light weight steel: NS Pro V90 is a great option!

[nobmontana]

Been playing Modus 120 Stiff in my irons the last few years and while I don't have any complaints, At 55 years old, I've started to feel that I might be better off with lighter shafts.     Recently I switched my irons from Yamaha 020 Tour Forged to Ping I230s  and since Ping US did not offer Modus 120 as an option at all ( not even for upcharge )   I had to order the i230s with Modus 105 S ... which just did not work out. So I pulled the 120 S out of my Yammys and into the Pings and it is night and day!  I hit it so much straighter.   I guess I'm a 120 Stiff guy.   My i230s are set for the season. 

So now that I had the RMX 020 heads with no shafts,  I decided to try some NS V90 I had from previous builds.   As any JDMer would know, NS 950GH has been the mainstream light(er) steel shaft for JDM irons for decades,  only recently getting replaced by 950GH NEO (which unfortunately I am not a big fan of).  A common feedback from 950GH users has been about a sloppy feel of the midsection right as you start the down swing.   I too felt some of that in the 950GH.    The V90 on the other hand does not have this funny feel.   Some users may characterize the V90 as a bit more stout compared to the 950GH...  I don't think so.....  I think they have a different load/bend profile.  Anyway,  I built up the RMX 020 with the V90 Stiff... and I took it out to the range last night for the first time.   As a Modus 120 user, I want my forged irons to have a deep and dense feel at impact.     And this new combo did not disappoint.  Perhaps not as dense feeling as the Modus 120... but com' on,  the V90 shaft is 20 to 25 grams lighter ....  so maybe it's inevitable to have a slightly lighter impact.  But it's not bad at all.     A controlled (75%) swing got me the normal distance with a predictable high draw trajectory.   With the 27 deg 5 iron,  I struggled a bit with height using the Modus 120 but with the V90 I have no issues with height.   I feel that this 5 iron with the V90 will stop even on a firm summer time green.    Will be using this newly built lightweight set as a back up for now,  but I have a feeling that these shaft will someday be installed in my main set.    Very very very promising!!!    I might need to go find another set of these shafts before they stop making them.  🙂

 

[bngolfer]

Great write-up Noboru. I’m going lighter with most shafts now too. Just got a 5-wood shafted with the Diamond Speeder 6x I got from you a year or so ago. I would have never thought of putting a 60-ish gram shaft in a 5-wood 3-4 years ago. Hit it great!

Vanquish 5x in the driver. TiNi 6s in the brassie. Modus 115 in the irons.
 

Wedges and putter though is where I like the heft. Modus 125 in the wedges. The new putter I’m having built by Christian Nordberg will have a black Nippon shaft in it. Not as heavy as the other Nippon shafts, but still. 

I’m really ”preservinh” my back, I think, by playing lighter shafts.

[corky3]

That’s a coincidence……

several years ago I was a Project x user but entered a Modus competition to celebrate the launch of the 130s, yes that long ago…. won them, And absolutely fell in love.  Til just a month ago it dawned on my how sloppy I would get towards the end of the round, realised that I was having to work hard at the swing, so decided to look for something lighter….

and ended up with the 105, yes I know it’s a different bend profile but they seem to just work and I’ve now got comfortable and confidence is back. So yeah lighter works better for me too.

 

[dickyfowler]

so many good options - with many of the 'mature' recreational golfers finding lighter is better.  Steel has some good points for sure, but if you need some vibration protection and lighter weights - it's graphite that wins.

[supo]

 Oh yes, i Had a half season with these 2 yrs ago, my very old set  i  got returned to  me  from a bud  that  " borowed "   them for about 10 yrs and  forgot  to return them  till  he fancied another se of mine, found them abck in my bag and  a  set of prgrs vanished!  Mine   were  in reg tho,  i played them coming back from  an arm injury,  i wanted a  light weight  smooth set  and thats   exactly what   i got ,  i thought they were  quite whippy and very high   and  an  absolutley  joy to hit  ,  also  i remeber thinking  they maybe the best feeling steel  shaft   id hit actually  , i  had a ball with them but i found they spun like  a  poli on a campaign trail  when my strenght returned . 
  not sure why,  prob the combo of the heads with them ( yammy ,09 i think   )  another  bud  had  ONE game  with them  a year ago  and wudnt give them  back............ again...............  i dont htink thats coincidence!   

