Mitsubishi Diamana TB Golf Shaft Review

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Mitsubishi Diamana TB Series Driver Shaft Review

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Club Maker
The Highlands Performance Golf Center, Carrollton Texas 
Golf Digest Certified America’s 100 Best Club Fitter

The venerable Diamana Blue Board is now in its 5th generation, The 2021 Diamana TB series. Rather the reading me talk about what is new, just watch this video from Mitsubishi Chemical. 

The Diamana Blue defines the most popular shaft archetype, a soft mid profile. This archetype is available from virtually every driver shaft company. Many brands produce exact copies and many other produce variations of the archetype. The EI profiles of the Diamana TB Series are not much different than the 4th generation BF series. What is noticeably different are manufacturing tolerances. Mitsubishi Chemical is vertically integrated. They make their own fiber, resin and prepreg. That gives them full control over design and manufacturing. The TB series is available in 21 versions from 40 to 80 grams and in flex designations from R2 to TX. I validated what they claim, there is very little variance in Butt diameter and balance through the matrix of shafts. That makes life easy for the fitting technician.

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Russ

Matrix Driver Shaft Review – REIGH & TIE Fitting System

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Matrix REIGH Driver Shaft &
Matrix White Tie, Red Tie, Black Tie Driver Fitting System

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

MatrixReign_Image

The Matrix REIGN shaft is distributed exclusively through Matrix authorized club fitters. It is an elegant looking shaft with a laser etched logo and serial number. It comes in four structures, MCG, MTX1, MTX2 and HDZ. The MGC is the light weight game improvement design, mid to high ball flight and spin for lower swing speeds. MTX1 is slightly counter weighted for heavier heads or longer builds, the flighting and spin are mid range. The MTX2 series is traditionally weighted, and has a stiffer mid and tip section. The HDZ is premium Matrix, employing Boron and Zylon materials for feel and launch control. It is a unique profile emerging in a number of brands. A rapid loss of stiffness high in the shaft with a long stiff tip.

The technical discussion, measurements and testing results are available only to registered readers

The review samples are a subset of the REIGN line. But they are part of a new approach to golf club shaft fitting. Matrix created a 38 shaft system for Matrix Shaft fitters. They provide the fitting shafts and a software package to guide the fitter through the process of using their products of optimize launch and spin. I discussed this system with Tom DeShill, Director of R&D at Matrix Shafts during the 2015 PGA Merchandise show.

MatrixFittingGridThis fitting system also uses the Matrix Black, Red and White Tie shafts review earlier. The fitter finds the best fit in the Matrix Ozik Red Tie, then based on the optimizations target, continues testing with the proper weight and flex selected from the different design profiles to move the launch and spin toward the target.

My kit arrived and is being fitted with Club Conex UniFit tips. It will head to the range for fitting and testing, stay tuned.

KBS HiRev 2.0 and 610 Wedge Shaft Review

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KBS Wedge Shafts
HiRev 2.0  &  610

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

KBS Tour Wedges HiRev 2 Image

It is always a pleasure to spend time talking about shafts and fitting with Kim Braly. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a thousand pictures. If you want to truly understand the two new wedge shafts from KBS watch the video embedded below. The short story is KBS has improved on the original Hi-Rev wedge shaft and introduced a new model.

The Hi-Rev 2.0 will replace the original KBS HiRev Wedge Shaft. The new design is a higher launching shaft that will create more spin. The illustration below shows the difference between the KBS HiRev and the KBS HiRev 2.0.  Butt to tip change in stiffness is higher in the new model. And additional loss of stiffness in the tip will create more launch and therefore more spin than the original HiRev design. If your club head speed does not generate enough spin, the HiRev 2.0 shaft will contribute to a higher launch wedge shot.

