JayDM

Set of ism's with pink paintfill? lol. Alot of the better female players over here I've seen play Callaway ladies irons, I have NEVER personally seen a guy here in the states playing JDM gear, but I have seen a few women playing Tourstage irons and also one just the other day playing a full JDM Callaway ladies Legacy set of clubs.

I'm not really a heavier guy at all, but I am considerably muscular, and tall(6'1) so I guess in some ways I could qualify as a "bigger" guy. Generally I only really find consistently better results with heavier shafts in FW's and drivers, I've set up utilities with shafts anywhere from 70-100 gram shafts and don't see consistently better results with any weight range, just different ball flights that work better for different courses and conditions, I have an older EGG 4 iron shafted with 120+ gram steel and that works really well for certain conditions as well. Irons vary as well, anywhere from 100 to 130+ gram shafts in all sorts of different sets, I can enjoy the NS 2f14 protos which are the heaviest, stiffest things ANYWHERE and then play other sets with something lighter and enjoy them just the same, there's really no way to generalize, flex wise I probably prefer something a bit softer in long irons and a bit stiffer in short irons, weights still vary though, I find heavy DG's to play excellently in long irons, but I also just shafted up my only 2 iron with an MCI 100 and have been getting excellent results with that as well, I VERY rarely bag that 2 iron, but the MCI has made it more of a versatile club than it has been previously, easier to launch and easier to be confident with.

Was originally thinking the gr77, but after enjoying the 80 gram range Diamana B, I think the 88 is gonna be the way to go. Also think the graphics look really cool.

I've always played all sorts of different shafts and have at least tried most weight ranges, but honestly, no between a 60 gram and 75 gram shaft I don't see much of any distance loss at all, even into the 80 gram weight, if I hit 10 balls with each weight shaft and absolutely middle all of them I might see a 7 yard difference between the 60 and 80 gram weights, but take into account that with the 60 gram shafts I'll probably be slightly less than perfect more times than with a heavier weight than I probably see an overall distance gain with heavier shafts, taking that even further onto the course, I hit a lot of arcs off the tee, with the lighter shafts my draws are generally more pronounced and my fades are less consistent. Heavier weight shafts probably isn't the solution for everyone, probably isn't the solution for most, but my golf game has always been a bit backwards, when I first started understanding the game and equipment, and getting slightly serious about it I played X7's and XX wood shafts, I could always swing fast, was never a problem, my golf game really started to improve though when I began working almost everyday with a coach with the idea of easing up my swing and developing control, consistency, and accuracy, fast forward 6 years to today and while I probably swing 6-11(depends on the swing) MPH slower than I did when I started to take the game seriously I can expect to go out any given day and be in the neighborhood of par or below which wasn't even a thought while swinging faster and harder. You mentioned longest drives, my longest drives in perfect conditions are probably with the CRZ 460/ Royal Deco, that's a club that when everything comes together can usually get the ball out 300+ yards total distance, but conditions are not always perfect, and considering the longer length and lighter weight, everything comes together perfectly slightly less often then with other drivers. Taking a lot of factors into consideration(conditions, course, how well I'm striking the ball, etc.) I can be on average with various drivers anywhere between 275-295, but taking the Royal deco out of the equation, a lighter shaft weight generally doesn't always equate to more distance for me, the Diamana B 80 S shaft I was playing was probably averaging 290-292 on the range with excellent control while the distance with the 60X was in that realm distance wise maybe a yard or so less but with nowhere near the type of control I had with the heavier shaft, both days were gorgeous with barely a gust of wind, both shafts played in the same Epon 102 head at 44.75.

Length really doesn't enter the equation for me, drivers all play between 44.5-45.0, with about 95% playing either 44.5 or 44.75, one or two play 45 and only the CRZ460/Royal Deco plays longer than 45, and that was really a specialty build that just luckily turned out to work really well for me more often than I originally thought it would. Golf for me is about accuracy and consistency, at any level, I'm lucky enough to naturally generate a lot of power and hit the ball a pretty long way, and while being even longer would be nice, gaining more distance is a long way behind making sure I can always be consistent and accurate on my "things to do list".

