TourSpecGolfer

Really hard to choose, The T-MB is on the same level as the Kuro... Amazing performance & feel! T-MB is really forgiving especially for its size T-MB feels just awesome for it's SS material T-MB is long like the Kuros Tuff Tuff Choice man!

Today I had a scratch golfer with a 115-120mph swing speed hit two 57g 4.0tq SR flex 7D Distance shafts in the ZY-11 and Blackout 435 along with the same heads with the AAA Stiff Shaft vs his driver and a whole bunch of Callaway & TM newest clubs on the launch monitor. Notes: - Pro could hook or slice, any of the drivers except the 7D's which went dead straight or turned ever so slightly but barely. This was insane because they are so light and soft in specs he should have been able to snap them in any direction but couldnt. - Pro's trajectory was lowest with the 7D - Distance was 310 - 336 yds - Pro could hook and slice all other shafts especially USDM upgrade shafts that are 70 gram tour X flex These 7D shafts were not designed for him, they were designed for me! And I swing about 98mph now days with a totally different swing. It was pretty shocking and it's not supposed to be this way, how could a 120mph bomber not hook such a light and soft 7D shaft??? This aligns with what everyone says that 7D shafts are special they launch lower than most, they get equal to better to MUCH better distance, they go extremely straight as well and feel excellent! But now I'm starting to get that another persons shaft can work for others.. gonna need to test this theory more. Another thing to note is ZY-11 is truly the straightest driver any of the pro instructors have ever hit. Especially with the 7D. The same swing that they would duck hook their own drivers with they could barely barely move the 7D that way. If we did the same experiment with another sub 60g shaft with high torque in S/R flex guarantee it would have been too high, too soft, and hooked like crazy or had a wide dispersion for them, these guys could swing for the fences with the 7D and it just went straight!

There is nothing on the Horizon, originally I guessed it would be due to all lofts of the D1 FW being sold out be but they confirmed it wasn't the case and have full stock of the D1 again.

All I see is a trademark...

Ako-san has been extremely busy with his new company A-Grind and the results are paying off with the winner of the Volvo China open playing an A-Grind UT 20.5* club so big congrats to A-Grind and Ako-san on that one. Today I'm going to highlight something we have been waiting for since the Japan Golf Show back in Feb where we caught glimpse of a prototype R1 CB iron which I must admit looks stunning. Forged in Himeji Japan & Made in Kobe the A-GRIND R1 is the new design cavity back made of mild S25C, it's designed for the low capper to pro with a very thin top line and compact appearance, it's toe and face shape are unique to cavity back irons and its neck transition is very quick yet subtle and small to provide a more blade like appearance at address. Toe design still curved at the very top but extending very high and I must admit it looks gorgeious, Ako-san spends most of his time on the JPGA tour service and this shape is inspired by the professional players preference. What stands out to me most is the neck transition it's virtually invisible which is not a common thing on CB's but very common on blades this CB is designed for workability and soft feel. Sole design has a nice size in addition to some rounded curves making it more forgiving than a muscle back in softer conditions, bunkers, and rough. The Cavity is shallow but it extends a long way which is not only good for a softer feeling but also in keeping the CG location in a good spot. The above image you can see it, in the below it appears very blade like

I use the PRGR red eyes pocket & get spin numbers at my lessons using a foresight. waiting for a day the small easy to use ones have spin.

By far most players are choosing the "Distance" option of the 3 designs presented, we have had a handful go with standard and control and are equally happy in just a different direction, I think we are all in search of the shaft that gives us the best distance & dispersion & feel but as everyone knows it's give and take we can't have it all, we may think we have it all at times then later find out we don't. It really depends on what you want.

This thread has a lot of great bits in it, first thing I will say is PGA pro's often have cranked open face angles so they need a high loft to counteract that so for the person who plays square it's not the same. Second is and just my opinion is for club testing & LM's, Had a trackman newest version and sold it quick because there are a lot of smaller more convenient and some pocket LM's that get the basic #'s close enough, I only suggest TM if your going to really dive deep into the #'s, in collaboration with heavy spending on equipment, lessons, and getting certified to understand the TM I wasn't willing to do all that so I tossed it. same with the Flightscope realistically both are a pain to take around, I tell you there will be a pocket monitor that works with your apple watch coming and that will be convenient. So how I personally do my searching for the best driver is start on the range, then course for at least 3 rounds IF I think this could be the one. If your writing reviews off a few shots or a couple rounds its hard to know much. If the driver shaft COMBO is noticeably longer on my home track then I take a lesson with it and put it on the LM. Here is where you start to see how you can tweak things getting the right #'s is not easy. Is the spin too high? is the launch to high/low? hows the distance and dispersion? those are my 3 biggest concerns. have a couple heads you know you love, have four shafts you know you love and often work for you then play mix and match to get your numbers right.

