Golfmanufaktur

I‘m still waiting for my Srixon demo kit to arrive, which should be soon, but I already have some fitting experience with G425 irons. Boy - those are some nice irons especially for players with normal ballspeeds. They produce a nice high ballflight with plenty of ballspeed despite their really strong lofts. Looking forward to the Srixons to show up, so I can get a decent comparison between those two models. It‘s been definitely a very good year and most new released products are a definite improvement over their predecessors. Cheers, Michael

Callaway Apex Line should be available mid February. I just ordered a first set for a customer, who always wants the freshest and newest clubs without even demoing them and got that information from customer service. Will most likely order a combo set for myself, since I get heads only from Callaway and have some brand new ACCRA iSteel shafts sitting at my shop waiting to be paired with new iron heads.

As you already figured out, you can’t get ACCRA shafts directly from any OEM as an upgrade option. The people behind ACCRA decided to stay loyal to their custom Clubmakers customer base even after being acquired by TrueSports. So even, if you would decide on a different set of irons (which really might not be necessary, since the G410s are great irons already), you would have to have them reshafted. Ping doesn’t offer head only accounts to custom shops, since it’s not a good fit to their philosophy and the way, their heads are manufactured. Swing weighting is done with different inserts, glued in during the manufacturing process. A head only account would have to hold a large variety of weights for each different head style, making the stock hard to manage. Either way, from my personal findings, the ACCRA ICWT perform similar to Recoils, but a bit more precise and a bit firmer feeling in the same weight. I played Recoil Protos for some time and while I had great results when testing the ICWT, I kept the Recoils due to me preferring their feel at impact. Steelfibre shafts are very different from Recoils and ICWT. Stiffer overall and counterbalanced by a good amount. When building sets in standard length with Steelfibre shafts, I always had to deal with a significant change in swingweight with those shafts. Some players like that feel, while others just hate it and perform very poorly with these shafts or counterbalanced shafts in irons in general. Another shaft on the very stable side, that you might want to check out, are the PX Catalyst options. If you go from steel to graphite, these might be something you like. During my fittings, when dealing with players who want to get fit for an iron and the question is about steel vs. Graphite, it normally comes down to 2 things. Once being the price tag. Most steel shafts are just cheaper than their graphite counterparts. There are some stupid expensive steel options out there as well (Oban Steel), but generally speaking, steel is less expensive. The next question is health of the joints. Mainly elbow, wrist and shoulder. If you want to lessen the impact on your body, graphite is the way to go. Once these points are clear, it’s all about finding the best combination of weight/heft/balance, to help the golfer perform to their max potential. And with irons, I don‘t mean the one long shot, but the best mix of distance and dispersion. I hope, you get a chance to retest and compare the Recoils to the ICWT shaft. I wouldn’t be surprised if the ACCRA still outperforms the Recoils, but it shouldn’t be by a lot. Enjoy the process and don’t let them rip your wallet apart Cheers, Michael from Germany

Hi therod with FST, the lower weights are generally slightly softer than the heavier ones. But I honestly doubt, that you will see a significant difference between the 115 and the 125. It might even happen, that you hit the 125 higher due to a different delivery of the clubface due to the weight difference. If you want to change the height of your ballflight, change the loft. Changing shafts will only affect the flight significantly, if the shaft changes your impact situation due to a different timing. When fitting customers within the same weight range and the same clubhead, I rarely find a huge difference in ballflight height. Changing the head design and/or the loft of the club is way more effective, when it comes to that topic. Cheers, Michael

Zelos line is a solid option for this task. I prefer to build wedges with slightly heavier shafts to maintain shortgame control. I try to keep them around 20 grams heavier than the shafts in the irons. In this case, Zelos 7 would be my preferred option. Cheers, Michael

The weight might be the issue. KBS Tour being significantly heavier than AWT 2.0 plus being a higher balance point shaft will most likely screw with your timing. If you like AWTs and want to try a KBS product, KBS Tour 90 might do the trick, but honestly....I would just stick to what works. Cheers, Michael

Aerotech Steelfibre, PX Catalyst and KBS TGi are all relatively stout playing graphite shafts with a pretty firm profile. Those are nice options, if you come from a shaft like DG, PX and LZ or even a Modus 125. They will feel firmer (but still offer more vibration dampening properties) than NIPPON 950. As already mentioned by Wedgie, UST Recoils would be close in feel compared to Nippons 950 Pros. 780 SmacWrap would be a good option or the taper tip 95, if you prefer that weight range. Another option could be ACCRA shafts with their iSeries. They play slightly firmer than Recoils, but not as stout as PX Catalyst, Steelfibre or KBS Graphites. Cheers, Michael

There was never a constant weight parallel tip DG around iirc. Nippon is one of the very few companies offering constant weight 0.370 shafts out there Edit: just use a shim as already mentioned. I did that a couple of times during my 20 years of club building. No issue at all

KBS Tour V basically is a beefed up KBS Tour with a firmer tip section. Nowhere near as stout as PX, but firmer feeling compared to KBS Tour.

Hi guys, does any of you have first hand experience with the new ACCRA steel shafts? I’m playing Modus 105 S-Flex these days and plan to go a bit heavier in shaft weight to help maintain my rhythm a bit better. ACCRA 115 could be an option, just would like to know, if anyone is familiar with the characteristics and/or feel (I know....very subjective) of those shafts. Any input is appreciated Cheers Golfmanufaktur

The CT Lite isn’t overly exotic, when it comes to the profile of the shaft. I would take a closer look into the MRC Blueboard profiles or PX Evenflow/Riptide.