Just thought that I would share a few experiences I've had recently as far as the bevy of shafts I tend to try out in my woods.... I've personally found that the weight of the shaft can be more important than the flex, or just about any other number they give you(not always, but often). A heavier weight shaft can often be flat out more stable for me than anything lighter weight, I consistently try shafts in a low to mid 60 gram range and no matter how stiff I go, my dispersion tends to be more erratic than with something heavier with a softer flex(within reason) and the heavier shaft will generally feel more stable throughout the swing, that's not to say that there haven't been lighter shafts that I've enjoyed, but A.) They tend to be fewer and further between then heavier shafts. and B.) When I find a lighter weight shaft I enjoy, it tends to only work for very specific setups. A few examples, I mentioned in another post that the original Royal Deco is a monster for me in the CRZ 460 head, I've tried it in other heads and it just is not a good match, I hook the heck out of it, that shaft is probably the lightest shaft I've ever played and enjoyed, but only in that one specific head. 2 less extreme examples, the FEX proto, in 75 SX probably one of my favorite all around shafts, I know the shaft backwards and forwards, it plays pretty neutral for me and I could put it in just about anything and get at the very least a good result, but give me a 65 gram FEX proto in ANY flex and the shaft doesn't suit me at all, the standard FEX is similar for me, I have a bit more room to move around flex wise as anything in the 75 gram range plays pretty solid for me(S, SX, or X, the TX is stiffer than I enjoy), but in the 65 gram range only the X will go OK for me and I wind up with better and tighter performance from anything in the 75 gram range including the Stiff. Now what really started to hammer this point home into my head has been my recent experiences with the Diamana B, my builder happened to get in a limited number of the B with the Japanese graphics, I grabbed a 60X 70S and 80S, I originally put the 60X in a driver and found pretty solid results, nothing particularly special, but I enjoyed the shaft and the results were not in any way bad, I brought it in to swap it out for the 70S in that head and he mentioned that it might be better if I try the 80S out in a driver, now in the past I've always tended to shy away from 80 gram+ shafts in a driver, I've always for some reason figured that I wouldn't get great results and or couldn't possibly benefit from an 80 gram+ shaft in a driver considering a lot of tour players with more aggressive swings than mine use 60-70 gram range shafts, but he knows what he's talking about so I figured "why not" and gave it a shot. Bottom line is I was absolutely CRUSHING the ball with that shaft, the results were pretty good with the 60X but they were EXCELLENT with the 80S, the shaft felt more stable, I could feel the head more throughout the swing and the shaft felt more powerful through impact, my ball flight with a normal swing was midish probably a touch higher than mid, but dead straight, and I didn't feel as if the shaft was fighting me at all for a draw or a fade, its rare for me to find a shaft I can hit a fairly consistent slightly higher flight fade with but also doesn't require tons of muscle for a draw, granted some adjustments did need to be made, but it was much easier to shape a ball off the tee than it was with the 60X. Most of what I took from this(besides that the Diaman B is excellent) is that I tend to do better with heavier shafts in a driver or 3 wood(utilities vary a bit more), and that for me personally the weight of the shaft is at least as important as the flex in a good deal of wood shafts(not all), this is information that's always kina been right in front of my face for a long while, yet I still tended to, when first trying a new shaft, try out a lighter 60 gram model, but hitting the 60 and 80 gram Diamana B back to back in the same head REALLY highlighted this for me and brought it to the forefront of my mind. Figured I would post this up, I'm sure it varies from player to player and these are only the results for me personally, but I would be interested to hear what other players have found as far as how important shaft weight is to them vs. flex.

Title says it all, let me know what you guys have, possibly partial to the most recent ONOFF Type S or Jbeam TiR, but really open to hear about whatever is available.

maybe more metal, or a greater percentage of metal?

Turbo S, least hassle, most options come stock, I really loved the alcantara interior on the last model. Surprising considering you would think a naturally aspirated engine would develop less problems, but besides a few flats I've never had any serious issues with any 911 turbo or turbo S I've ever owned, one of my mates had the gt3(not the rs) from a couple of years back and had quite a few issues, car sounded fantastic though. Have never known anyone with the gt2(or the rs) I honestly don't think I've ever even seen one on the road.

