Shaft Recommendations

HI all,

Have bought a Cobra ZL with stock shaft about 1 month ago and am looking to change the shaft in an attempt to tame the beast. So far have a few options listed below:

MITSUBISHI DIAMANA 63 R White/Red:
Fujikura E-360 Series
Fujikura ROMBAX 5F09

The reason is that there are very limited choices in HCMC in terms of Club Fitting.

Am hoping to get feedback from anyone who has/is used the above mentioned shafts. Much Appreciated.

Hi Winston,

i notice you want to change the shaft to tame the beast. can you elaborate on that?

is the beast you or the driver?

there are some info that you can provide as well..

like what is your average 3 or 5 wood, 7i and PW iron distance, your set makeup, particular the make and the shaft.

thanks...more questions to follow and hopefully we can shed some light on what you need rather than tell you what those 3/4 shafts are like.

DGman

Hi DGman,

My current set-up is Cooper irons in R-shaft (Stock), Perry Hybrids (rifle R-Shaft) and S-Yard 3/5 wood R-Shaft. All shafts are stock shaft and have never been changed, have never done any sort of fitting, have never been measured.

PW is 100yds, 7i is 130yds, 3w is giving me 180-190yds. my current driver is a S-yard R-shaft 200-210 yds.

The beast I am refering to is both me and the driver.

I feel that I have to really really slow down my swing as compared to the S-yard just to have a decent hit and if I force just a bit, everything goes haywire.

oh yeah, I am also choking down on the driver more than usual as compared to the S-yard. I guess that its because the Cobra shaft is longer than the S-yard's

So far there is only one place in Vietnam that I know of that measures swing speed, distance etc etc and I am going there soon to get measured. I figured that since I have been playing for almost 9 months, its time to get my own set. Have been playing with a borrowed set from friends since the first day I started. So far I have only bought myself a putter and the driver.

Hi,

u may like to check on yrself for the type of swing u are in such as tempo swing. Changing shaft may help or worse on yr case. get a club fitter to look into it first.

I think will gd if u get yr own iron set coz u need to get use to it and hit alot of decent shot with it.

without sounding biased or condescending, you mentioned that you have been playing golf for 9 months. how long have you been using your driver? and do you have lessons?

if i saw a 9 month old golfer, my general advice is to get on with the lessons and practice under supervision of a qualified teacher, hit your irons well and progress slowly from maybe a 6 iron then a hybrid, then a fairway wood, preferably a 5 wood.

as you can see, you have half correctly invested in the right area...the putter. as for the driver, you may want to find out why everything goes haywire when you force. in most circumstances, its how your body react when you go for the 100% hit.

Please be patient and as you practice and play more often, you will get better. and do practice with your other investment, the putter.

the 3 shafts you mentioned will not help your game if its the player and not the equipment that needs fixing.

the above is only my opinion and i am sure others will have their opinion too. not right or wrong but only you yourself can decide.

good luck Winston and if we have the chance to meet again, do drop in for a swing analysis.

cheers....DGman

finally how well you play is often not dependent on the brand of equipment but finding the right specs to fit you.

if we look at Ernie Els, he is a great example of having won with 3 different brands over more 2 decades.

DGman wrote:

finally how well you play is often not dependent on the brand of equipment but finding the right specs to fit you.

Very true. Having the right specs helped me in understanding and improving my game. Having the right specs allowed me to focus on my swing and not blame the equipment. And the right specs may differ from what's popular, current and in-demand.

Hi Dgman,

Thanks for the advice. Really appreciate it.

I have been taking lessons since day one and I do go back to my instructor at least once a month to for him to check if everything is still ok and no bad habits have crept into my swing.

I have been using the Cobra driver for 3 weeks and I have noticed a few things based on using the same swing for both drivers. I use about a 80-90% swing because if I try to use 100%, I will never hit the ball.

The cobra gives me a lower ball flight (9.5 degress vs S-yard 10 degrees)
Distance is shorter than the S-yard by about 10-15yds
I seem to have to tee the ball lower when using the Cobra.
AD tour shaft seems to be more whippy compared to the S-yard. Even my instructor commented on this.

Looks like it is back to the drawing board for me with my instructor.

As for putting, am now practicing it dilligently to try to achieve a maximum of 2 putt per hole.

was wondering, do the graman shafts come in heavier series and stiffer flexes? will it be recommended if i fitted one of them into my 3 wood. low on budget le =D

based on the following information:

PW is 100yds, 7i is 130yds, 3w is giving me 180-190yds. my current driver is a S-yard R-shaft 200-210 yds.

i can safely say that your club head speed are:

7 iron - 65 to 70 mph range
Driver - 85 mph range.

if you hit any further, you may not get the same efficiency as it may mean that you are releasing too early, hence if you have a 80 mph swing but hit with a 1.50 smash factor, it is likely that you will go further than a person who hits 90 mph with a 1.25 smash factor.

next time you go to the range, try to think of a half swing (think..meaning you will likely end up with a 3/4 swing) BUT make sure you finished balance to the target. By finishing balance, we mean strike the finishing pose. if you cannot maintain your pose, it means you have tried to hit too hard. if you cannot finished to the target, it means you have not released enough.

i would like to get golfers to do a simple test. stand on both legs, then close your eyes and lift up one foot at least a foot from the ground. not count from 1 to 10. if you cannot go pass 5, you got some catching up to do.

the objective of the test is to show how a person's ability to counterbalance gravity can help him or her develop muscles for golf. pros spent as much time in the gym as they do at the driving range so that they can unleashed those 110% drives.

most mortals will blame the equipment when their 110% efforts goes astray...haha...

thats why practice is important as it would help you build core muscles along the way. for those who goes to specialised training for core muscles, they can accelerate that process.

