Researching stock shafts before fitting a new driver

[jhak]

Hi all!

I've been researching shafts for some hours now as I'm going to fit a new driver tomorrow. I'm probably going to get the ST190 anyway, though I'm interested to give at least the F9 a go. Considering that, I'd be really happy if you could share any facts, opinions or experiences about the stock shaft options on these drivers.

I'm pretty new to the shaft business, so to be honest, I'm finding it slightly overwhelming. And that's why I'm asking for your help in the first place. To try and make things little simpler, I decided that whatever shaft I'm buying, it will have to be 40T prepeg. Is this a reasonable requirement?

Please note the following options are based on European offerings (I live in Finland).

ST190 Stock Shaft Options:

• ATMOS Blue 5/6, Red 4/5/6 (30T, not an option)
• ATMOS Tour Spec Black 6/7 (40T, and the only one I could find definitive info that it is 40T)
• Tensei CK Blue/White/Orange (only CK Pros have mention of 40T in Mitsubishi's website)
• Kuro Kage Silver Dual-Core TiNi (only XD has a mention of 40/46T)

So this leaves me with only the ATMOS Tour Specs as viable options. What do you make of this? Which of these shafts are the best picks quality-wise? I don't expect to be able to have the club built for me on spot, so that I would fit with the actual shaft individual that I get. For this reason, I'm ready to trade some numbers against the promise of a higher quality shaft.

Thanks for any help in advance!

[McGolf]

I would not get to infatuated with 40T as the defining characteristic of the golf shaft. Chances are,  the fitter will not know that parameter of the shaft unless it is part of the marketing for the shaft.

There are plenty of other characteristics that will impact your choice. When the fitter does his/her job you will be evaluated and given choices associated with the evaluation. Give them a try, you may find that a non 40T shaft works better.

But, do tell the fitter your interests in that type of shaft, they might have the exact thing you are looking for

 

 

[jhak]

Looking back I realize that I didn't communicate my thoughts very well. My goal was to get some insight from more experienced players on the quality of those shaft options and how much they perceive the prepreg material affects the overall build quality, value for the money and, of course, performance. I never meant to "fit" myself based on prepreg or anything else other than launch monitor results. So especially in that light I should've written the whole post again.

But all's well that ends well! My leisurely swing fitted very well to the ATMOS Red 5, and the fitter was very kind and took the time to entertain me with shaft options that I have absolutely no business gaming. The experience was great and got me started good on the long road amid golf club shafts. I will say that I did think the ATMOS Tour Specs were superior in their feeling, but I can't load those shafts properly. Yet.

Pic related

[RickyBobby_PR]

4 hours ago, jhak said:

Looking back I realize that I didn't communicate my thoughts very well. My goal was to get some insight from more experienced players on the quality of those shaft options and how much they perceive the prepreg material affects the overall build quality, value for the money and, of course, performance. I never meant to "fit" myself based on prepreg or anything else other than launch monitor results. So especially in that light I should've written the whole post again.

But all's well that ends well! My leisurely swing fitted very well to the ATMOS Red 5, and the fitter was very kind and took the time to entertain me with shaft options that I have absolutely no business gaming. The experience was great and got me started good on the long road amid golf club shafts. I will say that I did think the ATMOS Tour Specs were superior in their feeling, but I can't load those shafts properly. Yet.

Pic related

Glad you found something that worked. You may be the first person that I’ve seen looking for a specific prepreg in a shaft.  With graphite these companies can do a lot with graphite flags to affect how the play and feel.

 

[jhak]

I read this MGS article about driver shafts and knowing next to nothing about them previously, the prepreg material seemed like the easiest proxy to gauge overall shaft quality. I found it really hard to find clearly reliable 3rd-party information about most of the shafts I looked up.