Fujikura Member Trip and VeloCore Fitting Experience Live at Fujikura HQ! Follow Along Here!

[Puppetmaster]

1 hour ago, gsrjc said:

Did you take to Tysons West?

Yup. They seem really busy. 

[gsrjc]

17 minutes ago, Puppetmaster said:

Yup. They seem really busy. 

Ohhh. Hopefully won’t take too long then. 

[CactusGolf]

Played today at Griffin Gate here in Lexington today and had a wonderful day.  Played 18 in 2 hours 55 minutes.  Call me SOLD.  I have the Axioms in 5-AW and the Pros in my 52/56/60.  I figured if the rest of the set is getting reshafted, then I wanted to add a graphite to the wedges too.   

 

Ended up with a 78 (36 E / - 42 +6) with 11/13 fairways, 9/18 greens and 30 putts.  I always struggle with the back 9 there, especially on 10, 12, and 14.  Some really tough holes there!  

 

The biggest takeaway for me was: stability and predictability.  In terms of stability, I hit several balls that would normally be completely offline, but ended up just peeling off and staying in play or at least in a position where I could try and recover.  The other thing I noticed is that my launch windows were a little higher then the KBS Tours that I had played for many years.  Also noticed that the balls weren't affected as much by wind at the top of the apex, which was also a little higher than I was used to.  The interesting piece is that the distances were about 7-8 yards longer than what I was used to.  

 

Stability was a big one as mishits didn't peel off or fall as short as they normally would have.  Using my GIR from my last 10 rounds pre-change of 45%, 50% is moving in the right direction and even the greens that I did miss today (one was a bladed wedge due to having to hit a chip to a par 5 off the backside of a greenside bunker), all were just off.  The greens that I did miss, weren't that far off, at all.  In short, dispersion is significantly tighter, especially on off-center strikes with longer irons with front-to-back dispersion improvement most noticeable in the short (scoring) irons.

 

4th hole- missed green, 2 feet off green on collar- Up & Down for Par

 

5th hole- missed green, 5 feet into rough on backside due to having to punch out from trees from 167 yards out- Up & Down for Par

 

9th hole- missed green (bladed wedge on par 5 off the backside of greenside bunker)- Up & Down for Par

 

10th hole- drive in water on par 5, had 132 yards in for 4th shot and hit AW a little thin to come up short, pitched to 6 feet and Up and Down for Bogey (thrilled with this one)

 

11th hole- missed green, 2 feet on collar, putted from off green- Up and Down for Par

 

12th hole- dumpster fire, popped up 3 wood (300 yards.....150 up and 150 down), in greenside bunker on 3rd shot, couldn't get up and down, Double Bogey

 

14th hole- in fairway bunker off of tee, 8 iron missed green short right and off green by 2 feet and buried in rough missed by mower; Couldn't get up and down, made unfortunate double with 3 putt.

 

16th hole- tee shot blocked out by large tree on hole playing 350; Had to punch out under tree and caught limb, able to get up and down for bogey

 

All in all, it was a super positive day.  Balls that weren't hit on the center of the face had minimal distance lost and definitely didn't' twist as much in my hands.  Also, balls that were hit in the center of the face didn't have as much movement as did the KBS.  Balls were significantly straighter.  That took some adjustment!  Adding the graphite shafts to the irons too was such a positive too and I'll wait on posting more about those until my round on Saturday.  I want to be sure what I saw today wasn't a fluke!

 

The other thing that I noticed was that the feel was consistent, but still able to "feel" where the clubhead was during the swing.  Sometimes when I get tired, I lose the clubhead and have to work hard to get it back on line.  Didn't feel like I had to at all and certainly wasn't as tired (90+ degrees today) at the end of the round.  Mis-hits weren't as rattling, but I could still tell where on the clubface that I hit it.  My right elbow / forearm are perfectly fine.  I had been icing/Aspercreme-ing after the round because it was so sore.

 

 

Edited July 11, 2023 by CactusGolf

[CactusGolf]

On 6/30/2023 at 12:46 PM, simshawk said:

A more cost effective option for the wedges could be the Fuji Pro’s, GREAT shafts.

I'll second that statement for the wedges.  I ended up putting the Pros in my 52/56/60 and the experience was night and day compared to the stock KBS Hi Rev 115s that came in the MG2 Hi-Toes.  The feel was consistent and I didn't feel any drop/droop with the clubhead especially in the short shots and around the green.  There was a remarkable difference in my ability to get up and down in this past round vs. the stock shafts.  

 

I'm going to play again on Saturday (and probably Sunday) to see if it isn't a fluke.

[hammergolf]

54 minutes ago, CactusGolf said:

Played today at Griffin Gate here in Lexington today and had a wonderful day.  Played 18 in 2 hours 55 minutes.  Call me SOLD.  I have the Axioms in 5-AW and the Pros in my 52/56/60.  I figured if the rest of the set is getting reshafted, then I wanted to add a graphite to the wedges too.   

 

Ended up with a 78 (36 E / - 42 +6) with 11/13 fairways, 9/18 greens and 30 putts.  I always struggle with the back 9 there, especially on 10, 12, and 14.  Some really tough holes there!  

 

The biggest takeaway for me was: stability and predictability.  In terms of stability, I hit several balls that would normally be completely offline, but ended up just peeling off and staying in play or at least in a position where I could try and recover.  The other thing I noticed is that my launch windows were a little higher then the KBS Tours that I had played for many years.  Also noticed that the balls weren't affected as much by wind at the top of the apex, which was also a little higher than I was used to.  The interesting piece is that the distances were about 7-8 yards longer than what I was used to.  

 

Stability was a big one as mishits didn't peel off or fall as short as they normally would have.  Using my GIR from my last 10 rounds pre-change of 45%, 50% is moving in the right direction and even the greens that I did miss today (one was a bladed wedge due to having to hit a chip to a par 5 off the backside of a greenside bunker), all were just off.  The greens that I did miss, weren't that far off, at all.  In short, dispersion is significantly tighter, especially on off-center strikes with longer irons with front-to-back dispersion improvement most noticeable in the short (scoring) irons.

 

4th hole- missed green, 2 feet off green on collar- Up & Down for Par

 

5th hole- missed green, 5 feet into rough on backside due to having to punch out from trees from 167 yards out- Up & Down for Par

 

9th hole- missed green (bladed wedge on par 5 off the backside of greenside bunker)- Up & Down for Par

 

10th hole- drive in water on par 5, had 132 yards in for 4th shot and hit AW a little thin to come up short, pitched to 6 feet and Up and Down for Bogey (thrilled with this one)

 

11th hole- missed green, 2 feet on collar, putted from off green- Up and Down for Par

 

12th hole- dumpster fire, popped up 3 wood (300 yards.....150 up and 150 down), in greenside bunker on 3rd shot, couldn't get up and down, Double Bogey

 

14th hole- in fairway bunker off of tee, 8 iron missed green short right and off green by 2 feet and buried in rough missed by mower; Couldn't get up and down, made unfortunate double with 3 putt.

 

16th hole- tee shot blocked out by large tree on hole playing 350; Had to punch out under tree and caught limb, able to get up and down for bogey

 

All in all, it was a super positive day.  Balls that weren't hit on the center of the face had minimal distance lost and definitely didn't' twist as much in my hands.  Also, balls that were hit in the center of the face didn't have as much movement as did the KBS.  Balls were significantly straighter.  That took some adjustment!  Adding the graphite shafts to the irons too was such a positive too and I'll wait on posting more about those until my round on Saturday.  I want to be sure what I saw today wasn't a fluke!

 

The other thing that I noticed was that the feel was consistent, but still able to "feel" where the clubhead was during the swing.  Sometimes when I get tired, I lose the clubhead and have to work hard to get it back on line.  Didn't feel like I had to at all and certainly wasn't as tired (90+ degrees today) at the end of the round.  Mis-hits weren't as rattling, but I could still tell where on the clubface that I hit it.  My right elbow / forearm are perfectly fine.  I had been icing/Aspercreme-ing after the round because it was so sore.

 

 

Great review!

[simshawk]

12 hours ago, CactusGolf said:

I'll second that statement for the wedges.  I ended up putting the Pros in my 52/56/60 and the experience was night and day compared to the stock KBS Hi Rev 115s that came in the MG2 Hi-Toes.  The feel was consistent and I didn't feel any drop/droop with the clubhead especially in the short shots and around the green.  There was a remarkable difference in my ability to get up and down in this past round vs. the stock shafts.  

 

I'm going to play again on Saturday (and probably Sunday) to see if it isn't a fluke.

Thought you’d like them, great shaft.   How would you compare the feel and performance to the Axioms?

[CactusGolf]

3 hours ago, simshawk said:

Thought you’d like them, great shaft.   How would you compare the feel and performance to the Axioms?

They felt very similar, but the Axioms felt a little more "active" than the Pros and I felt that I could feel the head more with the Axioms than the Pros, if that makes sense.  I'm assuming that is coming down to a little heavier weight (115S vs. 105S).

 

And after thinking about it some more too after the round, I can think of two shots that I didn't hit in the middle of the face (2nd shot with 7-iron to the par 5 1st that ended up pin high right of the green and the bunker shot on 14 from the fairway (really, really weird lie)).  Everything else felt like it was easier to find the middle of the face.

 

So, now the problem comes in for my DHY.  What shaft to put in there?  It currently has a stock 75 gram Diamana Limited shaft in it, but I'm noticing that the mishits "feel" like they are blocked way right with an open clubface.

Edited July 11, 2023 by CactusGolf

[eric61]

I now have my Fujikura shafts! The Axioms are being installed in my i230s tomorrow … but I couldn’t wait to run to Golf Galaxy and rent the Trackman to see how the driver shaft performed. 

 

A little about me:

 

Handicap is currently 11.7, so I hopefully represent a segment of GolfWRX for whom a great round is breaking 80 rather than those regularly breaking par. You will absolutely see inconsistency in my delivery in these numbers! 

 

Average swing speed for me is 100-101 with driver and 87ish with 7 iron. (You’d think that’s stiff flex territory, but read on and you’ll see that didn’t turn out to be the case.) Short game and putting are typically my strengths. I’m usually consistent with my driver and get about 265 off the tee, carry and roll, measured on-course. However, I have to admit I’ve been going through a rough stretch with poor dispersion lately -- so this fitting and experience came at a perfect time.

