Epon 460ZR 10.5 with Roddio 6WA-SR shaft

[dragon]

Just received Epon 460 ZR 10.5 degree square face, standard lie, Roddio 6WA-SR shaft at 46 inches from Chris last Saturday. I have played 2 quick round of golf with this. Here is my initial impression:

Cosmetic: Big head but well balanced and classic shape in appearance. Excellent finish, non distracting. Shaft cosmetic was white on top, and red with big letters and shaft specs printed. Glossy red finish on the underside and white which is bit bright but not too distracting and servs as good alignment reminder. Very quality expensive looking finish overall. Very distinctive in appearance and no way to mistaken with anyother shaft.

Feel: Soft forged feeling head but not too muted. Not harsh on mis**ts but easy to tell when hit flush. Shaft feels solid, not whippy, smooth and not boardy. No significant vibrations. Feels it can take anything that I can dish it out. I can feel the head throughout the swing path giving me confidence to swing away.

Sound: More muted than the Fourteen J606 but more tingy than Callaway FT-3. Overall nice tink sound but as far as the sound goes I became more partial to the Fourteen J606 sound.

Distance: Initially no longer than my current gamer Fourteen J606 10 degree with 47 inch Mitsubishi Bassara. The J606 is an experiment since it was too light and unstable at 45 inches long for me. But at 47 inches it gave me longer distance than my Callaway FT-3 9.5 degree wit NVS stiff shaft at 45 inches. However, the initial distance did not seem any significantly shorter. As I got used to the new driver's balance and swing weight and its solid feeling shaft I began to gain confidence and increase my swing speed without much consequences. Now it appears I am definitely hitting it little longer but more importantly consistently hitting at longer length. But unsure how significantly longer since wind comlicated things. Definitely more penetrating into the wind but not sure when wind is not present. What is important is, I could definitely hit it long as J606 with more consistency.

Trajectory: Mid to high trajectory pattern with no ballooning and penetrating and stable flight into the wind.

Forgiveness: Very forgiving with mis**ts.

Overall, I was initially little disappointed with no signifcant distance gain, but as I gained confidence with the new driver's stability of the head and the shaft combo I am definitely ending up little further, more consistently. I can swing hard without holding back with good swing path and nice benefit is this increase in swing speed is even transferring to my other clubs. With my swing speed of 90-100 m/hr with average tempo, I was debating between 5BA vs 6BA vs 6WA. I chose 6WA because I wanted a room for growth and wanted a low spinning shaft combined with high lauching head with tight dispersion and taking left side out of play. I may have more distance with the harder kicking with 6BA (don't know since I have not tried this combo) but so far the 6WA shaft seems to be fulfilling what I need thus far. I will report back once I gain more experience with true game condition and also had chance to compare to my playing partners to see true distance gains. I have high hopes thus far!

Dragon

[gocchin]

Great feedback Dragon! Every new driver takes getting used to and once you understand the timing and feel of the Epon/Roddio combo as you're beginning to do, the results will be fantastic. I'm impressed at your swingspeed how you play such long driver shafts, may I ask how tall you are?

I think you hit it on the nail with the cosmetics of this driver, the head is big, it's 460cc's afterall but the shape is very classic and eye pleasing. And the Roddio finish is superb! Play this more and once the honeymoon is over, give us an update on how it's going!

[dragon]

Great feedback Dragon! Every new driver takes getting used to and once you understand the timing and feel of the Epon/Roddio combo as you're beginning to do, the results will be fantastic. I'm impressed at your swingspeed how you play such long driver shafts, may I ask how tall you are?

I think you hit it on the nail with the cosmetics of this driver, the head is big, it's 460cc's afterall but the shape is very classic and eye pleasing. And the Roddio finish is superb! Play this more and once the honeymoon is over, give us an update on how it's going!

Thanks Gocchin,

I am only 5 feet 2 inches tall. I have no problems hitting the fairways. I am always looking for distance, however. I read in the California Golf Technology that in order to play longer shaft for increase in distance you have to play at least 47 to 48 inches in the longer driver to make it matter. Otherwise shorter is usually better such as 44.5 inches for most people. For me I seem to have less problems with handling length. When I picked up Fourteen J606 with very light Mitsubishi Bassara shaft at standard length, it seem to be wimpy and light to me with inconsistency and less distance so it was a perfect driver to experiment with longer length. At 47 inches it was D3 swing weight and this seem to be more in line with what I am used to. I actually hit it further than my past gamer, Callaway FT-3 when hit well. Only thing is I was not as consistent with it but even my inconsistent shots were almost far as my Callaway FT-3. I still hit 12-13 fairways with it.

This is why I went with 46 inches with Roddio. Swing weight suppose to be D2-D3 but not confirmed. It feels good to me. I had Chris installed the SR flex shaft standard untipped so that it will play slightly softer at longer length, but allowing me to go to standard length if I did not like it still making it play to SR flex. I figure with 6 WA shaft slightly softer would still be OK for me since I normally have an average tempo anyway. For now, I will leave it alone. I have no problem hitting the sweet zone. But I am always tinkering with my set up. I will definitely give more feedback once I play with it more.

Dragon

Edited July 17, 2007 by dragon