TJ 80 is the first JDM shaft I ever tried and it plays very stout to flex mate, I generally prefer to play something a bit softer than would generally fit my swing but even the 7.4 in that shaft was VERY stable, and difficult to hook, I've found the TJ80 and Black 50 to be Crazy's 2 most anti left, stiff to flex shafts, probably prefer the TJ as it feels a bit more active, as I said, it was the first JDM shaft I ever tried and the one Tario actually fit me into after giving him my info and preferences at the time, it still gets a good deal of bag time after trying just about EVERYTHING else.

Crazy TJ80, CB50, Diamana X, Diamana White board, Fujikura Motore Speeder 7.3 Tour Spec.... Any of those have detested the left side.

I have this shaft, it's not bad, not bad at all, ball flight is ever so slightly on the high side but the flight is stable, its definitely a performer, the feel is nothing particularly special. Much better in a driver than a FW, I would say its a good shaft but not for me personally a great shaft.

I've tried the C taper and the results were OK, low straight balls were fine and longer than ANY other shaft I've ever hit, but they don't want to move at all, the feel of them was a bit erratic for me, another shaft I REALLY wanted to love because of the stepless design, and I think for what they are, they're a good shaft, but just for me personally I get better results with others, if I was someone who had an issue with a really high ball flight, the Ctaper are what I would game.

I wouldn't really compare the Monaco to the Modus, the Monaco's spin a bit more, go a very slight bit higher and are much easier to move around left to right or right to left, the Monaco's are also variable flight sets, meaning the long iron shafts are designed to launch a bit easier, fly a bit higher, and the short irons are designed to fly a bit lower, give you a bit more control. Tough to really compare the Monaco's to anything else out there, the Modus are fairly low spin, flat trajectory.

It really changes from player to player, there are generalizations you can make that work out for most guys, but there really is no way to be 100% certain unless you actually hit the shaft. I have an original Royal Deco in X in a CRZ460, I get up as quick as 115MPH(average swing is probably between 108-112) with a lot of power through the ball and a bit of aggression in the transition, originally tried it in SX and it worked really well, when I got it perfectly the SX Royal Deco in that head was the longest club I've ever hit, but it tended to exaggerate my natural draw and was just a bit too soft to be consistent for me, the X is perfect, the most consistently long and simple driver I own and the ball flight is really straight and stable.... I've tried the Royal Deco in other heads and it didn't work very well, dispersion was a bit all over, ball flight was inconsistent, but in the SUPER straight and forgiving CRZ460, its a champ. I'm not the type who would normally play an ultra light shaft and I mess around with a lot of flexes in drivers and woods, normally prefer a shaft that plays a bit softer in hybrids and FW's but more stable in drivers, but it really depends, I often feel like softer shafts than would generally fit my swing have a lot of benefits for me, as they encourage me not to try to over power it, and allow me to hit few more shots, but at the same time I can often find myself enjoying something SUPER stiff. Everyone is different, best way to find out what works for you, in my opinion, is to try out a lot of things, spend enough time with them to understand how they work for you and then compare them side by side with others.

That price is borderline insanity.... Shaft is worth that. This should suit a lot of guys on here, if it was a stiffer flex it would be headed to NY.

REALLY similar, seems a bit more boxy, shallower cavity and slightly thicker topline.

Yup, same kinda results, don't have much experience with PXi's only tried them in a 5 and 7 iron but got the same basic feeling with them, lighter, softer, higher than the Monaco's, not a dense through the ball. Me and PX shafts in general don't mix well, I've tried them SOOO many times and have always wanted to like em because I love the look of the stepless shafts, but I just can't seem to enjoy playing them.

YES!! Love Pro Gear irons, cant get them out of my bag.

Monaco's are ALOT heavier than the PXi shafts. Closest production shaft to the Monaco are the DG pro, they used the Monaco's as a model when they designed the shaft.