 

I’m very sensitive to shafts (much more so than club heads) and love the feel of mid-soft “blue” profiles. They help me slow down my transition and avoid nasty smother-hooks. However, if a shaft is too soft, I react by holding off on my release and slicing it … so it’s a tricky balance. 

 

I’ve been working on some swing changes; I have a comment about that here. In the past, I’ve been a +6 AoA guy who is fit into low-low shafts to keep my peak height in the low 100s. (I was fitted into a Ventus TR Black at Club Champion late last year.) But as a result of those swing changes, my AoA has come down a few degrees. I’m +2 to +3 AoA lately and I’m not hitting the ball to the moon as much. That means those “blue” profiles I love the feel of are in play for me now.

 

I’m a lefty, which I’ll remind you about occasionally in this post because it’s relevant to the data you’re seeing -- you have to invert the numbers; a negative club path actually means an in-to-out swing for me and so on.

 

The shaft Fujikura fitted me into:

 

Ventus TR Blue 6X, playing at 45” in my Ping G430 LST 9 degree driver head.

 

The fitting:

 

I was fitted by Fujikura’s Andrew Hoang, and then got to play 18 holes with Andrew the next day — ultimately it turned into something of a two-day fitting. 

 

In Carlsbad, I was swinging the driver in my typical range of 99-102ish mph on GCQuad. As I mentioned, driver has been a strength of mine, but I do sometimes go through stretches of pull-hooks … and then once I see that, I react on the course by holding off my release and slicing it. I came in with the Ping Tour 2.0 Black 65S. 

 

Andrew had me hit a Ventus TR Blue 6S and Ventus TR Red 6S. It was pretty immediately clear the TR Blue would be the shaft for me. I’ve always struggled with “red” profiles, with stiffer handles and softer tips. With the TR Red, I felt like I just had no idea where the club head was. I react much better to mid-soft shafts, and the TR Blue is very stable in the handle and tip with what feels to me like a nice upper-mid kick. 

 

In the fitting bay, I was seeing an increase of 5 mph ball speed! 147ish with my previous gamer up into the low 150s. It seemed too good to be true, but it was right there in the numbers in front of me. Most of the fitting was actually spent tweaking settings on the driver (Andrew had me go flat in order to move my start line left — I’m a lefty — and we talked about replacing the head weight with a 19g weight.) 

 

One thing we didn’t really explore was different flexes. At my speed, on paper I fall pretty clearly into the “stiff” category.

 

However, on the course the next day, when they sent us out with demos of the shafts we were fitted into, I was struggling badly with driver. It was mostly just me putting bad swings on it, but I was also finding that the feel in the TR Blue was pretty soft compared to the Ping Tour 2.0 Black that I’d been using. 

 

Andrew watched my swings and talked it through with me, and recommended I go with the TR Blue 6X instead. 

 

I’m so glad he made that recommendation, because it only took me a few swings to realize he was right. And it’s a good reminder that swing speed isn’t the only factor in determining shaft flex. Somebody like me, who wants to feel a little bit of a hinge in the middle of the shaft but loses control if it feels too soft, might need something different than what my swing speed would seem to indicate on paper. 

 

Now on to the numbers…

 

Previous gamer: Ping Tour 2.0 Black 65S at 45.25”

 

Here are the drives I started off with, to get the numbers on my previous gamer. 13 launch, 2400 spin (including a couple spinny ones -- I didn’t really delete bad shots in any of this data; I’m a mid-handicap hacker and want to post numbers that represent my real game), 145 ball speed, 237 carry, rolling out to 264.

 

I would say these numbers look true to what I see on the golf course. I typically get about 265 yards total off the tee. As long as the conditions are decent, that’s pretty consistently been my number this year. 

 

Remember, I’m a lefty, so a negative club path is actually in-to-out, etc.

 

 

Here’s the dispersion. You’ll see my tendency to smother the ball low and right more often than I miss left. 

 

 

And here’s the trajectory. Like I mentioned, probably too low, thanks to the swing changes I’ve made this year. 

 

 

New shaft: Ventus TR Blue 6X at 45”

 

No, the miracle, unreasonable-to-expect 5 mph ball speed jump that I’d seen in Carlsbad didn’t immediately materialize. But these numbers are better across the board!

 

Ball speed ticked up to 146.7. Launch is up to 14, which helped carry get up to nearly 245 with it rolling out to 272. And spin dropped to 2200. For me, and for where my swing and game are at right now, these numbers are excellent.

 

I noticed I was closing the face a little slower with this shaft, so I shifted the sliding weight into the heel and it tightened things up nicely. 

 

Again, remember, I’m a lefty, so a negative club path is actually in-to-out, etc.

 

 

Here’s the dispersion. This is much more balanced. Some misses right and left, and tighter overall. This is the sort of thing that gives me confidence that after I fully dial this driver in, I can just aim down the middle and rip it, rather than trying to protect against a miss. 

 

 

And here’s the trajectory. A little higher! No surprise here, given the launch angle ticked up and the carry ticked up. 

 

 

Overall, I’m thrilled with these numbers. Seven extra yards of carry and better dispersion — that’s a really nice improvement in my book. 

 

But wait… another Fujikura product has entered the chat?

 

What? 

 

It’s a Speeder NX Blue 60X. 

 

Let me explain. 

 

Our fitting in Carlsbad was focused on the Ventus product line. But Spencer gave us the full download on the Speeder NX line with its “variable torque core” technology too, and I was curious about the Speeder NX Blue. So when Callaway was running that recent 2X trade-in bonus promotion … I pulled the trigger, traded in an old iron set that they were valuing at $500 (so double that, $1,000) for a Paradym with a Speeder NX Blue 60X ($999.99 total). I did it in part because I knew I could return the Paradym for a CallawayGolf.com gift card, which I’d put toward something from the new Apex line or whatever later this year. 

 

I ordered it minus 0.5”, and … well, I’ll just let the numbers speak for themselves. Paradym standard driver, 9 degrees turn down to 8 degrees, with the Speeder NX Blue 60X playing at 45.25”. No deletions here -- these were my first few swings with this club: 

 

 

Keep in mind when looking at the launch angles that I’m testing this at one degree less loft than the G430 LST with the Ventus TR Blue. To be honest, I turned down the loft not for performance reasons but because I just thought the Paradym looked closed at 9 degrees and liked the way it sat at address much better at 8. 

 

I also want to point out the jump in club speed. I did not feel like I was swinging harder -- it just happened. Could have something to do with head weight, though I’ve tested that in the past and have found that within a few grams, I don’t necessarily gain or lose club speed because of head weight. I suspect it has much more to do with the shaft profile. I’ve also seen significant jumps in club speed in the past when testing the Diamana BF and the Graphite Design Tour AD HD, which are in the same sort of ballpark as the Speeder NX.

 

Here’s the dispersion: 

 

 

And here’s the trajectory: 

 

 

That’s it for the numbers. 

 

What am I going to do? Well, the Tour 2.0 Black is relegated to the closet. I’m going to spend some time dialing in the Ventus TR Blue 6X — working through different options on the Ping loft sleeve, dropping down to a 19g weight, moving the sliding weight around. 

 

I will follow up, after doing some Axiom testing, with a detailed post on how that dialing-in project goes and where I ultimately end up with the TR Blue 6X. 

But that Speeder NX … wow. Fujikura has a heck of a product lineup between the Ventus shafts and the Speeder shafts. 

 

In terms of feel, the Ventus TR Blue has a somewhat stout handle, but a very smooth mid-section, and then a stout, stiff tip section. The Speeder NX feels pretty similar toward the handle, but there’s a longer, smooth mid-section where you feel a lot of play. And then the kick absolutely explodes -- every strike feels like you’ve hit a home run -- whereas the TR Blue still feels very powerful, but noticeably more stable. 

 

They’re both mid-soft, but the TR Blue’s softer section feels to me like it’s more in the upper-mid, whereas the explosive kick-point of the Speeder NX feels to me like it’s in the mid/lower-mid. I was really surprised and impressed to see the spin didn’t jump up with the Speeder NX. I thought it would, but part of the VTC technology is reducing torque in the handle and tip without sacrificing feel, and the numbers suggest to me that those claims about the tech in the Speeder NX lineup are absolutely legit. 

 

I might ultimately wind up buying a Speeder NX for my Ping G430 LST, because those numbers and feel blew me away. But for now, I’m really excited about the gains the Ventus TR Blue gave me, and I’m looking forward to fully dialing that in with the right adapter, 22g vs. 19g weight and sliding weight settings and seeing exactly how much it can give me. I’ve already picked up a nice amount of carry distance and improved my dispersion -- thank you, @Fujikura Golf!

[hammergolf]

34 minutes ago, eric61 said:

I now have my Fujikura shafts! The Axioms are being installed in my i230s tomorrow … but I couldn’t wait to run to Golf Galaxy and rent the Trackman to see how the driver shaft performed. 

 

A little about me:

 

Handicap is currently 11.7, so I hopefully represent a segment of GolfWRX for whom a great round is breaking 80 rather than those regularly breaking par. You will absolutely see inconsistency in my delivery in these numbers! 

 

Average swing speed for me is 100-101 with driver and 87ish with 7 iron. (You’d think that’s stiff flex territory, but read on and you’ll see that didn’t turn out to be the case.) Short game and putting are typically my strengths. I’m usually consistent with my driver and get about 265 off the tee, carry and roll, measured on-course. However, I have to admit I’ve been going through a rough stretch with poor dispersion lately -- so this fitting and experience came at a perfect time.

 

I’m very sensitive to shafts (much more so than club heads) and love the feel of mid-soft “blue” profiles. They help me slow down my transition and avoid nasty smother-hooks. However, if a shaft is too soft, I react by holding off on my release and slicing it … so it’s a tricky balance. 

 

I’ve been working on some swing changes; I have a comment about that here. In the past, I’ve been a +6 AoA guy who is fit into low-low shafts to keep my peak height in the low 100s. (I was fitted into a Ventus TR Black at Club Champion late last year.) But as a result of those swing changes, my AoA has come down a few degrees. I’m +2 to +3 AoA lately and I’m not hitting the ball to the moon as much. That means those “blue” profiles I love the feel of are in play for me now.

 

I’m a lefty, which I’ll remind you about occasionally in this post because it’s relevant to the data you’re seeing -- you have to invert the numbers; a negative club path actually means an in-to-out swing for me and so on.

