What driver shaft with the fastest ball speeds

[duffputter]

 I have been on a mission this winter to fond my unicorn driver shaft. I know everyone's swings are different and people have preferred profiles. I'm just curious what shaft everyone has found that gave them the fastest ball speeds. At this point I'm not 100% concerned with dispersion. I want to try to find my fastest then work on dialing in dispersion. 

[Nessism]

Shafts don't provide propulsion.  The best shaft is the one that will deliver the head to the back of the ball, allowing you to hit the center of the face.  That means that it matches your swing the best.

[MFBach]

1 hour ago, duffputter said:

I know everyone's swings are different and people have preferred profiles. I'm just curious what shaft everyone has found that gave them the fastest ball speeds.

Interesting idea and I’d be curious what other have found as well… I’d suspect a wide variety of answers.  
 

Despite the popularity and quick adoption of the Ventus line, my highest ball speeds and best performance in general still come from the Atmos Black TS. Super underrated line IMO and ridiculously cheap now. You would be hard pressed to spend more than $100 for an Atmos driver/FW shaft. 

[Drivingrangehero]

Sorry, I couldn’t resist 

 

 

[downbylaw11]

theres really no right answer as it really depends on you and your swing mechanics. that being said, i have seen a lot of videos of autoflex testing that gave people their pb in ball speed/swing speed, but not necessarily best overall distance due to less than optimal spin/trajectory

[jvincent]

16 hours ago, Nessism said:

Shafts don't provide propulsion.  The best shaft is the one that will deliver the head to the back of the ball, allowing you to hit the center of the face.  That means that it matches your swing the best.

 

@duffputter This.

[Valtiel]

If you wanted to be nit picky you could say that on a robot the shaft that delivers the least amount of loft (least forward deflection e.g. stiffest) would likely be the fastest from an efficiency standpoint, but that would be completely overridden if that same shaft didn't work with your feel/timing and slowed you down and/or hurt your ability hit the center of the face. 

The best thing you can do is test two shafts on extreme ends of the spectrum and note the results. Something like a Tensei AV White Prototype 2.0 and a Diamana RF to use two premium shafts that can be had cheap as an example. The RF will feel whippy and rubbery compared to the Tensei which will be super stout, and with enough testing you can figure out which produces more speeds for you. 

As far as my experiences, shaft length is easily the biggest speed increaser but only in so much as your mechanics can handle extra length. All your gains go out the window if strike starts suffering. If you need to stay shorter then lighter shafts with higher balance points + fine tuning headweight to maximize strike consistency is the way to go, see Howard Jones' Driver Tuneup Thread for more on that. 

[Tbone107]

8 hours ago, Valtiel said:

If you wanted to be nit picky you could say that on a robot the shaft that delivers the least amount of loft (least forward deflection e.g. stiffest) would likely be the fastest from an efficiency standpoint, but that would be completely overridden if that same shaft didn't work with your feel/timing and slowed you down and/or hurt your ability hit the center of the face. 

The best thing you can do is test two shafts on extreme ends of the spectrum and note the results. Something like a Tensei AV White Prototype 2.0 and a Diamana RF to use two premium shafts that can be had cheap as an example. The RF will feel whippy and rubbery compared to the Tensei which will be super stout, and with enough testing you can figure out which produces more speeds for you. 

As far as my experiences, shaft length is easily the biggest speed increaser but only in so much as your mechanics can handle extra length. All your gains go out the window if strike starts suffering. If you need to stay shorter then lighter shafts with higher balance points + fine tuning headweight to maximize strike consistency is the way to go, see Howard Jones' Driver Tuneup Thread for more on that. 

This all makes sense to me.. just curious on your thoughts on all the LD guys going super soft with their shafts and generally tip soft as well? Id assume the low lofted helps help but doubt they want to give up any efficiency thats out there.. For me for whatever reason I've found the fastest speeds at 58-63 grams and ~230 cpms. 

Edited January 26, 2024 by Tbone107

[Valtiel]

2 hours ago, Tbone107 said:

This all makes sense to me.. just curious on your thoughts on all the LD guys going super soft with their shafts and generally tip soft as well? Id assume the low lofted helps help but doubt they want to give up any efficiency thats out there.. For me for whatever reason I've found the fastest speeds at 58-63 grams and ~230 cpms. 

Good question, I believe for the LD guys it's all about weight and speed when they do that. Yes a super stiff XX-flex LD shaft will deflect less and therefore deliver less loft, but if these guys can get heads in the 3-5* range that really isn't as relevant as pure speed. In any given shaft lineup you might see 5-10g less weight in the Regular flex version over the TX flex, and less weight = more speed for those guys. The small increase in efficiency from a shaft delivering less loft becomes moot and the couple MPH increase in speed is where the potential gains are. Just a different set of rules those LD guys play by, hah. 

[Lloyd_Christmas29]

Going lighter and weaker in flex will generally give more speed. Also shafts with a more active tip section. I’ve seen ventus tr red give 2-3 mph more ball speed compared to blue and black. I’m thinking about trying a driver setup that’s meant for pure distance this year. TSr4 with Ventus TR Red 6X is what I had in mind.