Backspin9

Import for me. I don't think there is that much (if any) difference between tour and retail anyway, despite what some will tell you. There is no special titanium and no special forgings. Tour heads may be weight sorted to have more consistency in the iron sets and woods may have some hot melt to alter the COG or bent open to meet a player's needs but I have never seen anything magical about them other than the price and the hype. I would much rather have a new club fit FOR ME. Adjust the lie angle and swing weight on the irons, add hot melt if it's needed in the woods, yada yada yada. I will have (and DO have) custom built clubs that work a lot better than something that was built for someone else or dug out of a dumpster of some OEM. I have pretty strong feelings on this subject, obviously. I've seen too many people buy so-called "tour" clubs that cost too much, were ill-fitted, and just didn't work.

I'm surprised there's not more love for the Bridgestone or Tourstage balls. I switched to the B330 (from a ProV1) and couldn't be happier. I'd love to try a Tourstage ball if they were more readily available and I knew which one was right for my game.

Maybe it's just me, but I didn't think that the driving iron type of hybrids were all that easy to hit. Off the tee they were ok but off the deck a 4 iron was still kind of iffy. What made the most difference was playing wood type hybrids that were the same length and loft as my long irons with the same type of shaft which for me is a Nippon 105g steel. They get the same distance as a long iron, maybe slightly longer, but have a tremendous amount of control and accuracy and are infinately easier to hit. Just my .02.

I had an Xcon 5 put in it late last year and really haven't played it yet on the course. Too cold here (in Chicago) now. First real test will be in Tampa March 1st. I tested the shaft in a Nak head and it was very smooth and gave a nice high launch, something the X-Drive needed. I've hit my driver on a launch monitor and the spin and launch numbers are pretty good so I'm anticipating that this will be a good combo.

I'm not sure about the GR but I've changed shafts in my X-drive 460 five times and never had a problem with anything melting. Insertion depth on that driver is about 1 1/2". Titleists and Callys are bore throughs and much deeper than that.

I've been thinking about a new 3 wood as well. Currently have a TM HFS shafted with a Redboard and a BS J33 with a Speeder 869. Both are 15*. The TM is less demanding off the deck and the J33 is stronger of the tee. For me the 3 wood has always been the toughest club to get right and I wish I could find one that has the attributes of both of these. I really like both of these clubs and hit them pretty well so it's more a matter of "want" vs. "need". The PRGR M3 HIT (& Tour) have gotten rave reviews so that is a possibility. I'm also considering an X-Drive GR. There are so many nice ones out there now it really is a tough decision, especially since they all have different profiles.

If the head weight is anything like the X-drive 460 the swing weight will be pretty low at 44.75" using a 58g shaft, probably in the C9 - D0 range. At one point I tried a 569 Speeder (also 58g) in my X-drive 460 and at 45.25" with a 9g tip pin I got it to D2, which was fine. I didn't do the re-shaft when I had an X-con 5 put in it, but the club maker did something similar and got it to D2. The minimum for me is D2 and I really like drivers more in the D3-4 range, but that is tough do do with the X-drives. Less that D2 and it's like swinging a toothpick.

Actually my point was more of a question. If the X-drive 460 is working well (and it is) what advantage would you get from going to a GR? The answer = forgiveness. I think anyone could always use more of that. I hit 10-12 fairways per round on average with most of my misses still being very playable so what is the extra forgiveness going to get me? Another 1 or 2 fairways per round? I would consider it more of a neccesity if I was spraying it all over the yard, but I'm not. As a practical matter, I'm not sure investing in a GR would be worth it considering how much I have in my X-drive. As you know, this stuff ain't cheap. As for distance, I have been very impressed with how far the X-drive 460 hits. I didn't say it was the longest driver on the planet. Would I like to drive it further? Sure, who wouldn't. But (and correct me if I'm wrong) at any given swing speed you will eventually maximize your distance providing you are using equipment that is properly fitted. I feel like I have that in the X-drive. Is there something out there I could hit further? Probably. Again, though, as a practical matter, is it worth spending another $1000 (or whatever) to find out if maybe I can squeeze out a few additional yards? My initial comments were not meant to be confrontational. I just wondered what the advantages of the GR would be if you already have a driver that is working extremely well. That's it. We all like to try new stuff but unless you are independently wealthy it can be difficult to do from a financial standpoint. If I could go to my local Golf Galaxy and try a GR I'd be there tomorrow. It would, however, have to be one damn good driver to beat out what's already in the bag.