 

The shaft Fujikura fitted me into:

 

Ventus TR Blue 6X, playing at 45” in my Ping G430 LST 9 degree driver head.

 

The fitting:

 

I was fitted by Fujikura’s Andrew Hoang, and then got to play 18 holes with Andrew the next day — ultimately it turned into something of a two-day fitting. 

 

In Carlsbad, I was swinging the driver in my typical range of 99-102ish mph on GCQuad. As I mentioned, driver has been a strength of mine, but I do sometimes go through stretches of pull-hooks … and then once I see that, I react on the course by holding off my release and slicing it. I came in with the Ping Tour 2.0 Black 65S. 

 

Andrew had me hit a Ventus TR Blue 6S and Ventus TR Red 6S. It was pretty immediately clear the TR Blue would be the shaft for me. I’ve always struggled with “red” profiles, with stiffer handles and softer tips. With the TR Red, I felt like I just had no idea where the club head was. I react much better to mid-soft shafts, and the TR Blue is very stable in the handle and tip with what feels to me like a nice upper-mid kick. 

 

In the fitting bay, I was seeing an increase of 5 mph ball speed! 147ish with my previous gamer up into the low 150s. It seemed too good to be true, but it was right there in the numbers in front of me. Most of the fitting was actually spent tweaking settings on the driver (Andrew had me go flat in order to move my start line left — I’m a lefty — and we talked about replacing the head weight with a 19g weight.) 

 

One thing we didn’t really explore was different flexes. At my speed, on paper I fall pretty clearly into the “stiff” category.

 

However, on the course the next day, when they sent us out with demos of the shafts we were fitted into, I was struggling badly with driver. It was mostly just me putting bad swings on it, but I was also finding that the feel in the TR Blue was pretty soft compared to the Ping Tour 2.0 Black that I’d been using. 

 

Andrew watched my swings and talked it through with me, and recommended I go with the TR Blue 6X instead. 

 

I’m so glad he made that recommendation, because it only took me a few swings to realize he was right. And it’s a good reminder that swing speed isn’t the only factor in determining shaft flex. Somebody like me, who wants to feel a little bit of a hinge in the middle of the shaft but loses control if it feels too soft, might need something different than what my swing speed would seem to indicate on paper. 

 

Now on to the numbers…

 

Previous gamer: Ping Tour 2.0 Black 65S at 45.25”

 

Here are the drives I started off with, to get the numbers on my previous gamer. 13 launch, 2400 spin (including a couple spinny ones -- I didn’t really delete bad shots in any of this data; I’m a mid-handicap hacker and want to post numbers that represent my real game), 145 ball speed, 237 carry, rolling out to 264.

 

I would say these numbers look true to what I see on the golf course. I typically get about 265 yards total off the tee. As long as the conditions are decent, that’s pretty consistently been my number this year. 

 

Remember, I’m a lefty, so a negative club path is actually in-to-out, etc.

 

 

Here’s the dispersion. You’ll see my tendency to smother the ball low and right more often than I miss left. 

 

 

And here’s the trajectory. Like I mentioned, probably too low, thanks to the swing changes I’ve made this year. 

 

 

New shaft: Ventus TR Blue 6X at 45”

 

No, the miracle, unreasonable-to-expect 5 mph ball speed jump that I’d seen in Carlsbad didn’t immediately materialize. But these numbers are better across the board!

 

Ball speed ticked up to 146.7. Launch is up to 14, which helped carry get up to nearly 245 with it rolling out to 272. And spin dropped to 2200. For me, and for where my swing and game are at right now, these numbers are excellent.

 

I noticed I was closing the face a little slower with this shaft, so I shifted the sliding weight into the heel and it tightened things up nicely. 

 

Again, remember, I’m a lefty, so a negative club path is actually in-to-out, etc.

 

 

Here’s the dispersion. This is much more balanced. Some misses right and left, and tighter overall. This is the sort of thing that gives me confidence that after I fully dial this driver in, I can just aim down the middle and rip it, rather than trying to protect against a miss. 

 

 

And here’s the trajectory. A little higher! No surprise here, given the launch angle ticked up and the carry ticked up. 

 

 

Overall, I’m thrilled with these numbers. Seven extra yards of carry and better dispersion — that’s a really nice improvement in my book. 

 

But wait… another Fujikura product has entered the chat?

 

What? 

 

It’s a Speeder NX Blue 60X. 

 

Let me explain. 

 

Our fitting in Carlsbad was focused on the Ventus product line. But Spencer gave us the full download on the Speeder NX line with its “variable torque core” technology too, and I was curious about the Speeder NX Blue. So when Callaway was running that recent 2X trade-in bonus promotion … I pulled the trigger, traded in an old iron set that they were valuing at $500 (so double that, $1,000) for a Paradym with a Speeder NX Blue 60X ($999.99 total). I did it in part because I knew I could return the Paradym for a CallawayGolf.com gift card, which I’d put toward something from the new Apex line or whatever later this year. 

 

I ordered it minus 0.5”, and … well, I’ll just let the numbers speak for themselves. Paradym standard driver, 9 degrees turn down to 8 degrees, with the Speeder NX Blue 60X playing at 45.25”. No deletions here -- these were my first few swings with this club: 

 

 

Keep in mind when looking at the launch angles that I’m testing this at one degree less loft than the G430 LST with the Ventus TR Blue. To be honest, I turned down the loft not for performance reasons but because I just thought the Paradym looked closed at 9 degrees and liked the way it sat at address much better at 8. 

 

I also want to point out the jump in club speed. I did not feel like I was swinging harder -- it just happened. Could have something to do with head weight, though I’ve tested that in the past and have found that within a few grams, I don’t necessarily gain or lose club speed because of head weight. I suspect it has much more to do with the shaft profile. I’ve also seen significant jumps in club speed in the past when testing the Diamana BF and the Graphite Design Tour AD HD, which are in the same sort of ballpark as the Speeder NX.

 

Here’s the dispersion: 

 

 

And here’s the trajectory: 

 

 

That’s it for the numbers. 

 

What am I going to do? Well, the Tour 2.0 Black is relegated to the closet. I’m going to spend some time dialing in the Ventus TR Blue 6X — working through different options on the Ping loft sleeve, dropping down to a 19g weight, moving the sliding weight around. 

 

I will follow up, after doing some Axiom testing, with a detailed post on how that dialing-in project goes and where I ultimately end up with the TR Blue 6X. 

But that Speeder NX … wow. Fujikura has a heck of a product lineup between the Ventus shafts and the Speeder shafts. 

 

In terms of feel, the Ventus TR Blue has a somewhat stout handle, but a very smooth mid-section, and then a stout, stiff tip section. The Speeder NX feels pretty similar toward the handle, but there’s a longer, smooth mid-section where you feel a lot of play. And then the kick absolutely explodes -- every strike feels like you’ve hit a home run -- whereas the TR Blue still feels very powerful, but noticeably more stable. 

 

They’re both mid-soft, but the TR Blue’s softer section feels to me like it’s more in the upper-mid, whereas the explosive kick-point of the Speeder NX feels to me like it’s in the mid/lower-mid. I was really surprised and impressed to see the spin didn’t jump up with the Speeder NX. I thought it would, but part of the VTC technology is reducing torque in the handle and tip without sacrificing feel, and the numbers suggest to me that those claims about the tech in the Speeder NX lineup are absolutely legit. 

 

I might ultimately wind up buying a Speeder NX for my Ping G430 LST, because those numbers and feel blew me away. But for now, I’m really excited about the gains the Ventus TR Blue gave me, and I’m looking forward to fully dialing that in with the right adapter, 22g vs. 19g weight and sliding weight settings and seeing exactly how much it can give me. I’ve already picked up a nice amount of carry distance and improved my dispersion -- thank you, @Fujikura Golf!

You snuck in a wildcard on us….. Great review, I’ve always been a Speeder guy, but have been thrilled with Ventus so far. 

[eric61]

6 hours ago, eric61 said:

I now have my Fujikura shafts! The Axioms are being installed in my i230s tomorrow … but I couldn’t wait to run to Golf Galaxy and rent the Trackman to see how the driver shaft performed. 

 

A little about me:

 

Handicap is currently 11.7, so I hopefully represent a segment of GolfWRX for whom a great round is breaking 80 rather than those regularly breaking par. You will absolutely see inconsistency in my delivery in these numbers! 

 

Average swing speed for me is 100-101 with driver and 87ish with 7 iron. (You’d think that’s stiff flex territory, but read on and you’ll see that didn’t turn out to be the case.) Short game and putting are typically my strengths. I’m usually consistent with my driver and get about 265 off the tee, carry and roll, measured on-course. However, I have to admit I’ve been going through a rough stretch with poor dispersion lately -- so this fitting and experience came at a perfect time.

 

I’m very sensitive to shafts (much more so than club heads) and love the feel of mid-soft “blue” profiles. They help me slow down my transition and avoid nasty smother-hooks. However, if a shaft is too soft, I react by holding off on my release and slicing it … so it’s a tricky balance. 

 

I’ve been working on some swing changes; I have a comment about that here. In the past, I’ve been a +6 AoA guy who is fit into low-low shafts to keep my peak height in the low 100s. (I was fitted into a Ventus TR Black at Club Champion late last year.) But as a result of those swing changes, my AoA has come down a few degrees. I’m +2 to +3 AoA lately and I’m not hitting the ball to the moon as much. That means those “blue” profiles I love the feel of are in play for me now.

 

I’m a lefty, which I’ll remind you about occasionally in this post because it’s relevant to the data you’re seeing -- you have to invert the numbers; a negative club path actually means an in-to-out swing for me and so on.

 

The shaft Fujikura fitted me into:

 

Ventus TR Blue 6X, playing at 45” in my Ping G430 LST 9 degree driver head.

 

The fitting:

 

I was fitted by Fujikura’s Andrew Hoang, and then got to play 18 holes with Andrew the next day — ultimately it turned into something of a two-day fitting. 

 

In Carlsbad, I was swinging the driver in my typical range of 99-102ish mph on GCQuad. As I mentioned, driver has been a strength of mine, but I do sometimes go through stretches of pull-hooks … and then once I see that, I react on the course by holding off my release and slicing it. I came in with the Ping Tour 2.0 Black 65S. 

