Shaft Question for Rock or other X'perts!!

[warbirdlover]

Okay, I'm learning a little more about this but need a couple questions answered.

Understand Rock's explanation of the differences in tip stiffness between Grafalloy and Aldila. What are "most" of the other shaft mfg's products similar to?

The Grafalloy Blue is mid ball flight and the Grafalloy ProLaunch Blue has a high ball flight. I noticed my Ping Pro has a G2 with a Blue shaft and not the ProLaunch. Does he know something I don't (besides how to swing the club correctly)?

Also, the Grafalloy Prototype Comp NT (nano technology) shaft is mid ball flight like the Blue. Would that make them similar?

In another thread someone (Rock) said they didn't want a ProLaunch shaft when he (whoever it was) seemed to favor Grafalloy shafts. Would like to know the reason.

And finally, does a mid ball flight work better with a high launch head or low launch head or doesn't that make much difference. I mean is it better to use a high ball flight shaft with a low head angle or is this really mean anything at all?

Thanks ahead of time.

 

[ezra76]

It was me who does not care for the Prolaunch. I can pretty much find the kickpoint in a shaft by taking a hard half swing and stopping it abruptly at the bottom. A low kick (bendpoint) is made to launch it higher which is not good for me. Here's a pic of my 5iron at impact. Look how much the steel stiff shaft is bending near the top. Now picture how much a longer graphite driver shaft bends, especially so when it has a ton of flex near the head as the Prolaunch does.

 

[Rockford35]

Okay, I'm learning a little more about this but need a couple questions answered.

Understand Rock's explanation of the differences in tip stiffness between Grafalloy and Aldila. What are "most" of the other shaft mfg's products similar to?

The Grafalloy Blue is mid ball flight and the Grafalloy ProLaunch Blue has a high ball flight. I noticed my Ping Pro has a G2 with a Blue shaft and not the ProLaunch. Does he know something I don't (besides how to swing the club correctly)?

Also, the Grafalloy Prototype Comp NT (nano technology) shaft is mid ball flight like the Blue. Would that make them similar?

In another thread someone (Rock) said they didn't want a ProLaunch shaft when he (whoever it was) seemed to favor Grafalloy shafts. Would like to know the reason.

And finally, does a mid ball flight work better with a high launch head or low launch head or doesn't that make much difference. I mean is it better to use a high ball flight shaft with a low head angle or is this really mean anything at all?

Thanks ahead of time.

Great questions.

First off, it was me preaching the pros of the Blue and NT against that of the PL. The NT has the Blue tip section in it, making the feel similar to the blue itself, but without the butt end feeling boardy. It has a little more whip to it (the NT) when compared to the Blue.

I guess if i had to put it into layman's terms, i would say that the Blue is like rebar and the NT is like thinner rebar with a stiffer tip. Which is to say that it's meant more for smooth guys who like to swing hard, whereas the Blue is more for guys that like to load and swing hard.

The ProLaunch is a great shaft, but it's for a totally different application. It gets the ball airborne in a hurry and maximizes carry. But for guys (like me) that hit a high ball even with an 8.5* shaft, yoou wouldn't touch a shaft like the ProLaunch.

As per the question on high vs mid launch heads, it makes a difference depending solely on your swing. I mentioned I use an 8.5* head, and i hit it a ton, long and super high. I have friend that hit the ball just as hard and long as I do, but have no hope of hitting anything but worm burners with my setup. They both use 10.5* heads matched with stiff flex low kick shafts that get the ball airborne for maximum carry, but hardly any roll. Good for control, but not for distance.

I've never hit a low lofted head with a high launch shaft before. That would be a cool experiment. But really, you're pretty much defeating the purpose of the shaft in the first place. Ultimately, guys that use high lofted drivers and high launch shafts are creating an environment that makes the effective loft of their driver's more like 14* instead on 10.5, which maximized carry. So delofting the launch angle with clubface would generally not be good for your game if this is something that you suffer from.

You with me?

R35

 

[ezra76]

Great questions.

First off, it was me preaching the pros of the Blue and NT against that of the PL. The NT has the Blue tip section in it, making the feel similar to the blue itself, but without the butt end feeling boardy. It has a little more whip to it (the NT) when compared to the Blue.


R35

Sorry about that, I had a bunch of posts bashing the prolaunch, thought he may have been referrring to those. Good info there though Rock. Have you ever hit a Speeder 757 btw? Hit one today in a 905R and by god it felt like an awesome combo. Wondering how the blue or NT would stack up against it?

 

[Rockford35]

I've only hit a few Fuji's and one of them was the 757, but it was an extremely quick love affair. It was matched with a Titty head, which I hated. It felt like the NV to me. I've hesitated to buy one, even tho peopl rave about them and the Blue being similar in many respects....

R35

PS...stupid:smilie_ti

 

[ezra76]

At $428 I'm going to pass on that one. I have a TM 200steel in a 9.5* I'd like to throw something in for under $50 to finish out the year though. I'll drop a couple hundred over the winter when all that greens fees money isn't being put to use.