Cheers...DGman

yanhaotiong wrote:

was wondering, do the graman shafts come in heavier series and stiffer flexes? will it be recommended if i fitted one of them into my 3 wood. low on budget le =D

you got PM.....

Thanks DGman!!!!!!!

Hi Winston,

DGman speaks good sense, the flex has to fit your swing style as well as speed and the only way to assess that is to have a qualified fitter take a look at your swing. Also, you swing needs to be pretty consistent ...

That being said, sometimes it is chicken and egg, the equipment may be so off that for us, being new golfers, we can't adjust sufficiently to it.

As for the feeling of having to slow the swing down and the club going out of control when forcing, it could be due to a whole host of reasons ... maybe the club is longer and the swing weight too heavy, maybe the torque of the stock shaft is too high ... depending on the reason, the right shaft for you might be more or less flex, lighter or heavier, less or more (unlikely) torque than the stock shaft etc ...

From my own personal limited experience, having a good fitter assess you is a lot more productive than trying to find a shaft based on reviews of the net. As an example, based on my distance and swing speed, I am somewhere in between Regular and Stiff, which I believe they term as firm. My distance (meters) with PW (46 degree) is 115 and 7 Iron (33 degree) is 140. However, the driver shaft flex that works best for me is in between Regular and Firm, more towards Regular, frequency of 233. I get about 210m - 230m carry distance depending on quality of hit. According to my coach, my swing tends to load the club more gradually as a I have a relatively slow/smooth transition from backswing to downswing.

I have tried Stiff (R=245) drivers with swing weight D4 and it felt like a rock. I could get it to go straight, but launching the ball was hard. I can play with Stiff-Regular (SR) or Firm (e.g. Project X 5.5 on new Nike VR driver or Matrix Ozik 5.5 Xcon) but not as consistently as with my R Flex XDB shaft (which is a fair bit cheaper than the shafts above).

Notice I did not mention the heads at all ... I really think the quality of most of the modern heads are pretty similar and that finding the right shaft for you is much more important.

Try and take up DGman on his offer to help you do a swing analysis, at the very least it will be fun, and I am sure you will learn a lot from the guys there.

HI DGman,

Just tried the test...pass with flying colours...hehehe. I think it is time for me to go for a proper swing analysis.

If you ever come up to HCMC, please allow me to extend my hospitality to you. Maybe even have a game or 2.

Hi Derek,

Thanks for the input. Really appreciate it. I can totally relate to what you are saying. I am not an equipment slut. too poor to be one. Have been playing on a borrowed set for 9 months and I think it is time for me to invest in one of my own. I started with the putter, and then the driver. not so straining on the wallet. Before I take the plunge, just want to make sure that it is well spent.

Hmmm... I really liked your avatar pic... Vietnamese?

Hey Winston,

Have you considered Used Clubs that are in decent condition. Esp if you want more bang for the buck. My current driver which I love was purchased 2nd hand from Far East for $200 SGD and it was in really good condition. TM R7 CGB Max.

I've also been playing with a 10 old set of Tourstage V7000 for about 4 months which I picked up 3-PW, A, S from my friend at 300 SGD. Cut the lengths (I'm only 169cm) and adjusted the lie angles. They work just great for me and I will continue to use them as a travel set.

As for which irons, think the choice is pretty individual, but take the time to visit Far East as well as Creative Golf. Most of the modern sets Game Improvement Sets have pretty similar tech so just pick one you like I suppose ... and as with the driver, the shaft is probably more important than the head as long as the club is not too old (i.e. 20+ years)

If you are in SG and head down to Marina or JCC, PM me and I'll bring some different irons for you to try ... after all I am an equipment junkie (mainly 2nd hand) so have a whole bunch of golf stuff in my storeroom. Only thing is I probably will not sell any of them .....

nope....its japanese...you want to see vietnamese??

Hahaha... Long straight jet black hair with round face... I could swear she is a Viet... BUT:

Why dont you come up to HCMC?? I can show you the source

naughty naughty...

no no...i call it contributing to the economy....

watermyforrest wrote:

Hahaha... Long straight jet black hair with round face... I could swear she is a Viet... BUT:

Your forest on fired ah?!!!!!

Bwahaha... Just curious mah...

reading this thread with interest...
DG man's posting is really informative... then Winston's analysis on his avatar is equally informative... looks like gotta find myself a reason to go HCMC... to have a look at Winston's Cobra driver of course! what else?

WMF, Pocketace .. lets make trip up to HCMC ....

please do please do...very taxing to contribute to the economy...need support....