 

Andrew had me hit a Ventus TR Blue 6S and Ventus TR Red 6S. It was pretty immediately clear the TR Blue would be the shaft for me. I’ve always struggled with “red” profiles, with stiffer handles and softer tips. With the TR Red, I felt like I just had no idea where the club head was. I react much better to mid-soft shafts, and the TR Blue is very stable in the handle and tip with what feels to me like a nice upper-mid kick. 

 

In the fitting bay, I was seeing an increase of 5 mph ball speed! 147ish with my previous gamer up into the low 150s. It seemed too good to be true, but it was right there in the numbers in front of me. Most of the fitting was actually spent tweaking settings on the driver (Andrew had me go flat in order to move my start line left — I’m a lefty — and we talked about replacing the head weight with a 19g weight.) 

 

One thing we didn’t really explore was different flexes. At my speed, on paper I fall pretty clearly into the “stiff” category.

 

However, on the course the next day, when they sent us out with demos of the shafts we were fitted into, I was struggling badly with driver. It was mostly just me putting bad swings on it, but I was also finding that the feel in the TR Blue was pretty soft compared to the Ping Tour 2.0 Black that I’d been using. 

 

Andrew watched my swings and talked it through with me, and recommended I go with the TR Blue 6X instead. 

 

I’m so glad he made that recommendation, because it only took me a few swings to realize he was right. And it’s a good reminder that swing speed isn’t the only factor in determining shaft flex. Somebody like me, who wants to feel a little bit of a hinge in the middle of the shaft but loses control if it feels too soft, might need something different than what my swing speed would seem to indicate on paper. 

 

Now on to the numbers…

 

Previous gamer: Ping Tour 2.0 Black 65S at 45.25”

 

Here are the drives I started off with, to get the numbers on my previous gamer. 13 launch, 2400 spin (including a couple spinny ones -- I didn’t really delete bad shots in any of this data; I’m a mid-handicap hacker and want to post numbers that represent my real game), 145 ball speed, 237 carry, rolling out to 264.

 

I would say these numbers look true to what I see on the golf course. I typically get about 265 yards total off the tee. As long as the conditions are decent, that’s pretty consistently been my number this year. 

 

Remember, I’m a lefty, so a negative club path is actually in-to-out, etc.

 

 

Here’s the dispersion. You’ll see my tendency to smother the ball low and right more often than I miss left. 

 

 

And here’s the trajectory. Like I mentioned, probably too low, thanks to the swing changes I’ve made this year. 

 

 

New shaft: Ventus TR Blue 6X at 45”

 

No, the miracle, unreasonable-to-expect 5 mph ball speed jump that I’d seen in Carlsbad didn’t immediately materialize. But these numbers are better across the board!

 

Ball speed ticked up to 146.7. Launch is up to 14, which helped carry get up to nearly 245 with it rolling out to 272. And spin dropped to 2200. For me, and for where my swing and game are at right now, these numbers are excellent.

 

I noticed I was closing the face a little slower with this shaft, so I shifted the sliding weight into the heel and it tightened things up nicely. 

 

Again, remember, I’m a lefty, so a negative club path is actually in-to-out, etc.

 

 

Here’s the dispersion. This is much more balanced. Some misses right and left, and tighter overall. This is the sort of thing that gives me confidence that after I fully dial this driver in, I can just aim down the middle and rip it, rather than trying to protect against a miss. 

 

 

And here’s the trajectory. A little higher! No surprise here, given the launch angle ticked up and the carry ticked up. 

 

 

Overall, I’m thrilled with these numbers. Seven extra yards of carry and better dispersion — that’s a really nice improvement in my book. 

 

But wait… another Fujikura product has entered the chat?

 

What? 

 

It’s a Speeder NX Blue 60X. 

 

Let me explain. 

 

Our fitting in Carlsbad was focused on the Ventus product line. But Spencer gave us the full download on the Speeder NX line with its “variable torque core” technology too, and I was curious about the Speeder NX Blue. So when Callaway was running that recent 2X trade-in bonus promotion … I pulled the trigger, traded in an old iron set that they were valuing at $500 (so double that, $1,000) for a Paradym with a Speeder NX Blue 60X ($999.99 total). I did it in part because I knew I could return the Paradym for a CallawayGolf.com gift card, which I’d put toward something from the new Apex line or whatever later this year. 

 

I ordered it minus 0.5”, and … well, I’ll just let the numbers speak for themselves. Paradym standard driver, 9 degrees turn down to 8 degrees, with the Speeder NX Blue 60X playing at 45.25”. No deletions here -- these were my first few swings with this club: 

 

 

Keep in mind when looking at the launch angles that I’m testing this at one degree less loft than the G430 LST with the Ventus TR Blue. To be honest, I turned down the loft not for performance reasons but because I just thought the Paradym looked closed at 9 degrees and liked the way it sat at address much better at 8. 

 

I also want to point out the jump in club speed. I did not feel like I was swinging harder -- it just happened. Could have something to do with head weight, though I’ve tested that in the past and have found that within a few grams, I don’t necessarily gain or lose club speed because of head weight. I suspect it has much more to do with the shaft profile. I’ve also seen significant jumps in club speed in the past when testing the Diamana BF and the Graphite Design Tour AD HD, which are in the same sort of ballpark as the Speeder NX.

 

Here’s the dispersion: 

 

 

And here’s the trajectory: 

 

 

That’s it for the numbers. 

 

What am I going to do? Well, the Tour 2.0 Black is relegated to the closet. I’m going to spend some time dialing in the Ventus TR Blue 6X — working through different options on the Ping loft sleeve, dropping down to a 19g weight, moving the sliding weight around. 

 

I will follow up, after doing some Axiom testing, with a detailed post on how that dialing-in project goes and where I ultimately end up with the TR Blue 6X. 

But that Speeder NX … wow. Fujikura has a heck of a product lineup between the Ventus shafts and the Speeder shafts. 

 

In terms of feel, the Ventus TR Blue has a somewhat stout handle, but a very smooth mid-section, and then a stout, stiff tip section. The Speeder NX feels pretty similar toward the handle, but there’s a longer, smooth mid-section where you feel a lot of play. And then the kick absolutely explodes -- every strike feels like you’ve hit a home run -- whereas the TR Blue still feels very powerful, but noticeably more stable. 

 

They’re both mid-soft, but the TR Blue’s softer section feels to me like it’s more in the upper-mid, whereas the explosive kick-point of the Speeder NX feels to me like it’s in the mid/lower-mid. I was really surprised and impressed to see the spin didn’t jump up with the Speeder NX. I thought it would, but part of the VTC technology is reducing torque in the handle and tip without sacrificing feel, and the numbers suggest to me that those claims about the tech in the Speeder NX lineup are absolutely legit. 

 

I might ultimately wind up buying a Speeder NX for my Ping G430 LST, because those numbers and feel blew me away. But for now, I’m really excited about the gains the Ventus TR Blue gave me, and I’m looking forward to fully dialing that in with the right adapter, 22g vs. 19g weight and sliding weight settings and seeing exactly how much it can give me. I’ve already picked up a nice amount of carry distance and improved my dispersion -- thank you, @Fujikura Golf!

 

I'll share a quick mini-update on the driver shafts, and Ventus TR Blue vs. Speeder NX, after a long driving range session tonight. 

 

I noted in my last post that I've been working with a coach and making some swing changes, and that my driver dispersion has been a bit all over the place lately. I had a lightbulb moment -- I won't bore you with the details but it's about my trail elbow getting out of whack, something I'd struggled with in the past, then fixed, and then recently started struggling with again. I hit 300 balls tonight, two XL buckets. The first 200 were video-recording myself from different angles, working on fixing the problem I'd figured out. I finally felt like I'd really worked it out and was in a better place swing-wise. The last 100 were all driver, because I wanted to work on tweaking the Ping G430 LST settings to get the Ventus TR Blue dialed in and see if the Speeder NX Blue was still giving me the magic I saw on Trackman earlier. 

 

Long story short -- with my driver swing much more dialed in, the Ventus TR Blue was super, super consistent. Just long, straight bullets right down the middle. I messed around for quite a while with different settings and found the best one for me was just the flat, standard loft setting, with the sliding weight in the middle. I also experimented with the stock 22g weight vs. a 19g weight. They're range balls and no Top Tracer or anything, so it's hard to tell on speed, but I did like the feel and balance with the 19g better, and was getting the best results with it. I'll check the swing weight with the 19g later on and report back. But, I've gotta tip my hat to Andrew, Fujikura's fitter, once again -- he's the one that suggested the 19g weight, and as usual, he was right. 

 

The Paradym with the Speeder NX, meanwhile, was just as long, but wanted to drift right on me (and I'm a lefty, so those are turning over, which is really not what I want to see). 

 

I was bouncing back and forth every few swings so that I made sure I wasn't just getting locked in on one thing and unable to adjust -- the Ventus TR Blue 6X in the Ping G430 LST was long and straight every time I piced it up; the Speeder NX in the Paradym was long but wanted to turn over every time I hit it. 

 

I do want to keep testing and sharing my findings, but if I was playing a round tomorrow (which I'm not, because my i230s with Axiom 105X shafts are getting built!), no question at all it would be the Ventus TR Blue 6X in the Ping G430 LST with the sliding weight in the center at 19g that's in my bag. 

[Puppetmaster]

On 7/11/2023 at 1:27 PM, CactusGolf said:

So, now the problem comes in for my DHY.  What shaft to put in there?  It currently has a stock 75 gram Diamana Limited shaft in it, but I'm noticing that the mishits "feel" like they are blocked way right with an open clubface.

 

Axiom 75 or even 105? I'm tempted to get another matching 105 to try in a utility iron or even a hybrid. 

[Puppetmaster]

Fanastic write ups @eric61 very cool to see the improvement in the driver data. Impressive gains and that NX certainly has potential as well. 

 

I don't know how you hit 300 balls and still sustained the speed though lol. I was done after 45 mins on the Trackman, rushing to get as many shots in within the hour I had it reserved. But lesson learned, next time I'll book 2 hours so I can take my time.  

 

[Puppetmaster]

Quick update from me - irons are still at the installer, not sure what is happening other than them being completely backlogged. It. Is. Killing. Me. 

 

Driver is still an adjustment, but heading in the right direction. My last round was at a short, tree-lined course with essentially all dogleg holes, so lots of irons off the tee. The few holes I hit driver I definitely felt like I was getting "easy distance" comparable to the old Speeder VC TS, just without having to go after it (I have the Ventus Red). Of course, the one drive I smashed went right through a dogleg. 