WBL- I have 2 new ones for you to try out while you have that "mad money". I hit a 905R Titleist and a Callaway X today, very nice. Hit the Launcher Comp too but it's still the same as the last 137 times I hit it, very dead. :smilie_cl :faintthud

 

[warbirdlover]

Great reply Rock but how do the other shaft mfgr's tip compare with the Grafalloy and the Aldila? Are there some in between?

The NT is meant for smooth guys that like to swing hard? PERFECT!! That's ME!! This is also helping me understand why the Ping (ProLaunch) seems to work for me but maybe a CompNT would be even better.

I understood the rest of your explanation! I'm starting to scare myself!!

Oops, forgot. What is the Cleveland shaft that came standard in the Launcher like? Does anyone "like" that shaft?

Man Ezra, after buying three new drivers this year and a new set of irons I'd better not push my luck (marriage).

 

[Rockford35]

Sure. There are plenty of others that feel similar and others that don't.

If I had to make a list of relatively similar feeling shafts (for me) they would be:

Grafalloy Blue
Grafalloy CompNT
Graphite Designs YS-6+ series
UST V2 stiff 66g
Harmon Desigjn Tour 70
Penley Stealth series

More like the NV would be:

NVS
Graf ProLaunch
Fuji Tour Platform 27.3
Fuji tour Platform 26.3
Graf Prolite


The new Aldila VS shaft with the Protopype technology intrigues me. It has an ultra stiff (to Aldila anyways) tip section with nano technology. It's next on my list to hit.

Obviously, the aforementioned lists are just my personal guidelines and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, as their swing can make or break a particular shaft.

Most underrated shaft? UST V2. At 60 bucks, a steal in comparison.

Most overrated shaft? Aldila NV. Too expensive, plenty of better shafts out there for the money.

There are plenty of smaller companies that make great shafts too, they just don't have the exposure. Mercury Golf, Accuflex (new sponsor!), Accra (subsidary of UST) and many many high end shaft companies (that make crazy ass shafts that i would never touch with a 10 foot pole because of the price alone!) that make plenty of other options, but these are some of the mainstream guys.

I play Mercury in my fairways, and wouldn't hesitate to put a Accuflex into my fairways.

R35

 

[AccuFLEX]

Hello All,

I wanted to jump in and introduce myself, my name is Jody Baucom, I am the President of an up and coming graphite shaft company called AccuFLEX.

Some of you may have heard of us, we have been quite successful in our short period of time, with 12 RE/MAX World Long Drive Championships, 18 Professional PGA Tour Victories, and much more.

We are very glad to be new Sponsors here, and hope we can be of some help.

Our Goal is to create "A Golf Shaft to Fit Every Swing"

Every Golfers Swing is different, but we find that many fall into a certain "group" and then can be further scrutinized from there.

Most major club manufacturers cannot afford to "stock" or "asemble" their golf clubs with all of the shaft models needed to fit "everyone" so alot of generalization goes on. I will have to say the last couple years have been getting better.

We have a very strong R&D Dept. where we zone profile shafts, check for various new composite materials, swing test, load test, strength test, launch monitor test and more.

If anyone would like some help, we are here.

Hopefully we can get some new AccuFLEX "converts"

Thanks for reading this far LOL...

 

[warbirdlover]

I believe Chris DeMarco uses a UST V2 in his G5 according to "what's in the bag" at Golfchannel.com. Any pros using "accuflex"?

 

[Eracer]

On a whim, I reshafted a Cobra SS350 driver with an Accuflex Icon V2 stiff shaft. I could not hit that combo at all with my smooth 90mph swing. So I gave the driver to my Dad, and he hits it beautifully. It kicked a TM R7 with a Speeder 757 out of his bag.

So it really is all about you. What works for you.

 

[ezra76]

On a whim, I reshafted a Cobra SS350 driver with an Accuflex Icon V2 stiff shaft. I could not hit that combo at all with my smooth 90mph swing. So I gave the driver to my Dad, and he hits it beautifully. It kicked a TM R7 with a Speeder 757 out of his bag.

So it really is all about you. What works for you.

Where's that R7 with the Speeder?

 

[warbirdlover]

I went to the Accuflex site and see they've got a NANO shaft!! (The Evolution Lite). Now they've got my attention! It's more expensive then the Grafalloy CompNT though. Anyone tried it?

 

[Loop]

IMHO, the purpose of having a low lofted head with a lower kick point is for a higher initial launch but less spin. At higher swing speed, too much backspin will propel the ball way into the air and loses distance, albeit you would get a straighter ball flight.

Jody, I was thinking of getting the BiMatrix from Grafalloy. Something with a mid to higher launch but takes off some spin.
Anything similar in the works for Accuflex?

BTW, welcome to ST

 

[bames]

I play with a friend from Colorado occasionally and he plays a Harrison shaft. He is a scratch golfer and hits it a ton (he'll hit his 983K with that shaft of the fairway just for fun). Anyone know anything about Harrison?