Modus 120 is a very different profile compared to PX. Way softer under the hands and in the middle section of the shaft. They are similarly firm in the tip section though. Not saying, that you can not replace PX by a Modus 120, but it’s not a given, that it will work out the intended way. The easiest replacement is the C-Taper 130X.....very similar shaft, since it’s been designed to mimic the PX. Another option could be DG X7.

Since the G400 is one of the heavier heads out there, a counterbalanced shaft might be a good option. Hzrdus Smoke YELLOW is an option, as is the already mentioned Aldila Rogue Silver. Or you go shorter in playing length and get your trusted Graffaloy shaft

As already pointed out by others, impact location determines playing length. If you hit the ball well, don't change playing length. If you have issues with the contact, you can start with some adjustments. The advice to grip shorter is your first starting point, if you want to feel it out. Cheers, Michael

Mavricks are a nice improvement over Rogues. Looks are pretty similar, but sound and with this feel is improved on the Mavricks. I played XR Pros for a couple of years and the Mavrick Pros are way nicer in direct comparison. Cheers, Michael

You won`t find a lot of differences in between your 585s and the Forged or Hot Metals. Hot Metals are a good bit more chunky, but Forged is relatively similar. I prefer the Srixons because of their sole design. I'm not super steep, but take a healthy divot once in a while. The Srixon sole works a lot better, when doing that compared to the Mizzys. If you are a picker of the ball, this might not affect you at all. Just something to keep in mind. Cheers, Michael Edit: The Tours are a totally different design. More similar to Z-Forged - even 785s are way easier to hit for me personally.

PX HZRDUS line is pretty round - you might feel a spine in a spine finding device, but it won't make a difference in playing performance, since the difference between the hard and the soft side of a high end graphite shaft these days is very small. I remember old Alidla NV Green days, where you could find shafts with a difference of 15cpm from the soft to the hard side of a shaft - with a modern high end graphite shaft, you will have troubles finding more than 2cpm. Long story short - installing them logo down is most likely a good way to go. Cheers, Michael

Always keep in mind, that there is no guarantee, that the softer tip profile/softer middle profile will generate a higher launch for you. You might just not hit it consistently, since it doesn't fit your swing and feel preferences. While in theory, shafts like Evenflow Red, HZRDUS Red, ACCRA 100 series, potentially raise your ballflight, if you can time them right. But reality is, that this isn't true for a couple of players. You might eventually see the oposite for you, cause you deliver the club in a certain way, that causes the high launch shaft to launch lower - I`ve seen that a couple of times in my years fitting golfclubs. If you need to consistently higher your ballflight - use more loft. If you run into spin issues with a higher lofted club - check impact location first and potentially check out a different CoG head design. Shafts can only do so much - if the head paramteres aren't good for you, no shaft can fix that. Cheers, Michael

The easiest way to make a steel shaft play firmer, is to add weight. The general characteristics stay the same, but you beef up the walls, which gives you a higher frequency, which is reflected in the Rifle stiffness designation (5.0, 5.5, etc.) PX LZ is an interesting animal with it’s relatively soft midsection and firm tip and butt design. It’s a nice mid launch/mid spin design for most players and easier to handle than the standard PX for most players. When testing PX LZ steel shafts for the first time a couple of years ago, I was pleasantly surprised. I don’t get along with Standard PX at all, since my release isn’t super late. I could game PX LZ all day long, but prefer the feel of Modus 105 over PX LZ. But that’s 100% personal preference. And yes...lighter golf shafts can feel a bit harsher on misshits, due to the thinner walls providing less dampening properties. Funny enough, it’s more noticeable in light graphite shafts for irons compared to their heavier relatives. Cheers, Michael

That’s, what I did with mine. Red is a nice tip active, yet stable profile with a slightly lower balance point. A nice match for a fairwaywood for sure.

I rarely fit players into counterbalanced shafts in a fairway wood, even if they like the feel in their driver. Those shafts in drivers are nice, if working with a heavier head like the Ping G410s. Pair them with a Mavrick or a similarly lighter driver head, and they don’t work for most players. The same applies to fairway woods. If there would be a design out there with a higher headweight (which I am honestly not aware of), using a counterbalanced shaft could be a good idea. If not, stick to a shaft with a normal to slightly lower balance point. Those - again generally speaking - tend to produce better results in a fairway wood. YMMV - but those are my findings in the fittings over the last couple of years, when counterbalanced shafts became more of a thing in the industry cheers, Michael

I was always surprised by the low launch shafts from Graphite Design. It’s not my preferred profile, but PM-9003 was a pretty nice option in that segment. And the TourZ RPGs from ACCRA are pretty nice as well.

Without precise numbers and more details from your side, it’s hard to give you a useful recommendation. But let let tell you some minor facts about shafts and their capabilities: They are first and foremost a timing device. If a shaft fits your swing profile, it will help you hit the ball better more often. The impact of static loft on launch and spin is higher, than the impact of a shaft in most cases. So using a head, that’s not suited for you and trying to fix it with a shaft might not be a good idea. And a quick heads up on another issue: prior to doing anything else, check your impact location. If that’s off, it’s a performance killer for sure. A shaft might help with that, but I would start from the head to shaft and grip in the end. Cheers Michael

And I can assure you from 20 years of clubmaking experience, the tolerances on Made in Japan shafts are really tight and those shafts are fun to work with.

That's interesting, since I got different information about that issue from True Sports - according to my info, the accepted tolerances in the small batch line are tighter compared to standard production. That`s the info, I received during a PFC seminar last year and got confirmed today by my contact.