 

Interestingly enough, the Red is supposed to be softer in the tip, but I don't feel like it's launching that much higher. I've even turned the loft UP on the King LTD to 10* vs the 9* I've been playing this entire time. The last Trackman session yielded only a 1* higher LA for the Red vs the Speeder, but slightly higher ballspeeds beause of the ease of loading for my swing.  

Edited July 14, 2023 by Puppetmaster

[hammergolf]

1 hour ago, Puppetmaster said:

Quick update from me - irons are still at the installer, not sure what is happening other than them being completely backlogged. It. Is. Killing. Me. 

 

Driver is still an adjustment, but heading in the right direction. My last round was at a short, tree-lined course with essentially all dogleg holes, so lots of irons off the tee. The few holes I hit driver I definitely felt like I was getting "easy distance" comparable to the old Speeder VC TS, just without having to go after it (I have the Ventus Red). Of course, the one drive I smashed went right through a dogleg. 

 

Interestingly enough, the Red is supposed to be softer in the tip, but I don't feel like it's launching that much higher. I've even turned the loft UP on the King LTD to 10* vs the 9* I've been playing this entire time. The last Trackman session yielded only a 1* higher LA for the Red vs the Speeder, but slightly higher ballspeeds beause of the ease of loading for my swing.  

Good stuff!

[eric61]

AXIOM iron shafts: Initial review

 

My Axiom 105X shafts are installed in my i230s, 4-UW, and ready to play! 

 

First of all: HUGE shout-out to Tony Dirks, the general manager at the PGA Tour Superstore in Downers Grove, Illinois. My Axioms arrived on Thursday, and @Fujikura Golf had arranged to have my local PGA SS, the closest charter dealer, handle the build. Tony had me bring them in Friday morning and turned the whole build around in 24 hours. Very professional job -- everything looks great, and he hit my build specs of D4 going up to D5 in the wedges. Tony also regripped the rest of my clubs for free, so I'm now playing the same new CP2 Wraps on everything. Great guy, super easy to communicate with and excellent work. 

 

I picked them up today at 11 a.m. The forecast calls for thunderstorms all afternoon and evening, so I headed to Golf Galaxy to rent some Trackman time and test these out. 

 

An important piece of context for what you'll see in my numbers: I'm absolutely gassed today. If you read my driver post, you know I rented an hour on the Trackman and then went and hit 300 range balls on Thursday. I played a round yesterday (busted the MP-30s out since Tony had my i230s) and then did a bunch of housework last night. I debated whether it was really appropriate to post these numbers and comparisons, considering my speed was way down today, or if I should give it a day or two and go back when I'm feeling better and can get some data at normal speed. But I found some really interesting stuff I wanted to share with everybody, so I decided to go ahead. 

 

Recapping the fitting: Andrew Hoang at Fujikura fitted me into Axiom 105X shafts. I was surprised -- I was swinging 7 iron at 87-88 mph that day and am typically a stiff flex guy. But Andrew pointed out that it looked like I was losing the club head a little in the 105S, and it looked like I had much better control when he shifted me into the 105X. The numbers didn't lie: the dispersion data backed up Andrew's observation.

 

Actually, second-place for me was the 125X. I really fell in love with the 125X they had installed in a T100 7 iron as a demo. It's really not at all about the stiffness; it's about the weight -- I just seem to do well with heavier iron shafts. Andrew watched me hit that demo on course and said the 125X would work for me, too. We debated back and forth, but ultimately decided the 125X might be too much to handle in the long irons and decided to just go 105X throughout and have them built to a slightly heavier than standard swing weight. 

 

How the Axioms feel: They're great. Setting aside price, graphite vs. steel, all of that -- the Axioms are just a profile that really, really works for me. I would say they feel like they have a stiff handle, softer mid-section and stiff tip. It's not super dramatic, but they do have what feels to me like a mid/lower-mid kick. They feel very, very stable, but that softer mid-section does give them a nice feel. 

 

One thing that struck me as interesting: I was warming up with my 7 iron, just doing a little 3/4 swing drill at about 70 mph, and I noticed that I still felt a slight kick out of the Axioms even at that speed. It reminded me of an observation I had in Carlsbad, where we hit all the different weights: The 125X were surprisingly playable at my 87-ish mph speed, and the 75S were surprisingly stable at that same speed. Fujikura did a really impressive job of designing these shafts in a way that will allow people to play the weight they want to play without making sacrifices. 

 

I tested the 4 and 7 irons and PW, because because Fujikura designed the Axioms as basically three shafts -- "long" for 2, 3 and 4 irons; "mid" for 5 through 7 irons; "short" for 8 through wedge. I wanted to see if I felt any major differences. I really didn't. The short might feel a tiny fraction more stable/less kick? But that could also just be in my head; none of us are ever really trying to swing out of our shoes with a short iron. 

 

Do you have nagging injuries? Then I hope you've either moved to graphite iron shafts, or are very seriously considering it! I immediately noticed a HUGE improvement in how my wrists felt both during and after my Trackman session today. I have an old wrist injury that seems to get aggravated when I pound balls off a mat with my old Dynamic Golds, and my wrist is feeling perfectly fine right now, as if I didn't swing a golf club at all today. That's what I might be most pumped about! 

 

One difference that was especially stark for me today: Hitting the i230s thin with my old steel shafts definitely stung. It was a loud, nasty crack, and it sent vibrations up my arms. With the Axioms installed, it's hugely different. A thin strike still doesn't sound or feel good, obviously -- but the crack is more dull, and while I would feel it in my hands, it didn't send those vibrations up my arms. 

 

Now on to the numbers...

 

Quick reminder: I'm left-handed, so keep in mind that you have to invert some numbers. Minuses on club path are the same as positives are for righties, and so on.

 

Knowing that the Axioms were coming, I gathered data last month on my 4 and 7 irons and PW. Let's start with the 7 iron, because I found today's and how it compared to last month really interesting. 

 

7 iron data

 

i230 7 iron with previous Dynamic Gold 105 S300 shaft:

 

 

i230 7 iron with new Axiom 105X shaft:

 

 

Observations: Remember what I said about my speed being way down today? There's a difference of 4.6 mph in swing speed ... and yet, the i230 with the Axiom, which I was swinging slower, is actually carrying slightly farther. That stunned me. The Axiom knocked 700 RPMs of spin off and launched 1.4 degrees lower. If you look at my delivery numbers, you'll see I was a little more in-to-out today, so that could explain the difference. Regardless -- I was super impressed with how much I was getting out of these despite swinging slowly today. 

 

But that wasn't what impressed me the most. Check out the dispersion. 

 

Here's the i230 7 iron with my previous DG 105 S300 -- same set of shots I showed above. You'll see my normal tendency to miss right was on full display.

 

 

And here's the i230 7 iron with the Axiom 105X.

 

 

I mean, look how tight that circle is. My handicap right now is 11.7 -- I'm not a super-skilled player; there's variance in my delivery. But those shots were consecutive; I didn't delete stuff to make it look better. I know for the scratch players around here that circle might not be impressive, but for me, that's as good as I could ever realistically hope for. 

 

I also have trajectory graphs. 

 

This is the i230 7 iron with the DG 105 S300.

 

 

And here's the i230 7 iron with the Axiom 105X:

 

 

A bit more penetrating with the Axiom. It was still peaking in the 80s and coming down at about 45 degrees, though. I think when I can crank my speed back up to normal, I'll be closer to 100 feet and with a landing angle in the high 40s. What I notice here is just more consistency with the Axiom than with my previous DG 105.

 

Pitching wedge data

 

First, let's look at everything from my previous shafts -- i230 PW with Dynamic Gold 105 S300:  

 

 

 

 

Next, let's look at the numbers from my PW with the Axiom 105X:

 

 

 

 

Observations: Once again, speed is down today, so there are limits to the comparison. But my dispersion moving left with the Axioms seems to be a consistent trend, and it's one that is very, very welcome. And the carry difference of 2.7 yards when there's a 3 mph club speed difference is pretty eye-opening. My trajectory with the Axioms is lower. This doesn't really bother me -- again, I think at my normal speeds, that'll get up higher and stop fine. 

 

4 iron data: 

 

Finally, we have the one I was most worried about. Since I'm swinging slower today, I was afraid a 4 iron would just be unmanageable. I've been exploring replacing this club with a higher-lofted hybrid -- but I really like having it to hit low, controlled shots off the tee. Anyway, today, my fears were somewhat right. But, I'll share the data anyway. Here we go... 

 

First up, i230 4 iron with DG 105 S300: 

 

 

 

 

Next, i230 4 iron with Axiom 105X: 

 

 

 

 

Observations: Again, I'm amazed by how tight the dispersion is with the Axioms. I was not putting particularly good swings on this club. I don't know what more I can say -- I wasn't going in and aggressively deleting everything that didn't look like this; I was just hitting this exact shot, over and over. I'm really looking forward to seeing what I can get out of this Axiom 4 iron when I can hit it with a little more speed and off the tee, too. 

 

That's a wrap on the numbers. 

 

Final thoughts: I LOVE these shafts. I really do. I am just super, super impressed with the dispersion these Axioms are giving me. They feel fantastic -- like the bend profile was made for me. And they have effectively eliminated the nagging wrist pain my steel iron shafts used to give me. 

 

I was surprised that launch and spin were somewhat lower with the Axioms than it was with the DG 105s. That's the opposite of what I saw in Carlsbad. However, I've mentioned before that I've been working on my swing, and what I'm seeing could just be a result of a changed delivery. If the way things were clicking today despite my body being in bad shape is an indication, I think the Axioms being a terrific fit for me is going to help me implement those swing changes more effectively. And honestly, in terms of the lower spin and trajectory, I don't mind it one bit. It's windy here in Chicago. A ball change from Pro V1 to Pro V1X can fix it if it becomes a problem on the course. However, at my normal speed, I really don't think it'll be a problem at all. 

 

I cannot wait to get these out on the course. With thunderstorms here, it won't be today, unfortunately. Hopefully tomorrow though. 

 

I can gather more data if anybody has specific questions they'd like me to address. But honestly, what I'm mostly hoping to share with you all next are on-course reviews and observations! 

[hammergolf]

1 hour ago, eric61 said:

AXIOM iron shafts: Initial review

 

My Axiom 105X shafts are installed in my i230s, 4-UW, and ready to play! 