Oh.... I'll have one of those. Each new Porsche Turbo S is a guaranteed purchase sight unseen. For me, they're the Maruyama wedges of cars..... makes me wonder why I drive anything else.

Lately the Iomic X grips and Sticky's have held the top spots for me, I've been playing gloveless for the past couple of weeks and the Nowon's have felt like they've twisted way too much in my hands.... I put the GP niion's on the fourteen wedges, I've only hit them a few times so far but they do feel very nice, very stable, but soft enough to feel nice in my hands. Ordered a few of the Muziik dry compounds to try out, they haven't arrived yet but I have super high expectations for these.

Still use the Epon Technity 3 wood, its the only club in my bag that doesn't change day to day, its shafted with a Stinger 70X which has been by far the best 3 wood shaft I've tried so far.... I haven't tried too may JDM FW's so I can't say that this is the "best", but I can say that its very good at just about everything, the setup is very attractive, very clean looking head, sets up dead square, face is mid depth, more towards deep than shallow, but not overly so and definitely not deep enough to make it less effective off the fairway. The feel is sublime, that wonderfully buttery feel common to almost all Epon woods, and it gives you a very powerful dense feeling through the ball, the sound complements the head very well, a solid thwack through the ball but with a bit of a tink as well that makes it seem like the ball comes hot off the face. Not sure about head weight, but its heavy enough for me to feel the head throughout the swing. Ball flight is dead neutral, mid-ish with no real draw or fade bias and very easy to manipulate up or down, left or right, especially off the tee. It's a fairly forgiving head, slightly off the middle in any direction turns out totally fine and when I'm not swinging well it does great giving me a straight ball from a nice easy swing with excellent dispersion, but if you really miss the ball there is punishment in feel and flight, more so in towards the heel than out towards the toe, its not the type of head that fixes or straightens out all mistakes. Tough to comment distance wise as I haven't hit any of the real JDM FW distance champs(EGG, Ryoma), but for a more traditional type of FW I believe it holds its own distance wise, I wouldn't say it gives ALOT of easy distance, as I don't think this would perform as well as some others for players who don't generate much speed or power, but if you have some power through the ball then this can definitely get you out there and it'll do it very consistently. I guess that's where this head really shines for me, its neutral, consistent, and lets me do what I want with the ball without having to fight the head, but it offers just enough forgiveness and distance to inspire confidence and make it enjoyable to game. I'm planning on trying some other FW's, namely the new EGG 15* to see if something can kick the Epon out of the bag, or give me something to rotate with depending on courses or conditions.... Whatever I try, I'll probably try with either a Stinger, Diamana B, GD SF, or GD P9003/9003, the GD SF has been a favorite in FW's for a while but recently the Stinger has taken the top spot, just had my first experiences with the Diamana B and both the 9003 and P9003 and both are looking like serious contenders for top shelf FW shafts, the Diamana for all around performance and the GD's for something a bit lower launch that still feels lovely and holds its line in any conditions wonderfully. The Waccine 77 or 88 might give all others a run for there money if they're as good as I've heard.

and when you see a head offered a great shaft, your actually getting that shaft, not a detuned model for whatever brand.....

There are soo many variables that go into finding the right shafts, ALOT of players see the high end aftermarket shafts, hear great things about them, and make the purchase sight unseen based upon what they THINK they need and what they hear from people on the forums, I mean how many times have we all heard people on here have issues with the various Crazy shafts based on what they've bought or tried not working for them, from what I've found personally, just about every shaft from Crazy I've hit has ben excellent, absurdly consistent, and with a feel like nothing else, but if the first few I tried were in the wrong model range or the wrong flex/weight, that probably wouldn't have been the case, especially considering the writeup in the pro shop does not lie when it says that Crazy shafts play stiffer to flex than just about everything else.... Fact of the matter is, ALOT of golfers out there would probably benefit from the stock shaft in certain drivers JDM clubs give you the HUGE bonus of having extremely high quality stock shafts in woods when compared to clubs found elsewhere. Any shaft can be friendly if it fits you really well....