Ty_Guy

Scottie Scheffler has near the same setup as you, though he uses 105g in the Nippon GOST. 105g is a good driving iron weight for those with iron sets in the 120-130 range. The big three shafts I seem to always see are: AD DI (Hybrid) KBS Prototype Nippon GOST If you prefer firmer handle sections with descending stiffness, KBS and LA Golf are your best bet. AD DI and Nippon will have firm handles but tip sections slightly firmer than middle sections. Where as Ventus Blue is the reverse blueboard--soft handle, stiff tip. Either way, I recommend 105 over 125in a 3u. I bet your "go after it" feeling will go away after moving to 105g.

I'm looking to purchase the current (2023) version of the Cobra King Tec Utility 3 iron. Shaft isn't important but a 105 or 85g LA Golf shaft is what I will eventually install.

There is something special in the higher end 105g graphite shafts. If you can adapt to the slower tempo of dropping 25g, the capabilities of graphite really shine. A smooth transition in low a 90s 7i swing, 120g class graphite will feel VERY firm. Both are going to feel a little odd at first, but stability will be enough in both shafts. The popular 105g graphite shafts like KBS TGI, Axiom, and LA Golf all match up to the stability of 120/130g steel. So, you aren't going to lose anything there. To demo something different, go for the 105. Same weight graphite will feel very similar to what you already have in all regards. When swinging the 105, focus on feeling the different force through impact. When I try 105, it can feel like there is no smash, but when I look at the data, all the ball metrics match up evenly. It's wild feeling like a full swing only has the impact power of a partial wedge shot, but then see the ball fly full swing distance. Tempo and sequence was more controller for me in 105. Though, when I wanted to hit a full GW, it took serious mental effort to up the speed. I was able to but a full attack swing with the GW had a mental block that wasn't there with heavier shafts. I've played 120 Modus, 120 DG, 120 LA Golf, and am now testing 105 LA Golf. Not sold yet, but the unique feel and easier swing is certainly there. Which iron are you going to try the new shaft? I went with GW. It's my favorite and most confident "attack the green club," but the feel I've tried to describe is so novel to me, I need to try it in a mid iron where the default swing is a full one to really get a good idea of the change.

I hope others respond here too in regards to length as we spoke a little in another thread. Numbers will be a bit different if you choose an 11 vs 13.5 mini, but in my experience you will reach about 160 ball speed and the same carry range you see with a well struck 3w. My 13.5 Callaway mini sees 150 ball speed, spinning around 3300, and I expect 240 carry. This is coming from about 103mph mini speed. I drive at 108mph, but do not regularly test swing speed of the mini driver. I do see less spin and a little less carry when hitting a 3w. My 3w ball height sits in the low 80s feet. Mini is quite a bit higher, just below driver height. 3w is off the turf, mini is always off the tee. The low spin of the 3w made it tee only club for me, so the mini felt like a no-brainer replacement. My only complaint with the mini was that it has just one job. I can't deny it works very well, but sometimes I will bump it out for another club. Knock on wood, I use the mini on 3 holes at my course and haven't lost a ball on those holes all season. Data wise, it needs to stay in the bag for me!

That 3u is a workhorse in your bag! Adding a mini may demand changing around other clubs. Just to add another derail in your search, if the 3u is your baby, shifting perspective and gapping from the 3u instead of from the driver may open your eyes to more options. If this "plan B" is appealing, ask yourself: What situations have the 3u not been the best? When it isn't the best, what would you want a different club to do differently? - Carry distance, height, bad lies? I figure non negotiable club roles on the long side of any bag are: 1) Longest off the tee where driver is too dangerous 2) Longest possible off the turf and still able to be an approach shot 3) Longest possible out of poor lies and still able to be an approach shot Sometimes two of these roles can be filled by one club. I've found this role-filling approach is the best way to flesh out that tricky spot in the bag between irons and the driver. What role(s) does the 3u fulfill and which does it not do as well? I think your 43.25" will work out well. Mine was 43.25" and I tried a different shaft for fun. Cut it to stock 43.5", thinking that was what I already had. Both lengths hit their numbers well.

I imagine the 505u 3i and 5w will gap very well together. Even though it's only 2 degrees between the two, the 5w should see ~15 yards more carry with a friendlier decent angle to boot. We got on a tangent from your initial mini situation. To keep it concise, it sound like your mini is performing very well. If you want to go down to 43", I recommend the change only if better ball striking is needed. Otherwise, it sounds like the mini is in a good spot, and the gap below is better addressed with another club. Does your bag currently go Driver, Mini, 3w, 3u, 5i-LW, Putter?