I updated the name of this thread because I don't want people to confuse TSG Clubworks with other finishes.

Track your stats fairways in Reg & Distance I'm almost certain the ZY-11 will come out on top, locally I've loaned one out and in all 3 guys who played it say it's saved them serious strokes, the guys with the big swing speed especially feel its super accurate and confidence inspiring and long the negative is 2 of the 3 hated the feel but in the ZY11 defense none of them ever heard or played foamed before. I know the P-Tune is great, there are many great drivers but having one you can rely on to keep you in the short stuff AND still have excellent distance is to me at least of the utmost importance. I'm sure the AAA shaft in it played a part, guys who normally hit X did really well with the S.

A couple things, depending on material your requirement in torque may change. The good stuff has higher torque for good reason it improves feel and the high grade carbon takes care of the twisting & timing of the shaft/face squaring up. My suggestion is the TRPX Aura, all in all it's one of the best shafts I've used especially at its price point, I will be adding to the shop this week. It's up there with the best of them.

You can order the same shaft based on the same questions just designed for a different head and it's so cool how they perform similar yet different at the same time.

Must have been the day, I'm a mid capper and hit these as well as I hit most blades. I gotta disagree shape is just stunning! Obviously it's in the eye of the beholder.

On a side note I do not suggest the A-Grind driver, it's a bitch to hit and doesn't feel very good all around. I'm sure foamed is a different story.

There handicap average in the states is much higher :) It's not hard at all to bring the T388 to 202g, just takes the right type of melt.

T388 is a good performance/feel/budget-friendly choice, I think I have 2-3 more in 9.5 stiff I can let go at 375 + Shipping brand new.

Nope they have it all sorted and ship dates are on time again, they also compensated the 15 or so TSGers that experienced a delay. By September they say they may be able to cut lead time in half but I would be happy if they could just deliver in 1 month.

Not really, hot melt is used for weight it can change the feel but that's with no intent to do so. Foaming adds about 4g but keep in mind the ZY-11 is factory foamed so that is factored into the head weight already. I thought you were a foamed guy? Didn't your P-Tune feel this way and you liked it? I can appreciate both, not sure what I like better but I do know that the distance and especially straightness of the ZY-11 has saved me strokes. I notice that most people who like foamed also like sub 400cc heads or get nostalgic about heads of old.

For me I'm pretty certain these 2 drivers are the best I've had. Overkill yes but I've got all these built at once for testing: Blackout 435 10* w/ TRPX Aura Blackout 435 10* w/ AAA 60 Stiff Blackout 435 10* w/ 7D Distance ZY-11 10* w/ 7D Distance ZY-11 10* w/ AAA 60 Stiff Easily the 7D's produce more distance by at least 10 yards, the 7D ball flight is similar to the AAA just a better height of the arc at the very top. ZY-11 is straighter for sure, more forgiving, distance with the same shaft is equal to the blackout. BUT foamed is an acquired taste and not for all and add to that the 435 imo feels good not too loud, a firm metal light crunch is what I call it. As Nob says the ZY-11 is super straight always and my misses are high and low on the face not heel/toe so that shape helps me a lot. The only thing holding me back from suggesting the ZY-11 more is the fact that it is foamed.

Good question, not sure but in the past I've drilled holes directly into the head for hot melt on my drivers then plugged it.

I like A-Grind and many of their products but I just can't recommend this one unless you need tiny and really low. For most shots its a firm face I would be interested to see how this one does foamed though for some reason I think it would be like the J340 foamed. who remembers that one?

What we have here are the prototype Seven 577-AG Series the "AG" = Aggressive Grind, and while the retail version will differ slightly from these I still wanted to go ahead and give everyone a sneak peak of what these are all about. Obviously by name these focus on a grind that allow players to get creative with shots and have a lot of confidence in doing so. What are they? It's the same basic and rounded shape as the Original 577 but the sole grind has a few new features, what we created was a wedge that still has 8* low bounce but with the sole channel dug out the leading edge sits even flatter and closer to the turf which makes it even better tight lies, although the original was already above and beyond for tight lies due to it's low bounce profile already this one is a bit more extreme, we also removed the trailing edge grind to keep the head from rocking too much but at the same time we removed a lot of the heel and toe so the player can now sit square with less rocking off the face yet if they want to crank it open they can and in a way that is more reliable with more consistency than if the trailing edge grind remained. The Original & Prototype SEVEN wedges all have a more pronounced and rounded shape to them, some call it the JDM neck style but it really is a natural blend of say what a Vokey is vs a JDM neck transition, they have a higher neck to top line transition and a more rounded toe design, we did this strictly for performance and will continue to evolve it's design into the next series of 577 and 577 (AG) series wedges. What we noticed is our shapes contribute to spin performance and feel for both non conforming and conforming grooves not to mention having that extra space toward the heel vastly contributes to forgiveness and reducing hosel shanks. New Grind w/ Aggressive Heel & Toe Relief Conforming Grooves Sole Channel for harder conditions & tight lies New High Gloss Japan Brushed Satin Finish All Lofts feature 8* Bounce