 

First of all: HUGE shout-out to Tony Dirks, the general manager at the PGA Tour Superstore in Downers Grove, Illinois. My Axioms arrived on Thursday, and @Fujikura Golf had arranged to have my local PGA SS, the closest charter dealer, handle the build. Tony had me bring them in Friday morning and turned the whole build around in 24 hours. Very professional job -- everything looks great, and he hit my build specs of D4 going up to D5 in the wedges. Tony also regripped the rest of my clubs for free, so I'm now playing the same new CP2 Wraps on everything. Great guy, super easy to communicate with and excellent work. 

 

I picked them up today at 11 a.m. The forecast calls for thunderstorms all afternoon and evening, so I headed to Golf Galaxy to rent some Trackman time and test these out. 

 

An important piece of context for what you'll see in my numbers: I'm absolutely gassed today. If you read my driver post, you know I rented an hour on the Trackman and then went and hit 300 range balls on Thursday. I played a round yesterday (busted the MP-30s out since Tony had my i230s) and then did a bunch of housework last night. I debated whether it was really appropriate to post these numbers and comparisons, considering my speed was way down today, or if I should give it a day or two and go back when I'm feeling better and can get some data at normal speed. But I found some really interesting stuff I wanted to share with everybody, so I decided to go ahead. 

 

Recapping the fitting: Andrew Hoang at Fujikura fitted me into Axiom 105X shafts. I was surprised -- I was swinging 7 iron at 87-88 mph that day and am typically a stiff flex guy. But Andrew pointed out that it looked like I was losing the club head a little in the 105S, and it looked like I had much better control when he shifted me into the 105X. The numbers didn't lie: the dispersion data backed up Andrew's observation.

 

Actually, second-place for me was the 125X. I really fell in love with the 125X they had installed in a T100 7 iron as a demo. It's really not at all about the stiffness; it's about the weight -- I just seem to do well with heavier iron shafts. Andrew watched me hit that demo on course and said the 125X would work for me, too. We debated back and forth, but ultimately decided the 125X might be too much to handle in the long irons and decided to just go 105X throughout and have them built to a slightly heavier than standard swing weight. 

 

How the Axioms feel: They're great. Setting aside price, graphite vs. steel, all of that -- the Axioms are just a profile that really, really works for me. I would say they feel like they have a stiff handle, softer mid-section and stiff tip. It's not super dramatic, but they do have what feels to me like a mid/lower-mid kick. They feel very, very stable, but that softer mid-section does give them a nice feel. 

 

One thing that struck me as interesting: I was warming up with my 7 iron, just doing a little 3/4 swing drill at about 70 mph, and I noticed that I still felt a slight kick out of the Axioms even at that speed. It reminded me of an observation I had in Carlsbad, where we hit all the different weights: The 125X were surprisingly playable at my 87-ish mph speed, and the 75S were surprisingly stable at that same speed. Fujikura did a really impressive job of designing these shafts in a way that will allow people to play the weight they want to play without making sacrifices. 

 

I tested the 4 and 7 irons and PW, because because Fujikura designed the Axioms as basically three shafts -- "long" for 2, 3 and 4 irons; "mid" for 5 through 7 irons; "short" for 8 through wedge. I wanted to see if I felt any major differences. I really didn't. The short might feel a tiny fraction more stable/less kick? But that could also just be in my head; none of us are ever really trying to swing out of our shoes with a short iron. 

 

Do you have nagging injuries? Then I hope you've either moved to graphite iron shafts, or are very seriously considering it! I immediately noticed a HUGE improvement in how my wrists felt both during and after my Trackman session today. I have an old wrist injury that seems to get aggravated when I pound balls off a mat with my old Dynamic Golds, and my wrist is feeling perfectly fine right now, as if I didn't swing a golf club at all today. That's what I might be most pumped about! 

 

One difference that was especially stark for me today: Hitting the i230s thin with my old steel shafts definitely stung. It was a loud, nasty crack, and it sent vibrations up my arms. With the Axioms installed, it's hugely different. A thin strike still doesn't sound or feel good, obviously -- but the crack is more dull, and while I would feel it in my hands, it didn't send those vibrations up my arms. 

 

Now on to the numbers...

 

Quick reminder: I'm left-handed, so keep in mind that you have to invert some numbers. Minuses on club path are the same as positives are for righties, and so on.

 

Knowing that the Axioms were coming, I gathered data last month on my 4 and 7 irons and PW. Let's start with the 7 iron, because I found today's and how it compared to last month really interesting. 

 

7 iron data

 

i230 7 iron with previous Dynamic Gold 105 S300 shaft:

 

 

i230 7 iron with new Axiom 105X shaft:

 

 

Observations: Remember what I said about my speed being way down today? There's a difference of 4.6 mph in swing speed ... and yet, the i230 with the Axiom, which I was swinging slower, is actually carrying slightly farther. That stunned me. The Axiom knocked 700 RPMs of spin off and launched 1.4 degrees lower. If you look at my delivery numbers, you'll see I was a little more in-to-out today, so that could explain the difference. Regardless -- I was super impressed with how much I was getting out of these despite swinging slowly today. 

 

But that wasn't what impressed me the most. Check out the dispersion. 

 

Here's the i230 7 iron with my previous DG 105 S300 -- same set of shots I showed above. You'll see my normal tendency to miss right was on full display.

 

 

And here's the i230 7 iron with the Axiom 105X.

 

 

I mean, look how tight that circle is. My handicap right now is 11.7 -- I'm not a super-skilled player; there's variance in my delivery. But those shots were consecutive; I didn't delete stuff to make it look better. I know for the scratch players around here that circle might not be impressive, but for me, that's as good as I could ever realistically hope for. 

 

I also have trajectory graphs. 

 

This is the i230 7 iron with the DG 105 S300.

 

 

And here's the i230 7 iron with the Axiom 105X:

 

 

A bit more penetrating with the Axiom. It was still peaking in the 80s and coming down at about 45 degrees, though. I think when I can crank my speed back up to normal, I'll be closer to 100 feet and with a landing angle in the high 40s. What I notice here is just more consistency with the Axiom than with my previous DG 105.

 

Pitching wedge data

 

First, let's look at everything from my previous shafts -- i230 PW with Dynamic Gold 105 S300:  

 

 

 

 

Next, let's look at the numbers from my PW with the Axiom 105X:

 

 

 

 

Observations: Once again, speed is down today, so there are limits to the comparison. But my dispersion moving left with the Axioms seems to be a consistent trend, and it's one that is very, very welcome. And the carry difference of 2.7 yards when there's a 3 mph club speed difference is pretty eye-opening. My trajectory with the Axioms is lower. This doesn't really bother me -- again, I think at my normal speeds, that'll get up higher and stop fine. 

 

4 iron data: 

 

Finally, we have the one I was most worried about. Since I'm swinging slower today, I was afraid a 4 iron would just be unmanageable. I've been exploring replacing this club with a higher-lofted hybrid -- but I really like having it to hit low, controlled shots off the tee. Anyway, today, my fears were somewhat right. But, I'll share the data anyway. Here we go... 

 

First up, i230 4 iron with DG 105 S300: 

 

 

 

 

Next, i230 4 iron with Axiom 105X: 

 

 

 

 

Observations: Again, I'm amazed by how tight the dispersion is with the Axioms. I was not putting particularly good swings on this club. I don't know what more I can say -- I wasn't going in and aggressively deleting everything that didn't look like this; I was just hitting this exact shot, over and over. I'm really looking forward to seeing what I can get out of this Axiom 4 iron when I can hit it with a little more speed and off the tee, too. 

 

That's a wrap on the numbers. 

 

Final thoughts: I LOVE these shafts. I really do. I am just super, super impressed with the dispersion these Axioms are giving me. They feel fantastic -- like the bend profile was made for me. And they have effectively eliminated the nagging wrist pain my steel iron shafts used to give me. 

 

I was surprised that launch and spin were somewhat lower with the Axioms than it was with the DG 105s. That's the opposite of what I saw in Carlsbad. However, I've mentioned before that I've been working on my swing, and what I'm seeing could just be a result of a changed delivery. If the way things were clicking today despite my body being in bad shape is an indication, I think the Axioms being a terrific fit for me is going to help me implement those swing changes more effectively. And honestly, in terms of the lower spin and trajectory, I don't mind it one bit. It's windy here in Chicago. A ball change from Pro V1 to Pro V1X can fix it if it becomes a problem on the course. However, at my normal speed, I really don't think it'll be a problem at all. 

 

I cannot wait to get these out on the course. With thunderstorms here, it won't be today, unfortunately. Hopefully tomorrow though. 

 

I can gather more data if anybody has specific questions they'd like me to address. But honestly, what I'm mostly hoping to share with you all next are on-course reviews and observations! 

So, I don’t get it. All you are getting is better feel, more ball speed, more distance, and tighter dispersion. Who wants that??? 😉

 

AWESOME stuff! Just wait till you hit them when you’re 100%. 

[eric61]

10 minutes ago, hammergolf said:

So, I don’t get it. All you are getting is better feel, more ball speed, more distance, and tighter dispersion. Who wants that??? 😉

 

AWESOME stuff! Just wait till you hit them when you’re 100%. 

Right?! I was so impressed. I knew I really liked these shafts based on our Carlsbad trip but it was nice to get on the Trackman and just immediately, first few swings, realize I was seeing some serious improvement.

[gsrjc]

5 hours ago, eric61 said:

AXIOM iron shafts: Initial review

 

My Axiom 105X shafts are installed in my i230s, 4-UW, and ready to play! 

 

First of all: HUGE shout-out to Tony Dirks, the general manager at the PGA Tour Superstore in Downers Grove, Illinois. My Axioms arrived on Thursday, and @Fujikura Golf had arranged to have my local PGA SS, the closest charter dealer, handle the build. Tony had me bring them in Friday morning and turned the whole build around in 24 hours. Very professional job -- everything looks great, and he hit my build specs of D4 going up to D5 in the wedges. Tony also regripped the rest of my clubs for free, so I'm now playing the same new CP2 Wraps on everything. Great guy, super easy to communicate with and excellent work. 

 

I picked them up today at 11 a.m. The forecast calls for thunderstorms all afternoon and evening, so I headed to Golf Galaxy to rent some Trackman time and test these out. 

