gocchin

Yeah Tourstage/Paradiso has always been known to make the best bags in Japan. I still have my Paradiso Maru 23 bag but it got beat up pretty bad when I shipped my clubs from Canada to Japan... which is why I got the DWD. (^_^)

Honma is about to celebrate it's 50th anniversary and is releasing some clubs to commemorate the anniversary. Old school look mixed with high technology. The putter even comes with an ARMRQ6 graphite shaft. Very limited as there are only 500 pieces of each club made.

Those are unfinished raw lengths that need to be butt trimmed to your specs. Just like new driver shafts that come in 46". Standard graphite setups usually have a 38" 5 iron. As for the flex, iron shafts naturally play that way. The shorter they get the stiffer they get for accuracy and control.

The XXIO won this years D1 Shootout but the choice driver among the pros was the NanoV 450D because it was more traditional looking and solid than the XXIO. When did you get your Yonex? The 450D is this years model.

Here's another test prototype Sasaya-san has made. Looks awesome!

As I reported on inpakuto.com: Sri-Sports had a press conference today to announce the new Srixon line of woods and irons called GIE. GIE stands for Gravity Innovate Easy. It's interesting that Srixon has announced this new lineup immediately after launching their new ZR line. Before the aquisition of Cleveland Golf, the Srixon line was considered their athlete and pro lineup. Now with the integration of Cleveland, there are some blurring of lines when it comes to target audience. At the press conference they also introduced the Japan market only Cleveland HiBore MOAI XLS driver. An advance MOI head (hence the A). The head has a 16% larger face than the current XLS, a deeper and lower center of gravity and while still rounded on the edges has more of a square head concept, picture the Hibore MOAI fitting right into a 5 by 5 inch box. The MOAI will be made in Japan and available in 8.5, 9.5, 10.5 and 11.5 lofts. They also showed a slide showing the three brands, XXIO, Srixon and Cleveland with some overlap with Srixon and Cleveland targeting the athlete golfer. Will be very interesting to see as the GIE is touting ease of use and forgiveness and has the high MOI look. The price point of the GIE line is also lower than traditional Srixon clubs. It appears as if the driver and woods are aimed at low to mid cappers looking for forgiveness. The GIE driver is very lightweight and high launching with lots of forgiveness and MOI. It has one of the thinnest crowns I've seen at 0.5mm. This is also the first Srixon iron in a long long time that is not forged. Cast SUS630 body with a maraging face and undercut cavity. Looks to be very forgiving. Available only with 950gh or graphite. Can't wait to try them out!

What year and model is your NanoV? That's a really great driver especially the current 450D which came second in this month's Golf Digest Driver shootout. The ONOFF plus made it to the round of 16 and was eliminated there by Fourteen's JC808. I take it you prefer the more traditional shaped driver?

Great info RG! And finding the right shaft can be quite an experiment. I know I'm still looking for that perfect shaft that suits my swing style.

I'll also suggest the GD Tour AD, lots of weight options and a very stable shaft with a nice mid trajectory (especially the heavier weights). It has been around for a while but for good reason. It's long been one of the best.

I think he's talking about the custom Mizunos that TSG offers from Mizuno Japan including the 10 different finishes and custom stamping and logo options and pretty much every shaft on the market and all spec adjustments. This includes for all Japanese market irons and wedges including JPX. I doubt shops on the US can have those shipped the same day. (^_^) humpherzz please PM myself or Tourspecgolfer for what you're looking for. Our custom Mizuno page is being revamped because of recent changes to Mizuno's custom offerings. Thanks.

One thing's for sure if you have a DWD bag you will probably be the only one and it does get attention unless you live in Japan like me and everyone here has an amazing tour like bag. Quality is very detailed. Very very nice bag. When we came to Japan we left my wife's bag in Canada which meant she had to get a new one. She chose the DWD mini stand and it is definitely mini. While tall it only has a 6.5" opening. She carries 10 clubs and luckily she does as that is all that will fit. A very very nice bag though... super super light not like mine. (^_^) Here are some pics!

According to Sasaya-san the glove is considerably more durable than your average glove. The leather does not lose shape or wear out very easily even though it is thin.

I'll take close up pics today, I have both stand and caddy here. (^_^) As siagolf said, amazing workmanship and quality.