"Penetrating flight and low spin" is a mantra in the golf world that makes 3 woods not really built for amateur play anymore. The HL 16.5 is club manufacturer's band-aid fix to the problem. No need to force a club in the bag that doesn't work. Shafts aren't going to provide the drastic launch and spin change either. No need to continue wasting your time barking up that tree. I'd give the 3HL a try, but a 5w is likely going to be the best "longest off the turf club." Let the mini do what it excels at--a slightly shorter driver with slightly better dispersion. I've spent enough time tweaking clubs into something they don't want to be. It's ended up in lots of fun tinkering, but nothing useful on the course.

There are quite a bit of tools needed to to it perfectly, but if you're happy going back to your local shop for tricky situations, you can get away with a fairly small build setup: General Use: Clamp/vise with rubber shaft holder Painter's tape 48" Ruler with 60 degree block/guide to measure clubs Shaft and Clubhead Prep: Hacksaw w/ 24tpi or finer blade Sandpaper - I use lower grits Drill and bits (a quick sweep around with 5/16 gets out enough old epoxy) Circular Metal file - easy to prep adapters/clubheads Club Install: 24 hour epoxy Grip tape and grips Matching ferrule Assuming you already have a drill, these will be less than $150 and cover nearly all your installs. Most importantly, it will take up very little space. Bits like lead tape are always handy to nail down SW. A heat gun and grip knife utility blade become very useful as you change out grips. You can buy ferrules as needed per project or I'm sure you local shop will sell them for a dollar or two if you need one immediately. This will do everything except for the obvious shaft extraction. Again, spend $220 on a shaft extractor for yourself or bring in a club to your shop and have them pop it off for ~$15. I will build the club, add lead tape to find the SW (if needed), then get it extracted and rebuild with the appropriate tip weight. This process sort of forces me to test SW for a week before committing to the rebuild. Things like removing SW (reaming out clubhead material), smoothing out custom ferrules, shaft shims, and other unique situations is where I would rely on a shop to help or go ahead and dive in and purchase all the club building goodies. Loft and lie bending is a bigger expense. I have not purchased on of these machines and am perfectly happy relying on a shop for this.

I'll echo what @rbpwrx experienced. A mini is such a niche and specific club, it really has to play in that 43-44" range. As it drops below 43", the benefits in the Mini vs 3w argument fall too far in favor of the 3W. For gapping with driver, the 13.5 minis will almost be universally better than the 11 degree ones. Are you using a 13.5 degree mini? If it's adjustable, you can also increase the loft some. Removing .5" length isn't going to have that large of an impact on ball speed. Your current 15-20 yard difference you see is just how a mini plays. When to use it is where the mini shines. It will mainly be a driver replacement for those struggling with driver or an alternate and safer tee club if driver could roll into a hazard. There are a couple holes on every course where a bunker or pond is a bit beyond my driver carry distance but strongly within my driver's total distance with roll. Mini is really good in these situations. Same with those narrower fairways that don't match a driver miss or shot shape.

This is correct. I spoke with Titleist customer service earlier on the same subject: "Based on the information I have available, with stock specs the GT1 has a swingweight of D0 while the GT2/3 have a swingweight of D3. This is due to the GT1 having a lighter stock shaft and grip, not any difference in headweight between the models. Additionally, a swingweight is 2 grams. So, the +6-weight setting, using stock GT1 specs would increase the swingweight to the stock GT2/3 weight, but this would more than likely not be necessary if using a shaft similar in weight to the stock shaft of the GT2/3 Hybrid in the GT1 model."

Do you know if users still have app access after the first year?

I’m more interested in how each system implements their program and usage instead of the merits of speed training. Swinging driver as fast as possible has its benefits and is likely an excellent way to test and maintain any speed gained through both speed and weight training.

What shaft weight have you found the best success with your 7w? I initially tried my GT2 with a 70g but it really came alive when I switched to 80g. I first tried all my woods with the same 70-75g shaft weights, and have used that for a year. After trying the 80g in the 7w, my setup has shifted to the approximate plus 5-10g per inch of club length lost. Mini 43.5" and 3w 43" 70g 5w 42.25" 75g 7w 41.5" 85g

I just purchased a PRGR monitor here and am looking to pick up one of the swing speed systems. They are all very similar, so I'm hoping for advice on which have the best apps and which are easiest to use/change weights. All the below options have "single stick solutions": Rypstick ($200) 1 month app free, $60/year there after (basic data and training remains free) Super Speed ($200) 1 Year app free, $100/year there after (basic data and training remains free) Stack System ($300) 1 year app free, $100/year there after (Do not know if basic data remains free) Speed Toad ($125) App free forever with device purchase Making some assumptions, it looks like SuperSpeed and Stack both require a driver tool to change weights. The Toad would just live on an extra shaft. Rypstick look the easiest to physically change weights--no tool needed. Again, mostly minor differences, so it really comes down to the app and it's data and ease of use.