 

An important piece of context for what you'll see in my numbers: I'm absolutely gassed today. If you read my driver post, you know I rented an hour on the Trackman and then went and hit 300 range balls on Thursday. I played a round yesterday (busted the MP-30s out since Tony had my i230s) and then did a bunch of housework last night. I debated whether it was really appropriate to post these numbers and comparisons, considering my speed was way down today, or if I should give it a day or two and go back when I'm feeling better and can get some data at normal speed. But I found some really interesting stuff I wanted to share with everybody, so I decided to go ahead. 

 

Recapping the fitting: Andrew Hoang at Fujikura fitted me into Axiom 105X shafts. I was surprised -- I was swinging 7 iron at 87-88 mph that day and am typically a stiff flex guy. But Andrew pointed out that it looked like I was losing the club head a little in the 105S, and it looked like I had much better control when he shifted me into the 105X. The numbers didn't lie: the dispersion data backed up Andrew's observation.

 

Actually, second-place for me was the 125X. I really fell in love with the 125X they had installed in a T100 7 iron as a demo. It's really not at all about the stiffness; it's about the weight -- I just seem to do well with heavier iron shafts. Andrew watched me hit that demo on course and said the 125X would work for me, too. We debated back and forth, but ultimately decided the 125X might be too much to handle in the long irons and decided to just go 105X throughout and have them built to a slightly heavier than standard swing weight. 

 

How the Axioms feel: They're great. Setting aside price, graphite vs. steel, all of that -- the Axioms are just a profile that really, really works for me. I would say they feel like they have a stiff handle, softer mid-section and stiff tip. It's not super dramatic, but they do have what feels to me like a mid/lower-mid kick. They feel very, very stable, but that softer mid-section does give them a nice feel. 

 

One thing that struck me as interesting: I was warming up with my 7 iron, just doing a little 3/4 swing drill at about 70 mph, and I noticed that I still felt a slight kick out of the Axioms even at that speed. It reminded me of an observation I had in Carlsbad, where we hit all the different weights: The 125X were surprisingly playable at my 87-ish mph speed, and the 75S were surprisingly stable at that same speed. Fujikura did a really impressive job of designing these shafts in a way that will allow people to play the weight they want to play without making sacrifices. 

 

I tested the 4 and 7 irons and PW, because because Fujikura designed the Axioms as basically three shafts -- "long" for 2, 3 and 4 irons; "mid" for 5 through 7 irons; "short" for 8 through wedge. I wanted to see if I felt any major differences. I really didn't. The short might feel a tiny fraction more stable/less kick? But that could also just be in my head; none of us are ever really trying to swing out of our shoes with a short iron. 

 

Do you have nagging injuries? Then I hope you've either moved to graphite iron shafts, or are very seriously considering it! I immediately noticed a HUGE improvement in how my wrists felt both during and after my Trackman session today. I have an old wrist injury that seems to get aggravated when I pound balls off a mat with my old Dynamic Golds, and my wrist is feeling perfectly fine right now, as if I didn't swing a golf club at all today. That's what I might be most pumped about! 

 

One difference that was especially stark for me today: Hitting the i230s thin with my old steel shafts definitely stung. It was a loud, nasty crack, and it sent vibrations up my arms. With the Axioms installed, it's hugely different. A thin strike still doesn't sound or feel good, obviously -- but the crack is more dull, and while I would feel it in my hands, it didn't send those vibrations up my arms. 

 

Now on to the numbers...

 

Quick reminder: I'm left-handed, so keep in mind that you have to invert some numbers. Minuses on club path are the same as positives are for righties, and so on.

 

Knowing that the Axioms were coming, I gathered data last month on my 4 and 7 irons and PW. Let's start with the 7 iron, because I found today's and how it compared to last month really interesting. 

 

7 iron data

 

i230 7 iron with previous Dynamic Gold 105 S300 shaft:

 

 

i230 7 iron with new Axiom 105X shaft:

 

 

Observations: Remember what I said about my speed being way down today? There's a difference of 4.6 mph in swing speed ... and yet, the i230 with the Axiom, which I was swinging slower, is actually carrying slightly farther. That stunned me. The Axiom knocked 700 RPMs of spin off and launched 1.4 degrees lower. If you look at my delivery numbers, you'll see I was a little more in-to-out today, so that could explain the difference. Regardless -- I was super impressed with how much I was getting out of these despite swinging slowly today. 

 

But that wasn't what impressed me the most. Check out the dispersion. 

 

Here's the i230 7 iron with my previous DG 105 S300 -- same set of shots I showed above. You'll see my normal tendency to miss right was on full display.

 

 

And here's the i230 7 iron with the Axiom 105X.

 

 

I mean, look how tight that circle is. My handicap right now is 11.7 -- I'm not a super-skilled player; there's variance in my delivery. But those shots were consecutive; I didn't delete stuff to make it look better. I know for the scratch players around here that circle might not be impressive, but for me, that's as good as I could ever realistically hope for. 

 

I also have trajectory graphs. 

 

This is the i230 7 iron with the DG 105 S300.

 

 

And here's the i230 7 iron with the Axiom 105X:

 

 

A bit more penetrating with the Axiom. It was still peaking in the 80s and coming down at about 45 degrees, though. I think when I can crank my speed back up to normal, I'll be closer to 100 feet and with a landing angle in the high 40s. What I notice here is just more consistency with the Axiom than with my previous DG 105.

 

Pitching wedge data

 

First, let's look at everything from my previous shafts -- i230 PW with Dynamic Gold 105 S300:  

 

 

 

 

Next, let's look at the numbers from my PW with the Axiom 105X:

 

 

 

 

Observations: Once again, speed is down today, so there are limits to the comparison. But my dispersion moving left with the Axioms seems to be a consistent trend, and it's one that is very, very welcome. And the carry difference of 2.7 yards when there's a 3 mph club speed difference is pretty eye-opening. My trajectory with the Axioms is lower. This doesn't really bother me -- again, I think at my normal speeds, that'll get up higher and stop fine. 

 

4 iron data: 

 

Finally, we have the one I was most worried about. Since I'm swinging slower today, I was afraid a 4 iron would just be unmanageable. I've been exploring replacing this club with a higher-lofted hybrid -- but I really like having it to hit low, controlled shots off the tee. Anyway, today, my fears were somewhat right. But, I'll share the data anyway. Here we go... 

 

First up, i230 4 iron with DG 105 S300: 

 

 

 

 

Next, i230 4 iron with Axiom 105X: 

 

 

 

 

Observations: Again, I'm amazed by how tight the dispersion is with the Axioms. I was not putting particularly good swings on this club. I don't know what more I can say -- I wasn't going in and aggressively deleting everything that didn't look like this; I was just hitting this exact shot, over and over. I'm really looking forward to seeing what I can get out of this Axiom 4 iron when I can hit it with a little more speed and off the tee, too. 

 

That's a wrap on the numbers. 

 

Final thoughts: I LOVE these shafts. I really do. I am just super, super impressed with the dispersion these Axioms are giving me. They feel fantastic -- like the bend profile was made for me. And they have effectively eliminated the nagging wrist pain my steel iron shafts used to give me. 

 

I was surprised that launch and spin were somewhat lower with the Axioms than it was with the DG 105s. That's the opposite of what I saw in Carlsbad. However, I've mentioned before that I've been working on my swing, and what I'm seeing could just be a result of a changed delivery. If the way things were clicking today despite my body being in bad shape is an indication, I think the Axioms being a terrific fit for me is going to help me implement those swing changes more effectively. And honestly, in terms of the lower spin and trajectory, I don't mind it one bit. It's windy here in Chicago. A ball change from Pro V1 to Pro V1X can fix it if it becomes a problem on the course. However, at my normal speed, I really don't think it'll be a problem at all. 

 

I cannot wait to get these out on the course. With thunderstorms here, it won't be today, unfortunately. Hopefully tomorrow though. 

 

I can gather more data if anybody has specific questions they'd like me to address. But honestly, what I'm mostly hoping to share with you all next are on-course reviews and observations! 

Awesome dude. Couldn’t have said it better myself.  I saw the same thing going from LA golf to Axiom 105S. 

[urjc22]

Hey @eric61, sounds like you are in Chicago. I am as well…curious where you had your set built up?  Thanks! 

[Puppetmaster]

Quick vid from a steamy sweaty night on the range with my irons… 

 

@Fujikura Golf thanks for arranging the install - Tyden at Tysons West Golf was fantastic to work with and the installation was flawless, despite them being very busy this month. 

[Puppetmaster]

Initial thoughts from a large bucket of balls - love them. They just feel "right" and I know that's not useful for anyone else, so I'll do my best to articulate.

 

First, for my swing, firm under the handle, in the tip, but yet with some activity in the mid section. Not a lot, just enough for you to know there's some kick, but not to the point where it is unpredictable or lacking control. I do have a moderate transition, see vid above for context. The Axiom profle is obviously a better fit for me, closer to the KBS Tour, whereas I didn't load the Tour V hard enough. FYI - I made sure to only skim over others' descriptives to make sure I just didn't just use their words, but y'all be the judge of that. 

 

Second, ball flight was noticeably higher, visually, than the Tour V, from short irons through long irons. I hit most shots from the center of the face to the heel side on my misses. Hit a few high floaters to the right with the longer irons, and some pulls with the short irons, which is my normal, predictable, 2-way miss. Working on that still, obviously. Andrew wanted to get me hitting the ball higher with more spin, and I think these are doing just that.  

 

Finally, Tyden let me hit some balls in one of TWG's Trackman bays when I picked the irons up as well. Not gonna lie, I shanked a few. But once I got more settled, I hit some 5-irons with 91-93 mph SS, which was a slight bump from the 90-91 I logged before. Same 2014 TM TP CB 5-iron head, but I had a KBS Tour V in X-flex previously. My 6-PW were Tour V S-flex, but 4 and 5 iron were X-flex. Downside to being a tinkering club ho on a budget. Anyway, the swing gain was likely mostly from using a properly fit shaft, but I think it's up a little from my Cobra Fly Z+/KBS Tour S+ as well. I'm not saying everyone get the Axioms to get more speed, but for me, it is "easier" speed without having to swing harder, similar to how I described the Ventus Red.  

 

Will do a full Trackman session over the next week or so. And get out and play, can't wait.  

[CactusGolf]

On 7/15/2023 at 4:42 PM, eric61 said:

AXIOM iron shafts: Initial review

 

Story to me.....dispersion.  Look at how tight that dispersion is!