When you say that the GR is longer and far easier to hit than the X-drive 460 does that apply to all levels of players? I play an X-drive 460 with an XCON 5 shaft and as a 4 handicap have no problems with it. My swing speed is right around 105 or so and the distance I get is very good at 265 yds. carry on average. Some are even further and it blows me a way seeing how far this thing hits. I can't imagine getting much more distance out of a GR. If I could, maybe I should try one out!!

I just switched to 2 hybrids -- 19* and 23* X-UT's withe the NS PRO utility shafts. Previously I had carried an 18* 5 wood, a 21* J33 hybrid, and a 24* 4 iron. I didn't feel there was a big enough yardage gap to justify all 3 clubs and changing to 2 hybrids worked out nicely. It has allowed me to carry the extra 50* wedge. I've tried to love different fairway woods over the years but have always hit irons better. To me the X-UT's play more like irons than woods and I've been getting accurate consistent results from them. I also like them for chipping in certain conditions and that would be more difficult with a fairway wood.

I love the colors but my experience with yellow grips did not go very well. After one round they were filthy!! It wasn't from my paws, either. Taking them in and out of the bag would leave rubber marks on them from rubbing against other clubs. These grips (Golf Pride DD2) had black grip caps and that may have been the reason. Maybe all one color would be different? Anyone else have a problem with this? For now it's back to my beloved Crossline Blacks for $2.49 a piece.

I just had an interesting experience with U.S. Customs. In the past I had ordered shafts and single clubs from Japan and not once did I ever have them held up in customs or pay a tariff. My last order (through TSG) was for 2 X-UT hybrids and an AXIV shaft. This order ws held in customs for a week and my calls and research indicated that I would have to pay a tariff because the value was over $250. The law states that a 4.4% duty is due on all assembled clubs from Japan, but not for golf club parts, i.e. shafts. I fully expected to owe them $25-$35; not a big deal. I just wanted my clubs. The order was finally released from customs and delivered by the US Postal Service -- on Sunday!! I got home from my round and held my breath when I asked my wife how much I was charged. To my surprise -- Nothing!! I guess the bottom line is -- you never can tell. Being held in customs does not necessarily mean you have to pay anything.

Yes. When the ball is set down the line will be vertical. When you hit the ball the line will be transferred to the club face. Where contact is made will indicate whether the club needs to be adjusted flat or upright. You then hit another ball the same way to make sure that contact is in the center. I had never seen this done before but the clubfitter said (fwiw) that this is the way it's done on tour. I can tell you that after having my whole set done this way that my center contact has been better than ever. Now that I have the proper numbers I just take the clubs back to the guy (as needed) and he "re-sets" them and we are as good as new. It takes a little time but this IMO is much more accurate than a lie board.

It's been my experience that no matter what lie angle you order the clubs at your personal specs will always be different. You may need flatter lies in the short irons and more upright in the long irons, or vice versa. The best thing to do is have each club fitted for lie angle after you get the set, and NOT off of a lie board. A good fitter will put a stripe on the ball with a marker and you hit each iron. The irons will then be adjusted so the stripe is in the center of the club face. He can also adjust to loft, if necessary. I had this done with my J33 CB's and it is the best way to set the lies. After that, you know the numbers for each club and can have them re-set as needed. If you are worried about marring the hosels there are brass hosel protectors that you can get to use during the bending. Unfortunately with soft forged irons you may still get some minor bending marks, but I would rather live with that rather than having expensive irons that may or may not be adjusted perfectly for you.

From what I could tell on the TS web site their utility shaft looks like a modifed 1050GH. The weight in both the TS shaft and the 1050 is 109g with the TS shaft having slightly higher torque. That should work out well because I play the 1050GH in my irons and like them a lot.

Just curious -- is the trajectory of the N.S. Pro 950 utility shafts higher than the N.S. Pro 950 iron shafts? I looked on Nippon's web site and they show a 950FW shaft but nothing specifically like the 950 utility shaft like the one that is offered in the X-UT hybrids. I'm wondering if the 950 utility shaft is something proprietary to TourStage. I've hit a 950 iron shaft in a J33 hybrid and the flight is not bad but sometimes a little low on shots off the deck. I've also hit an 850FW shaft in a 5 wood and the flight is perfect. I'm thinking that a 950 utility shaft might get the ball up a little better in an X-UT than the standard 950 iron shaft in a J33.