I love it. I did a casual fitting the other day for the GT2 7w, comparing it to 3 different heads over two fittings. All just in stock stiff or regular shafts. Idea being I want this to be an extremely easy clubhead to hit without any thought or effort. Tried all the major brands except Ping. Same setup with the 65 Tensei Blue beat out everything. I compared one 7w model from each brand--sometimes the low spin, sometimes the max. Callaway's TD came the closest, but nothing felt as solid through contact as the GT2. I installed an 80g shaft in there and it's been a wonderful club. In fact, I'm so happy with it, I plan to compare my 5w to Titleist's offerings next time I'm at the shop.

I hope the land on something good here. I think this is the 3rd or 4th iteration of the Bel Air in just a couple years. I tried out the XT (carbon body, metal face insert) and it feels very nice. Reminds me of years Scotty Cameron will do the metal inserts. I would like to pickup on of the LA Golf putters, but all the fast-changing versions make me believe they are still working out kinks.

Hybrid shafts are an odd beast but generally much simpler than they seem. In order, I would try: Tensei 1k Pro AD DI Ventus Red Ventus Blue My first recommendation for hybrid shafts is always to profile match the player's irons or what ever "similar" club shaft that has a feel you can connect. In your case, the Tensei 1k Pro would be where I would look. After those, and if you are more connected with you woods' shaft feeling, the Ventus wouldn't hurt to try. Ventus Red will be closer to your other shafts. Blue is the outlier with stiffness more biased to the tip. The Tensei, AD DI, and Ventus Red all have similar profiles to your other clubs with the exception of your driver shaft's Ventus Blue. So, I'm assuming you feel a different swing with driver and the stiffer tip relationship is unique to your driver swing. All your other clubs have stiffer handle relationships. You've already tried variations of the above shafts, especially the AD DI. You are familiar with the feel of those. The 1k Pro's blueboard-type decending stiffness will jive very well between your 5i and 5w setups. Ultimately, look to your favorite club, and compare that with how you feel when you swing your hybrid. Match what is most comfortable.

I fell into this inadvertently as a byproduct of fairway adapters and all Callaway heads. Right now, my 3w, 4w, and 5w all are 42.75". It's more of that I have a few wood shafts that are all just about the same length. I've added a few grams to the 3w and 4w to get all three to the same SW and it works out just fine. Very helpful when I didn't really know what shaft was the right one for me and felt like the swing was wildly different with each incremental change. I've gotten used to the longer 5w and don't really have a need to change the length. For 7w, I play 41.5". That's a number I'm a bit firmer on and see what I want to see with that length. Lately I've shifted a bit and play 3/4w at 43", 5w at 42.25", and 7w at 41.5". I measure ungripped, so add a smidge to each once I put the grip on. Driver is 45.25". All a shorter than Callaway's/Taylormade's standard and almost exactly Titleist's standard. My irons are .25" over. The .75" length difference tends to play well with about 3-4 degrees of loft difference to gap each well enough. If I wanted with this setup, I could go 3w, 5w, and 7w in the bag with about ~17 yards between each one. Though there will still definitely be overlap between flushed shots and just passable shots. When the 3w/5w was the same length, the 5w and 3w would overlap distances, and it just came down to height, spin, and ease of use when choosing which one. Mini driver is still honing in. Another .75" at 43.75 looks to be the number though.

By blind chance, I happened upon a Cobra KingTec Utility iron and it is far and away the best driving iron I've tried. I have my 4u at 23 degrees set up to replace my 5i that is at 23 degrees, so more of a part of the iron set vs. a separate driving iron. I went slightly softer flex (LA Golf L Series S vs Bryson Series S in my long irons) with the same weight. I carry a few yards more than a well struck 5i with otherwise identical numbers. It has a very similar shaft feel as my set, and I still see within 5 yards of my carry mark on mishits. On top of that, it spins in the low 5000s with a much more consistent ~105ft apex. It is great at attacking the green from 205. Most importantly, it does so with an easy feeling swing. It's not a distance club. It is a very good iron replacement. Maybe the 2u is the low spin bullet? The face is very soft. I don't think I could tell you where I hit a mishit. Not a club head to train with but a very good club head to perform for high pressure shots. I've played the Callaway Apex UT, Ping iCrossover, and now this Cobra KingTec. The UT is by far the least forgiving of the three. The iCrossover worked very well for a while, but its lie angle began to nag me after some swing changes. Everyone fawns over the Srixon utilities, so I ought to give that a try. I also would like to compare the Titleist 505. But for now, I am blown away by how easy the Cobra is to hit. The first hole in my course is a forced layup. The KingTec U pulls through every time, first tee time of the day no matter how warm I am. Weirdly easy to hit.

