Axiv V, THE bombers shaft?

[Vegaman]

I went in to my local clubfitter here in Phuket yesterday, to check out the ever mysterious Superio shafts and other stuff..In the corner I saw a used Axiv V shaft, the Xstiff 7080..I asked the clubfitter about the price and he gave me a great deal, only around 100 dollars since I bought a Superio FW shaft as well, and because he said its actually very difficult to find someone able to use it? He said it CPMd close to 300 and he had it because a local pro tried it and "could not handle" the stiffness, hence it was used but in as new condition.

I brought him my oldest driver head, a R510TP with 8.5 degrees of loft, I had a hunch it was going be a good fit with the Axiv V since I have always hit my driver way way to high and with almost no roll, and I envisioned this heavy stiff shaft with the TM head to be a heavy sledgehammer kind of driver, giving me not the best distance but a low straight flight. The total weight with a midsize grip turned out to be almost 340 grams at around 45.5 inches.

Fact is, even when I hit a lower drive with what looks like a penetrating flight I still get no roll out..I mean sometimes I get to the ball and it has actually jumped back half a yard on a pure carry 270 yard shot..Weird, but Im used to it. Then today i played the Blue Canyon course here in Phuket with 7 other friends, and without ever hitting a shot with the "new" driver I hit a real bomb on the first tee around 290 yards, with a lowish super straight flight with excellent roll out! Yes! I went on to hit almost every fairway with the "sledgehammer", hit nothing longer than a 6 iron on the second shot into par 5s and scored a 78 wich is very good for me, especially at this course which is not easy at all. A few friends tried it, one with a 4 hcp and he couldnt hit it more than 230 yards or so, and couldnt get it up in the air at all. The Axiv V feels super smooth and stable, my swing is very short and "aggressive" and i like to really move through the ball hard and it was a perfect match..Made me think about a Crazy Black 50 as a future shaft to try..Can it be even better?

I actually also bought the "controversial" Superio 36T FW shaft to fit in to my old 15 degree hawk eye titanium pro 4-wood...Yeah, I know, its ancient but I still hit it really really good, and even though I have tried many FW this is still the longest and it feels great. However, I have thought about a new 3-wood for a long time, and I have tried many many different 3-woods. But in the end I decided to just buy a new shaft for the oldie, as I was still playing the really not very good original, and ancient, Tour Stiff H65 shaft that is just too light.

The Superio was an amazing upgrade, the shaft made me feel every nuance of the shot, vary "active" feeling, like it transfers to the hands what happens at impact so clearly. It feels really stiff, but somewhat softens up a bit during the swing, otherwise it feels like a very stiff and I chose Stiff flex because these shaft play very stiff to flex, I mean very very stiff. It feels at least as stiff as the Axiv V 7080 I have in the driver head. All I can say is that is an amazing feeling shaft that gave me at least another 20 yards with my 4-wood, with a stable soft fade all day. On the last hole I decided to tee off with it because its a very tigh hole but still pretty long, around 400 yards..I had around 120 left to the green..I was stunned and so were my playing partners.

The Superio FW 36T only cost me around 170 dollars with a new midsize grip spined and fitted, and even if its a "fake" and not 36T and not MIJ (even though it says so on the shaft) I can very much recommend it. It feels like a quality shaft, and of course so does the Axiv V even though it might be considered a bit "last generation" by now?

Edited December 9, 2010 by Vegaman

[gocchin]

No comment on the Superio's as they still never replied.

But if you've read around on the forums here especially 3 years ago, the older Axiv shafts are legendary. They were favorites of many players here especially the V for the faster swinger and harder hitter. 300CPM sounds way too stiff for the V 7080, it must have been super tipped.

The V was known for being very smooth, very controlled and able to keep the ball out of the left side with a penetrating launch and reasonably low spin. Yes it is possible the Black 50 is even better as it has similar characteristics but better grade carbon and even lower spin.

[Vegaman]

Ok, thanks for the info about the Axiv V. Will check out some old posts for sure. I bought it on a whim and just got lucky I guess. The Black 50 seems like an Axiv V on steroids then? Sounds like the next "project" then..

[MatthewC]

Yup. The AXIVs were hot a couple years back. Never used the V, but the normal one (that is no longer available) had a strong kick and feel as if the ball was launching at full blast.

[Blader-X]

Ah yes the Axiv-V. I had the 8072 in a Callaway ERC and the 8076 in an Epon. An excellent shaft and one of my all time favorites. I remember really liking the feel of them and yes they did bomb it out there. I actually wrote a review comparing these clubs which Gocchin still has up on Inpakuto. When I looked it up I couldn't believe I wrote four years ago. Time sure goes quick.

Thanks for sharing Vegaman and it just goes to show that even if a shaft is a few years old, it can still wield some very good results when matched up with the right person.

[gus]

The Axiv-V is a sick shaft, love that bad boy...BB :)

[daamartin]

The Axiv-V is a sick shaft, love that bad boy...BB :)

I've got the Accra SE70*, SE80* in drivers and the SE80 in FW and they are brilliant Mamiya products from ~5 years ago. Love 'em! A lot of pros still play them.

[Vegaman]

I also noticed that the Axiv V is still for sale on TSG, so I guess its still selling? Maybe it has some sort of staying power then..Anyway, I really love it, Blue Canyon again on monday!

[MatthewC]

I think the Vs are still out there because they were released after the normal AXIVs. So if you like em, you should buy them in case they choose to discontinue them.

[impactor]

I was bummed that they discontinued the AXIV line up, but then it opened up the possibility to try out the Quadra....LOVE IT!

[Bunker18]

Oh yes these were hot some years ago. But, the V serires seems to have a similar feel and kick. But the ball flight similarities just depend on which kick you used with the normal AXIV. Yes, impactor is right and also for a lot of people the Quadra shafts are coming in more frequently nowadays.