The 610 is modeled on last years Tour V design. A long stable butt section with a rapid loss of stiffness about 14″ from the tip. Tour testing has shown this design produces a lower, more penetrating ball flight. The softer tip will create enough spin to check the ball up without adding height to the shot with excessive spin. If you want to keep your wedge shots from getting blown around and you have the club head speed to spin the ball, you should test this design. The model name, 610, comes from the butt diameter. To create the design, butt diameter became a little larger as explained in the video.

The technical discussion, measurements and testing results are available only to registered readers

This interview was shot at the 2015 PGA Merchandise show. It is worth watching to listen to one of the most experienced club fitters of our time discuss club fitting.

Fujikura Pro Driver Golf Shaft Review

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Fujikura Pro Driver Shaft

Kirk James & Mark Vallier,  MK Golf Technologies,San Antonio, Texas

Measurements: By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Club Maker
The Golf Center at the Highlands, Carrollton Texas

FujiProD_Image
The 2014 Fujikura Pro driver shaft has an interesting look. Like the iron shaft, it ts two color. On one side the upper color fills the label, on the other side, the lower color. Going beyond cosmetics, the Fujikura Pro and the Tour Spec versions are very different shafts. The Pro is a mid soft shaft. This term only has meaning in the relationship of the mid section of the shaft to the butt and tip. The stiffness of the tip relative to the mid section provides stability and lower than average spin, while the butt section has been designed to provide a smooth feel in a player’s hands. In our testing and fitting of these shafts, we have found Fujikura’s marketing literature to be fairly accurate. These Pro shafts provide the player mid launch, mid to low spin, and a great feel in the hands. The higher carbon fiber content of these shafts enhance both the stability and smooth feel provided by the bend profile. These shafts are an outstanding value at their price point for the player looking for a mid launching shaft.

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Russ

Again, we are extremely impressed with these Pro Tour Spec shafts, and feel that they are an outstanding value for someone looking for a low to mid launching shaft with low spin characteristics.

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Diamana D+ & Diamana S+ Driver Shaft Review

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Mitsubishi Diamana S+ & D+ Driver Shafts – 2015

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

Diamana Blue S+ Driver

915d2-driver
The stock shafts in the 2015 Titleist 915 drivers include the Diamana Red, White and Blue models. This year, unlike last year, they have the same appearance as the original Diamana shafts, a silver background with the Red, White or Blue Diamana logo. And, with the exception of a very slight increase in torque, they are identical to the legacy design.  We have received review samples of the Blue and a few of the Whites. The remainder of the Whites and the Reds will be added to this review when they arrive.

The Blue Diamana is perhaps the most copied driver shaft design I have ever seen. It is a good fit for golfers with a quick swing and a hard transition. The profile has a soft mid in relation to the tip and butt. The Diamana + models are available as options from most companies in 2015. Many, at no upcharge.

The technical discussion, measurements and testing results are available only to registered readers

Oban KIYOSHI Tour Limited Golf Shaft Review

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OBAN KIYOSHI TOUR LIMITED DRIVER SHAFT

By Tony Curro  –  Tru-Fit Custom Clubs
Colonie – NY, Lenox – MA, Manchester – VT & Latham – NY

Kiyoshi Tour Limited Image

The latest model from Oban Composites is the Kyoshi Tour Limited.  Released in 2014, this high modulus composite shaft features a tip section that is stiffer than all of the other  Kyoshi models.  Looking at the EI bend profile of this shaft, the shaft maintains it’s stiffness to about the 15 inch mark, then drastically softens and maintains that softness through the shaft to the butt section where it stiffens again around the 33 inch section.  We used the 60 in 04 (stiff) flex.  This shaft in the 60 and 70 stiffens in the butt section to produce higher launch conditions without increasing spin rates.   We took the shaft to the range to test it out, and came back with some profound results.

The technical discussion and measurements are available only to registered readers

To continue reading this section of the review, you must be registered at a higher level membership.
Russ

To continue reading this section of the review, you must be registered at a higher level membership.
Russ