Not  a bad idea  grabbing a cpl of these  nobs   might  hard step a set of Stiffs.

 Post injury  i   progressed from these  to shimada 3001 >   Super peening reds  >   modus 120s  >  SP orange >  back to  NS protos.

i tell you what,  there are No play  similiarities between any of this line up ,each is a totally different  style to the last.

super peening range is very taught,  boardy  , rigid and  ALL performance thru  fligh height.
the 3001s are lower longer flatter   constant weight , again a bit on the boardy side  and not a ton of lateral  dispersion.
then the  protos are a totally different    prospect compleltlty, heaver, fuller, sweeter. , very tought  to play any  thing  else  other   than  NS  for steel.




 

[chiromikey]

The Miuras I just built have Padrrson 105s and I’m getting along with them well but they don’t have the height or spin I’m used to so maybe these might be worth a go.

What wedge shafts are you guys liking to match these lighter iron shafts?

[nobmontana]

For light weight wedge shafts, I'm really happy with the Modus 105 Wedge.   I've tried the Modus 105 Tour in my wedges and they seemed to 

be too high launch for me.   105 Wedge was lower launch with consistent spin.  

Another option that I don't mind is using Modus 120 Tour in wedges.  

Weight wise they might be slightly heavier at around 108 to 110 cut... but I feel they work well as wedge shafts.  Plenty of feel to it.  

Interestingly, I was "so so" with the 125 Wedge and hated the 115 Wedge but somehow got along very well with the 105 Wedge. 

 

[bngolfer]

As mentioned, I have Modus 115 in my irons and the 125 wedge in my wedges. The 130 S is also awesome in wedges. I need a little more heft there for the touchy-feely shots around the greens. My touch is questionable regardless tbh.

[supo]

i play NSwv125s  in most  wedges,  kind of like that   heavier  drop  feel.
the 115s i use is  a cpl  of sets and i  like. they are a bit more workable.

ive  used to have  a  few sets with    NS 950gh but i find they laucnch super high in a bell arc and   kind of FLY  too much  and dont spin back , funnily enought  i use these in  LW  to get suepr fast  head speed  ,esp from bunkers and for those shots  they work a treat. 

modus 120s are a very reliable  shaft , the faster u hit them the more they skyrocket and  really spin,i  have them in  one  set of  bolds, WILL NOT  be changing them over , for what i seee they are much better   option in thse heads than   the shimadas  in another set   they came  with.

 

the mack daddy of light ones tho are my set of NS proto   STx  ( 105)   in a set of prgr multi  forged low bounce  oh my gahhhhhhdd   these go CRAZY high  and rip back. thesres nothing close that ive hit,  hard to go from nswv 125  to  105 tho and be consistent.    im alwyas coming  up short.

 

yea the 105s  are prob  as a good a set as u cud want for   a light set.
 

jsut dont go  back and forwd  frm these to wv125s. 

 

 

 

 

[chiromikey]

37 minutes ago, supo said:

i play NSwv125s  in most  wedges,  kind of like that   heavier  drop  feel.
the 115s i use is  a cpl  of sets and i  like. they are a bit more workable.

ive  used to have  a  few sets with    NS 950gh but i find they laucnch super high in a bell arc and   kind of FLY  too much  and dont spin back , funnily enought  i use these in  LW  to get suepr fast  head speed  ,esp from bunkers and for those shots  they work a treat. 

modus 120s are a very reliable  shaft , the faster u hit them the more they skyrocket and  really spin,i  have them in  one  set of  bolds, WILL NOT  be changing them over , for what i seee they are much better   option in thse heads than   the shimadas  in another set   they came  with.

 

the mack daddy of light ones tho are my set of NS proto   STx  ( 105)   in a set of prgr multi  forged low bounce  oh my gahhhhhhdd   these go CRAZY high  and rip back. thesres nothing close that ive hit,  hard to go from nswv 125  to  105 tho and be consistent.    im alwyas coming  up short.

 

yea the 105s  are prob  as a good a set as u cud want for   a light set.
 

jsut dont go  back and forwd  frm these to wv125s. 