I live in the Midlands of SC. When it gets windy here or I'm driving down to Hilton/Myrtle to play, I will bring a Callawy Apex UW and choose between 4i and 4u. I'll generally go lower lofted with the idea being a safe tee shot club. The Apex UW 19 is a good "all around" one, but the Apex UW 17 is hard to beat in a windy day with dry fairways. I'll also choose between 4i and 4u to see what I'm giving a more wanted trajectory. If I can keep the apex below the loblolly pines, that's perfect. That's plus or minus 85 feet. As more related to this topic, any of the lower spin 7w are a good option. Day to day, I've fallen in love with the GT2 7w. Though the Callaway TD 7w is a smidge hotter and about 20 feet lower. Taylormade's Tour 7w with the weight forward also preform the same. As stated earlier, Apex UW also fits the bill. Important to note all these "FW" heads have more of a hybrid shape to them. Once I get into that 4i/5i spot, I go back to an iron focused bag, relying on total distance over carry. The 5h solution that is discussed here is all about better height and spin to hold a green. Somewhat of the opposite consideration in windy, links golf. A 5h will still happily play, as long as it is one of the more penetrating, lower spin heads--a tricky find at 24 degrees. "Normal Bag" D, Mini, 5w, GT2 7w, 4u, 6i-LW "Windy Bag" D, 17 UW, 5w or TD 7w, 23 UW, 4u, 5i-Lw I can also go just Apex UW at 19 and 23 and keep the Mini driver, depending on if I choose 5w vs 7w. The hardest conditions are windy with wet fairways. If that's the case, I modify my setup. Generally clubbing up and gripping down an inch. If I'm feeling crazy, I bring my single length 4i. I can hit that as high as I want and it is never going over 80 feet.

A 5h will be a good choice in lieu of the 5i. I also recommend checking the loft on your 7i and 8i. It looks like the 6i is also a bit tricky to make good contact, but if you're consistently practicing, that is a great iron to leave in the bag and develop. You hit the hybrids well, but be sure to pay attention to height and spin too. You can eyeball these on the course. Spin will show itself by how many paces of rollout you see. About 3 paces of rollout with the 7i in your ZXi4 setup should be a good goal. The 5h will likely carry about 160-165, making the 6i less useful on the course. No need to feel pressured to use the 6i in tricky shots when you can rely on the more forgiving hybrid.

Hard to give an exact answer. Generally both will spin less than the Max model. The lowest spin setup will either be TD Max with weights reversed (4 in rear, 12 in front) or the TD. TD Max with standard weight setup will probably spin a little higher than base TD but have more forgiveness. I see about 400 less spin when I reverse the weights.

I finally had a chance to demo the LA Golf driver. I tried the 10/10 and 12/11 with Bryson 65s and A Series Low 60s. The demo setup was in a sim with an older Flightscope monitor that is prone to misreads. It either didn't pick up curvature that well or that didn't end up being a factor. Unfortunately, I didn't see any noticeable difference with the buldge/roll. I hope to try these outdoors with some impact tape to really get an idea of the technology. Compared to my Ai Smoke TD Max with a Bryson 65s, the Callaway was more forgiving and felt more solid on heel strikes. There were a few shots that felt very good with LA Golf that had several yards on my gamer, but the majority of shots favored Callaway. Given the opportunity to test LA Golf outside and get used to its feel, it would ultimately perform equal to what I have. The most surprising part of LA Golf is the swing weight. I kept losing the head's location in transition. We got distracted and I forgot to check swingweight, but whether it was swingweight or something else, it was very difficult for me to know where the club head was in my backswing. A heavier weight screw would likely alleviate this problem. I'm eager to tinker with setting and demo again. And I would love to see a tweaked version released soon.

I think this is really good advice when looking at a new shaft. I take it to the far end of the spectrum, using LA Golf whenever possible. I know I like their profile archetype, and the overarching "LA Golf profile" is the base of each of their shaft's design. This makes a very familiar feeling whenever I try one of their products. If I didn't love LA Golf's shafts so much, I would likely move to the KBS, Velocore, or Graphite Design family. Somewhere were I can get the same feel in my irons as in my wood shafts. Anyhoo, matching the profile of a shaft you already enjoy is a great starting point. If that doesn't work, go for one of the many blueboard family profiles and work from there.

I see the same out of my UW 21. I would also see that same carry range from a Paradym 4h. If you're looking at Callaway, I bet the 5h is going to give you ~195 carry. Are you looking to replace both your 4 and 5i?