gocchin

It's 0.370.

He does not play a high swingweight, his old nike irons were around D1.5 and I would suspect the ONOFF around the same. The driver even at that length is probably around D2.

Today I'm going to take a closer look at what's in the bag of ONOFF Pro Shingo Katayama. Katayama has long been one of the top Japanese players on tour here in Japan. Last year Katayama won his 25th tournament automatically qualifying him for a lifetime exemption on the Japanese tour. He's now up to 26 wins and counting ranking him 7th on the all time list in Japan. He turned pro in 1995 and began playing full time on tour in 1997. He has topped the Japanese money list 5 times including last year and is currently 4th on the all time career list at just over 14 million dollars in winnings. Not a big player by any means at 5'6" or 168cm tall, Katayama who has been called Cowboy Shingo because of the cowboy style hat he frequently wears relies on his creative play and deft touch around the greens. He is in no way a long hitter but accurate and controlled. Katayama was one of the first players during his days as the number one Nike Pro in Japan to proclaim that he needed all the forgiveness he could get and did not hesitate to play a 10.5* loft driver (which was rare at the time among men pros) and over sized irons with graphite shafts. In the past few years Katayama could be seen in many Nike ads, sometimes even along side world number 1 Tiger Woods promoting the latest in Nike gear. This off season signaled a humongous change as Katayama parted ways with Nike, his clubs, shoes, clothing and ball sponsor. He was signed instead by several Japanese brands including ONOFF from Daiwa Golf for his clubs and bag, Dance With Dragon for his clothing, Asics for his shoes and Titleist for his golf balls. Even while transitioning to a new bag of gear he played confidently on his way to a 4th place finish at the Masters last month, tying the best finish ever by a Japanese golfer at the Masters. Katayama's fashion and gear gain as much attention as his creative play so here is a break down of his official bag as of last weeks Tsurya Open and my take on the clubs of course! Katayama is playing the 2009 ONOFF Red Driver 9* with Roddio Prototype at 46.75" 272.7cpm and 310.3g. He has opted for the more forgiving Red Driver over the athlete model ONOFF Plus Driver. He has also gone to a lower loft and considerably longer overall driver length. The Roddio will launch higher for max carry so paired with the 9* loft, Katayama appears to have found the right combination of launch, carry and run with these specs. The ONOFF Red is considered the average golfer model in Japan and provides a ton of forgiveness which Katayama likes. Katayama's 3 wood is another super forgiving club. The PRGR Egg PX-03 Spoon is a composite style fairway wood with a high MOI scoop back crown that is very very easy to hit. I bag this same club in my setup and for the sole reason - forgivness. It is easy to launch long and far and has a lot of leeway on mis hits. Katayama is playing the 15*. This is his go to club in narrow fairways and when he needs control down the middle, or to reach those ultra long par 5's in two. An ONOFF Fairway Arms Plus 5 wood occupies Katayama's bag. This 18* club features a square to open face and is made more for control. The Plus however only has a semi-deep face so still provides forgivness that Katayama likes. Also unlike typical all steel fairway woods that are used by most pros the ONOFF Plus features a maraging face which provides great feel. (the Egg 3W he uses I might add uses a Titanium face). Another sign of forgiveness in the bag is Katayama's use of a 21* 7 Wood. This is the last remaining Nike club in his bag. He likes to use the Sasquatch2 instead of a 3 iron as it gives him an easy to hit club that still provides a super soft landing. Katayama is carrying a Cleveland HiBore 4i UT that he has been using for quite some time. In other words he does not carry a 3 or 4 iron! Once again forgiveness is the focus for his bag. ONOFF Plus Forged irons 5-9 iron are Katayama's choice irons. They are definitely more compact than his old Nike OS irons but the ONOFF Plus do provide great feel and balanceｄ forgiveness. He is still experimenting with shafts on his irons now but it seems he may be playing either his black Graphite Design Prototypes or moving on to Roddio iron shafts. Katayama is carrying 3 wedges, all three are signature prototypes from ONOFF based on the Labospec 247 series. A 46* 53* and 59* occupy his bag with the 46* taking the place of his pitching wedge. A Taylormade Rossa Spider ASGI+ makes his putts for him and he now uses the Titleist Pro V1x 2009 ball. As I mentioned above, all his clothes are the very stylish Dance with Dragon and his Asics prototype shoes which are not yet available retail have drawn much interest from golfing enthusiasts worldwide. So there you have it a look into Shingo Katayama's current bag. A very nice JDM bag with a strong emphasis on forgiveness. One can never have enough forgiveness and we should never forget that!