 

 

 

 

Where can I find these NS Proto STx 105s?

[bngolfer]

7 hours ago, chiromikey said:

Where can I find these NS Proto STx 105s?

In Stew’s basement 😎

[corky3]

I have some old RC ‘dent back wedges’ with modus 130s  tour non wedge specific which are money….. i also have some Fourteens with modus  115wedge shafts  whic are good but I find I prefer the heavier heft with the 130.from a feel point of view…..

[chiromikey]

20 hours ago, bngolfer said:

In Stew’s basement 😎

You’re probably right! Send me a set Stew! 😂 

[Ian-500]

I thought everyone had gone to graphite in their irons?

[bngolfer]

42 minutes ago, Ian-500 said:

I thought everyone had gone to graphite in their irons?

LOL! No you did not. I'm sure you watch TV too and there are pretty much 0 players on the PGA Tour with graphite in their irons. I've tried Steelfiber (hated them) - that's it. I'm sure there are nice ones out there from Accra, Mitsu, Roddio etc but I'm not there yet. 

[dickyfowler]

if you're an older player, say beyond 40, or are on the weaker side, GRAPHITE becomes the better option. You will get better vibration control and pick up your swing speed with the lighter weights. The stronger and younger players who are on tour prefer steel for many reasons, mainly control and consistency. But the senior tour players are often using graphite. 

[chiromikey]

I’m just not seeing the professed benefits in any of the graphite iron shafts I’ve tried so far. No added distance and the feel gets muted (maybe that’s the trade off for vibration damning but it’s not worth it imo)…oh yeah, and they’re ugly!

[dickyfowler]

that's why some people like one thing and others like another - thankfully there are options. Clearly the biggest seller is graphite and that is one of the reasons they cost more - apart from manufacturing costs. I prefer the colour options in graphite - not heard many people say their steel shafts look sexy. But the real key is scoring - play hickory if it lowers your scores - anything that gets the job done. 

[chiromikey]

I was being a little sarcastic about the ugly part, but these Padetsons are truly ugly. I’m just more of a traditionalist I guess, especially when it comes to feel. I even played a wood driver and woods with steel shafts over a decade into the Ti era because I hated the early lack of feel from whippy or boardy graphite shafts in metal heads.

[Ian-500]

Hahahahaha you steel guys make me laugh. Especially the ones who want lighter wood shafts. There's a plethora of light weight graphite iron shafts that will suit. Even standard OEM stuff is pretty good these days. 

[supo]

one of the sets of graphite ive not tried but I-dirve swears blind by is the quadra  DGL

[bngolfer]

Well - I’m perfrctly happy with my Modus 115. Never hit a graphite iron shaft that feels good, apart from driving iron shafts. I think it is due to the reachtion I get when hitting down on the ball and taking divots. Stiffer graphite ahafts have felt dead to me, softer/lighter are all over the place. But again - I’m sure there are shafts that perform fab. Graphite should be easier to nail down the specs on to fit perfectly. I just have not explored too much and don’t feel the urge to either. Yet.

Agree with Mikey on the ugly part. Since the Swix shafts of the early 90’s I’ve not seen good looking iron graphite shafts.

[Ian-500]

Ugly? You can get them in every colour.....including silver!

[dickyfowler]

does it really matter - as long as everyone plays what they like. There's no right or wrong - just bad choices. 

[chiromikey]

Pulled the graphites out of the Miuras and dropped a stiff set of these in.  Knowing going in that these are a higher trajectory shaft I also delofted the clubs 1*.  I couldn't be happier!  Nice mid trajectory ball flight with VERY little lateral movement...just my nice tight draw.  Good spin from any iron without any ballooning.  It was nice to be able to aim at pins and hold the green with any iron including the long irons.  I was surprised I was able to get used to the overall lightweight club with a D1 swingweight so quickly as I only hit a few shots with my 6,7,& 8 irons before hand but never missed solid contact all day.  I'm very impressed with the feel of these regardless of their weight (although it helps when you're centering your shots all day).  My gamers are now set, at least until I can get back in the gym.

Thanks for the recommendation nob!!!

Edited July 4, 2023 by chiromikey