+TourSpecGolfer Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 2 Drivers have taken the lime light recently and both are made by J-Beam, this all started during my fitting at Seven Dreamers where I asked what clients heads do they see the best performance during their in depth analysis and the lead engeneer blurted Jbeam 435 & 535... Not sure if he wanted to let that out but the answer came quick so I'll take it! Why is it important who this man thinks produces a good driver? Because his job is analyzing heads and designing shafts to work together and at his place of work he gets to see the absolute best clubs money can buy. First things first let's acknowledge it's shape, it's very much triangular in an upside down sort of way which makes its face super deep which is ideal for better players who miss high and low on the club face vs out near the toe and heel for me the face shape allowed for lots of space to land the ball on and while this shape is not traditional by any means the rest of the club head especially from above looks like a normal driver. The laser-engraved face milling further reduces spin, this driver is considered low spin/high launch but for me and just about everyone else who hits it the general consensus is that it is mid launch Important to note that this driver head is fully foamed from the factory, what is foamed? It's basically a material baked into the head to mute the sound and dampen louder hollow feel it's an aquired taste most often prized by those who miss wood heads or love the way sub 400cc drivers sound and feel at impact, it's a very dead muted "thwack" or "tick" sound but very unique and in my opinion necessary as I could only imagine how loud and hollow this head would be without the foam inside. my personal ZY-11 which I have in with a custom ordered 0.5* closed face angle to help me avoid the right side, as you can see it's shafted with a Seven Dreamers Matrix Shaft which is absolutely sublime and I can't imagine another shaft in this head ever as it's a match made in heaven but anyway as you can see looking down on this head it looks like most other drivers very hard to tell how deep it's face really is. Weights are located 2 in the front and one far in the back, I love Jbeam heads not only for their adjustability in specs as TSG can custom order you special lofts, head weights and face angles but also because we also offer the wrench and weight kit so you can tinker with it yourself to achieve optimal flight and balance or even bias Feel - Foamed, Dead, Mute, Thwack, Tick, not loud, not hollow at all, feels like a head that is sub 400cc with a hint of persimmon thanks to the factory foam job. Distance - Very Long, this is a big deal on the Draco circut which is Japan's long driver series and the ZY-11 is a popular high end choice, plenty of roll and carry with this head and if built right for your swing profile expect some of your longest drives evern. Forgiveness - Very Forgiving especially high and low on the club face, sweet spot must be huge with it's large face profile even toe and heel shots are somewhat forgiving. Spin - Very low spin Trajectory - I would say medium of course shaft plays a big part in it and Jbeam confirms this is high launch compared to the blackout 435 our customers feel it's got a low trajectory so split the difference it's mid trajectory, I'm getting 14* launch personally Dispersion - Very Straight, ball has a hard time turning over left or right so it's an absolute fairway finder unless you put a bad swing on it or have an improper build going on. My bottom line with this club is it's one of the longest I've ever hit and the absolute straightest I've hit and I've tried 4 different shafts already the Basileus AAA 50R, AAA 60Stiff, TRPX Aura Stiff, TRPX Air SX, 2 types of 7D "Distance" shafts and all of them did pretty much the same thing super straight and long only the TRPX air traded some roll out for a higher launch and more carry. I've hit 9.5, 10, and 10.5 and it appears I get the best distance, launch, spin rates from the 9.5* I've had this driver side by side with many other drivers some even sporting the same shaft such as the Blackout 435 the only other driver I would rank as high as the ZY-11. Hard to see but in the above image there are two small gaps behind the silver face area, very interesting detail that I'm curious about, It's on all of them and is supposed to be there but I've never seen this sort of thing in another driver before. Below my coveted Seven Dreamers Distance Shaft! Hope you enjoyed the review you can view the ZY-11 and Blackout 435 in the TSG ProShop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpbachman Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 Awesome review Chris, can't wait to hear of others experiences with that head as well! Any large differences in launch or distance compared to the 435 Blackout? Obviously sound and feel will be different as well as forgiveness due to the face setup. I would also (from my experience) put the 435 as a medium launch/low spin head as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjr. D Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 That is one hell of a review. Well don. I concur I just can't hit it straight yet at all (hook central) but I believe it may be the shaft (Aldila Rogue 125 MSI). I'm going to pull, tip and tweak and see if that doesn't help. If not I'm trying the Diamana X in it. Definitely among the top 1 or 2 lowest spinning heads I've ever hit. I'm starting to not mind the sound and feel from originally detesting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TourSpecGolfer Posted May 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 That is one hell of a review. Well don. I concur I just can't hit it straight yet at all (hook central) but I believe it may be the shaft (Aldila Rogue 125 MSI). I'm going to pull, tip and tweak and see if that doesn't help. If not I'm trying the Diamana X in it. Definitely among the top 1 or 2 lowest spinning heads I've ever hit. I'm starting to not mind the sound and feel from originally detesting it. I'd say try a different shaft, tipping will tighten it up slightly but not cure hooks. things to consider: - is the heavier weight on the heel side? by putting it on toe side this may help. - What driver setups don't hook for you that you hit side by side with the ZY-11? Basically you should see that the ZY-11 has very little side spin which keeps things straighter for sure but there is something either swing/shaft/setup or all of the above that's causing you to hook it. email me with details if u need to figure this out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjr. D Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Thanks Chris. The heavier weight is on the toe side which definitely helped. The reason I think it's the shaft is because when I swing 70% or less (just screwing around) I hit it straight. When I hit the Maxima Type V with a Ahina X it's straight all day long. It's actually difficult not to hit straight now that I figured out how to position the face at address. I'm very excited to get this dialed in now that I've gotten around the sound and feel a little more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmieboi Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 To avoid hook in your case, try increasing the swing weight to at least D3. Keep the overall club weight as light as possible but swing weight at D3. You'll get more head speed and more control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobmontana Posted May 28, 2015 Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 To avoid hook in your case, try increasing the swing weight to at least D3. Keep the overall club weight as light as possible but swing weight at D3. You'll get more head speed and more control. lighter grip! Golf Pride use to make a Dual Durometer Lite which was a 25g grip but they discontinued it. Have not used light grips since then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pca168 Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 Thank you Great Review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjr. D Posted June 21, 2015 Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 If I used a dual durometer my hands would be one way and the club head another. Torque central. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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