Vizard is a completely different profile than the ARMRQ8 shafts. Stiffer by design with metal fibers in tip to help with timing, I would say this is the more cost effective route to the high end material way. Most likely 40T It's so hard to say without eliminating all the variables I will say that ARMRQ8 62 Stiff 4 Star feels pretty stiff, stiffer than my AAA 60 Stiff.

Many have heard of Honma star rated clubs and shafts but the majority still doesn't quite understand how the program works or how it's better than the standard versions so I figured it's time to explain. Only Veteran Craftsmen can work on 4-5 Star builds, each person must have over 20 years working in the factory with Honma. Honma clubs usually come standard at 2 stars with optional 3/4/5 star upgrade options each costing more the higher it goes. The difference between them are basically aesthetics, custom options, and shaft materials, for example 4-5 star shafted clubs are open to all requests within Sakata Factories realm of capabilities.. In this case if I just ordered a 4-Star TW727 without requesting options this driver would have arrived with a gold crown but I selected custom matte black because its my preference, the matte look combined with gold is gorgeous kinda a mixture of bad ass with luxurious. I decided to keep the 4 star shaft original gold color to flow with the rest of the theme although matte black with gold foil graphics would have been insane. The ferrule itself has real 24k gold accents on it as well, it's over the top yes but it's beautiful looking ferrule. Pink Shaft & Head no problem? White Ice cream cone looking driver is fine as well, Honma also let's you customize the specs from exact lofts to lie angles and face angles or weighting biases but besides the looks it's really the shaft that has a lot of the value. ARMRQ8 is an eight axis design made with 2 basic graphite sheets and as you go up in stars the materials used in the sheets change to higher grade carbon. 2-Star = 40T/46T 3-Star = 46T/46T 4-Star = 46T/50T 5-Star = 50T/50T Some of you are wondering where is the 80T? 80T is not the material of choice when it comes to performance & feel as a whole, it is a great option for anti shaft deformation but it also causes issues with feel and distance so it's not the ideal material for most shaft applications although on the web the higher # will tend to get the credit over design. The carbon material is different depending on the star grade so the higher grade shaft will minimize wobble at off-center hits and the negatively effected shot dispersion and distance loss are minimized. let's say you had a swing robot that hit the center perfectly the same spot and speed every time then there would be no need or difference between the 2/3/4/5 star shafts but the reality is we can't duplicate our best results over and over so this is where materials aid the player in keeping a tighter dispersion on off center shots which maintain straighter results and more distance or in other words it improves the results of our swing flaws. So what does this all mean? It means with better materials you rely on timing less, you get better distance on off center hits due to less shaft deformation and your trajectory is more penetrating in general. That matte crown looks so sweet, the Tour World 455S is the second most forgiving model of driver in the series, it's still draw biased but just slightly and like the others has a square face angle. The standard shaft is VIZARD which is designed for the harder swinger, it too also has a very tight dispersion due to the metal fibers in the tip section, the Vizard line is not available in upgrade stars only the ARMRQ8 series is. Below an image of the face, as you can see while still deep there is space on both sides heel & toe for miss hits. The 455/455S/ and 460 models are W-FORGED which is a new process developed by Honma which combines two new techniques, the first is an industry first high density forging method that increases the face strength by 15% via tighter forged fibers allowing Honma to make the face thinner and save 2g weight, this gives Honma a greater freedom of design. The second is Variable face thickness, and while this has been around for a while the method Honma uses is proprietary to create the perfect amount of rebound across a wider area thus expanding the sweet spot size. Bottom line bigger sweet spot, better feel, and more distance! Hope you enjoyed the run down and photos of this club, any of the tour world series drivers can be customized one thing worth mentioning is 5-Star customers when traveling to Japan can schedule a tour of the factory and have their clubs & shafts refinished and re gripped at no additional cost keeping their investment looking brand new even after years of play.

The Tours are actually totally different shape, grind, specs than the Gekku Raw. Tour is available in Conforming or Non Conforming as well. Gekku Raw is available in Non Confirming or the TSG exclusive conforming version.