I just received my Taylormade Japan 2009 Custom Clubs binder from TM and FINALLY length adjustments are doable on the TP forged by up to 0.5" either way. Also TM Japan has noted that all custom builds are done one of their Tour Van craftsman from TM Japan. The R9 Max and R9 FW (Japan Spec) are now available with 49 different shaft models including ultra lightweight shafts like the Motore Speeder VC4.0. Custom lengths on all drivers and FW's are also available.

Got a demo coming this week. Will post up the pics when I can take them.

Gold Set MP-R sold.... both sets gone..... finally off to bed.... (^_^)

Silver stamp MP-T Prototype set is Sold! Only Gold stamp MP-R Prototype set left!

One of the reasons why they went progressively open was they believed that the shorter the club gets, the easier it is to hook or pull left. Just a quick update that this club is now available direct from PRGR with the best shafts as is the Egg Spoon and FW. http://www.tourspecgolf.com/proshop/p2605/...oduct_info.html

I think so B. PRGR touts it as an easy to hit club for the better player which does indeed broaden its appeal as in increases the different levels of players that can play this. I was thinking the same thing as you when it first arrived at my place... ah "Tour" model, must be hard to hit. I was shocked how easy it was to hit and how quickly the ball flew off the face. I was also very confident swinging away with that recessed face/top line. (^_^)

Dance with Dragon Putters made by Master Sasaya and Gold's Factory are now available at Tourspecgolf! Previously only available in limited numbers to the Japanese market, Tourspecgolf is now making them available worldwide! I will be getting them up in the pro shop in the next day or so but here's a look at the designs available! Each design can be mated with head shape of your choice, ie PS No.1, Anser No2, GF01B and at your length and grip. http://www.tourspecgolf.com/proshop/p2606/...oduct_info.html

Hi Guys, so with all the questions about FCT sleeves and whether shafts will fit each other we went and grabbed a US spec R9. R9 Max shaft fits in the R9 USA head R9 USA shaft fits in the Japan R9 Max head. So the FCT sleeve is common. The normal/stock shaft FCT sleeve is 350tip. TP models sleeve and upgrade shafts are 335tip. Reshafting a sleeve is easy as Jack mentioned and we can do it for any customers who want to buy an additional shaft though we are seeing if we can get an actual source of FCT sleeves from TM.

B, you relayed my thoughts exactly! The ball does indeed explode off the face and it is indeed a very hot face. It's a fantastic driver and will definitely be amazing with the right shaft. It is definitely a forgiving driver as even I could hit it! (^_^) Personally I love the extended back face and I love the feel. Are you able to work the ball? Do you think you might have benefitted going with the stock shaft and a 9*?

T, it's an addition to the line but in a way it does replace the 901 since the 901 is "Technically" a limited production model. It sounds like a driver that will fit you.... low trajectory, fade with the Kai'li!

We should be able to get some on order... Tourstage launched it quietly and probably did not anticipate the demand. A lot of people are actually going for the driver with the Kai'li in it.

Tourstage clothes are close to US sizes. I can wear the medium for most brands in Japan (I am a small US size) but the Tourstage Medium is simply too big. The new 701R is going in the shop this week. Unbelievable demand for this driver... its already back ordered! Seems like everyone wants a deep　face low trajectory fade ball.

Okay. (^_^)

I'd like to add the entire Sky Dream Jump wedge line if I think members and customers would be interested.

Sky Dream Jump is a much smaller brand that some of you here may have seen in the past in my bag. They make simply amazing wedges that do not get the recognition they deserve but have been recognized on the pro tour as amazing performing and feeling compact wedges with tons of feel and bite. A new addition to their D-Tour Line is the DP2010, an all new hand crafted wedge made from a new dampalloy material material that features magnesium content. This dampalloy is 3 times harder than S25C and far more durable. So you may think 3 times harder? It must feel hard? But the wedge in fact feels forged due to its absorption characteristics which create a pro spec style wedge that really grabs the ball at impact creating major spin. This new damp alloy also significantly reduces vibration and increases stability of the head for more control and feel. The versatile D-Tour grind allows for the face to be opened when needed and is good in any lie. The process for creating this wedge is very cumbersome and done totally by the hand of a skilled crafts man as the head requires a heat then polish treatment done by hand five times over. The face is cnc milled to add to that extra bite. So three times harder than S25C but feels like forged at impact and bites the ball more than any other wedge with a versatile pro spec grind. The old D-Tour was my go to wedge as it was easy to hit even though compact and spun like crazy. I think I may need to bag one of these.

