*Graphite Design Lovers Anonymous* Tour AD UB vs IZ vs XC and NOW vs TP! ...and HD....and VR

[drza3]

19 hours ago, Wardonation said:

VF launch with a touch more spin, what GD shaft? Thank you

Oh I like this

 

UB launch with a touch less spin and left

 

thank you

[third-times-a-charm]

2 hours ago, drza3 said:

Oh I like this

 

UB launch with a touch less spin and left

 

thank you

XC

[mattman]

On 10/10/2024 at 3:43 PM, Judge Smails said:

AND.... back to the TP!! I don't know why on earth they discontinued this profile!

TP has to be the best one for my money. I'm sure I would love the UB (not a fan of the graphics though), but the TP as a cleaned up DI with a less mushy feel at impact is just perfecto.

[B.Easy]

On 10/15/2024 at 11:35 AM, third-times-a-charm said:

Welp I have another CQ inbound for driver testing lol

 

Looking for a touch more launch and square up the face a degree or two more vs my trimmed down XC.

 

Trying to decide if I want to play it at 44.5 or 45.

 

Just catching up on my favorite thread!  

 

I think shafts with nice and stable active tip sections are awesome for playing shorter.  Easy to maintain feels without adding a bunch of weight.

 

What did you end up doing?

[third-times-a-charm]

1 hour ago, B.Easy said:

 

Just catching up on my favorite thread!  

 

I think shafts with nice and stable active tip sections are awesome for playing shorter.  Easy to maintain feels without adding a bunch of weight.

 

What did you end up doing?

 

I put the CQ in the bag for now after testing @ 44.75". The 44" XC is benched for now.

[Morry]

On 10/11/2024 at 11:29 AM, Mob said:

I have the VR in my 5 wood and really like the shaft, but I agree it’s easy to hook it, which is one of my misses, so I wouldn’t want it in my driver.

IF Vr is hook prone, is cq not then?

 

thanks 

looking for 5 wood shaft

appreciated

 

[third-times-a-charm]

10 minutes ago, Morry said:

IF Vr is hook prone, is cq not then?

 

thanks 

looking for 5 wood shaft

appreciated

 

I gather on paper that it would be, but it depends on your swing. It it not for me, just gives me a bit higher launch and maintains spin the same as my speeder NX.

[phizzy30]

1 hour ago, Morry said:

IF Vr is hook prone, is cq not then?

 

thanks 

looking for 5 wood shaft

appreciated

 

I found the CQ to be more stable than the VR, however still easy to turn the ball over.  UB and HD work well in fairways, however, I found the UB to the most anti-left besides the VF.  

[Morry]

16 hours ago, phizzy30 said:

I found the CQ to be more stable than the VR, however still easy to turn the ball over.  UB and HD work well in fairways, however, I found the UB to the most anti-left besides the VF.  

Curious on 2 things if I could ask

 

- why these 2 best for fairways in your mind 

and

- what is the feel difference or differentiator between them?

 

thanks

[phizzy30]

7 hours ago, Morry said:

Curious on 2 things if I could ask

 

- why these 2 best for fairways in your mind 

and

- what is the feel difference or differentiator between them?

 

thanks

I think it has to do with feel.  I tend to do better with shafts that have little to no kick.  VR kicks like a mule while the UB and HD feel more linear.  

[third-times-a-charm]

Took the CQ out on the course today. Nice high bombs. Missed a few left which was expected because I have the adapter in +1 with the face closed - I need to play with my adapter settings some more. 

 

I MIGHT tip it .5" and put a .5" extension to get it back to length but will wait for a few more rounds on course to see.

[Mob]

I played 18 today with the HD, and drove the ball extremely well.  Better than I have done in several months.  I have our member-member Finals 18 hole match tomorrow.  Looking forward to giving the HD another go.

[drscott266]

What makes a good choice for my 5 woods shaft, I have an IZ 7 that is slightly tipped, and an untipped XC that is 3 wood length currently. Played the IZ for a season before moving on for some reason. Could revenge along with DI, save the hybrid model… love that one. 

