The ProLaunch Blue changed my life

[tatertot]

I had a Titleist TS3 with the EvenFlow T100 White in stiff, and I was STRUGGLING to get anything out of it. It was so bad I did a check on the serial number to make sure it wasn't a fake. I read about the ProLaunch Blue being a cheap alternaitve to the AutoFlex, and for $70, I thought "why not."

 

I got the 45 gram in Senior flex ... I've never had a shaft that light or that flex ... but this thing is a game changer. Can't say enough about it. Getting great launch, and I can work it both ways. Earlier this week, I drove it through a 260 yard hole, and put it on the fringe of a 290 hole, and I'm not a big hitter. And I can work it both ways. The easier I go after it, the farther it goes. I've had it for less than a month, so it might be a honeymoon phase but I'll take it.

 

PS - Titleist headcovers suck.

[kwcsports]

It's a honeymoon phase, wait till it gets to know ya. 

Kidding, they are good shafts for not much cash, I have one in Reg in a driver. 

[BabyCarrot]

I went this route too. Realized it's the lighter weight that makes the biggest difference. Eventually moved into a stiff flex with a Xcaliber Mystic 4-S that trimmed to about 47 grams. Enjoy the honeymoon.

 

[kwcsports]

I just ordered a Pro Launch Blue Senior shaft for a G15 head I picked up cheap. 

I'm going to make it max length and see how I hit it. I'll report back 👍

[Cwebb]

The key statement here is "the easier I go after it, the farther it goes". 

 

There's a lot of value for many players, in a shaft that demands a smooth tempo.....which then promotes good balance.....which leads to better consistency

 

 

Edited August 25, 2024 by Cwebb

[Howard_Jones]

17 hours ago, kwcsports said:

I just ordered a Pro Launch Blue Senior shaft for a G15 head I picked up cheap. 

I'm going to make it max length and see how I hit it. I'll report back 👍

Do as you like, but a word of advice, NEVER tip trim a ProLaunch Blue 45 series, not even for use in a wood, its a BUTT TRIM only design. - Those of you who likes it in your driver, use a flex stronger for woods to compensate for head wgt.
Its probably the most underrated shaft on the marked, and its hard to get more bang for the bucks then this.
 

[kwcsports]

3 hours ago, Howard_Jones said:

Do as you like, but a word of advice, NEVER tip trim a ProLaunch Blue 45 series, not even for use in a wood, its a BUTT TRIM only design. - Those of you who likes it in your driver, use a flex stronger for woods to compensate for head wgt.
Its probably the most underrated shaft on the marked, and its hard to get more bang for the bucks then this.
 

I never said anything about tip trimming. I'm putting it straight in, cut to 46" and seeing how I like it. I can always butt trim shorter if needed. 

[Howard_Jones]

4 hours ago, kwcsports said:

I never said anything about tip trimming.

Correct, but its more than 500 readers of this tread, so it was a general info worth to know about PL 45, since its one of very few "Butt trim only" wood shafts on the marked.

[10undrbogey]

Good to hear your success story!

 

Thought about ordering one, but since I already have a Ping Distanza 40 in soft regular flex, ordered an adapter for my G430 Max 10k head, along with a lighter (22g) back weight to try.

 

Anyone have any comparisons/observations on the Ping Distanza vs the ProLaunch Blue?

[PARETO]

I have a 45 L Graffaloy Blue in my office that I picked up to experiment with the Faux auto flex itch I want to scratch. Forgot all about it until this post. Hmmmm. Now to find a cheap head to build it. Thinking Ping G25/30. 

[gvogel]

On 8/26/2024 at 12:08 PM, Howard_Jones said:

Correct, but its more than 500 readers of this tread, so it was a general info worth to know about PL 45, since its one of very few "Butt trim only" wood shafts on the marked.

Are there any potential drawbacks to playing a light and flexible shaft?  I'm thinking that good contact could be a problem in windy conditions?  Or harder to hit into a strong headwind?

Thanks,

'Cause I'm about to order a 45 senior.

[tatertot]

9 minutes ago, gvogel said:

Are there any potential drawbacks to playing a light and flexible shaft?  I'm thinking that good contact could be a problem in windy conditions?  Or harder to hit into a strong headwind?

Thanks,

'Cause I'm about to order a 45 senior.

It's actually super easy to flight. That's what is so surprising to me ... I can hit all the shots I want to hit - and mishits are totally playable, and long (for me).

[Rbsiedsc]

On 8/26/2024 at 1:18 AM, Howard_Jones said:

Do as you like, but a word of advice, NEVER tip trim a ProLaunch Blue 45 series, not even for use in a wood, its a BUTT TRIM only design. - Those of you who likes it in your driver, use a flex stronger for woods to compensate for head wgt.
Its probably the most underrated shaft on the marked, and its hard to get more bang for the bucks then this.
 