 

I'm not a Trackman guy.  Sometimes that much data gets overwhelming and I've had some great fittings that absolutely never translated onto the course (e.g. Nike Covert 2.0 Tour with Rogue 100 X-Stiff was a bad, bad decision.  You did a great job laying out the data.

 

I mention the dispersion and overall movement because that's what I'm seeing on the course.  I was very, very used to playing slight fades with my irons, but that isn't happening now.  Balls that I would normally plan to cut back are staying dead straight.  That's something that I'm going to have to adjust to.  Instead of going to slight fades, they're left of target with not much movement.  I saw a bit of a drop in GIR the last two rounds because of me not adjusting to the new start/target lines.

 

Short irons seem to flight a little bit higher, so I'll have the make the adjustment when its windy to 1/2 club up too.

[Puppetmaster]

12 minutes ago, CactusGolf said:

I'm not a Trackman guy.  Sometimes that much data gets overwhelming and I've had some great fittings that absolutely never translated onto the course (e.g. Nike Covert 2.0 Tour with Rogue 100 X-Stiff was a bad, bad decision.  You did a great job laying out the data.

 

 

That's why I really appreciated that Andrew played with us the next day and was still watching, trying to sort us out "in the wild" vs only leaning on the indoor LM results. Definitely made for a complete picture. 

[eric61]

16 hours ago, urjc22 said:

Hey @eric61, sounds like you are in Chicago. I am as well…curious where you had your set built up?  Thanks! 

 

I had them built at the PGA Tour Superstore in Downers Grove. Fujikura arranged the builds for us, and that was the nearest charter dealer. Tony Dirks, the general manager there, did the build himself and turned it around in 24 hours. He did an excellent job and was a great guy to work with! 

 

3 hours ago, Puppetmaster said:

 

That's why I really appreciated that Andrew played with us the next day and was still watching, trying to sort us out "in the wild" vs only leaning on the indoor LM results. Definitely made for a complete picture. 

 

This is so true. Getting to actually play a round with your fitter is such a huge benefit. Andrew took the time to watch us and also understand what *we* were seeing and feeling. A conversation he and I had on the back 9 led him to change the spec of the driver shaft they were going to send me, and what we decided to go with has been performing more consistently for me than the demo I had on the course that day. I really just can't say enough about how great he is at what he does.

[eric61]

4 hours ago, CactusGolf said:

Story to me.....dispersion.  Look at how tight that dispersion is!

 

I'm not a Trackman guy.  Sometimes that much data gets overwhelming and I've had some great fittings that absolutely never translated onto the course (e.g. Nike Covert 2.0 Tour with Rogue 100 X-Stiff was a bad, bad decision.  You did a great job laying out the data.

 

I mention the dispersion and overall movement because that's what I'm seeing on the course.  I was very, very used to playing slight fades with my irons, but that isn't happening now.  Balls that I would normally plan to cut back are staying dead straight.  That's something that I'm going to have to adjust to.  Instead of going to slight fades, they're left of target with not much movement.  I saw a bit of a drop in GIR the last two rounds because of me not adjusting to the new start/target lines.

 

Short irons seem to flight a little bit higher, so I'll have the make the adjustment when its windy to 1/2 club up too.

 

I totally agree with you, and it's interesting you make that point about reduced overall movement. @knudson81 said something similar in his most recent podcast reviewing the Axioms -- that there's really not much curve to these; they pretty much stay on their start lines. If I remember correctly, he mentioned taking some time to adjust to the ball flight because he wasn't getting the usual right-to-left shape; some were starting and staying right. 

 

So far I'm seeing the same thing. I'm used to playing a draw ... OK, some would call it a hook ... with my irons. But with Axioms I'm seeing that movement tamed down a ton. 

 

I got out on the course yesterday afternoon/evening. My home course is public and was packed, so we were moving super slow. And I was paired with a dad and his young kid who was playing on a "real" course for the first time. (They were really nice!) I had about two hours to play and only got through six holes. But I had lots of time to drop extra balls, hit random shots, etc. I was seeing a very straight ball flight, with some at first even wanting to hang out left (I'm a lefty). 

 

Also, I'd noticed lower spin in that Trackman data. On the course, though? Absolutely no problem at all stopping the ball on greens. I can't say I noticed any real difference at all in stopping power vs. my previous irons -- which is good news. 

[hammergolf]

6 hours ago, Puppetmaster said:

Quick vid from a steamy sweaty night on the range with my irons… 

 

@Fujikura Golf thanks for arranging the install - Tyden at Tysons West Golf was fantastic to work with and the installation was flawless, despite them being very busy this month. 

Smooth as silk.

[hammergolf]

5 hours ago, Puppetmaster said:

Initial thoughts from a large bucket of balls - love them. They just feel "right" and I know that's not useful for anyone else, so I'll do my best to articulate.

 

First, for my swing, firm under the handle, in the tip, but yet with some activity in the mid section. Not a lot, just enough for you to know there's some kick, but not to the point where it is unpredictable or lacking control. I do have a moderate transition, see vid above for context. The Axiom profle is obviously a better fit for me, closer to the KBS Tour, whereas I didn't load the Tour V hard enough. FYI - I made sure to only skim over others' descriptives to make sure I just didn't just use their words, but y'all be the judge of that. 

 

Second, ball flight was noticeably higher, visually, than the Tour V, from short irons through long irons. I hit most shots from the center of the face to the heel side on my misses. Hit a few high floaters to the right with the longer irons, and some pulls with the short irons, which is my normal, predictable, 2-way miss. Working on that still, obviously. Andrew wanted to get me hitting the ball higher with more spin, and I think these are doing just that.  

 

Finally, Tyden let me hit some balls in one of TWG's Trackman bays when I picked the irons up as well. Not gonna lie, I shanked a few. But once I got more settled, I hit some 5-irons with 91-93 mph SS, which was a slight bump from the 90-91 I logged before. Same 2014 TM TP CB 5-iron head, but I had a KBS Tour V in X-flex previously. My 6-PW were Tour V S-flex, but 4 and 5 iron were X-flex. Downside to being a tinkering club ho on a budget. Anyway, the swing gain was likely mostly from using a properly fit shaft, but I think it's up a little from my Cobra Fly Z+/KBS Tour S+ as well. I'm not saying everyone get the Axioms to get more speed, but for me, it is "easier" speed without having to swing harder, similar to how I described the Ventus Red.  

 

Will do a full Trackman session over the next week or so. And get out and play, can't wait.  

Perfect description on the feel  of the shaft and the “easier” speed comment is dead on.

[hammergolf]

5 hours ago, CactusGolf said:

Story to me.....dispersion.  Look at how tight that dispersion is!

 

I'm not a Trackman guy.  Sometimes that much data gets overwhelming and I've had some great fittings that absolutely never translated onto the course (e.g. Nike Covert 2.0 Tour with Rogue 100 X-Stiff was a bad, bad decision.  You did a great job laying out the data.

 

I mention the dispersion and overall movement because that's what I'm seeing on the course.  I was very, very used to playing slight fades with my irons, but that isn't happening now.  Balls that I would normally plan to cut back are staying dead straight.  That's something that I'm going to have to adjust to.  Instead of going to slight fades, they're left of target with not much movement.  I saw a bit of a drop in GIR the last two rounds because of me not adjusting to the new start/target lines.

 

Short irons seem to flight a little bit higher, so I'll have the make the adjustment when its windy to 1/2 club up too.

Good stuff. Same thing I am adjusting too. The ball does not want to curve as much as my previous setups did. I’m adjusting but man these shafts are just the best of all worlds. Better feel, better speed, better dispersion. Great job @Fujikura Golf! What I’m finding very interesting is the 4 of us all have different swings at different speeds, but we’re all finding the same results. Better dispersion with an increase of ballspeed and more effective trajectory.

[CactusGolf]

21 minutes ago, hammergolf said:

Good stuff. Same thing I am adjusting too. The ball does not want to curve as much as my previous setups did. I’m adjusting but man these shafts are just the best of all worlds. Better feel, better speed, better dispersion. Great job @Fujikura Golf! What I’m finding very interesting is the 4 of us all have different swings at different speeds, but we’re all finding the same results. Better dispersion with an increase of ballspeed and more effective trajectory.

The lack of curve has taken me the longest to adjust (granted, I only have two full rounds in so far) so I'm finding myself pin high and usually left of target.  My last set-up had a very predictable amount of curve, so it will definitely be an adjustment.

 

 

[eric61]

Just got back from the range, and I'm falling more and more in love with these Axiom 105X shafts. I don't have much new to say, but I'll repeat a few observations: 

 

1. Zero wrist pain. Doesn't even feel like I've done anything physical at all today. The benefits of graphite iron shafts in terms of managing an old injury that hitting off range mats usually causes to flare up have been immediately apparent. I've used Steelfibers in the past and don't remember them just totally eliminating the pain this way -- I'm using CP2 Wrap grips, which are a little softer than what I've used in the past, so maybe it's some combination: mainly the Axiom graphite shafts, plus a little more relief from the softer grips, plus my i230s having relatively high bounce? Whatever the answer is, I'm thrilled to be able to get out and practice without needing to ice my wrist afterward.

 

2. The ball just wants to go straight. Don't get me wrong, these shafts can't overcome physics. If you swing in to out with a face that's way shut to path, you're gonna hit a hook. You can certainly work the ball. But with a neutral strike, the ball just wants to go in the direction you were aiming -- even if you mishit it a little bit. I'm also noticing my strike point is more consistently right in the middle of the club face. That's multiple things building on each other, right? As I've said before, the bend profile of these shafts is just a really good fit for my swing -- I get why Andrew at Fujikura is out working with the pros; he put me into something I never would've guessed would be the right fit for me, but they're just exactly what I needed. Then there's the stability that they've engineered into these with VeloCore. 

 

3. No problem elevating the ball. I want to keep following up on that, since my trajectory was down in those initial numbers I posted previously. I'll continue to watch this, but all the way throughout the bag, 4 through gap wedge, it's just not an issue in the real world.

 

Separate from the Axioms ... I do think I've gotten my driver dialed in. I'm at the flat-plus setting, so 9 degree G430 LST playing at 10 degrees with a slightly flatter lie angle, and I've reduced the stock 22g weight down to 19g and put that weight in the middle setting. That's the set-up I'm getting the most out of. My start line is a little right (I'm a lefty) of where I'd like it to be, but I can aim down the left side of the fairway and trust that disaster won't strike. 

 

Next post, I'll share how it goes on the course!