[third-times-a-charm]

24 minutes ago, drscott266 said:

What makes a good choice for my 5 woods shaft, I have an IZ 7 that is slightly tipped, and an untipped XC that is 3 wood length currently. Played the IZ for a season before moving on for some reason. Could revenge along with DI, save the hybrid model… love that one. 

Thats not much info to go off of.

 

Pick whichever color looks pretty.

[drscott266]

11 hours ago, third-times-a-charm said:

Thats not much info to go off of.

 

Pick whichever color looks pretty.

My apologies!  I was just browsing and chimed in, you’re right. 
 

playing a UB in my driver and like the linear feel for harder swings, have a stock setup in my 3 wood which just flat out works, but 5 wood has been tricky since I don’t want to work too hard to get it up off deck. Got fit into for some reason the Ventus Blue TR, which on course just didn’t perform. The 3 wood is a Tensei blue, which has a nice kick to it but decently stiff handle, which seems to be my flavor. The IZ kinda has that, so just curious if the XC has worked out for someone similar in a fairway wood before I trimmed it to length

Edited October 20, 2024 by drscott266

[third-times-a-charm]

6 hours ago, drscott266 said:

My apologies!  I was just browsing and chimed in, you’re right. 
 

playing a UB in my driver and like the linear feel for harder swings, have a stock setup in my 3 wood which just flat out works, but 5 wood has been tricky since I don’t want to work too hard to get it up off deck. Got fit into for some reason the Ventus Blue TR, which on course just didn’t perform. The 3 wood is a Tensei blue, which has a nice kick to it but decently stiff handle, which seems to be my flavor. The IZ kinda has that, so just curious if the XC has worked out for someone similar in a fairway wood before I trimmed it to length

The XC will have the softest handle of any Tour AD shaft. Not necessarily in comparison to other brands shafts, though. The Tensei line is all very stiff handle sections.

 

Do you want more or less launch? Spin? I assume same linear feel? 

 

The IZ 7 compared to the UB will have a higher flight and more linear feel but with a one-piece bend feel. The UB has that mid kick. The XC has a softer handle and youll feel the bend more under the hands. On paper the XC will launch and spin lower than both the UB and IZ.

[Mob]

So I played the HD yesterday and today.  Both rounds were a very solid driving rounds for me.  My off center hits resulted in being just slightly off the fairway, as opposed to 10-20 yards off the fairway.  Well struck drives were as good as any other shaft I have used in the recent past.  I am very happy with the performance so far.  I still want to give the TP a fair shake, but not sure I will have time before the end of the season here in Indy.

[jeffrey r]

1 hour ago, Mob said:

So I played the HD yesterday and today.  Both rounds were a very solid driving rounds for me.  My off center hits resulted in being just slightly off the fairway, as opposed to 10-20 yards off the fairway.  Well struck drives were as good as any other shaft I have used in the recent past.  I am very happy with the performance so far.  I still want to give the TP a fair shake, but not sure I will have time before the end of the season here in Indy.

 

I played the HD yesterday. Played the TP today. Identical beautiful Fall days in NJ. The TP was better, though in fairness to the HD, I was trying a slightly heavier weight than I normally use with the HD. I have played the HD enough with my typical weight that I know it is excellent.

 

That said, the TP is really great. Feels and plays like a slightly tighter HD.

[third-times-a-charm]

I think I've settled on going CQ -> HD -> VF in my driver/3w/6w. It's kind of opposite of what you normally see where guys go low launch in driver and higher in the woods but its working really well for me. Everything is tipped per recs except the VF which is only .5" as opposed to 1" to keep the spin up since I have everything lofted all the way down and open - and about .5-.75" short from modern OEM factory lengths.

 

Going to try not to tinker and get these in play as they are but I'm a clown so we'll see.

Edited October 22, 2024 by third-times-a-charm

[Judge Smails]

I finally got an IZ and I feel like I have found my shaft home.  Feels really weak in flex when you waggle it, but not when you hit it!!

 

So far I have really enjoyed the launch I get from the IZ and just holds up to a hard swing much better than you'd think.  The TP is still my OG love, and I have it in my fairway, but the TP is just a little much for me in the driver.  

