Budget vs Premium shaft

[superduper]

I've seen some driver shafts cost from as little as $16 to $300 (or even $1000).   Especially Diamana and Matrix Xcon line.  What makes Diamana and Matrix shafts cost so much?  Can you mention the material used in the  process of making those premium shafts? 

[hckymeyer]

For the materials involved you are better off just going to their respective websites and reading the info about them.  

As for the cost difference it's just like any product on the market.  Some will perform better than others, some have different types of materials, or weaves, or manufacturing processes that drive prices up or down.  Some people drive Ferrari's and some drive trucks, some drive a Prius.  It's not unique to Diamana and Matrix either.  Take a look at Graphite Design, Oban, Aldila, Fujikura etc...  They all have premium shafts that cost $300+ and they all have more cost effective shafts.

 

The bottom line is to find something that plays well for you within your budget.

[RoverRick]

Golf shafts are the laws of supply and demand at it's finest. Look at a Matrix Velox  and the Fujikura Speeder 57 shafts. This may be a great lightweight shaft that was developed to transfer more energy than before. However, TMag made the Velox the stock shaft on the Jetspeed which was released at the same time (about) as the SLDR.  The SLDR and Speeder 57 got all the press and the Jetspeed / Velox got no love. You can buy both cheap. Because there tons of both these shafts available, they are now cheap shafts because there is an excess of these shafts..

 

The MRC Fubuki Z and Zt shafts are a premium shaft but Callaway spec'ed them in the Big Berthas last year. This caused MRC to make a bunch of them, and since they are readily available the price has dropped. This was not necessarily a shaft that fit everyone, but that does not make any difference to the OEM's. The fact that Cally was putting in premium shafts vs a made for did not get the press I thought it should, but it did make a shaft that fits my swing readily available at a lower price so a win for me. I got mine today to install in my SLDR.

 

Graphite Design makes a Tour AD DI that is a mid/high lauch and lower spin. But because Tiger gamed one a few years ago, and Spieth and others still do, the demand for these is high, but the supply is low because they have never been a stock shaft. I wanted to try the GD Tour AD MT 6 but small supply and large demand made this one shaft sell for over $200 used.

 

Miyazaki offers a similar shaft in a lighter weight the C Kua. It is a higher launching/ lower spinning shaft, depending on the weight, but it has a number of draw backs that make it cheap. First, Miyazaki is owned by Srixon. It was the stock shaft in the Cleveland drivers.  So TMag, Callaway Titleist, Ping, and others won't even offer it as an upgrade. The demand is very low for Miyazaki shafts. When supply is also low, like the Kusula shaft, the price of this will remain high even though the demand is low. However, there are a number of C Kua shafts out there that came out of Cleveland Drivers that were not sold, and their for the shafts were pulled and sold separately. Therefore the price of a C Kua shaft is low.

 

So what does all this mean. Nothing. Each shaft performs differently for each golfer, and there are probably cheaper shafts that are available within those specs.

 

You asked about the Diamana and XCon shafts. The materials used in making any of these shafts is basically carbon fiber and resin. The process varies from maker to maker and each one has a better design than the other one. Both are popular however, I think the XCon's are at least a generation ago. The Diamana's are now on their third generation but it is still a supply and demand issue.

 

Unfortunately, neither of those shafts are ones that I researched lately. So I will not address them specifically.

[superduper]

For the materials involved you are better off just going to their respective websites and reading the info about them.  

As for the cost difference it's just like any product on the market.  Some will perform better than others, some have different types of materials, or weaves, or manufacturing processes that drive prices up or down.  Some people drive Ferrari's and some drive trucks, some drive a Prius.  It's not unique to Diamana and Matrix either.  Take a look at Graphite Design, Oban, Aldila, Fujikura etc...  They all have premium shafts that cost $300+ and they all have more cost effective shafts.

 

The bottom line is to find something that plays well for you within your budget.

 

For Sports car, I can understand why it costs more than 100 grand.  The engine is more powerful and the car seats made of expensive leather.  And when you drive it, it feels more stable when you drive it at 150 Mph.  

[Undershooter]

Somewhat the same story for shafts. Better production tolerances for bigger name brands. R&d costs are higher. Plus at some point you are paying for the Name. Just like anything else high end you buy, at some point you pay for the name at its guarantees. Bottom line, try a few and play what works best for you. If its the cheap shaft then pick that one. If its the expensive one then pick that one. Shafts are just like choosing the grip or clubhead. Certain ones fit certain people. But if you are only concerned with price then buy cheap shafts and cheap club heads. Expensive club heads can have the same questions asked about them. Me personally: I would rather have a shaft that fits me well in a head that isn't great vs the other way around. My swing tempo and speed dont work well with a large variety of shafts.

 

 

 

 

For Sports car, I can understand why it costs more than 100 grand.  The engine is more powerful and the car seats made of expensive leather.  And when you drive it, it feels more stable when you drive it at 150 Mph.

 

[superduper]

Somewhat the same story for shafts. Better production tolerances for bigger name brands. R&d costs are higher. Plus at some point you are paying for the Name. Just like anything else high end you buy, at some point you pay for the name at its guarantees. Bottom line, try a few and play what works best for you. If its the cheap shaft then pick that one. If its the expensive one then pick that one. Shafts are just like choosing the grip or clubhead. Certain ones fit certain people. But if you are only concerned with price then buy cheap shafts and cheap club heads. Expensive club heads can have the same questions asked about them. Me personally: I would rather have a shaft that fits me well in a head that isn't great vs the other way around. My swing tempo and speed dont work well with a large variety of shafts.