I've heard pros and cons both ways. I've had shafts like Dynamic Gold SST Pured and really couldn't tell much of a difference. I was going to have the Nippon 1050's Pured for my Bridgestone J33 CB's and the clubmaker said NOT to do it. The mark has to be installed exactly at 12:00 (for righties) and he said that even if it was off 1 or 2 degrees, it would throw the Puring off. You really need some kind of jig or a laser to get them set perfectly. Puring also works best on finished length shafts. For someone that wants to do his own work, most places that do Puring will only do uncut shafts or they charge you $25 per shaft, so that is another problem. I suppose there is a psychological aspect to having it done, but I haven't really seen where it's helped as much as they claim it does.

Thanks for the info. I play to a 4 hdcp. and I'm a pretty accurate, usually hitting 10-12 fairways a round. If this head and shaft combo can just give me a little lower ballflight I think it will be fine. I like the RedBoard but always felt the lower kickpoint launched the ball a little high. If the AXIV can lower that a little the descent of the ball should be a shallower and give some better roll-out. The AXIV also has a little more torque than the RedBoard which should give it a little more feel. I've played Fujikura 569's in drivers before with good results and those have a lot more torque than a RedBoard, but also launched a little high. I liked the idea of the AXIV because the torque was a little higher than the Diamana and because of the mid-kick. I'm hoping it will work out well. Just out of curiousity, how does the feel of the X-Drive differ from the J33R?

I'm currently playing a Bridgestone J33R 460 10.5* with a Diamana RedBoard 63g shaft. I like the set-up and get very good distance out of it although sometimes it does hit a bit high. Nothing unruly, and it doesn't balloon at all. Kind of a higher arcing shot than I like and the rollout is still pretty good. I have a 2007 TourStage X-Drive 460 10.5* coming and on TSG's recommendation I'm putting an AXIV 6068M shaft in it. What could I expect to see as far as change in trajectory and forgiveness? I'm hoping for a slightly lower shot and a touch more forgiveness. I hit my J33R pretty straight and misses are generally a slight push. The J33R gets great distance and while that isn't a problem, I can always use a little more!! Can I expect to see any kind of distance gain with this head and shaft combo? It's going to be a couple of weeks before I get this whole thing put together and I'm already antsy to see what it can do. Thanks for the help!!

There is one guy in particular who is asking for the outrageous prices, but generally speaking, those things are WAY too expensive. I did buy a yellow Winn (not from eBay) for a tour Cammy but considering the putter, it was worth it. I think I paid around $50 for it which is not too bad, considering.

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I think you can take ONE lesson from a guy to see how you like him. Evaluations work both ways. Their teaching style has to click with what you're trying to accomplish. Each player is different. What works for you probably wouldn't work for a 20 hdcp. and vice versa. Generally, the top 100 teachers have gotten to where they are for a reason and if you can, pay for a "better" teacher, i.e. Top 100, but even that is no gaurantee.

I guess after 10 sessions of hitting balls into a net, evaluating your swing "by the numbers", and 40+ hours of practice this winter I expected to be swinging better and that was not the case. They had my swing so flat I was topping my fairway woods!!! :? Their teaching methods, which are the same for ALL of their teachers does not take into consideration any "individuality" of the student, i.e. their method is to teach ONE way swinging the club, whether it's right for you or not. They do not concern themselves with ball flight (there is none hitting into a net 6' away) only with degrees of turn, tilt, etc. If you fall outside of their "range" -- it needs to be fixed. In the aftermath of my disasterous winter with them I have gone back to my old teacher (who is not available during the winter) and after ONE lesson yesterday and few VERY minor modifications, my swing is back!!! :D The long and short of it is not ALL teaching philosophies are the same and I did not like that Golftec tried to drastically change the swing that got me to a 5 handicap. Like I said, (IMO) their teaching methods are better suited to beginners and mid-handicaps. Their is NO one swing that suits ALL golfers and the Golftec swing certainly did not fit mine.

One thing that helped me with thin shots was to just kick my right knee in a little bit during the downswing. It helped to clear my right hip and gave me a little more hip and shoulder tilt. Thin shots were gone almost instantly.

I tried them for about 10 lessons and to be honest, they didn't help a bit. To me it was a case of paralysis by analysis. Everything is "by the numbers" with those sensors they make you wear. There is some good feedback you can get from their analysis but I feel they are better suited for a 10+ handicapper. I play to a 5 and just did not get a whole lot out of it. If you want to try it, get their "one-time" evaluation to see where you're at. Then go find a real teacher.