Nippon NSPro 950GHneo Iron Golf Shaft Review

Nippon NSPro 950GHneo Iron Golf 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 NSPro 950 has been available for longer than I have been professionally fitting. It is still available in most every fitting system from every major club manufacturer. The success of the Nippon Modus3 shafts has heightened the popularity of Nippon’s products.The differences between the NSPro 950 and the neo are subtle.

This is a long video where we talk about a lot of Nippon golf shafts, the discussion of the 950GHneo is early in the video at 2:40 on the timeline.

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Russ

Diamana B-Series Golf Shaft Review

 Mitsubishi Diamana B-Series Third Generation Blue Board

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

Diamana B Images

The third generation of the Mitubishi Blue Board, the B-Series released in late 2012. The original graphics show on the bottom is sold in Asia. A revised graphic, the top image, toning down the floral pattern is sold elsewhere. Same shaft. The Blue Diamana was to my knowledge the first of the Diamana Family of shafts.  My first encounter was in a Taylor Made TP driver.  It was the beginning of a long lasting relationship.  The Diamana Blue profile has been one of Mitsubishi’s best sellers.  It is butt stiff / mid soft / tip stiff.  The profile has been copied by most brands as one of their models.  The second generation Diamana Blue was the Kai’li.  It was the first of the Mitsubishi Diamana shafts to use a wrapping technique called Multi Dimensional Interlay.  Diamana B MDI image.fwAll the the second generation Diamana’s, the Kai’li, Ahina and ilima featured stiffer tip sections than the first generation designs which resulted in longer sections of uniform stiffness.  The Kai’li refined the original Diamana Blue profile with a slightly stiffer butt and tip.

Diamana B EiProfiles In all the Mitsubishi Shafts, weight and stiffness from shaft to shaft ascend uniformly.  That means the 70 S shaft is stiffer than the 60 S as you can see in this illustration. This makes it easy for a fitter to move from weight to weight, knowing the bend profile of the shaft does not change. Not all brands follow this design choice. Some change profile with weight.

 The third generation Diamana Blue takes the stiffness of the design up a notch.

Diamana B vs Kaili.fwWith the release of the KuroKage model in 2012, Mitsubishi introduced a high density prepreg using more fiber and less resin. The PR talked about adding strength by changing the proportion of fiber to resin. This technology is now being used in the third generation Diamana B-Series. . What I see is a 10 gram weight reduction. The 50 gram B-Series is the same as the 60 gram Kaili. Same stiffness, same bend profile, but 10 grams lighter. Look at the previous chart to understand this.  Recall how the Mitsubishi shafts ascend in weight and stiffness.  Now, just ratchet the profiles up a notch, lighter is now stiffer. And I am now fitting the player I would have put into the 60 gram Kai’li into the 50 gram Diamana B.  The Diamana-B series in available in a wider weight range than former models.  50 gram R, S and X flex shafts are now available.

Where we do see a difference is in torque. The 50 gram shafts have 1/2 degree more torque than the 60 gram models. Still in an acceptable range, 3.0 tip, 4.2 butt in the 50 S. As shafts get lighter, they generally need more torque to transmit feel. With the mix of Kai’li and the B-Series in a fitting cart, the Mitsubishi fitter has an interesting range of options in the search for the perfect fit. The Blue Board design is the a perfect fit for the golfer with a quick tempo and aggressive transition. I view it as a neutral launch, not biased toward high or low. With the addition of a 50 gram model, the gap between the Ultra Lite driver shafts and the typical 60 gram shaft has been bridged.

Diamana B EiGj Table

UST Mamiya Recoil Prototype Iron Shaft

UST Mamiya Recoil Prototype Iron Shafts – Ascending Weight Taper

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

Recoil_Image

TourSPXTransparetLogo.fw

In the recent past, composite iron shafts were not looked on as something suitable for strong, low handicap, competitive golfers. The idea that composite, aka graphite, iron shafts belonged in the bag of a tour pro is still hard for many traditional minded golf professionals to accept.  Then, Brandt Snedeker comes along and wins the 2012 FedEx Cup with composite iron shafts in his bag. Composite has arrived and the composite shaft companies are delivering tour quality shafts.

The UST Mamiya Recoil ascending weight iron shaft is one such golf shaft. It released in 2013 through the UST Mamiya TourSPX dealers. I first saw this shaft in its prototype version two years ago. This review is about the ascending weight taper shafts. It does not apply to the parallel shafts available to the general public. I have not yet looked at those shafts. 

The technical discussion and measurements are available only to registered readers

Michael Guerrette, Senior Director of R&D discussed the Recoil with me at the PGA 2013 merchandise show.

Recoil_Set_Certification

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Russ

True Temper Dynamic Gold Golf Club Shaft Review

True Temper Dynamic Gold, Dynamic Gold SL & Dynamic Gold Sensicore

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

DG RSX LabelsNo overview of golf shafts would be complete without a discussion of the True Temper Dynamic Gold Iron shaft.  It has been with us for a long time and does not change. Its not as exciting to review as some of the new technology we see, but it remains the number one iron shaft on the PGA tour.

The EI profiles show three different shaft designs, Regular, Stiff and X-Stiff. This is not what we see from most other companies. Their patterns are consistent from weight to weight, flex to flex.

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Russ

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Russ

Fujikura EXS Golf Shaft Review

Fujikura EXS Driver Shaft

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

The EXS line from Fujikura is an Economy line of shafts available from Fujikura Charter Dealers. It features High, Mid and Low launch versions.That is unusual in an economy shaft.  When budget is an issue and a golfers fit indicates a particular shaft profile, the Fujikura EXS is available in a wide range of weight and flex.. The colors match the Fujikura Motore Speeder, also available in high, mid and low launch versions.

Having recently profiled the Motore Speeders, the Fujikura EXS line have a great deal in common with the Speeders.  Not all weights and flexes match exactly, but I can find close matches with a little hunting.  If the Speeder is a budget buster the EXS deserves a hard look.

Fuji EXS EiGj

Fujikura EXS Red

Fuji EXS Red Image

Fuji_EXS0_Tb

Average radial consistency of the review samples was 99.2 with a 0.4% standard deviation

Fujikura EXS Blue

Fuji EXS Blue Image

Fuji_EXS1_Tb

Average radial consistency of the review samples was 98.5 with a 0.7% standard deviation

Fujikura EXS Purple

Fuji EXS Purple Image

Fuji_EXS2_Tb Average radial consistency of the review samples was 98.6 with a 0.5% standard deviation

KBS Tour C-Taper Lite Golf Club Shaft Review

 KBS TOUR C-TAPER LITE GOLF SHAFTS

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

KBS CTaper Lite Image

The KBS C-Taper Lite is a welcome addition the the KBS line of golf shafts for irons. the C-Taper is one of my favorites when working with a player looking for a lower launch, penetrating ball flight. The profiles are consistent from flex to flex, making it easy to change weight and stiffness while seeking a perfect fit for feel and flight.  The KBS C-Taper Lite profiles fall between the C-Taper S and S+.  One might say they are a C-Taper S on a diet. The C-Taper Lite is a great shaft if you fit best into a mid weight shaft and want the shaft to keep the ball down to the degree that a shaft can.

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Russ