So if I go this route and play a heavier head at 44.5”, go up to a R if I was going to aim for a senior flex?

[Howard_Jones]

1 hour ago, Rbsiedsc said:

So if I go this route and play a heavier head at 44.5”, go up to a R if I was going to aim for a senior flex?

if you never tried that shaft, its no reason to go stronger. My suggestion was for those who already found what works for a driver, and since that shaft should not be tip trimmed, the only way to handle higher head wgt, into woods if we like to use the same shaft model, is to go 1 flex stronger

 

[GolfTurkey]

I've ordered a 45S one of these for grins and giggles.

 

Probably a dumb move because I'm doing ok with my Ventus Blue 5X but I'm greedy for yards so...

[Howard_Jones]

25 minutes ago, GolfTurkey said:

I've ordered a 45S one of these for grins and giggles.

 

Probably a dumb move because I'm doing ok with my Ventus Blue 5X but I'm greedy for yards so...

You might be in for BIG surprise, so tell us how that worked for you

[tatertot]

38 minutes ago, GolfTurkey said:

I've ordered a 45S one of these for grins and giggles.

 

Probably a dumb move because I'm doing ok with my Ventus Blue 5X but I'm greedy for yards so...

I had a buddy impressed with mine and ordered his own ... only he went with a 65R ... I don't think he's going to see the same results, but he couldn't make himself go that light with senior flex. He takes it for a test drive Monday, we'll see.

[tatertot]

39 minutes ago, GolfTurkey said:

I've ordered a 45S one of these for grins and giggles.

 

Probably a dumb move because I'm doing ok with my Ventus Blue 5X but I'm greedy for yards so...

Do you mean 45A? The 45S is stiff, the 45A is the "senior" flex.

[vernon]

I have a Ping G430 Max, a G430 10K and G430 5, 7 and 9 woods that all came with the Distanza (except for the 10K which came with a Hzrdus 50 Red 5.5).

 

I keep alternating back and forth between them all and the Pro Launch 45 (I have one in senior flex and two in ladies) is hard to beat especially in the driver.

 

I replaced the backweight in the Max with one that was five grams lighter and it worked much better than with the heavier stock weight.

 

I haven't tried going lighter with the 10K but intend to soon.

 

I really can't tell much difference between the senior and ladies flex and neither can three or four playing partners that have hit them as well.

 

Due to age I'm only a mid 90's clubhead speed guy these days but still have a pretty aggressive transition and the Pro Launch is not a soft or "whippy" shaft by any means even in the ladies flex.

 

One friend of mine is a plus 2 handicap and a 110+ mph driver swinger and he thinks it's the best feeling shaft he's ever hit and can't tell the difference between the ladies and senior flex either.  He's dying to buy one but is afraid he'll be made fun of.

 

The Distanza, while also a very good shaft, I find needs to be swung with a smoother tempo than the Pro Launch to get the best results.

 

To me, it just feels softer throughout the entire bend profile of the shaft than the PL Blue.

 

For the money I don't see how a guy could go wrong giving the Blue a try and don't be afraid to go super light and super soft as that's kind of the whole point.

 

I think you'll be shocked at how well this shaft holds up to whatever speed swing you can put on it.

 

Best of luck.

[GolfTurkey]

6 hours ago, tatertot said:

Do you mean 45A? The 45S is stiff, the 45A is the "senior" flex.

I ordered the stiff flex.

The background is that I played the “Canadian Autoflex” Accra M0 that is also 48g for a while.

 

Good days were great and it was looong, but there were too many days when I could barely find the face.

 

Arccos shows that my driving average SG between the Ventus and M0 is very similar, but the M0 has a wild deviation between days and the Ventus is very consistent.

 

I'm hoping that the PL Blue gives me the length of the M0 and the extra stiffness tightens up dispersion.

 

There are definitely yards left on the table with the Ventus. I struggle to time it and find middle, but it doesn’t go far offline (maybe there’s something to the “MOI enhancing” marketing). I would call my typical shot with it a mishit that goes surprisingly straight.

 

I’ve also tried every colour of Ventus and just don’t love the feel. It’s not egregious like Project X shafts, but if I can find a shaft that performs as well or better and feels nicer to me, I’m all in.

 

[PARETO]

For those with this soft/light Blue in play, what length are you playing the driver at? My experiment will be at a 43.5 playing length in the 45A flex Blue. I’m looking for am easy speed fairway finder. 🤔

[tatertot]

4 minutes ago, PARETO said:

For those with this soft/light Blue in play, what length are you playing the driver at? My experiment will be at a 43.5 playing length in the 45A flex Blue. I’m looking for am easy speed fairway finder. 🤔

I'm playing mine at 45.5, which is standard. But I'm 6-5.

[PARETO]

3 minutes ago, tatertot said:

I'm playing mine at 45.5, which is standard. But I'm 6-5.

