Tourstage J340...who has good memories of this mythical driver?

[bruinduke]

It seems like there is a trend moving toward smaller headed drivers. Just for kicks I brought out my Tourstage J340 on a recent round and now I don't know why I took it out of the bag. Not overly forgiving, but so so solid in feel.

Anyone still have one? I've always wanted to find a 10.5 lofted j340, but could never find a way to know club loft. The ones I always came across never had a loft on the club.

Is there any love for this legendary driver? Or was this club all hype?

[Randy]

It seems like there is a trend moving toward smaller headed drivers. Just for kicks I brought out my Tourstage J340 on a recent round and now I don't know why I took it out of the bag. Not overly forgiving, but so so solid in feel.

Anyone still have one? I've always wanted to find a 10.5 lofted j340, but could never find a way to know club loft. The ones I always came across never had a loft on the club.

Is there any love for this legendary driver? Or was this club all hype?

I had two of them and not sure why I go rid of them.

[corky3]

I had two of them and not sure why I go rid of them.

In a similar vein, I took my old MR23 deep faced X-drive to the range last week and hit some rockets. It was good to look down on a smaller head, made me concentrate more and the feeling was sublime...... I know this head was 'foamed to weight' so it it gave a nice 'thwack' sound/feel instead of the 'ting' of more recent editions. It would be interesting to try some newer technology in the shaft with this head and maybe play through the winter with it.

[gus]

It's common knowledge in the golf industry that smaller driver heads reduce drag and improve ballspeeds. For example, the Cally driver that Ernie and Phil are playing is a bit smaller at 430ish cc's and they both improved balls speed in the range of 6-8mph. The optimal size for ball speed is in the 390-400cc range but obviously the drawback is forgiveness. To take this a step futher, one of the problems in the early days of larger club heads was graphite shaft defimation; the further the sweet spot moves away from the shaft tip the force on the shaft increases two fold. I'm sure this is the reason you see the four and now five axis graphite weaves in shaft design these days; shafts have improved a ton! I'm trying to actually move away from 460cc drivers in an effort to increase ballspeed; recently purchased a Tourstage X-drive 445 black and last night a tour issue FT-9TH (same as Phils and Ernies). The 445 feels incredible and I can definitely tell even with the small reduction in size that the shaft/head work more efficiently; I'm typically a soft x-flex guy but stiff flex seems fine in this head...BB

Edited September 29, 2009 by BigBen

[bruinduke]

It's common knowledge in the golf industry that smaller driver heads reduce drag and improve ballspeeds. For example, the Cally driver that Ernie and Phil are playing is a bit smaller at 430ish cc's and they both improved balls speed in the range of 6-8mph. The optimal size for ball speed is in the 390-400cc range but obviously the drawback is forgiveness. To take this a step futher, one of the problems in the early days of larger club heads was graphite shaft defimation; the further the sweet spot moves away from the shaft tip the force on the shaft increases two fold. I'm sure this is the reason you see the four and now five axis graphite weaves in shaft design these days; shafts have improved a ton! I'm trying to actually move away from 460cc drivers in an effort to increase ballspeed; recently purchased a Tourstage X-drive 445 black and last night a tour issue FT-9TH (same as Phils and Ernies). The 445 feels incredible and I can definitely tell even with the small reduction in size that the shaft/head work more efficiently; I'm typically a soft x-flex guy but stiff flex seems fine in this head...BB

BB, let us know how that FT-9TH works out. I am trying to hold out for the FT-Tour, but I would like to know if the smaller head provides a more solid feel.

One of my biggest regrets was letting go of a J340 that seemed to have a higher loft than others I had hit. The shaft wasn't special compared to the exotic shafts that get most of the publicity, but it would go forever. Not to mention it felt the closest to hitting a made from wood driver.

Edited September 29, 2009 by bruinduke

[gus]

No problem; I will. I keep hearing that it's the best Callaway driver to date from all in the know but time will tell; I'm excited either way! I was going to wait myself but this one kinda fell into my lap; after you factor the upgrade shaft they both worked out at about the same money so why not right! I think the smaller driver head trend will continue; as you know the JDM market wasn't to keen on the initial shift to larger heads in the first place probably for the same reasons already mentioned...BB

Edited September 29, 2009 by BigBen

[Henry]

I had for many years the Bridgstone J's Professional Weapon. Is this the same club? It was my first experience with JDM. Used it for many years. I remember it kept the ball lower with much more roll than any other club I had. Then went to the Callaway Driver. Have no idea why! Still have the J in my basement if anyone is interested....