 

My testing today involved an HD and a VR as well.  I had the HD in the bag last year, but now it has fallen to last place following some swing changes.  The VR was similar to the IZ, which is not surprising based on the shaft profile.  The DI has been sold so I no longer have one to test.

Edited October 23, 2024 by Judge Smails

[Shilgy]

Gee, sure am glad I found this thread.  Just ordered up a TP from my local favorite Pro Clubs.  I was already pondering and got such a good price I had to pull the wallet out.🤩

[Morry]

3wood is my club in question 

 

Love the DI 7s in my 7w

 

concern is VR a bit hook-prone I have memories of ...so thinking UB or DI 6-s

 

any thoughts on which better?

thanks 

[Dash Boogie]

I like the VR.  It is Graphite Design's "most counterbalanced" shaft, so it pairs well in my Ping fairway woods.  I tend to gravitate towards "red" profiles.  They do tend to want to draw the ball.  I've paired the VR with a Diamana GT, a Ventus Red, a Speeder NX Blue, and a Speeder NX Violet (current driver shaft).

[Morry]

1 hour ago, Dash Boogie said:

I like the VR.  It is Graphite Design's "most counterbalanced" shaft, so it pairs well in my Ping fairway woods.  I tend to gravitate towards "red" profiles.  They do tend to want to draw the ball.  I've paired the VR with a Diamana GT, a Ventus Red, a Speeder NX Blue, and a Speeder NX Violet (current driver shaft).

most counterbalanced ....didn't know

how much more?

thanks

 

ping fws I didn't know were heavy vs other FW - driver a different story we all know

 

thanks

 

[phizzy30]

11 hours ago, Morry said:

3wood is my club in question 

 

Love the DI 7s in my 7w

 

concern is VR a bit hook-prone I have memories of ...so thinking UB or DI 6-s

 

any thoughts on which better?

thanks 

UB will launch lower and spin a bit less than DI.  I also found it to be more anti-left as well.  If you need more spin and/or higher launch, especially off the deck, you'd probably be better going off with DI  

Edited October 25, 2024 by phizzy30

[eRod v1.0]

For those of you having success with the TP or HD in driver, what model would you suggest for fairway and hybrid?

 

I'm having early success with the TP and HD. Both have seemed to tame my big hook and helped with my quick transition/early release. 

[phizzy30]

8 hours ago, eRod v1.0 said:

For those of you having success with the TP or HD in driver, what model would you suggest for fairway and hybrid?

 

I'm having early success with the TP and HD. Both have seemed to tame my big hook and helped with my quick transition/early release. 

I had HD and tested TP in driver.  I actually prefer HD in fairways as I found it slightly more stable with less kick than the TP.  I too have a quick transition and tend to get flippy with my hands.  

[bvanlieu]

If you like the TP/HD I would also give the IZ a look as well, for me the IZ is a bit easier to launch then the TP in the fairway, especially my 5w. I do like the TP in the fairway when coupled to a 3W I use more off the tee to try to hit more penetrating shots (I say try: I am not an elite ball striker, so the subtle launch differences with GD shafts that are close to each other are hard for me to see consistently 😄 )

 

Regarding hybrids the comments in this thread (go back, its worth the read) GD Hybrid shafts should be tested independently and don't necessarily reflect the feels of the wood family they are named after. 

 

 

[Dash Boogie]

On 10/25/2024 at 5:45 PM, Morry said:

most counterbalanced ....didn't know

how much more?

thanks

 

ping fws I didn't know were heavy vs other FW - driver a different story we all know

 

thanks

 

 

The ADVR is by no means a Tensei Orange or other "counterbalanced" marketed shaft, but it does have the highest balance point of the Graphite Design line of shafts.  

 

I could be wrong, but I always assumed Ping FWs were still heavier than your average FW head (maybe not as much as the Driver though).  The FW swing weight is only D1, but it is a quarter inch shorter and using the Alta counterbalanced shaft to get those numbers.

 

[Morry]

Great info on the VR - thank you - people here comment it has a left-tendency, which worries me a bit....not sure I understand why though

 

thinking of trying an TP or HD in fairway after reading this ...can't decide which 

 

if I did like the DI in fairway, which of those 2 would make the most sense?

thanks so much