Blader-X

I have no want for another driver. S-Yard is the ONE!

These shafts are seriously good. Thanks to Tario for suggesting them to me. Second range session today and it was a marathon one. Swing was really, really in a groove. Been working a lot lately to get back into form. Had gotten a little lazy with it over the past year or so. Basically posture and footwork. Anyways these shafts are divine. Super tight dispersion and just excellent in performance. If you're looking for laser-like accuracy with great feel and a very responsive shaft, give these a view. I really did not expect liking these as much as I am. First round with them tomorrow.

The X100's seem to be current theme with you! What's old is new again!

Yes I remember some talk about these before. Any particular cabretta you prefer from them? What about their "exotic" leathers?

Okay, marathon range session with them today. Second time hitting them and its official. These are THE perfect irons. At least in my opinion. A definite upgrade over the 901's which were formally residing in my bag, but now, there's only room for the 909's. Love the way they set-up and the sharper toe is much more attractive than previous models. Feel is superb and solid. In comparison to the 901's the sole is thicker but the topline is actually slightly thinner. I didn't think that would've been possible but it is. The 909's definitely pack more of a punch than the 901's. Grind is real nice and turf interaction is perfect. TourStage really got it right with this design. I really couldn't be any happier. Can shape any shot with these, draw, fade especially the high fade; it does that really well. Even worked on 3/4 shots with every club and a lot of little punches under the wind. Just a very versatile iron that will for sure enhance my game. I feel rejuvenated with these clubs.

I know this has been discussed in the past but refresh my memory or at least update on suggestions. I love my Zen putter but I'm not that crazy about the grip. I'm looking for fellow Zen users who have changed their grip and found that they had even more enhanced feel over the stock grip. What did you change to and how is it going. My sincere thanks in advance.

Yes this driver is special. Played around with tee heighth today and like others have said, tee'g it low, low really makes the ball fly. Wow do I love this driver. I did find that with the low tee heighth the run on the ball really increases.

Glad I got mine when I did.

Initial impressions: Okay, so finally I was able to get out to the range today for my very first session with the new sticks. TS 909's shafted up with Fujikura MCI's 100X. Gary, aka "Goodsie" did the build and as always, they were spot on. This is the second set of irons he's built for me among numerous drivers, utes, etc. He had to of course bore out the heads to accomidate the .370 shaft size, and he did a superlative job. Can't say enough for the way he builds clubs. So how are the MCI's you ask. Let me just say that I before hitting these I thought steel was just fine. But after hitting these I've found steel to be "sloppy". Let me try and explain it this way. Imagine you've been flying an old WWII era bomber and you've done quite well with it for a long time. And that's all you really know and things have been fine. Then you're transported foward in time and into the cockpit of modern fighter jet. Its very tight, responsive and like nothing you're familiar with but its exhilating. I could be strecthing this a little but these shafts seem really, really good. The dispersion is pinpoint. They are extremely responsive and feel really smooth throughout the entire swing. They are stiffer than I had expected. If you're intereseted in these and you're between flexes, I'd suggest going with the lesser flex. I did not expect them to be so but they do appear to be. Its not a bad thing but something to take note of. Flight is higher than steel of course but its not a ballooning flight at all. Its high in a good way. I did play around some with ball position and trying to work knockdowns and these shafts do that. So you can adjust trajectory with setup/swing. But I find a normal stock swing to produce a higher trajectory with these versus steel. As for feel, its all right there. So much more enhanced than steel ever was. Those of you who hit Aerotechs and Recoils I'm assuming its the same as all these have similar DNA. For me its my first time experiencing these types of shafts; I haven't hit the others so I can't really comment on how they compare to Aero's and Recoils. Mind you this was my first time hitting these so there's still a lot to get acquainted with and as I do I'll try to update. Overall I'm very happy here to have gone this route. It was a bit of a risk on my part but one I felt I wanted to explore. Now I'm thinking I should put these in my wedges. If I do I'll probably go with the 120's but in stiff. I also just had my two higher lofted wedges reshafted with KBS 8 iron shafts. I was pleased with them on the range today too and it looks like they'll perform very well, but these MCI's now have my thinking and down the line I may just tinker with swapping them out as well. I still need more time with these and can't wait to get a few rounds in with them. More to come later.

Say it ain't so! I love the Z9 series. So will they be making more? And now what I am supposed to put in the S-Yard 3 XV 3 wood, 7s I guess. Speaking of the XV 3 wood, when will it be coming to market?

Not to my knowledge no. I have pretty much all my clubs built by Goodsie who is a member here and one fine builder of clubs. He could probably fill in more about this but I haven't found it be a problem at all. In fact there was a post on here not too long ago about using driver shafts in fairways and utilities. I've had many a driver shaft in a ute along with a few others here with no problems at all. The SF line by Graphite Design is a dedicated fairway wood shaft but that means you could put it in any fairway, really; 5 wood, 7 wood, etc. Ute lengths really aren't that much different that I would expect to see a problem.

I've said it before and I will continue to tout it ; The SF line from Graphite Design. Its a dedicated fairway wood shaft and its only a couple hundred bucks but boy does it really perform in a hybrid. If I were to get another hybrid I wouldn't consider another shaft.

