most of the people who buy these adjustable shafted drivers are players that don't have anything close to a repeatable swing and end up using the adjustability as a bandaid for swing flaws...open one day, closed the next...changing their loft the day after, etc.

awesome info...maybe now i won't have pm you all the time! ;)

the epon is definitely not a compact blade like the yururis or miura babies and it's topline reflects that. that's not to say that the topline is big, it's just not as thin as a hardcore players blade. coming from the mp63, you shouldn't have any problems with the epons.

i was about to ask about that myself. that's an interesting side to the logic, thanks for sharing.

i can appreciate that. honestly, my driving stats are my best stats and i'd typically miss a green from under 100yds before missing a fairway. i go into slumps like everyone else but not that often with the driver. in this past year the only time i've really had any issues with the driver is when i tried the ad di-7 in my new kamui ray. it's probably a great shaft...just not for me.

i would never pretend to compare myself to any tour player but i am fortunate enough to be better than average when it comes to the driver. it may come out of the bag 12 times per round and since i've been focusing on my game for the past year i will typically miss 2 fairways. there have been days i've hit every fairway and there have been days i was lucky to hit 6! it also helps that my home course is quite forgiving. i played 36 holes yesterday, missed 3 fairways the first round and one the second. so maybe you're right and i embelished a little...2-3 missed fairways is probably more accurate. regardless of all that, comparing me to a tour player is where you make your mistake. if i was playing courses set up with fairways tightened down to half their width i'd probably be excstatic to hit 50%! i've played the tpc scottsdale many times and been to the phoenix open just as often. even playing from the same tees, the course is two entirely different animals between it's set-up for the public and the tour. instead of shooting low-mid 70's i'd have to be on my game to stay in the 80's if i had to play a pga tour calibre set-up like that. i'm only offering another side to the discussion, whether you or anyone draws any conclusions from my input is entirely up to you...

my average driver swing speed is right at 105 and i am ALWAYS appreciative of any extra distance!