Thx. I’m on the “opposite” end of the height spectrum from you (5”7) so I’m thinking 43.5 will be just fine 😂

[naj959]

I put an 60S Axis Blue in a PRGR head and have been pleasantly surprised with the results. I was expecting short and spinny but have been getting more than acceptable yardage and trajectory. Only down side I've observed is that if you get quick under the gun, this thing can get going left in a hurry. Stiffer profiles seem to be more forgiving of that mis. 

[Howard_Jones]

On 8/31/2024 at 7:49 AM, naj959 said:

I put an 60S Axis Blue in a PRGR head and have been pleasantly surprised with the results. I was expecting short and spinny but have been getting more than acceptable yardage and trajectory. Only down side I've observed is that if you get quick under the gun, this thing can get going left in a hurry. Stiffer profiles seem to be more forgiving of that mis. 

if it was shaft wgt behind that choice, AXIS RED, but as R flex is likely a better choice when left side is the typical mis-hit. Like PL BLUE, its a evo version of the OG blue, so you can swing it as you like, its hard to make it go left is my experience. I play AXIS Red R flex myself and my ball flight is either strait as a arrow, or a tiny baby fade. i cant draw it if my life was depending on it, but its combined with a very forgiving head, who dont seems to notice or care much about face angle. (Wishon 919 THI 11.0 loft)

 

 

[gvogel]

I have fond memories of an old ProLaunch Blue 65R shaft in an Exotics CB2 3-wood.  It was a cannon of a fairway wood.

 

Sorry to interject.  I will be ordering a PL Blue 45A for either a Titleist GT2 or Ping G430 Max.

[naj959]

6 hours ago, Howard_Jones said:

if it was shaft wgt behind that choice, AXIS RED, but as R flex is likely a better choice when left side is the typical mis-hit. Like PL BLUE, its a evo version of the OG blue, so you can swing it as you like, its hard to make it go left is my experience. I play AXIS Red R flex myself and my ball flight is either strait as a arrow, or a tiny baby fade. i cant draw it if my life was depending on it, but its combined with a very forgiving head, who dont seems to notice or care much about face angle. (Wishon 919 THI 11.0 loft)

 

 

It was more of a cheap experiment kind of deal. We don't have good fitters in my area so I tend to buy inexpensive components and see if they work for me. I was worried about it being spinny but it's been a non issue. Previously I had the axis blue in a 917 head and it was one of the shortest drivers I've tinkered with. Sold the head fast but kept the shaft as I liked the feel.

 

I was fit into a PL Red many moons ago by a Ping rep. Might be worth circling back to. Or I might pick up a hazrdus black. Demoed one and liked it. Need a head that would compliment it. As you can see I'm all over the place. I love trying new stuff 😅

[Howard_Jones]

1 hour ago, naj959 said:

It was more of a cheap experiment kind of deal. We don't have good fitters in my area so I tend to buy inexpensive components and see if they work for me. I was worried about it being spinny but it's been a non issue. Previously I had the axis blue in a 917 head and it was one of the shortest drivers I've tinkered with. Sold the head fast but kept the shaft as I liked the feel.

 

I was fit into a PL Red many moons ago by a Ping rep. Might be worth circling back to. Or I might pick up a hazrdus black. Demoed one and liked it. Need a head that would compliment it. As you can see I'm all over the place. I love trying new stuff 😅

So you know what we talk about - this specs comes from Tom Wishons shaft profile system (no longer available)
Sortet by models


Sorted from weak (top) to strong (bottom)


For "correct compare" we should put this numbers in a excel sheet and make a formula who tells us the difference as percent between the models we like to compare. 10 CPM at (41) is a full flex, while 10 CPM at the tip (11) is "nothing" and within tolerances from shaft to shaft.

PS! - The CLASSIC PL RED who is LOW/LOW has nothing to do with PL AXIS RED where the latter is MID/LOW like the OG BLUE was.
I did not have zone flex for PL AXIS RED R, but its softer than the OG BLUE 65 S (on top), but with a identical profile, so its a"smooth beast" of a shaft we can swing out of our shoes. When it came in 2010/2011 the price tag was 175 USD as retail, and back then the most expensive and advanced Grafalloy shaft made with 15 layers of carbonfibers in all directions

Edited September 5, 2024 by Howard_Jones

[10undrbogey]

Even though I hit the Distanza in my Ping 10k really well, couldn’t resist picking up a ProLaunch Blue 45A to try out😆after reading this thread.

 

Gluing the adapter on today, will cut to length & grip tomorrow, play a round with it Tuesday!

 

Already changed the backweight from 28 to 22g, so should be plug & play👍

[Phebus]

Curious to see how this goes for you. I’m planning on ordering a Prolaunch Blue, and wasn’t sure with the heavy head the 10k has whether to buy an A or R flex shaft.