MJR D. Howz it? Well you probably well know how for the past few years I've gone on from time to time about the P9003x. I still game it in my 3 wood and have two drivers with the very same shaft. While I can still hit all well, I do like the S-Yard with the Z9003 shaft in it maybe a little more. I have never hit the regular 9003 series so I can't comment on that. I also don't have any launch monitor numbers to give you. I can only go on what I've seen between the two. The Z I have is the Type 6 which is a torque of 3.3 and stiff flex. The P9 has a torque of 2.9. While I haven't hit the Type 7 in the Z, it has 2.8 degrees of torque and is in the 70 gram range where the P9 is 80grm. The Type 6 I have is fairly stiff, just a little less so than the P9. If I had to guess the Type 7 might be a little stiffer than the P9 and just might be the one I would reccommend you give a shot. I honestly believe however that between the two shafts you're just splitting hairs. Either one should achieve low spin numbers. Both produce tight, boring trajectories. I love the Z Type 6 in my current 10.5 degree S-yard. Flight is mid to low and just goes. Part of it is the head but also part is the shaft. Mind you, its stiff and 60 something grams which is lighter that I've hit in a long, long time. Even going down in flex and weight this shaft still produces very good ball flight. I've never ballooned it; not even close. So, that being said if you went with the Type7 in x-stiff, that should fit the bill for you because you're talking about a stiffer shaft than the type6 with less torque. I can't remember from past conversations if you've ever tried the P9. It doesn't get a lot of love here but its a fantastic shaft. The Z series just continues that. I would wrap this with this summation: The Z series takes all the concepts of the P9 and puts it in a shaft with more options, lighter shafts and a few different flexes. So where only a few could really enjoy and get use out of the P9, the Z now opens up the audience to all the great things the P9 can offer. Make sense? I hope. Good luck to you my friend.

I do hope that head works out for you. Like I said its still a very relevant driver and I'm sure there's a lot of great drives left in her. Keep us posted.

Glad its going to a good home. Its still a very good driver and I hope it works out for you.

No problem, just thought I'd see. It is fairly stout.

After reading all of this, maybe this why I get along with the T.388 so well. I have never really teed the ball all that high even with other drivers. I don't believe that my angle of attack into the ball is steep. Its fairly level in my opinion. With the T.388 I haven't teed it up too low but I think I'll get down to the range and do a little research. . .

I've got an X, 75 grams been pulled only once. Current length is 45". I had this in an Epon AF102. Untipped. If you're interested I can send pics.

Pics sent. No its definitely a ZR. Its the first year that it was put out. Crown is black. I also had the one as above, in fact I sold it a few months back and it was mint, never used. The one above is the same model but was a re-issue, (second year I believe) with all the colors above.

I actually have one that I was about to put up for sale soon. Its the previous model to the one above. The only difference as far as I know is that the model above has the red and gold on the sole and mine is just standard chrome. The crown is clean, but it was my gamer for some time so it does have face wear. I'll take some pics and PM them to you to see if you're interested.

Exactly.

Thanks for the reveiw Stew. Can't wait until my set comes back from Goodsie. Really looking foward to getting some time with the 909's.

You'll have to wait until I receive my set. Having some 909's made up with these. I didn't get any feedback on the MCI's as I think very few have hit them here and even less of those that actually post. I decided to take the plunge. As soon as I receive them and get some meaningful rounds in, I will post. Until then . . .

Stew, did you ever play the Royal Collection DB forged and if so how does the BOLD 56 stack up against?

I have played and still have both. The Yonex is really what got me looking at smaller heads again. When I first got it, its small size was a little intimidating. I always felt that I would miss it but I never, ever did. The Yonex is a very serviceable driver. Decent distance but not long, very good ball flight. I hit small draws with this. I did actually bag this for a short time; and then. . . After the Yonex I went to the KPX. Larger head but I loved the high face of the KPX. However the KPX was a left machine. I got used to it and it was longer than the Yonex. And then, . . . Kobayashi-san and the T.388. Here was a driver which offered everything in terms of size wise the Yonex did. I was going away from 460cc heads; hence the Yonex and KPX. However, the Yonex was a little short on feel. Combine that with the legendary Kobayashi and all the products he's produced including the Epon 380 which I had never hit but this club acheived cult-type status around TSG a few years back. It was touted for its feel and performance in a perfect size head. I knew the S-Yard would be special as well. It hasn't disappointed. Its feel is at least 10x that of the Yonex. Distance exceeds that of the Yonex by upwards of 30 yards. I hit rope-like draws with the Yonex but it didn't travel like the S-Yard. The .388 is workable in either direction. And did I mention feel. I'm sure I did but feel is superlative to me and its got it all. Oh, and I as I said the Yonex seemed a little scary to hit, I really never got that impression from the .388. Yes its a smaller head and yes you should probably tee it a little lower but I find I can vary the tee heighth to get a certain trajectory I'm looking for and its no problem with this club. What I haven't tried yet and I should is to hit this off the deck. I'm sure it wouldn't be much of a problem Yonex 380 vs. S-Yard t.388, its really no contest. I still have the Yonex but it hasn't seen the light of day since S-Yard has arrived.