Hi R, Yes same shaft, different color scheme. Last years v forged had the green Tour AD, this year the blue.

If a shaft is too stiff it won't matter what you do you won't be able to load it. A softer shaft is easier to load and will kick harder for faster swingers, but then control becomes an issue. The right shaft is the balance between kick/distance and control/accuracy. It's better to be 240 yards in the fairway than 275 yards in the trees or lake. Feel is also a very subjective thing... softer flex shafts with higher torque ratings will naturally provide more feel. As for techniques to get max energy transfer from your backswing to downswing... we will have to ask Brett Smith. (^_^)

Sasaya-san today introduced to me his new Gold's Factory Glove: Gold's Factory introduces Favorite With G, it's tour quality leather golf glove. The Favorite With G is made of Double AA grade sheep leather. Double AA is the highest level of leather in any golf glove, which no glove maker currently uses for retail golf gloves (most retail gloves are B Grade leather not even A Grade). It is usually only reserved for tour pros. Master Sasaya at Gold's Factory had a Tour Pro once pass on his custom Titleist glove to him and was surprised at how much softer and thinner the glove was. He realized there was such a big differnce in quality, so he decided that the Gold's Factory glove would be Double AA leather as well. Double AA leather is softer and thinner than other leathers and fits your hand like a second skin. Use it once and you will see the difference a professional tour fit quality glove provides. The Favorite with G glove repels heat and moisture and is rain resistant, maintaining its shape and fit even in bad weather. Available in left hand only. Sizes are in centimeters so these are approximates: 21cm = CS 22cm = S 23cm = CM 24cm = M 25cm = CL Sounds nice so I added it to the pro shop (^_^) http://www.tourspecgolf.com/proshop/p2212/...oduct_info.html

Sasaya-san has added a G Mark on the sole and blasted the head. He's getting ready to put it together and finish it then away to full testing.

At 98mph you could probably use a Firm but with your more aggressive transition on the downswing the Stiff will work. That aggressive move on the downswing was probably what was causing the hook on the ViQ. Also based on your spin for both drivers, may I ask if you have a very steep swing plane ie on your down swing do you really attack the ball by coming down on it? There are a few things that can cause a very high launch and spin including a very steep path to the ball and even teeing the ball up higher than it should be. The X-con 5 is a naturally a high launch shaft but your spin could be a bit lower. At 98mph your total distance is about average. Based on your course report, if you're happy with the mid trajectory and are pretty much in the fairway then you're probably good. Distance is good but staying in the fairway is even better. (^_^)

Yamaha just announced it's new 2009 lineup including all new drivers, fw's, utility, and V Forged irons. There will be 3 new drivers, 2 fw's, 1 utility and a limited Tour Model V Forged and the standard V Forged. The Limited Tour Model will sell out fast as this years did as it features a thin topline, minimal offset and a sharper toe. The new 4.6V r.p.m. is the Athlete version of their driver featuring a low center of gravity but a low spin design, what this creates is a driver that has a piecing trajectory with more roll out. Yamaha tests with a 100mph swing speed have shown a 5-6 yard gain over last years model. The new FW's look good too as does the utility. I'll post more info as I read up. I do have comparison pics of the V Forged topline and face but waiting for my scanner. (^_^)

To make the head more balanced and not too heavy, Sasaya has experimented with removing weight from the head. He's now got a prototype that is around 350g by removing weight from the blinker and sole of the putter.

Brett's video on Liquid Torque is up!

That does make sense and too bad for the irons. Well at least the driver is made in Japan.

Actually I just checked it out. JPX E600 Driver made and assembled in Japan. The rest are made in Japan and China according to Mizuno. I will have to assume that means Made in Japan and assembled in China like some companies do nowadays to save costs.

The E500 Forged was Endo, not sure yet about the E600. Made in Japan are the clubs... made in China are the headcovers.

The Fourteen driving iron was once the standard on the Japanese tour but it is an older model and has lost some of its luster in recent years as driving irons in general have. That said the most popular driving iron for it's very iron like characteristics and accuracy would be the new X-Blade driving iron. Several of the TS pros are using it. Srixon also has a new driving iron that is relatively popular. Those two are getting the most play on the tour here. Both are forged.