 

 

 

 

 

For the heads, I don't mind paying $300 (because I like a certain shape that is not available in retail).  I don't mean to say I like cheap golf shaft.  I just want to know if the $300 is alot difference in quality.   

 

I have been playing golf since 2006.  During that time, shaft are priced reasonably around $50 to $90.  Now when I browse shafts from Aldila, the cheapest driver shaft they offer is $160 (don't include the classic shafts).   The tour blue and tour green are $250.  I mean what the heck happened to the industry.  It's getting too expensive from the golf equipments to green fees. 

[Undershooter]

Check the bay for some pulls or some used drivers with the shaft in it. In my opinion there are some great inexpensive shafts but you really do get some advantages when you take the bigger brands into thought. What shaft are you wanting to try? I'm sure it can be had for less than you think. Whiteboards used to be the expensive must have shaft but I can get one for $80 including a nice driver head now days if I look.

[BIG STU]

Ditto to all that was said here. It can be the wow factor of having the latest thing. You have to use what is best for you. Personally I have what is called really "outdated" shafts in all my stuff. In my fairways I still use the old UST Pro Force Gold 65s that they do not make anymore. In fact I scour the flea markets and thrifts to find clubs with those shafts and buy them for the shafts. I am not the only one down here though they seem to have a following and I have some folks calling me for them. My driver that I am currently gaming now does not have that shaft but it does have an "outdated" shaft in it about a 3 or 4 year old design it is a Nanonet  Creation Tour Only shaft. hey it works for me.

BTW One word of caution when buying pullout graphite shafts know the seller. Make darn sure they were low heat pulled and pulled properly. If not heated and pulled properly they can be heat and twist damaged and have catastrophic failure when reinstalled.

IMHO the shaft is the engine that drives the club and I have proved it many times because I have taken clone clubs and put a good shaft in them and they hit fine and folks were satisfied. I have a lot of clone hybrids running around on this end of the beach still in play with the old Pendley shafts or Harrison stripers in them. In a nutshell some shafts work for some people regardless of age or wow factor. In fact my late partner J A was a big Gramman fan and built a lot of  clone clubs with that shaft. The other week at work a Burner clone came through in some junk clubs. I told one of the guys that either J A of I built that club. This guy called B.S. on me so I bet him $20 on it. I cut the raggety Winn grip off it and there it was my initials and the date. In fact took it home and regripped it and sold it the other day for $15

[wbealsd]

THIS!

"The bottom line is to find something that plays well for you within your budget."

 

I'm not good enough, or rich enough, to play with $1000 shafts.

[PlaidJacket]

I always enjoy reading shaft discussions. Sorta of. I'm not a shaft guy. Shafts bore me. LOL I just want shafts that work best for me and my swing profile and ball flight. I could care less who makes them, what color/graphics they have, or how awesome someone says they are. What I haven't read in this discussion is anyone suggesting proper Fitting. Most of the time here on MGS when I read a shaft thread guys are just basically taking a crap shoot. Someone says buy this or that shaft. Or this or that shaft did X for my game. There is a guy (high handicapper) I play with often that is always... bragging (bragging? LOL) that he has just paid some ridiculous price for a new driver shaft. Was there an improvement in his shots/game. Not that I could see. Same lousy game. Another guy I know took advice from another gentleman that touts himself as a club guru. Why? Because he likes to work on and repair clubs in his spare time. Again I go back to Fitting. These two examples I described are not uncommon. I've even been guilty in past years. I firmly believe that if you do not get properly fit you're just rolling the dice. And... the person doing the fitting had better know what they are doing. Just having a launch monitor does not mean they know what they are doing. As some of you more knowledgeable guys know and at the most basic level... shafts have no standards. They are whatever a manufacturer stamps on them and says they are. Is AsianName Ninga Graphic S flex right for you? Probably not. But then again it might be. Remember... it's a crap shoot if you are not properly fit.

[wbealsd]

"Remember... it's a crap shoot if you are not properly fit."

That's definitely true, and I just screwed up because my fitter wasn't available and I had some shafts pulled from a set that I thought would work better for me on my Alpha irons.  Both sets were playable, but I thought these shafts would work better for me at the present time.  My BIG mistake was having them cut down and now I've got a set of iron heads without shafts and a set of Alpha irons that don't play as well as before...  It didn't cost me a lot of money, since I already owned the clubs and shafts, so it's not a huge loss except for the time and frustration but it's a major frustration right now.

[PlaidJacket]

The guy that fit me and I purchased my Wishons from also was an Alpha dealer. I looked at them and liked them very much. I could have gone either way I think but ended up with the 771csi. Love them. Alphas are nice indeed.

[wbealsd]

The guy that fit me and I purchased my Wishons from also was an Alpha dealer. I looked at them and liked them very much. I could have gone either way I think but ended up with the 771csi. Love them. Alphas are nice indeed.

My Alphas will be a lot nicer when I fix my "boo-boo" with the shafts - lol  Ironically, the shafts came of my Wishon's!  Fortunately, they're not my only iron set and I'll take either my Clevelands or Mizunos to Orlando this month and wait to do anything with my Alphas (or Wishons) when I can have a real fitter to work with in the spring.

[RookieBlue7]

Don't take stock shafts (save TaylorMade's TP shaft offerings and upcharge options, which aren't stock shafts) as your barometer for shafts. The non-TP TaylorMade's share names but they're not the same shaft or materials.