They are straight necked and based off the MP-R and MP-T and with grinds like that anyone can play them really due to their versatility. It is hard to measure bounce on soles with such complex multiple grinds but Mizuno measured the bounce at the highest point and that would be 6 for the 52* and 14 for the 58*.

Mizuno Japan recently released two sets of ultra rare wedges. The wedges are officially named "Jypers 2 letter press" featured in two grind variations. People are calling them 2 letter press silver stamp and gold stamp wedges. They are forged of S25C in Japan at Mizuno's Chuo factory.The silver stamp model features a triple flat sole and is based off of a prototype Model T series while the gold model features a special quad flat sole and is based off of a prototype R series wedge. Both models are finished using a flat black dye and share the new running bird emblem. The only other text besides that is on the neck where it says MIZUNO with no paintfill. They also use dots to signify loft. Both models have very sharp CNC Milled grooves. Sold as a 2 wedge set in a fancy box lined with velvet both the silver and gold stamps are only available in 52 & 58* lofts with Dynamic Gold Wedge Flex Shafts and Tour Velvet Rubber Round 60's. For those who don't know R is for Round shape head and T is for Teardrop shape. These are already sold out but Tourspecgolfer was able to source 2 sets from Mizuno. One set of MP-R Prototypes and one set of MP-T Prototypes. If anyone is interested please let me know. Took some nice pics today to show you these beauties!

Sorry I didn't mention them because I haven't played them. Just the lower weights. I would love to push those shafts because they are indeed the top of the line, but have you seen the price? Each iron shaft is pretty much the cost of a high end driver shaft! (which is why I have not played them). You have two sets now one with AD-65 and another with AD-75, how are they for you?

When it comes to iron shafts unfortunately one thing that is often overlooked is spin. With irons it is a matter of getting the right amount of spin, not low spin or too much spin unlike drivers where everyone seems to want low spin. The Axiv has a rather stiff profile which may lead to less spin, and this can also be the case if you go up in weight with graphite, but there are many factors that will affect the way an iron shaft will perform. As far as I know, there are no plans to replace the Tour AD iron line yet as it still sells very well in Japan and is probably the most common found in irons as uprgades. One I have not played yet but have heard very good things about is Roddio. Honma ARMRQ is also very good (but expensive!).

It didn't feel too tinny to me. I was actually surprised that it was rather soft feeling. We only have R9 Max's here right now so I asked for TM Japan to send over a standard R9 so we can try swapping the shafts ourselves and doing a little experimentation. Interestingly here in Japan there are many FCT sleeves for the standar R9 floating around but I haven't seen even one R9 Max sleeve available.

I have used Tour AD 65 75 85 as well as Axiv 758M and 558ML and NGS Mach Line, Bassara Iron shafts and a multitude of stock graphite. Previous to that tried 950GH, 850GH, 750GH, Shimada K's 7001, AC-10 etc. Graphite is great, as you guys have said, it allows players with slower swing speeds or lack of speeds to be able to put a smooth swing and still load the shaft. It creates a more forgiving iron because it is easier to swing and unload. This however does not mean it is less stable because graphite shafts have come a long way and with their carbon weave and multi axis design, I find them to be just as stable as any steel shaft. Of course this all depends on the player, graphite is not for everyone but can be played by all different types of players. GD shafts are very consistent and are constant weight shafts. The Axiv is very very smooth and ascending weight shafts meaning the weight gets heavier as the irons shorter for more of an emphasis on control. Recently the Bassara has become very popular. A quick look at the JLPGA is always a good indicator of what shafts can match mere mortals like us and Bassara usage has grown. All these shafts are excellent indeed and many times it will come down to player choice.

The R9 Max is bigger than than the R9 so I'm not sure how it could be a bit tiny? Do you mean a tiny bit not as nice to hit? (^_^) Not only are the head sizes, weight configurations different, but the loft and face angle configurations are more ie 3* each way for face and 1.5* each way for loft. Also all the shafts are different weight and spec including the stock Motore shaft and TPJ. I have hit both and feel is subjective really. They both felt pretty good, better than I had expected, with the regular R9 feeling a touch more solid which is normal for any smaller driver. The R9 Max was indeed more forgiving on off center hits.